# founded by women > At Founded by Women, we want to celebrate and amplify the voices of women who are making a difference in the world. Public Ghost content for AI and LLM tooling. This file includes a bounded export of public pages first, then recent public posts. Append `.md` to any post or page URL to get the content in Markdown (for example, `/example-post.md`). ## Pages ### About URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/about/ Last updated: 2025-06-23T16:26:27.000Z Welcome to *Founded by Women*! We're a community of passionate supporters who are dedicated to amplifying the voices of female founders. The project is part of [Databird Journal](https://www.databirdjournal.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org), an independent publishing house and journal focused on supporting bold voices at the intersection of innovation, impact, and inclusion. It all started with a [book](https://foundedbywomen.org/book?ref=foundedbywomen.org) where we collected 100 Q&As with amazing female founders from around the globe. Without the support of [our partners](https://www.foundedbywomen.org/partners/), this wouldn't have been possible. We are so grateful for their help, which has allowed us to inspire and empower more female founders around the globe. We want to extend a heartfelt thank you to each and every one of them. But as we looked around, we realized that there were so many more stories out there that needed to be heard. That's why we decided to expand our initiative and bring these stories to you on a weekly basis, in a bite-sized and easy-to-read format. We know that as a female executive, it can be tough to get your message out there — and that’s where we come in. Our goal is to help female executives expand their audience and connect with others in the community. Thank you for joining us on this journey. Together, we’re creating a brighter and more equitable future for all female executives! --- ### Share your story Are you a female founder with an incredible story to tell? At *Founded by Women*, we want to celebrate and amplify the voices of women who are making a difference in the world. If you're passionate about sharing your journey with others and inspiring others to reach for their dreams, we'd love to feature you in our publication. [Contact us](https://www.foundedbywomen.org/share-your-story/) to share your story with the world. ### Share your story URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/share-your-story/ Last updated: 2026-07-09T06:48:45.000Z Do you have an incredible story to tell as a female executive? We at *Founded by Women* want to celebrate and amplify the voices of women who are making a difference in the world. If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** 👉[**hi@foundedbywomen.org**](mailto:hi@foundedbywomen.org) ### Partners URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/partner-directory/ Last updated: 2025-06-23T16:15:29.000Z _No content available._ ### Test Company 2 URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/test-company-2/ Last updated: 2023-01-02T16:43:52.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2022/12/OA0dyyZ-Logo-with-whitespace-2.png) SkyStem provides an easy set up for account reconciliation, month-end close process, automation month-end close & software for accounts management. ### Sponsors URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/sponsors/ Last updated: 2022-12-30T22:39:26.000Z _No content available._ ### Get inspired by the stories of over 100 amazing female founders URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/book/ Last updated: 2026-03-02T06:02:31.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2023/07/book-photo-copy.png) > Wow, so many inspiring stories! Honored to be featured alongside loads of fantastic women. I will fight anyone who says there's a pipeline problem after reading this book. Or now. Or ever. Allison Byers, Founder, [Scroobious](https://www.scroobious.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) > The book looks awesome! It's an honor to be featured amongst those excellent women, whose journeys I'm reading and finding great motivation from. Luna Regina, CEO, [HealthyKitchen101.com](https://healthykitchen101.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) #### PDF book **The PDF book is available for free thanks to our [partners](https://www.foundedbywomen.org/partners/)!** **Length**: 509 pages **Contributors**: [100+](https://www.foundedbywomen.org/contributors/) [Download for free](https://www.foundedbywomen.org/get-the-book/) #### Print book **Paperback version available on Amazon** **‍** **Length**: 509 pages **Contributors**: [100+](https://www.foundedbywomen.org/contributors/) [Order on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/Founded-Women-Inspiration-successes-ambitious/dp/B096LTWMXX?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ### Get the book URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/get-the-book/ Last updated: 2026-03-02T06:00:11.000Z _This page is for subscribers only._ ### Contributors URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/contributor-directory/ Last updated: 2025-12-30T01:55:02.000Z _No content available._ ### Support the project URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/support/ Last updated: 2024-02-27T02:03:45.000Z At *Founded by Women*, we are dedicated to promoting and highlighting the stories of female execs in order to inspire and empower others. We believe that by sharing the stories of female founders, we can create a positive impact and help to support those who are just starting out on their entrepreneurial journey. By making a donation to *Founded by Women*, you are supporting the promotion and highlighting of the stories of female founders. Your contribution will go towards the costs of running our platform, including editorial work, platform and marketing initiatives, and publishing books featuring these stories. Every dollar counts and every donation, no matter the size, makes a difference in helping us to share the stories of female founders with the world. The publishing process can be quite costly, so any support is greatly appreciated and will help us to continue our mission. If you believe in our mission and want to support the work we do, please consider making a donation today. Your support is greatly appreciated and will help us to continue to inspire and empower female founders everywhere. ### FBW Awards: Recognizing Outstanding Female Leaders and Women-Founded Companies URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/awards/ Last updated: 2026-09-16T02:37:45.000Z The FBW Quarterly Awards spotlight women who are building groundbreaking companies and leading transformational change across industries. From innovative startups to executive leaders driving strategic vision, we recognize the excellence that's shaping the future of business. **Who We Recognize** Female founders building companies that matter - whether you're revolutionizing an industry, creating social impact, or scaling the next generation of innovation. Female executives driving real change - from strategic leadership to marketing transformation, from legal innovation to health and wellness impact. **Why These Awards Matter** Women leaders consistently deliver extraordinary results, yet recognition often lags behind achievement. These awards change that - creating visibility, building networks, and celebrating the leaders who deserve to be known. Готово, дата оплаты перенесена на 20 сентября:\`\`\`html [Apply Now](https://www.paypal.com/ncp/payment/8FM9FP2RTNH86?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ## Two Award Tracks Whether you're leading a groundbreaking company or driving innovation as an executive, we recognize excellence across both entrepreneurship and leadership. ### Company Awards Female-Founded Businesses Recognizing companies founded by women making real impact across industries. **🚀 Best Innovation** Groundbreaking products or approaches **📣 Marketing & Communications Impact** Women-founded PR/marketing agencies creating brand transformation **⚖️ Legal Excellence** Women-founded law firms driving innovation in legal services **💼 Consulting & Advisory Excellence** Women-founded consulting and advisory firms delivering transformational business results **✨ Design Excellence** Women-founded fashion, home, and lifestyle brands creating beautiful, distinctive products **💄 Beauty & Personal Care Excellence** Women-founded beauty and personal care brands creating distinctive, high-quality products **🌿 Health & Wellbeing Impact** Women-founded companies transforming health, mental health, and wellbeing **🌍 Social Impact** Businesses creating meaningful positive change **📖 Storytelling Impact** Media, editorial, and content platforms building community through storytelling **⭐ Rising Star** Emerging companies with remarkable potential **📈 Female-Founded VC Firms** Venture capital firms founded by women backing the next generation of companies ### Individual Leader Awards Female Executives & Leaders Spotlighting women in senior roles driving transformation and innovation. **👑 Strategic Leadership Excellence** Exceptional strategic vision and execution **📣 Marketing & Brand Leadership** CMOs and brand strategists driving market transformation **⚖️ Legal Leadership** Female attorneys and legal leaders driving innovation in the profession **🌿 Health & Wellbeing Impact** Leaders transforming health, mental health, and wellbeing **🌟 Emerging Leader Influence** Rising leaders making significant impact **📈 Women in VC Leadership** Female investors and partners shaping the future of venture capital **🧩 Fractional Executive Excellence** Fractional CMOs, CFOs, COOs, and other fractional executives helping businesses grow without a full-time hire **🤝 Executive Support Excellence** Executive assistants and operations professionals whose work keeps founders, leaders, and businesses running **📚 Author Impact Award** Women authors whose books have made a meaningful impact on business, leadership, or their industry ## Winner Spotlight Real recognition, real reactions. Here's what happened when our winners shared the news. MELINDA JACKSON PUBLIC RELATIONS FBW AWARDS WINNER 2026 Marketing & Communications Impact "So excited that I landed ANOTHER AWARD! My 2nd this month! Thanks so much to FoundedByWomen.Org for recognizing the work we do at MJPR." ❤️ 58 reactions 💬 20 comments [ ](https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7482643834783440896?ref=foundedbywomen.org) DIANA LOWE BLUE LIGHT LEADERSHIP FBW AWARDS WINNER 2026 Strategic Leadership Excellence "I'm excited to share something that means a great deal to me. I'm honored to have been selected as the recipient of the Strategic Leadership Excellence award." ❤️ 46 reactions 💬 26 comments [ ](https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7483016351419338752?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ## Simple Process 1 #### Pay Application Fee $69\. Payment deadline September 20th. 2 #### Submit Application Complete your application form by September 25th. Takes 15-20 minutes. 3 #### Winners Announced Editorial review, then winners featured across all platforms on October 10. ### Q3 2026 Timeline **Application Fee ($69):** Due by September 20th **Application Due:** September 25th **Winners Announced:** October 10, 2026 ## Winner Benefits Recognition that creates real visibility and networking opportunities. #### 📰 Featured Profile In-depth article on FoundedByWomen.org reaching our engaged community. #### 📱 Promotion Multi-platform promotion across social channels and email newsletter. #### 🏆 Winner Assets Digital badge and certificate for your marketing materials. #### 🤝 Network Access Connect with other recognized leaders in our winner community. #### 📊 Quarterly Showcase Featured in our comprehensive winners report. #### 🎯 Industry Visibility Exposure among peers, partners, and industry influencers. ## Ready to Apply? Join the community of recognized female leaders and innovators. [Apply Now](https://www.paypal.com/ncp/payment/8FM9FP2RTNH86?ref=foundedbywomen.org) Questions? Email awards@foundedbywomen.org ### Meet Our Partners URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/partners/ Last updated: 2026-07-22T10:41:29.000Z #### 📌 [Founding Partners](https://www.foundedbywomen.org/tag/founding-partners/) Our founding partners and community supporters who helped build this platform #### 💼 [Consulting & Advisory Partners](https://foundedbywomen.org/tag/consulting-advisory-partners/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) Strategic consultants and business advisors #### ****📣** [PR Partners](https://www.foundedbywomen.org/tag/pr-partners/) PR agencies and communications professionals amplifying brand stories #### 🧑🏽‍⚖️ [Legal Partners](https://www.foundedbywomen.org/tag/legal-partners/) Legal professionals and law firms supporting women entrepreneurs #### 👥 [HR & Operations Partners](https://www.foundedbywomen.org/tag/hr-operations-partners/) HR consultants and operations specialists supporting business growth #### 📈 [Marketing Partners](https://www.foundedbywomen.org/tag/marketing-partners/) Marketing agencies and digital marketing experts helping businesses grow #### 💚 [Wellbeing Partners](https://www.foundedbywomen.org/tag/wellbeing-partners/) Wellness, mental health, corporate wellbeing, and personal development companies #### 🎯 [Leadership & Executive Partners](https://foundedbywomen.org/tag/leadership-executive-partners/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) Executive coaches and leadership development consultants #### 💵 [Financial Partners](https://www.foundedbywomen.org/tag/financial-partners/) Financial advisors, accountants, and wealth management firms #### 🧑🏽‍⚕️ [Health Partners](https://www.foundedbywomen.org/tag/health-partners/) Healthcare and life sciences companies #### 🏆 Become a partner Explore our partnership program –– contact us at [****hi@foundedbywomen.org**](mailto:hi@foundedbywomen.org) ### Test URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/test/ Last updated: 2026-01-05T06:45:04.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2026/01/FBW---Legal-Partner-2026.png) [ ![Founded by Women Legal Partner](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2026/01/FBW---Legal-Partner-2026.png) ](https://www.foundedbywomen.org/partners/law/faithfully-legal/) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2026/01/FBW-Partner-2026.png) [ ![Founded by Women Legal Partner](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2026/01/FBW-Partner-2026.png) ](https://www.foundedbywomen.org/partners/founding/system-soul-ai-institute/) ### Books URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/books/ Last updated: 2026-05-29T04:15:01.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2026/03/book-photo-copy-1.png) #### Get inspired by the stories of over 100 amazing female founders ****The PDF book is available for free thanks to our** [****partners**](https://www.foundedbywomen.org/partners/)****!** [Read](https://foundedbywomen.org/book/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2026/03/The-Wellbeing-Atlas---on-the-table-1-1.png) #### Upcoming book: The Wellbeing Atlas – Founders Shaping the Future of Wellness in 2026 ****Scheduled for release, Summer 2026, the book will be available as a** ***limited-edition** **print run, published by** [****Databird Journal**](https://www.databirdjournal.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org)****.** [Learn more](https://www.foundedbywomen.org/books/upcoming-book-the-wellbeing-atlas-founders-shaping-the-future-of-mental-health-in-2025/) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2026/03/soul-strategy-on-a-table-1.png) #### Upcoming book: Soul + Strategy: Unfiltered Wisdom from Women Leading with Purpose Following in the spirit of the celebrated [**Founded by Women*](https://www.foundedbywomen.org/book/) series, **Soul + Strategy* takes this exploration of female leadership a step further. We are moving beyond the story of the startup and into the heart of how women lead with purpose at every stage of their careers, from the executive suite to the venture capital boardroom. **Soul + Strategy* is a journey into the minds and hearts of women who are not just succeeding in business but are redefining its very essence. [Learn more](https://www.foundedbywomen.org/all/soul-strategy-unfiltered-wisdom-from-women-leading-with-purpose/) ### Workshops URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/workshops/ Last updated: 2026-05-13T07:00:57.000Z _No content available._ ### FBW Best Workplaces for Women - Application URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/fbw-best-workplaces-for-women-application/ Last updated: 2026-05-26T08:47:21.000Z Company Information **Company Name** **Industry** **Company Website** **Total number of employees** Select range 50 - 100 101 - 250 251 - 500 501 - 1,000 1,000+ **Headquarters** **% women in total workforce** Select range Under 25% 25% - 50% 50% - 75% Over 75% **% women in leadership / management** Select range Under 25% 25% - 50% 50% - 75% Over 75% Policies **Parental leave** \- weeks & fully paid? **Flexible / remote work** **Do you conduct regular pay equity audits?** Yes No In progress **Is your promotion process formalized and transparent?** Brief description. Programs & Culture **Do you have mentorship or sponsorship programs for women?** Yes No Planned **If yes, briefly describe the program.** **Do you have ERGs (Employee Resource Groups) for women?** Yes No Planned **What DEI initiatives do you currently run?** 2-3 sentences. For the Write-up **What are you most proud of** when it comes to supporting women at your company? **What's one thing you're working on improving?** **Your quote for the article** \- 1-2 sentences, for publication. **Your name** **Your title** **Your email** Submit Application Applications reviewed by the FBW editorial team. ## Thank you. Your application has been received. The FBW editorial team will be in touch shortly. ### Thank you. Your application has been received URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/thank-you/ Last updated: 2026-05-26T08:46:40.000Z _No content available._ ### Write for us URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/write-for-us/ Last updated: 2026-07-09T06:46:22.000Z Founded by Women is a media platform and global community celebrating women entrepreneurs and the businesses, ideas and industries shaping their success. We welcome contributions from brands, agencies and independent experts whose work is genuinely relevant to our audience of founders, operators and investors. **Who this is for** We're open to guest content from companies and consultants whose expertise is useful to women building and scaling businesses - marketing, growth, operations, finance and beyond. If your insights help founders grow, get found, and succeed, we want to hear from you. **Content guidelines** - Original content, not published elsewhere - Directly relevant to our audience - founders, small business owners, growth and business topics - Minimum 800 words - Practical, insight-driven - no generic listicles or thinly-veiled ad copy - We reserve the right to edit for clarity, length and house style **How to pitch** Send us your topic idea, a short bio, and any previously published work to [hi@foundedbywomen.org](mailto:hi@foundedbywomen.org). We'll get back to you within 2-3 business days. ### Your FBW Awards entry is confirmed 🎉 URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/fbw-awards-thank-you/ Last updated: 2026-07-22T04:48:32.000Z Thank you for entering the Founded by Women Awards - your spot is secured. Our manager will contact you with required details for next steps. ## Posts ### How I Built AllMindsLearn at 16: A Girl in Tech Creating More Accessible Learning URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/women-who-lead/how-i-built-allmindslearn-at-16-a-girl-in-tech-creating-more-accessible-learning/ Last updated: 2026-09-15T10:50:21.000Z My name is Iria Spyrtzi. I'm a 16-year-old high school student from Greece, and I'm the founder and developer of AllMindsLearn, a free educational platform for students with learning difficulties. I didn't start [AllMindsLearn](https://www.foundedbywomen.org/women-who-lead/from-bcg-to-building-her-own-tanu-himatsingka-on-launching-zaryth-ventures/) as a business idea. It came from my family. My younger brother has learning disabilities, and I had seen how much effort went into finding ways to make studying easier for him. There are plenty of useful resources online, but they're scattered across different websites, which makes it hard to find what actually works for a specific student. I started wondering if there could be one place that brought these tools together. So I decided to build it myself. I had no team. I taught myself what I needed and built the platform from scratch. The first version took about three weeks, and I launched AllMindsLearn in July 2026\. It's completely free and includes tools for reading, writing, math and concentration: text-to-speech, speech-to-text, Bionic Reading, focus tools and mathematical visualization. There are also dedicated resources for dyslexia, dysgraphia, dyscalculia and ADHD, plus guidance for parents and educators. > Know a founder (or are one) doing incredible work? **Founded by Women Awards** are open for entries. If you're building something bold, leading with purpose, or driving change in your industry, we'd love for you to enter. 👉 [foundedbywomen.org/awards](https://www.foundedbywomen.org/awards/) ### Building as a girl in technology I've always been interested in technology and computer science, but I never had a specific plan to become a founder. I was interested in a problem, and curious about whether I could solve it. As a 16-year-old girl building a technology platform on my own, I've realized how unusual my position is. I'm still in high school while learning to code, developing the platform, and talking to researchers and educators. That's one reason I'm glad to share this story. I think girls interested in technology should see that they don't have to wait until they're older, or have years of experience, before they start building something. I didn't need to already think of myself as a founder. I had a problem I cared about, and I learned what I needed along the way. ### Taking AllMindsLearn beyond Greece One of the most unexpected parts of this project has been the chance to talk with people outside Greece about it. I presented AllMindsLearn to professionals at the University of Malta, including members of its Access and Disability Support Unit, and discussed the platform with people working directly with students who have disabilities and learning difficulties. Their feedback gave me new ideas about where to take the platform next, and pushed me to think less about adding features and more about designing around students' actual needs. I've also started conversations with people in assistive technology, education and computer science internationally, including contacts connected with the Assistive Technology Center at The College of New Jersey. These conversations matter to me because I'm not just building something and putting it online. I get to hear how people working in different countries and fields think about accessibility and learning support, and use that to keep improving the platform. About two months after launch, AllMindsLearn had reached more than 350 users across 21 countries. Most came from Greece, the United States and France, but there were also users from Malta, Canada, the UK, Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, China, New Zealand and India. The project has also started getting attention back home, including a feature from Fresh Education in Greece. Seeing that international response so early made me realize the problem I first noticed in my own family is much bigger than I thought. ### What comes next Keeping AllMindsLearn completely free is one of my main priorities. I don't want access to learning tools to depend on whether a family can afford another subscription. For now, I want to keep improving the platform, add more resources and tools, and keep learning from the people I get to connect with around the world. I'm still 16, and still figuring things out. But I've learned that you don't have to wait until you're older, or have a company, or years of experience, before you start building something. I saw a problem affecting someone close to me, couldn't find exactly what I was looking for, and decided to try building it myself. Everything that's happened since, from launching the platform to speaking with people internationally, has made me want to keep going. *Iria Spyrtzi is the founder and developer of AllMindsLearn (allmindslearn.org), a free educational platform supporting students with learning difficulties.* > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring story? Founded by Women elevates the voices of women making an impact. > Breaking barriers or paving the way for others? We'd love to feature you. Get in touch! 👉 [hi@foundedbywomen.org](mailto:hi@foundedbywomen.org) ### From BCG to Building Her Own: Tanu Himatsingka on Launching Zaryth Ventures URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/women-who-lead/from-bcg-to-building-her-own-tanu-himatsingka-on-launching-zaryth-ventures/ Last updated: 2026-09-15T09:24:34.000Z After nearly two decades shaping strategy at some of the world's most respected institutions - BCG, Temasek, CapitaLand and NTT DATA - Tanu Himatsingka has built a career on turning ambiguity into action for leadership teams. That instinct now powers her own venture, [Zaryth Ventures](http://www.zaryth.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org), an advisory platform sitting at the intersection of strategy, transformation and technology. Rather than following the traditional consulting playbook, Tanu set out to work more directly and flexibly with corporates, investors and growth-stage businesses, bringing the rigour of her corporate background to the problems that live between strategy and execution. It's a shift she describes as both professional and personal: applying hard-won discipline to something she is building on her own terms. In this Q&A, Tanu shares what inspired the leap into entrepreneurship, walks through a real transformation project that captures her approach, and outlines her vision for where Zaryth Ventures goes next, including her growing focus on how AI is reshaping not just technology, but the way organizations make decisions. > Know a founder (or are one) doing incredible work? **Founded by Women Awards** are open for entries. If you're building something bold, leading with purpose, or driving change in your industry, we'd love for you to enter. 👉 [foundedbywomen.org/awards](https://www.foundedbywomen.org/awards/) --- ### Q: What inspired you to start Zaryth Ventures, and how did your 18+ years in global strategy and transformation shape that decision? Across almost two decades - from structured problem-solving at BCG, to an investor lens at Temasek, to building new platforms at CapitaLand, to working alongside the CEO on enterprise transformation at NTT DATA, I kept coming back to the part of the work I enjoy most: taking an ambiguous business problem and turning it into something actionable for leadership teams. Zaryth Ventures came from wanting to bring those perspectives together more flexibly. Working directly with corporates, investors and growth-stage businesses on the problems that sit between strategy and execution, without the constraints of a traditional consulting model. It's also a new chapter for me: combining the rigour I've built over my career with the energy of building something of my own. ### Q: Can you share a specific example of a business transformation you've led through Zaryth that speaks to your approach? I worked with a global financial institution on AI-enabled process redesign. The real challenge wasn't the technology; it was rethinking how work got done. We started by identifying where time and effort were being lost to friction and manual work, then assessed where AI could genuinely change outcomes. The bigger lesson: technology was only part of the answer. Sustainable change also required shifts in process, decision rights and governance. That's core to how I work: getting close enough to an organisation to challenge assumptions and help translate ambition into something that actually gets implemented. ### Q: What's next for Zaryth Ventures? I see Zaryth growing as a focused advisory platform at the intersection of growth, transformation and technology. Helping corporates and investors bridge strategy and execution, while selectively supporting growth-stage companies that need help turning strong products into scalable, investor-ready businesses. I'm especially drawn to the organisational side of AI: not the technology itself, but how it reshapes processes, decisions and operating models. Longer term, I want Zaryth to stay deliberately focused rather than scale into a traditional consultancy, a place where experienced people tackle interesting problems with real impact. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring story? Founded by Women elevates the voices of women making an impact. > Breaking barriers or paving the way for others? We'd love to feature you. Get in touch! 👉 [hi@foundedbywomen.org](mailto:hi@foundedbywomen.org) ### CEO Mindset, HR Heart: How Kate Brunning Is Redefining People Leadership for Acquisition-Led Growth URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/women-who-lead/ceo-mindset-hr-heart-how-kate-brunning-is-redefining-people-leadership-for-acquisition-led-growth/ Last updated: 2026-09-15T08:56:24.000Z Kate Brunning knows firsthand that a deal can look flawless on paper and still fall apart in practice if the people side is treated as an afterthought. After leading people strategy through significant growth and acquisition at Virtual1, where she helped build an award-winning workplace culture, she founded [People Station](https://www.peoplestation.co.uk/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) to bring that same discipline to other ambitious, growing businesses. Today, People Station positions itself as "the people partner for acquisition-led growth," helping leadership teams connect the commercial logic of a deal with the human reality of bringing organisations together, from due diligence and TUPE through to culture, communication and integration. In this Q&A, Kate shares what her time at Virtual1 taught her about scaling with intention, why the gap between signing a deal and truly integrating it is so often underestimated, and what she means by bringing a "CEO mindset and HR heart" to People leadership. > Know a founder (or are one) doing incredible work? **Founded by Women Awards** are open for entries. If you're building something bold, leading with purpose, or driving change in your industry, we'd love for you to enter. 👉 [foundedbywomen.org/awards](https://www.foundedbywomen.org/awards/) --- ### Q: Having led the people strategy at Virtual1 through significant growth and acquisition, what did that experience teach you and how did it shape your decision to launch People Station? At Virtual1, I was fortunate to work with a CEO who genuinely believed in putting people first. Crucially, he didn’t see that as something for HR alone to deliver. His entire leadership team was responsible for making it happen. That collective ownership was ultimately what enabled us to become an award-winning best place to work. It was very much a team effort, although I became slightly obsessed with understanding the formula behind it! We worked deliberately on the plan, the roadmap and the everyday actions needed to create a brilliant employee experience while the business continued to grow. Communication was one of the most important parts of that formula. I don’t believe you can overcommunicate when a business is growing or going through significant change. People need to understand where the organisation is going, what is happening around them and how they fit into the bigger picture. It takes consistency, transparency and an aligned leadership team, not simply a series of HR initiatives. The experience also showed me how much more important these principles become during an acquisition. A deal may make complete sense financially, but its value can quickly be diluted if communication, leadership, culture and integration are treated as secondary considerations. I founded People Station because I wanted to take what we had learnt; the formula, the discipline and the belief that people must be a genuine business priority and help other ambitious organisations apply it. Many growing businesses need experienced People leadership and practical delivery, but may not need, or be ready to employ, a full-time People Director and an entire in-house team. People Station gives them access to that capability at the point when it can make the greatest difference. ### Q: People Station describes itself as “the people partner for acquisition-led growth.” What do businesses often underestimate about the people side of growth and integration, and how does People Station help solve that? Businesses often underestimate the distance between completing a deal and successfully integrating the people within it. The legal transfer or acquisition may happen on a particular date, but people integration begins much earlier and continues long afterwards. Employees are trying to understand what the change means for their job, their manager, their pay, their identity and their future. At the same time, leaders are expected to retain key talent, maintain performance and bring together different cultures, systems and ways of working. Without a clear plan, the value the acquisition was meant to create can begin to leak away. People Station works alongside leadership teams to connect the commercial deal with the reality of bringing organisations together. We support everything from due diligence, TUPE and workforce planning through to organisational design, communication, culture, leadership and People systems. We bring strategic thinking, but we are equally comfortable getting into the detail and making things happen. That combination is important. Businesses rarely need another report telling them what they should do; they need an experienced partner who can help them do it. ### Q: You talk about bringing a “CEO mindset and HR heart” to your work. What does that mean in practice, and what is your longer-term vision for People Station? “CEO mindset. HR heart.” captures the balance I believe great People leadership requires. The CEO mindset means understanding how the business creates value, where it is going and what could prevent it from getting there. It means being commercially confident, making pragmatic decisions and holding the People function accountable for business outcomes, not simply activity. The HR heart matters just as much. Businesses can make difficult decisions while still treating people with honesty, dignity and care. In fact, I believe businesses perform better when people understand what is happening, know what is expected of them and feel that their contribution matters. My vision is to build People Station into the leading people partner for acquisition-led businesses: a business that can support organisations from the early stages of a deal, through integration and into their next phase of growth. I also want us to challenge the traditional consultancy model. We are developing more scalable tools, technology and repeatable ways of working so businesses can access high-quality People infrastructure and insight without creating unnecessary complexity. Ultimately, I want People Station to prove that commercial performance and a genuinely human approach are not competing priorities as the strongest businesses are built by bringing the two together. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring story? Founded by Women elevates the voices of women making an impact. > Breaking barriers or paving the way for others? We'd love to feature you. Get in touch! 👉 [hi@foundedbywomen.org](mailto:hi@foundedbywomen.org) ### From Burnout to Living True: How Alison O'Leary Turned Her Own Transformation Into a Coaching Business URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/women-who-lead/from-burnout-to-living-true-how-alison-oleary-turned-her-own-transformation-into-a-coaching-business/ Last updated: 2026-09-10T11:11:29.000Z After 20 years in high-pressure communications roles, Alison O'Leary hit a wall - literally, when years of stress finally shut down her digestive system. A hospital consultant's diagnosis of stress from living out of alignment with herself became the catalyst she needed. That health scare led to a complete reinvention: training as a Martha Beck life coach, founding [Live True](https://livetrue.co.uk/?ref=foundedbywomen.org), and moving from central London to the Welsh mountainside. Alison has since worked with hundreds of professionals navigating the exact career and life transitions she once feared herself. In this Q&A, Alison shares what really holds people back from making the change they know they need, and how she's now expanding beyond coaching into The Adventure Club - immersive retreats and experiences designed to help people stop postponing the lives they actually want. > Know a founder (or are one) doing incredible work? **Founded by Women Awards** are open for entries. If you're building something bold, leading with purpose, or driving change in your industry, we'd love for you to enter. 👉 [foundedbywomen.org/awards](https://www.foundedbywomen.org/awards/) --- ### Q: After 20 years in communications, you trained as a Martha Beck life coach and founded Live True. What made you decide to make that shift? It was a combination of things. My late husband and I worked really long hours so we barely saw one another, and when we did, we were tired out. During the times we spent with family and friends we struggled to be present because we were consumed by our jobs and the stress of them. Personally, I was also fighting to find genuine meaning and purpose in my day job. The longer I was in it, the harder it became to really care about it or see the point of it. Plus, I’d been ill on and off for 10 years. When my digestive system finally shut down after years of ongoing stomach issues, a hospital consultant diagnosed stress caused by living and working in a way that wasn’t aligned with my true self, and this finally sent me searching for new answers. I hired a coach to help me figure out what I needed and wanted, and a path forward, and I determined through that process that I wanted to be a coach myself. After training with Martha Beck, I specialised in career and life change after working through both myself, and I’ll often share my own story with clients of how I transitioned from a corporate career to running my own coaching business, and made a lifestyle move from the centre of London to a beautiful mountainside in Wales. Ultimately, my business is called [Live True](https://livetrue.co.uk/?ref=foundedbywomen.org), because I didn’t for many years (!!) and now I help others work out and action what living true means for them. ### Q: You've worked with hundreds of professionals on career and life transitions. What's the most common thing holding people back from making a change they know they want to make? The biggest hurdle for most people is not knowing what change to make. The majority of people I work with are in their 30s, 40s and 50s, and they’ve been really successful in their careers, but they’ve hit a point of no return. They feel like something is missing from their work and lives – which often has to do with meaning, purpose and fulfilment – but they don’t know which move to make to deliver this, and they fear making the wrong decision. They are can-do people who will take action once they are set on a direction, but without a clear picture of the right route to take, they feel stuck and often end up in analysis paralysis, mulling over ideas but being afraid to commit in case they choose the wrong thing and risk losing what they’ve built up to date. Through a rigorous, data-led process, I help people truly understand what drives and motivates them, what they are interested in, what they are good at, and what they care about, and we use that data to direct the right career and/or life changes. The conclusions they arrive at are ones they know they can trust because they are based on their own unique criteria, meaning they can rationalise why they’ve come to it and feel empowered to act on it confidently. ### Q: You launched Work Wonderland as an online course to scale your coaching approach. What's next for Live True? I’m branching out with in-person retreats and experiences. Earlier this year I ran a retreat called Your Era, which was designed to help people reconnect with themselves, understand what drives them, and consciously design the life they’re ready to create next. I’ve also set up something called The Adventure Club, and I’ve run its inaugural experience, The Expansion Escape. The ethos behind the Club is that life was never meant to get smaller. Somewhere along the way, many of us stop collecting stories. Our calendars fill up, the weeks start looking the same, our comfort zones quietly shrink and we tell ourselves we'll travel more, spend more time outdoors, try new things, make new friends or prioritise ourselves...one day. But what if one day started now? Through The Adventure Club I create beautifully curated escapes and experiences for people who want more from life than simply getting through it. ​​​​​​​ Every experience is thoughtfully designed to blend adventure, community, nature, personal growth and genuine connection. Think unforgettable days outdoors, inspiring conversations, new experiences, plenty of laughter, a few moments that gently stretch you, and the kind of memories that stay with you long after you get home. People can join The Adventure Club priority list to learn more about upcoming experiences [here](https://livetrue.pages.ontraport.net/AdventureClubPriorityList?ref=foundedbywomen.org). > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring story? Founded by Women elevates the voices of women making an impact. > Breaking barriers or paving the way for others? We'd love to feature you. Get in touch! 👉 [hi@foundedbywomen.org](mailto:hi@foundedbywomen.org) ### Attention, Not Consumption: How Racheal A. Is Reimagining the Way We Gift with OhGiftPlease URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/women-who-lead/attention-not-consumption-how-racheal-a-is-reimagining-the-way-we-gift-with-ohgiftplease/ Last updated: 2026-09-10T03:19:50.000Z Racheal A. was tired of scrolling through endless gift guides and still coming up empty for the actual people in her life. That frustration became the foundation for [OhGiftPlease](https://www.ohgiftplease.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org), a gifting platform built on a simple but overlooked idea: thoughtful gifting starts with paying attention, not with browsing a category like "gifts for women." The mission goes further than curation. OhGiftPlease spotlights LGBTQ+, BIPOC, women-owned, and purpose-driven brands, built on the belief that who gets seen matters just as much as what gets given. Discovery is organized around personality, shared moments, and impact rather than broad labels, and belonging in the community never depends on making a purchase. In this Q&A, Racheal talks about the insight that shaped OhGiftPlease's approach to curation, why "thoughtful" doesn't have to mean sentimental, and what's next as she launches the community-nominated search for 2027 Impact Brands and a new initiative called Let It Ripple. > Know a founder (or are one) doing incredible work? **Founded by Women Awards** are open for entries. If you're building something bold, leading with purpose, or driving change in your industry, we'd love for you to enter. 👉 [foundedbywomen.org/awards](https://www.foundedbywomen.org/awards/) --- ### Q: What inspired you to start OhGiftPlease, and how did you land on the idea that gifting is really about attention rather than consumption OhGiftPlease started with the frustration of scrolling through endless gift lists and still struggling to find something that felt right for an actual person. I wanted discovery to feel fun again. Something that makes you laugh, reminds you of your favorite person, introduces you to an incredible creator, or gives you a reason to get people together.But the purpose goes deeper. In a world that gives us plenty of reasons to feel disconnected, I want to keep making room for joy, kindness, and celebrating what makes people different. Those things deserve our attention.That’s why OhGiftPlease brings together curated finds, stories, inspiration, and a spotlight on LGBTQ+, BIPOC, women-owned, and purpose-driven brands. Who gets seen matters. The person receiving a gift matters, and so does the person whose creativity made it possible.To me, thoughtful gifting begins with paying attention. Remembering someone’s ridiculous sense of humor. Recognizing something they care about. Making space for time together. A purchase can be part of that, but belonging in the OhGiftPlease community never depends on buying anything. ### Q: What’s a specific insight from building OhGiftPlease that speaks to the tension between endless options and thoughtful gifting? Something I keep coming back to in my curation is how little a broad label tells you about someone. “Gifts for women” could describe millions of completely different people. It doesn’t tell you what makes your particular person light up.That’s why OhGiftPlease lets people explore through personality, shared moments, interests, and impact. A game-night find gives people something to do together. Something wonderfully weird can capture an inside joke. Discovering the story behind a brand can give an otherwise familiar item a whole new meaning.The useful part of curation is making those connections clear. Why this find? Who might love it? What makes it worth someone’s attention?And thoughtful doesn’t have to mean sentimental. Sometimes the thing that makes someone laugh hardest is the thing that shows you know them best. There’s room for beautiful, meaningful, useful, outrageous, and just plain fun. People contain all of that. ### Q: What’s next for OhGiftPlease? I want to grow OhGiftPlease into a trusted place for discovery and a community people actively help shape—sharing their favorite finds, introducing creators, telling stories, and celebrating one another.I’m beginning the community-nominated search for our 2027 Impact Brands. I want to hear about the businesses people believe deserve more attention, then take the time to understand and accurately tell their stories.I’m also bringing that community spirit into everyday spaces through Let It Ripple, a free printable people can leave where sharing is welcome. It gives someone a small invitation to discover a little joy and pass it along.The thread through all of it is the same: good people and good ideas deserve to be found. I want OhGiftPlease to help that happen—and give people more reasons to laugh, connect, and see the good in one another. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring story? Founded by Women elevates the voices of women making an impact. > Breaking barriers or paving the way for others? We'd love to feature you. Get in touch! 👉 [hi@foundedbywomen.org](mailto:hi@foundedbywomen.org) ### She Didn't Stop at One App. She Built 50, Then Gave Them a Home URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/women-who-lead/she-didnt-stop-at-one-app-she-built-50-then-gave-them-a-home/ Last updated: 2026-09-08T05:50:45.000Z Fayetteville, Georgia entrepreneur Heather Milner didn't set out to build an app empire. She set out to help the people around her - the friend struggling through menopause, the parent separated from their kids by prison walls, the daughter who hasn't spoken to her mother in years. One idea led to another, and eventually those ideas outgrew any single platform. So Heather built her own: [TMG App Store](https://tmgappstore.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org), an independent marketplace now home to more than 50 original apps addressing the real, often unspoken challenges people face every day. The ideas, Heather says, come from simply listening - to conversations at work, at home, at church, in everyday life. When someone shares a struggle, her instinct is to ask how she could help, and sometimes that question becomes an app. Apps like The Pause, Beyond The Bars, and One Step Closer each grew out of a specific need she kept encountering, and each one is completely free, a choice she made deliberately so cost would never stand between someone and the help they need. With the motto "Life Changes One App At A Time," TMG App Store spans everything from family and faith to business, relationships, education and personal growth. Heather delayed the launch until she felt the apps were genuinely ready, and now that the store is live, her focus shifts from building to making sure people know it's there. We spoke with her about where the ideas come from, the stories behind some of her most personal apps, and what's next for TMG App Store. > Know a founder (or are one) doing incredible work? **Founded by Women Awards** are open for entries. If you're building something bold, leading with purpose, or driving change in your industry, we'd love for you to enter. 👉 [foundedbywomen.org/awards](https://www.foundedbywomen.org/awards/) --- **Q: What inspired you to start creating apps, and how did that grow into building more than 50 original apps around real-life needs?** One idea didn't just become one app - it revealed a whole category of overlooked everyday problems, and that eventually became more than 50 original apps and the TMG App Store itself. The ideas come from everyday conversations - at work, at home, at church, and just living life. People will share real life with you if you just listen to them. I realized I needed to start listening more. When someone talks about something they're struggling with, my mind naturally starts thinking, How could I help with that? Sometimes that question becomes an app. **Q: Apps like The Pause, Beyond The Bars, and One Step Closer each address a very specific real-life situation. Can you share more about how you come up with these ideas and turn them into apps?** The Pause was created simply because I've encountered women everywhere who talk about going through menopause or the early stages of menopause. It's a real experience, and I wanted women to have help and support right in front of them whenever they need it. Beyond The Bars looks at life from both sides of the prison system. Imagine being away from your children, losing family members, or preparing to return to a world that has changed while you were gone. And then there are people who may never be released. I created Beyond The Bars with the hope of giving people support, encouragement, and some sense of peace - whether they're preparing for life outside or learning how to keep living a meaningful life inside. Your circumstances may be part of your story, but they don't have to be the end of it. One Step Closer was designed to help people rebuild relationships with the people they miss, need, and love. Maybe it's the daughter who always seems angry with you. The friend who doesn't call anymore. Your spouse. Your children. Or maybe it's your relationship with God when you need Him more than ever before. All three of these apps are completely free. That's intentional. I want to change lives, and I don't want money to stand between someone and help that could make a difference. **Q: What's next for TMG App Store?** More apps. More listening. More opportunities to solve the everyday problems people don't always talk about. I want to continue growing TMG App Store while doing my part to remind people that there is still good left in this world. If one of my apps helps someone get through a difficult day, repair a relationship, find encouragement, learn something new, or simply feel like somebody thought about what they're going through, then TMG App Store is doing what I created it to do. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring story? Founded by Women elevates the voices of women making an impact. > Breaking barriers or paving the way for others? We'd love to feature you. Get in touch! 👉 [hi@foundedbywomen.org](mailto:hi@foundedbywomen.org) ### Milk Drunk Club URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/partners/wellbeing/milk-drunk-club/ Last updated: 2026-09-07T04:48:46.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2026/09/Untitled--280-x-80-px---2-.png--1-.png) #### Milk Drunk Club is a maternal health and lactation company founded by NICU nurse and IBCLC Shannon Pratten. Its first physical product, MilkHaven, is a reusable silicone breast milk storage system created to bring a more thoughtful, organized approach to how mothers store and manage their milk. ****Preferred contact:** [shannon@milkdrunkclub.com](mailto:shannon@milkdrunkclub.com) ****Instagram:** [https://www.instagram.com/milk\_drunk\_club/](https://www.instagram.com/milk%5Fdrunk%5Fclub/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ****LinkedIn:** [https://www.linkedin.com/in/shannon-pratten-rn-ibclc-30688b49/](https://www.linkedin.com/in/shannon-pratten-rn-ibclc-30688b49/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) [Visit website](https://milkdrunkclub.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ### Meet the 17-Year-Old Founder Helping Neurodivergent Job Seekers Screen Employers, Not the Other Way Around URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/women-who-lead/meet-the-17-year-old-founder-helping-neurodivergent-job-seekers-screen-employers-not-the-other-way-around/ Last updated: 2026-09-04T02:40:23.000Z Navya Tuteja was still in high school when she noticed a gap that most job platforms overlook: a listing can tell you the salary, the location, the qualifications, but almost never what it will actually feel like to work there. For neurodivergent candidates, that missing context, things like how communication happens, how often priorities shift, or how predictable a schedule is, can determine whether a job works at all. So instead of building another tool for employers to screen candidates, Navya built [Raaha](http://raaha.ai/?ref=foundedbywomen.org), a free AI platform that flips the process: candidates screen workplaces. Users paste in a job description, take a short work-style quiz, and get a sense of fit along with interview questions and language for navigating accommodations. In its first month, Raaha crossed 1,000 users and drew coverage from Good Morning Washington and CBS6\. We spoke with Navya about the personal story behind the platform, what surprised her most about its early growth, and where she wants to take it next. > Know a founder (or are one) doing incredible work? **Founded by Women Awards** are open for entries. If you're building something bold, leading with purpose, or driving change in your industry, we'd love for you to enter. 👉 [foundedbywomen.org/awards](https://www.foundedbywomen.org/awards/) --- ## Q: Raaha flips the usual hiring screening process, instead of employers screening candidates, it helps candidates screen workplaces. What inspired you to build it this way? A lot of my work around disability started because of my mom, who is hard of hearing. When I was younger, I honestly didn’t completely understand what that meant. I would get frustrated when I had to repeat something or when she missed part of a conversation. As I got older, I realized how much extra work she was doing just to participate in spaces that weren’t really built for her. I think there’s a particular exhaustion that comes with having a disability other people can’t immediately see. Sometimes you spend so much time proving that you need support before you even get to the part where that support can actually help. That experience eventually led me to start Empower InvisAbilities, a nonprofit focused on invisible disabilities and neurodiversity, and write a children’s book about disability inclusion. Through that work, I kept coming back to the same problem: getting an opportunity and being in an environment where you can actually succeed are two very different things. That became really obvious to me with jobs. A posting might tell you the salary, location and qualifications, but not whether priorities change every few hours, whether instructions are usually written or verbal, how much task switching there is, or how predictable your schedule will be. For a neurodivergent person, those aren’t small details. They can completely change whether the job works We have spent years building technology that helps employers screen candidates. I wanted to flip that around and build something that helps the candidate screen the workplace. With Raaha, someone can paste in any job description, answer a short work-style quiz, and see how the role may fit the way they work. It also gives them questions they can ask in an interview and language for thinking through accommodations. The point isn’t for AI to decide what somebody is capable of. I actually really don’t want it doing that. I want people to have more information before they make the decision for themselves. ## Q: Raaha reached 1,000+ users in its first month and has already been featured by Good Morning Washington and CBS6\. What’s been the most surprising part of that early traction? Honestly, just seeing people actually care about it. I’m 17, and when I first built Raaha, I had no idea if people were actually going to use it or if it was even a solid idea. But seeing it get picked up by news outlets, seeing mayors and other people I had never even met post about it, and getting messages from people saying they understood the problem Raaha was trying to solve was kind of crazy, and also an amazing feeling. One user emailed me after he had been struggling with his job search. He had used Raaha while looking at roles and later told me he had landed a senior data analyst position. Of course he got that job because of his own work, not because of Raaha, but it was still really cool to know something I built had actually been useful to him during that process. A lot of the first users came pretty organically. At the beginning, I was literally just emailing people, reaching out to organizations, talking to anyone who might care about the idea, and then press coverage and people sharing Raaha started bringing in users I had never directly reached. Seeing it grow past 1,000 users so quickly made me realize that this was not just a problem I had noticed. Other people had been feeling the same gap too. I built Raaha for neurodivergent job seekers, but I also think the idea behind it is much broader. Most people want to know more than what a job pays or whether they meet the qualifications. They want to know what it is actually going to be like to work there. ## Q: What’s next for Raaha? Right now I’m mostly focused on distribution and focused on increasing adoption and getting Raaha in front of more people who could use it. I want to keep Raaha free and get it in front of as many people as possible who could actually use it. I’ve already started building partnerships and conversations with organizations that work directly with job seekers, and I’m hoping to expand that much more through universities, career centers, disability organizations, and neurodiversity programs. I want Raaha to be something people are introduced to while they are searching for jobs, not something they find only after they have already ended up in an environment that does not work for them. Long term, I would love for checking Raaha before applying to feel as normal as looking up a company before an interview. I don’t think choosing a workplace should feel like a leap of faith. There’s also a bigger idea behind it. If enough candidates start asking for this kind of transparency, employers have more reason to write job descriptions that actually tell people something. Eventually, I think the patterns Raaha sees could help show which companies are giving candidates meaningful information and which are mostly using the right buzzwords. Raaha means “path” in Hindi and Urdu, and the tagline is “Find your way.” That is pretty much the philosophy behind the whole thing. I don’t want to choose someone’s path for them. I want to give them better information to choose for themselves. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring story? Founded by Women elevates the voices of women making an impact. > Breaking barriers or paving the way for others? We'd love to feature you. Get in touch! 👉 [hi@foundedbywomen.org](mailto:hi@foundedbywomen.org) ### Inside J & J Publishing House: How JFo and JC Wilde Turned Grief, Love, and Late-Diagnosed Autism Into a Family of Books URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/women-who-lead/inside-j-j-publishing-house-how-jfo-and-jc-wilde-turned-grief-love-and-late-diagnosed-autism-into-a-family-of-books/ Last updated: 2026-09-04T02:40:13.000Z JFo and JC Wilde have been together for fifteen years, married for seven, and creative collaborators for even longer, but it was grief that turned their partnership into a publishing house. After JFo lost her mother, she began illustrating what she was feeling one entry at a time, without ever intending to share it. Those pages became *Grief Monster*, a 23-entry illustrated diary that personifies loss itself, releasing November 15, 2026, from their own imprint, [J & J Publishing House](https://www.jjpublishinghouse.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org). Founded on what the couple calls "the sacred space of light, love, and freedom," the press is as much an extension of their relationship as it is a business. JFo, a self-taught illustrator, brings the raw imagery; JC, a filmmaker and writer, brings the words and the drive to build something that answers to no one but them. Together they describe their creative partnership as fiery but grounded, held together by patience, humor, and a shared devotion to honesty over polish. We talked with JFo and JC about building a company together without losing the romance, the origin of the Grief Monster, and what's next, including JFo's forthcoming diary chronicling her late-in-life autism diagnosis and the burnout that followed. > Know a founder (or are one) doing incredible work? **Founded by Women Awards** are open for entries. If you're building something bold, leading with purpose, or driving change in your industry, we'd love for you to enter. 👉 [foundedbywomen.org/awards](https://www.foundedbywomen.org/awards/) --- ## Q: You've been together for 15 years and built J & J Publishing House together. What was the moment that turned your relationship into a business partnership, and how do you keep the two distinct? When JFo was illustrating her diary, she had no intention of sharing anything—it was an honest and raw expression of her grief. The drawings were evocative and somehow offered a gateway into the experience of grief itself. As she continued to illustrate more and more drawings, I realized how powerful they were and I knew they needed to be shared with the world. I am really an entrepreneur at heart, and I’m aware that our creations—individual and collaborative—are leading edge in many ways, so beginning our own publishing company was the most natural next step. That way, we could control our message and how it is delivered—no dilution, no gatekeepers, no softening of any edges. In a way, our relationship was always moving towards a business partnership. JFo was a major player in the making of my first film, *Wild Fire*, and has always been my greatest creative ally when it comes to writing my scripts. And I’ve always championed her artwork in any way I can. She always wanted us to combine forces with creating books—I really just needed to gain enough perspective to see that the joyful, peaceful, radiant life I sought in the film industry had been right in front of my nose the whole time with my wife. Creating books together wasn’t easy at first—we’re both very fiery when it comes to our creations—but we’ve truly found our groove. And it’s rooted in honor, reverence, joy, and a slow pace filled with loving communication. Without slow space and reverence for each other and the work, working together was a minefield. I can say with much gratitude, that phase is behind us. As far as keeping the two dynamics—romance and business—distinct, I’m not sure we do. Our creativity is such an integral part of who we are, that there is really just a constant flow and exchange of that energy. But I’ll say this, we know when to stop, when to rest, when to play. And we honor each other’s pace the best we can, because it’s rare that we’re on the same track in the same day. Being present, staying curious, and choosing love is the best way to stay in harmony. Oh, and humor. Keep it light and sexy, and you can’t go wrong. ## Q: *Grief Monster* grew out of JFo's own experience of loss. What inspired the two of you to build a publishing house dedicated to books like this, made from what you call "the sacred space of light, love, and freedom”? J & J Publishing House is an extension of who we are as humans and as creatives. Our lives are dedicated to that sacred space. Truth, Love, and Freedom are our guiding lights. The more we identify primarily with our spiritual selves—our souls, our eternal selves—the more we understand that it is the only true reality. Everything of this earth and the ego ends with our corporeal identity. The only thing we “take with us” is who and what we’ve become in our soul-reality. And the only thing we leave behind is how we’ve affected others—for better or worse. JFo and I strongly believe in our purpose and in our books, which are a manifestation of that purpose—individually and collaboratively. Bringing light to the reality of grief is such a perfect place to begin our journey. Until we all learn to turn our love and attention inward—to heal and honor and sanctify our sacred selves—the world will continue to devour itself. We need love; the world needs love. And it must start with each of us giving love to ourselves—learning what it even means to love our self—one patient moment at a time. ## Q: What's next for J & J Publishing House beyond *Grief Monster*'s November release? JFo and I have many wonderful publications in development. In October of 2025, JFo discovered that she is Autistic. At age 52, that was quite an earth-shattering moment. While it gave her a ton of relief—finally understanding why so much of her life has been rife with struggle—it was also a total dismantling of her identity. It was like going back to square one and learning how to live all over again. This would be overwhelming to anyone, and it put her into Autistic Burnout. She is still coming out of it nearly a year later. But throughout that time, she has learned and grown exponentially and beautifully as a result of all the light she’s shedding on her reality. It’s been magnificent to watch her blossom into authenticity. Since she entered burnout, she took a page (pun intended) from *Grief Monster* and has been illustrating a Diary of Late-Diagnosis \[and Burnout\] (Title TBD). It’s already absolutely fantastic. She is so excited about it, and so am I. As for me, in addition to developing my next two films—*Windows of Avalon*, a fictional feature, and *SEX | GOD*, a documentary—I wrote two books. One is a high-level reparenting compilation of letters to my inner child called *Dearest Jennifer*, and the other will be a collaborative work with JFo called *The Lion & The Crab: A Journey of Unlikely Soulmates* (a working title), which is a heartfelt series of illustrated vignettes following these two animals who couldn’t be more opposite—and who love and honor each other deeply. It’s the story of JFo (a Cancer—the Crab) and me (a Leo—the Lion), and highlights how to find harmony in intimate relationships in the face of differences. All of our publications are delved into on social media (instagram and Facebook) where you can follow our journey behind-the-scenes, and learn more about all things J & J Publishing House. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring story? Founded by Women elevates the voices of women making an impact. > Breaking barriers or paving the way for others? We'd love to feature you. Get in touch! 👉 [hi@foundedbywomen.org](mailto:hi@foundedbywomen.org) ### How an Endometriosis Diagnosis Led Domino Hawk to Build Lucki Moo House, a Truly Clean Skincare Brand URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/women-who-lead/how-an-endometriosis-diagnosis-led-domino-hawk-to-build-lucki-moo-house-a-truly-clean-skincare-brand/ Last updated: 2026-09-03T05:09:06.000Z When Domino Hawk was diagnosed with endometriosis at 29, it changed how she looked at everything she put on and in her body, including the beauty products she'd used for years as a professional editorial makeup artist. Digging into the industry she thought she knew, she found a market where "natural" and "organic" often mean little more than clever marketing, with only a small fraction of products actually living up to the label. So she started making her own skincare in her kitchen. What began as a personal experiment with oils, infusions, and botanicals grew into [Lucki Moo House](http://www.luckimoo.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org), a 100% organic skincare brand built on a simple premise: transparency shouldn't be optional, and clean ingredients shouldn't mean sacrificing luxury. We talked with Domino about the wake-up call that started it all, the lesson in patience that's shaped her approach to building slowly, and what's next for the brand, from a new deodorant launching next month to a full skincare line still in the works. > Know a founder (or are one) doing incredible work? **Founded by Women Awards** are open for entries. If you're building something bold, leading with purpose, or driving change in your industry, we'd love for you to enter. 👉 [foundedbywomen.org/awards](https://www.foundedbywomen.org/awards/) --- ## Q: What inspired you to start Lucki Moo House? When I was 29, I was diagnosed with endometriosis, which completely changed the way I viewed my body, my beauty routine, the feminine care products I used, and everything I brought into my environment. I began paying closer attention to ingredients and questioning products I had previously used without a second thought. As a former editorial make-up artist, I know the beauty industry inside and out. But this lifestyle change made me look at it through a different lens. I became increasingly frustrated by how often profit and consumption seemed to take priority over quality and transparency. With terms like natural, clean and organic used so freely in marketing, finding products that aligned with my values felt surprisingly difficult. In my determination to find skincare I felt comfortable using, I started making my own in my kitchen, simply for myself—experimenting with infusions, oils, and naturally derived scents. I loved learning about different botanicals, oils, and butters, and discovering how much Mother Nature has to offer. Creating something beautiful didn’t always require spending more; sometimes, it simply required more time and patience. What began as something deeply personal gradually grew into a much bigger idea: *What if I could create the kind of skincare brand I had been searching for?* As I dived deeper into the skincare market today the numbers were truly shocking. I discovered only 2-7% of skincare products being sold today are truly natural and that greenwashing and marketing is taking the forefront. A product according to FDA regulations can claim to be "natural" and "organic" even if it's 99% synthetic. This truly opened my eyes to the possibilities. There is a better way and we are doing it! Lucki Moo was born. I wanted to create products that felt beautiful and elevated while remaining uncompromising about the ingredients. Natural skincare doesn’t have to feel like a sacrifice—it can be luxurious, effective, and something you look forward to using.Transparency is incredibly important to me. I want Lucki Moo House to be a place where people don’t have to second-guess what they’re buying. When they see our logo, I want them to feel confident in what they’re putting on their skin and know that every ingredient has been chosen with intention. ## Q: What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learned building a 100% organic skincare brand? The biggest lesson has been learning to take it one step at a time. Although the brand is new, I am no stranger to the apothecary world. My mother paved the way for me as a child, teaching me about essential oils, spiritual practices, and clean living. That foundation has stayed with me throughout this journey. Building a brand can become overwhelming very quickly. Especially since I hold myself to a high standard and want the best for my customers. There is always another idea, another product you want to create, or another milestone you feel you should already have reached. I’ve learned that growing slowly and intentionally can be one of your greatest strengths—perfecting one product at a time. When you make a commitment not to cut corners, things sometimes take longer, and I’ve learned to be okay with that. I would much rather spend the extra time creating something beautiful and thoughtful that people will love and trust than rush something simply to get it to market. I’m learning to enjoy the process and remember that every thoughtful decision helps build the foundation of what I hope Lucki Moo House will become. ## Q: What’s next for Lucki Moo House? We have many ideas in the pipeline. Our all-natural deodorant is launching next month, and we’re extremely excited about it! I’m also looking forward to developing a full skincare line, including a signature cleanser, moisturizer, toner, and anti-aging serum—formulas I’ve been researching and experimenting with for years. Beyond that, I would love to create a fully organic makeup line that gives your skin a truly beautiful glow without compromising your health. Ultimately, I see our brand as a lifestyle centered on living more intentionally and being conscious of the products we choose for ourselves and our homes. Down the road, I would love to also expand into a 100% organic linen clothing line as well. Finding products that align with your values can take a lot of time and research, and I want to make that process easier. My goal is for Lucki Moo to become a trusted destination where people know we’ve already put thought and care into every ingredient and material we use. No matter how much we grow, transparency will always be at the heart of what we do. I want our customers to know exactly what they’re bringing into their homes and putting on their bodies—and to feel really good about that choice.Thank you again for including me and Lucki Moo House. I’m so happy to be part of the community! > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring story? Founded by Women elevates the voices of women making an impact. > Breaking barriers or paving the way for others? We'd love to feature you. Get in touch! 👉 [hi@foundedbywomen.org](mailto:hi@foundedbywomen.org) ### Breaking the Age Barrier: How Kim Anderson Is Building a Smarter, More Inclusive Talent Market URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/women-who-lead/breaking-the-age-barrier-how-kim-anderson-is-building-a-smarter-more-inclusive-talent-market/ Last updated: 2026-09-03T05:05:22.000Z After years spent watching highly qualified professionals over 50 get quietly filtered out of hiring pipelines, Kim Anderson decided the recruiting industry needed more than talk about inclusion. As a recruiting director, she saw the coded language firsthand, candidates dismissed as "overexperienced" or having "run out of runway", and realized that as a woman over 50 herself, she could easily face the same bias if her own job situation changed. That realization became the catalyst for [GreySource](http://www.greysource.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org). The problem Anderson set out to solve goes beyond combatting ageist myths. As more people exit the workforce than are born into it, both nationally and globally, and as people live and want to work longer, experienced and multigenerational teams are proving to deliver real business value through innovation, productivity, and stronger workplace culture. GreySource helps companies turn those advantages into measurable results while helping older candidates navigate age bias by matching them with employers who are genuinely committed to age-inclusive hiring. Anderson is now preparing to launch a large-scale talent platform that will give age-inclusive employers direct access to GreySource's curated community of experienced executive and professional talent. Unlike platforms that rely on job scraping or AI-only keyword matching, GreySource is built to keep a personal touch with every candidate and employer on the platform, making age inclusion a practical, hands-on part of modern recruiting. > Know a founder (or are one) doing incredible work? **Founded by Women Awards** are open for entries. If you're building something bold, leading with purpose, or driving change in your industry, we'd love for you to enter. 👉 [foundedbywomen.org/awards](https://www.foundedbywomen.org/awards/) --- ## Q: What inspired me to start GreySource? As a recruiting director, I was persistently seeing extremely well qualified professionals over 50 rejected from talent pipelines due to ageism. As I heard supposedly "inclusive" employers and hiring managers use terminology like "over experienced" or "out of runway" consistently, I realized as a +50 woman myself, that if my own job situation changed unexpectedly, I would be facing that same age discrimination and difficulty. So, I started looking around to see if anyone was doing something to address that and found no one really was tackling it head on in the recruitment and HR space. And I decided someone needed to do something about it-so I started GreySource to do just that. ## Q: What problem are you solving? The problem I am solving is that by combatting the myths of ageism, I am also creating a unique workforce solution at a time that more people are exiting the workforce than are being born into it-which is true nationally and globally. As people are living longer, the need and desire to work longer is imminent. Experienced, mature professionals and high-performing multigenerational teams deliver measurable business value: They strengthen innovation, productivity, and enrich workplace culture. I help companies turn these proven advantages into bottom line results and support older candidates overcome the ageist roadblocks in the job market by matching them with employers who are age inclusion smart in their hiring practices and company culture. ## Q: What's next for you? I am preparing to launch a large talent platform that will allow age inclusive employers to see the +50 talent community of experienced executive and professional talent that GreySource has curated and match with their hiring needs. Unlike other groups that are scraping jobs or using only AI to "match" random candidates based on keywords, GreySource will retain its personal touch with all candidates in our platform and all employers who wish to use our services. GreySource makes age inclusion a practical part of modern recruiting by directly connecting employers with executive and professional talent aged 50+ and by helping hiring teams dismantle the age bias that blocks high-impact talent from entering hiring pipelines. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring story? Founded by Women elevates the voices of women making an impact. > Breaking barriers or paving the way for others? We'd love to feature you. Get in touch! 👉 [hi@foundedbywomen.org](mailto:hi@foundedbywomen.org) ### Outside Lead HR Solutions URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/partners/hr/outside-lead-hr-solutions/ Last updated: 2026-09-03T04:25:43.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2026/09/image__4_.png) #### I’m Vanessa, founder of Outside Lead HR Solutions. I help nonprofits and mission-driven organizations build stronger HR systems, clearer roles, and workplaces where people feel supported. My approach is grounded in practical HR judgment, respect for the people doing the work, and the belief that structure and humanity work best together. - Website URL - [www.outsideleadhr.com](http://www.outsideleadhr.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) - Preferred contact email - [vmatibag@outsideleadhr.com](mailto:vmatibag@outsideleadhr.com) - LinkedIn: - [https://www.linkedin.com/in/vanessa-matibag-bb94a02/](https://www.linkedin.com/in/vanessa-matibag-bb94a02/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) - [Book a Session](https://calendly.com/vanessa-e-matibag/one-on-one-30-minute?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ### From Layoff to Leap of Faith: How Vanessa Matibag Built Outside Lead HR Solutions URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/women-who-lead/from-layoff-to-leap-of-faith-how-vanessa-matibag-built-outside-lead-hr-solutions/ Last updated: 2026-08-28T03:18:14.000Z After 17 years with one nonprofit, growing alongside it from its earliest days, Vanessa Matibag was laid off when the organization closed its doors. The obvious next move would have been to find another full-time role, but the layoff gave her something rare after two decades in HR: time to actually think about what she wanted next. Rather than jumping into another position, she took stock of everything she had built and decided to go out on her own, launching [Outside Lead HR Solutions](http://www.outsideleadhr.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org). Working exclusively with small to mid-sized nonprofits and mission-driven organizations, Vanessa consistently finds the same gap: not a lack of effort, but a lack of structure. HR in these organizations often grows by accident, pieced together across payroll, benefits, and whatever lands on the executive director's desk, with no one quite remembering why things work the way they do. Her approach starts with understanding what's actually happening on the ground, then building tools and processes the organization can sustain on its own, so the impact holds up long after the engagement ends. Looking ahead, Vanessa is focused on growing Outside Lead as a strategic fractional HR partner for nonprofits, sharpened by a recent rebrand and a new structured offering she calls the 3 Gears Framework. She's also expanding beyond one-on-one consulting into speaking, workshops, and panels, and broadening her reach into other corners of the mission-driven world where the same HR gaps show up again and again. > Know a founder (or are one) doing incredible work? **Founded by Women Awards** are open for entries. If you're building something bold, leading with purpose, or driving change in your industry, we'd love for you to enter. 👉 [foundedbywomen.org/awards](https://www.foundedbywomen.org/awards/) --- ***Q: You were laid off in early 2023 after years in the same role, and that became the turning point for founding Outside Lead HR Solutions. What made you decide to build your own practice rather than look for another full-time role?*** I was laid off from a nonprofit I'd been with for 17 years. I joined when it was basically a startup, grew alongside it, and then the organization closed its doors. After 17 years with one place, leaving to find another full-time role felt like the obvious next move, the natural thing to do. But the layoff gave me something I hadn't had in a long time: time to actually think about what I wanted, not just what position I could land next. Honestly, if that organization hadn't closed, I probably would have stayed with them all the way to retirement. That option was gone, so I had to ask myself a different question - what did I actually want this next chapter to look like? I took a hard look at everything I'd built over more than 20 years in HR. The skills, the relationships, the judgment you only get from doing the work that long, and realized I wanted more variety in my work and more choices. I knew I could bring that senior-level experience to other nonprofits that needed real HR guidance but weren't ready to hire a full-time HR leader. I talked it through with a colleague about going solo, and at some point you just have to take the leap. It wasn't part of some long-term plan. It started as a leap of faith in the middle of a hard transition. I wanted to control my own time, work for myself, and find out what else I was capable of at this stage of my life and career. That's the whole story behind Outside Lead HR Solutions. Three years later, I still have moments where I miss the predictability of a full-time job. But I don't see myself going back. I like being able to work closely with different organizations, help them through a particular stage of growth, and actually see the difference the work makes. ***Q: You work exclusively with small to mid-sized nonprofits and mission-driven organizations, often ones that have never had real HR support beyond payroll. What’s the biggest gap you see when you step in, and how do you build something that lasts after the engagement ends?*** The biggest gap is almost never effort or intention. Every leader I work with genuinely wants what's best for their organization and their people, and they're usually working hard to keep things running. The problem is that HR grew in pieces, almost by accident — payroll handled by one person, benefits by someone else, and any employee question landing on the executive director's desk because there was nowhere else for it to go. A process exists because someone built a spreadsheet years ago, and by the time I show up, nobody remembers why it works that way. There's a lot of goodwill in these organizations, just not much structure underneath it. So I start by understanding what's actually happening on the ground, including the workarounds people have quietly built to keep things moving. Some of those workarounds are genuinely smart and worth keeping. Others create confusion or eat up far more time than anyone realizes. From there, I focus on what the organization can realistically maintain once I'm gone. I'm not interested in leaving behind some complicated system that only works while I'm in the room. I build tools people will actually use, explain the thinking behind them, and make sure someone internally knows how to carry the work forward. What I want to leave isn't just a problem fixed; it’s building a foundation: an organization that knows how to retain its best people, that can build a real culture of equity and inclusion instead of just claiming one, and that can handle its next hard HR moment without picking up the phone to call me. That's the real test of this work, not what it looks like while I'm there, but whether it holds up after I'm gone. If it falls apart the moment the engagement ends, I haven't done my job. ***Q: What’s next for Outside Lead HR Solutions?*** I'm looking forward to growing Outside Lead as a strategic fractional HR partner for non-profit organizations. That's where I believe I can be most useful: working alongside leaders, helping them sort through what feels messy, and building the structure they need for whatever stage they're in. We also recently went through a rebrand, but our mission and direction hasn't changed. It's really about sharpening how I deliver the work. I streamlined my services into what I'm calling the 3 Gears Framework, which gives organizations a clearer, more structured way to work instead of a grab-bag of HR fixes. I still want Outside Lead to be the kind of partner I know many nonprofit leaders are looking for: experienced, straightforward, and willing to meet them where they are. I'm also getting out from behind one-on-one engagements more — doing more speaking, workshops, webinars, and panels, so I can reach leaders who might never book a consultation but still need to hear this. And I'm intentionally expanding beyond the corners of the nonprofit world I've worked in so far, into other industries within that space, because the same gaps show up everywhere mission-driven work is happening, not just in the pockets I've served historically. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring story? Founded by Women elevates the voices of women making an impact. > Breaking barriers or paving the way for others? We'd love to feature you. Get in touch! 👉 [hi@foundedbywomen.org](mailto:hi@foundedbywomen.org) ### The Political Life She Had to Rewrite: Jen Thompson on Waking Up, Walking Away, and Writing Wild Pivot URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/books/the-political-life-she-had-to-rewrite-jen-thompson-on-waking-up-walking-away-and-writing-wild-pivot/ Last updated: 2026-08-25T07:20:14.000Z [Jen Thompson](https://www.jenthompsonwritesthings.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) spent her early career doing everything right, at least by the standards she'd been raised on. Working as a congressional lawyer and campaign strategist, she rose fast, worked constantly, and built a life that looked enviable from the outside. What it wasn't, she says, was hers. It took a near-fatal car accident on the campaign trail to force the reckoning she'd been outrunning for years. That reckoning became *Wild Pivot: Notes from a Political Life Rewritten*, published by She Writes Press, a memoir nearly two decades in the making and, as she puts it, both a brave exploration of the cost of telling the truth and a raw personal reflection from a woman who walked away from a powerful political identity to discover her authentic self. The book moves between past and present, mixing painful, jarring detail with the kind of self-deprecating humor she says got her through the hardest parts of unwiring old loyalties. Now Chief of Staff at the University of Redlands and writing weekly on Substack to a fast-growing readership, Jen talks here about why she finally told this story, what she hopes readers recognize in it, and what she's already thinking about writing next. > Know a founder (or are one) doing incredible work? **Founded by Women Awards** are open for entries. If you're building something bold, leading with purpose, or driving change in your industry, we'd love for you to enter. 👉 [foundedbywomen.org/awards](https://www.foundedbywomen.org/awards/) --- ## Q: What inspired you to write *Wild Pivot*? Like so many of us, I am a woman who was taught by both example and conditioning to become someone totally contrary to the woman I actually am – on a soul level, I mean. I was raised as a Christian Conservative Republican, and for many years, I worked as a lawyer in the U.S. Congress and campaign politics promoting those values. I rose quickly, making lots of money and gaining power, and I craved more of both. I dedicated my early life to achieving as much success as I could at any cost – literally. In those days, I worked around the clock, including weekends, holidays – even on Christmas. What I never did was listen. Looking back, I see how deeply I ignored what I call my own inner knowing for years and even decades. The careful curation of my life looked so enviable; aspirational even. I plowed through to promote that image. My soul, however, was screaming. It took a car accident that nearly killed me on the campaign trail to finally get me to wake up. *Wild Pivot* is about what it meant for me to wake up – and what happened after. The thread of the book is the very pivotal U.S. Senate campaign that I ran, but the themes explore the messy process of personal and political transformation. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2026/08/WildPivot_FINALCover.jpeg) I've been writing *Wild Pivot* for the better part of twenty years. I was inspired to begin writing as a way to work through my own demons. As I wrote the book, though, I realized how many of us, and particularly women, have faced the same issues I have even though our stories are different. Too often, we get on the treadmills of our lives and never stop, and then we wonder why and how we got so wildly off course from where we wished we were or where we thought we would be. I was driven to write as honestly as I could about the forces that caused this to happen to me, and to show that there is a way back home to our true selves – as disruptive and difficult as that can be. ## Q: What problem are you hoping to help readers work through? We are all wired in certain ways by our upbringing and circumstances. The saying goes that what doesn't kill us makes us stronger, and if that is true, I think I am the posterchild! Through a series of very difficult events that forced me into a reckoning with my own self, I discovered that my wiring conflicted deeply with the person I am at my core. As unique as my story is – the excitement of politics on the campaign and in Congress, my world travels, the people I've met -- I've found that it really is not that unique at all. Each of us has a story about how we ended up somewhere – a job, a marriage, a life – that does not fit with who we are. As women, so many of us wake up one day and think, How on earth did I end up here? *Wild Pivot* is about how blind loyalty develops and shapes a woman over time, how glorious it feels to be a celebrated member of a powerful group, and what happens when we finally find the courage to rediscover who we are. It is also a story about grappling with my past and trying to reconcile who I was with who I am now. The central issues of *Wild Pivot* are relevant to almost every woman I know. Who am I? What do I stand for? Is it enough that my life looks good on the outside, even if I'm falling apart on the inside? Unwiring myself from my political, religious and personal values was a harrowing process that took decades. I made a lot of mistakes. *Wild Pivot* travels back and forth in time through vignettes between my past and present with painful lessons described in raw, jarring detail. But it is also funny, because I believe that laughing at myself is a very powerful medicine. And believe me, there is a lot to laugh about. In the end, *Wild Pivot* is meant to be a memoir of hope. Although there are huge risks in stepping away from the image we've created for ourselves and daring to forge a path authentic to our own lives, the rewards in so doing are immeasurable. We become free to live as ourselves and lift others up at the same time. ## Q: What's next for you? For the next few months, I will be out promoting my book and that's really exciting for me. I used to be a TV political commentator, and it will be fun to flex those muscles again. About a year ago, I started a Substack. I publish essays every Saturday to get my writing out there, and wow, that's been a lot of work, but rewarding! I started last August with 16 followers, and over 1400 people follow me now, so I'm excited to keep going with that. On Substack, I write about all this stuff I talk about here – rewiring, courage, and being true to ourselves. I have worked as a Chief of Staff since my political days, and I'm now Chief of Staff at the University of Redlands in Southern California. I love my job! I have two teenage sons, the oldest of whom will be starting college this fall. My plate is very full, and I'm juggling all the things and hoping to keep the balls at least somewhat in the air! I'm also starting to think about writing my next book. I have a lot of ideas and I'm seeing where they lead me. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring story? Founded by Women elevates the voices of women making an impact. > Breaking barriers or paving the way for others? We'd love to feature you. Get in touch! 👉 [hi@foundedbywomen.org](mailto:hi@foundedbywomen.org) ### From Newsroom to Driver's Seat: How Doris Leung Built Hong Kong's First Wheelchair-Accessible Taxi Service URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/women-who-lead/from-newsroom-to-drivers-seat-how-doris-leung-built-hong-kongs-first-wheelchair-accessible-taxi-service/ Last updated: 2026-08-25T07:12:20.000Z Doris Leung spent years reporting other people's stories as a broadcast journalist in Hong Kong. Then her own mother became a wheelchair user, and Doris saw firsthand what she calls a "serious and unacceptable social injustice": elders and caregivers left with no safe, legal option for wheelchair transport, forced instead into unregulated vans with no hygiene standards and unpredictable fares. Rather than keep covering the story, she decided to become it. In 2o09 she left journalism to found [Diamond Cab](https://diamondcab.com.hk/?ref=foundedbywomen.org), Hong Kong's first professional wheelchair-accessible taxi service, building not just a fleet but an entire career path for drivers trained in what she calls "Driving with Empathy." Sixteen-plus years later, that fleet has grown alongside partnerships like Joie Taxi, and the mission has expanded well beyond Hong Kong: Diamond Cabby now operates in the UK, Diamond Tech is turning veteran drivers' skills into scalable training systems, and the Diamond Cab Foundation extends the service to those who can't afford it. In this interview, Doris talks about the partnership that made scaling possible without buying a single new vehicle, what she tells founders trying to build a business around a problem nobody else is solving, and where the Diamond brand goes next. > Know a founder (or are one) doing incredible work? **Founded by Women Awards** are open for entries. If you're building something bold, leading with purpose, or driving change in your industry, we'd love for you to enter. 👉 [foundedbywomen.org/awards](https://www.foundedbywomen.org/awards/) --- ### Q: You were working as a broadcast journalist when your mother became a wheelchair user, and that experience led you to found Diamond Cab. What made you decide to leave journalism and build the service yourself rather than campaign for someone else to do it? As the professional and legal wheelchair accessible taxi market was underdeveloped for decades in Hong Kong while the similar transportation services provided by the social welfare organizations are not user friendly and convenient to meet the huge aging care market, there are popular illegal vans which transport the printers, machines, buckets, etc with a mechanic platform at the back make illegal wheelchair passenger transportation business. I found this is serious and unacceptable social injustice as the elders and the care takers have NO CHOICE but have to pay for an unreasonable fare to take high risks and suffer from bad hygiene in these illegal vans. Once my beloved mum had to take the illegal van for wheelchair passengers once, my heart was broken as she is really deserved to have a much better professional Diamond Cab! I truly understand the economics, ONLY when we have built a new reliable, flexible and affordable wheelchair transportation service, these illegal van services can be marginalized and diminished gradually. Instead of reporting this social injustice issue as a TV journalist, I better roll up my sleeves to make the Diamond Cab fleet happen together with my passionate team mates. After 16+ years, we have achieved to create the wheelchair taxi ecosystem sustainably and successfully. A wheelchair taxi driver is a profession that can be well-trained and have career path in Hong Kong Felix Ng, the young Diamond Cab driver has leant about Diamond Cab in his primary school journey as he lived near the hospital. Then he studied Civil Engineering in the university and picked the subject of Transportation Engineering which recalled and inspired him the historical role of Diamond Cab in the history of taxi in Hong Kong. After graduation, Felix finished the Driving with Empathy Training Course and becomes a part-time Diamond Cab driver as his first job! Now Felix joined us as Operations and Administration Officer, supporting the operations and business development of Diamond Cab. The upcoming Student Experiential Learning Course for Driving with Empathy is organized by Felix, a great bold move for our business development in education and parental market. Starting up Diamond Cab is not just serving the wheelchair passengers including my beloved mum, but also nurturing the young generations with empathy to serve our rapid aging populations with endless energy and creativity. I love social venture because its double bottom lines of creating social impact by making business are really impactful and sustainable in changing the imperfect world. ### Q: Diamond Cab was the first wheelchair-accessible taxi service of its kind in Hong Kong, and it inspired others to follow. What was the hardest part of getting it off the ground, and what would you tell someone trying to build a business around a social problem nobody else is solving? In Hong Kong, taxi and taxi licenses are private assets owned by individuals or companies. Each taxi license is valued millions Hong Kong dollars which can be traded in the free market. To be honest, nearly all taxi owners in Hong Kong are selfish or not rich enough to start the challenging Diamond Cab business partnering with me. We are so lucky to have met Tai Wo Motors decision makers and get their support to create an unprecedented wheelchair taxi transportation market with much taxi rent discount, knowledge and network support. Tai Wo team is not only my pioneering partner, then become the main investor and shareholder, now the taxi fleet partner Joie Taxi. Diamond Cab does not need to buy the new wheelchair accessible vehicles to scale up, we just need to focus on professional training and managing our wheelchair taxis with our service standard. Now Diamond Cab and Joie Taxi have become the market leader not limited to wheelchair accessible taxi in Hong Kong and after collaborating more than a year, we started the new Retraining course for our existing wheelchair taxi drivers, guarantees to keep our Diamond grade wheelchair taxi transportation service. So I think how to find a really compatible and long lasting partner in the industry who has vision and much resources o grow with the social venture is the key factor to success. Mission has to been aligned and win-win-win scenarios can then be created and sustained. This happy marriage of commercial and social business mode needs to be well managed from time to time, making sure the changing market benefits both parties in the long run. ### Q: You’ve since launched Diamond Cabby in the UK, Diamond Tech, and the Diamond Cab Foundation. What’s next, and how do you decide which new venture is worth pursuing? Each Diamond branded company has its own mission and focus but interacts with each other to maximize the available resources for scaling the impact and sustainability. **Diamond Cab Hong Kong** innovates the first wheelchair accessible taxi service and caters for the middle class family market. **Diamond Cab Foundation** gathers donations to support the underprivileged wheelchair users so they enjoy the same Diamond Cab services. **Diamond Tech** computerizes the excellent driving skills of empathy of veteran Diamond Cab drivers then we can train up our next generations with scientific and systematic training courses. **Diamond Cabby UK** extends the mission of Diamond Cab Hong Kong with our fruitful operation experience and creates new empathetic transportation service market in Europe. My vision is to start in Manchester, then other cities in the UK, followed by more cities in other European countries. As long as we can recruit, train and retain the empathetic drivers like the 80+ ones in Hong Kong, we can keep scaling our Diamonds! > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring story? Founded by Women elevates the voices of women making an impact. > Breaking barriers or paving the way for others? We'd love to feature you. Get in touch! 👉 [hi@foundedbywomen.org](mailto:hi@foundedbywomen.org) ### Branch and Bramble URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/partners/marketing/branch-and-bramble/ Last updated: 2026-08-20T03:58:21.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2026/08/Branch-Bramble_500x200.png) #### Branch and Bramble turns audience curiosity into customer obsession for DTC brands. The award-winning, women-owned digital marketing agency integrates behavioral psychology and empathetic marketing with performance-driven creative, data and analytics, and results-centered marketing for brands across lifestyle, health and wellness, sports, food and beverage, and more. Website URL: [https://www.branchandbramble.com](https://www.branchandbramble.com/?utm%5Fsource=founded-by-women&utm%5Fmedium=earned-click&utm%5Fcampaign=partner-profile) ****Preferred contact email:** [emily@branchandbramble.com](mailto:emily@branchandbramble.com) ****LinkedIn:** [https://www.linkedin.com/company/branchbramble](https://www.linkedin.com/company/branchbramble?ref=foundedbywomen.org) [Chat with us](https://www.branchandbramble.com/contact?utm%5Fsource=founded-by-women&utm%5Fmedium=earned-click&utm%5Fcampaign=partner-profile) ### Beyond the Sleep Rules: Rethinking Rest with Stephanie Romiszewski URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/women-who-lead/beyond-the-sleep-rules-rethinking-rest-with-stephanie-romiszewski/ Last updated: 2026-08-17T15:08:28.000Z Stephanie Romiszewski is a Sleep Physiologist and the author of [*Think Less, Sleep More*](https://www.amazon.co.uk/Think-Less-Sleep-More-Stress-Free/dp/1805464558/%20?ref=foundedbywomen.org) (Atlantic Books, 2026). She's also the founder of [Sleepyhead Clinic](http://www.sleepyheadclinic.co.uk/?ref=foundedbywomen.org), which supports both individuals and organisations, and the creator of BBC Maestro's course, [Sleep Better](https://www.bbcmaestro.com/courses/stephanie-romiszewski/sleep-better?ref=foundedbywomen.org). Drawing on her experience in sleep and behavioural sleep medicine, alongside research and training at Harvard Medical School, Stephanie has become known for a simple but counterintuitive message: too many rigid rules around sleep can sometimes become part of the problem. Good sleepers, she points out, aren't spending their days engineering the perfect night. It's an idea that runs against most conventional sleep advice, and one that has become an important part of her approach. In this interview, Stephanie explains how to tell a genuinely helpful sleep habit from an obsessive one, why sleep protocols often need to be adapted for real life, and what led her to build re:sleep, a way of making that same expertise accessible far beyond the clinic room. > Know a founder (or are one) doing incredible work? **Founded by Women Awards** are open for entries. If you're building something bold, leading with purpose, or driving change in your industry, we'd love for you to enter. 👉 [foundedbywomen.org/awards](https://www.foundedbywomen.org/awards/) --- ## Q: You’ve talked about how obsessive rituals around sleep can backfire, since “normal sleepers don’t do this.” How do you help clients tell the difference between helpful sleep habits and counterproductive obsession? The simplest test is: does this habit support your sleep, or have you started believing you need it in order to sleep? Good sleepers generally aren’t spending their day trying to engineer the perfect night. Things like regular morning light, movement and some consistency are helpful because they support the biology that regulates sleep. But when your routine becomes a long list of rules - no screens, perfect temperature, supplements, a specific bedtime ritual - and breaking one makes you anxious, we’ve probably crossed into something counterproductive. Sleep is supposed to be adaptable. Even if you start over-using the most influential things, they can backfire. Your relationship with sleep is very important. ## Q: You’ve adapted CBT-I methods from Harvard Medical School research to work in real life, not just in a lab. What gap did you see between traditional sleep medicine and what people actually needed? My time at Harvard was really important in shaping how I understand sleep and circadian biology, but my clinical approach has developed across years of working in sleep medicine and behavioural sleep medicine - with thousands of patients. The gap I kept seeing was between what we know scientifically about how sleep is regulated and the increasingly complicated advice people were being given about how to achieve it. There is a difference between something that can have some influence on sleep, and something that can really improve your sleep long-term when it's not working for you. There's also a huge difference between lab-like protocols and how we might adapt them for people's real lives. Strategies must be sustainable and adaptable. But it's also about the story you have told yourself around your sleep and making sure that this in itself is not impeding your sleep. ## Q: What drove you to move from clinical practice into building Sleepyhead Clinic and re:sleep? How do you balance running both while treating sleep disorders professionally? I didn’t really want to move *away* from clinical practice, I wanted to find ways of getting good behavioural sleep medicine to more people. Sleepyhead Clinic allowed me to build the kind of service I felt was missing: evidence-based, highly individualised and without the fear and perfectionism that has grown up around sleep. re:sleep came from the same problem at a different scale: how do we make that expertise accessible beyond a one-to-one clinic room? Balancing everything is still a work in progress, but remaining clinically active is important to me because it keeps everything else I do grounded in what people are actually struggling with. Really, it's about spreading healthy sleep messages as far as I can. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring story? Founded by Women elevates the voices of women making an impact. > Breaking barriers or paving the way for others? We'd love to feature you. Get in touch! 👉 [hi@foundedbywomen.org](mailto:hi@foundedbywomen.org) ### Dr. Elizabeth Newman-Earl: Turning Lived Experience as a Military Spouse Into a Social Enterprise URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/women-who-lead/dr-elizabeth-newman-earl-turning-lived-experience-as-a-military-spouse-into-a-social-enterprise/ Last updated: 2026-08-13T03:31:32.000Z Dr. Elizabeth Newman-Earl knows the reality of military spouse life firsthand. After following her Army husband overseas and stepping away from her own career in 2015, she completed a PhD in Critical Military Studies and Sociology, an experience that became the foundation for e50K, a social enterprise entirely led by Armed Forces and veteran spouses. Built around five pillars, Education, Employment, Engagement, Enterprise, and Environment, e50K has employed over 240 people across various contracts and paid out more than £1m in salaries over the past five years, all while running e50K Strategic Advisory as a commercially sustainable consultancy supporting multinational organizations on social value and PPN 06/20 compliance. In this interview, she talks about the turning point that transformed her research into a working enterprise, the challenge of building two businesses at once with limited resources, and what she wishes more companies understood about creating genuine community value instead of simply checking compliance boxes. > Know a founder (or are one) doing incredible work? **Founded by Women Awards** are open for entries. If you're building something bold, leading with purpose, or driving change in your industry, we'd love for you to enter. 👉 [foundedbywomen.org/awards](https://www.foundedbywomen.org/awards/) --- **Q:** You finished your PhD in Critical Military Studies and Sociology while following your Army husband overseas, stepping away from your career since 2015\. What was the turning point that transformed your research into e50K, and what advice would you give to other military spouses (or women in similar "following" situations) who are trying to figure out what's next when traditional career paths don't fit their reality? **A:** I knew that I wanted to make my PhD count, or at least that the words I heard from the women I interviewed wouldn't fall on deaf ears. Initially I was unsure as to how I could make a difference but then, unexpectedly, I was invited to work as an SME supporting Amey in the recontracting of defence housing management and this very much set the trajectory for e50K. I was asked to help them on answering three questions 1. Improving the Lived Experience \[for those living in Service Family Accommodation\] 2. Improving occupancy satisfaction \[military personnel are known as occupants of SFA, and it is only the serving family member who can sign the agreement\] 3. Social Value It was really the first two which opened the way for something to be done. So often within the defence community we are offered a new play park or the opportunity is either linked to something put on by the military such as a coffee morning or regiment/corps/battalion event. Otherwise, a lot of focus is on jobs and skills which, whilst hugely valuable, doesn't get to the heart of what our community needs. A place of connectivity, of purpose that sits outside of one's role within the family or against the military. Essentially a space for spouses and partners to find themselves and have the opportunity to invest in themselves amidst the pretty unrelentless pace of military living. Amey's MD, Craig McGilvray, saw this a chance to build bridges into the defence community and reset the relationship with those living in SFA. The advice I would give other spouses and partners who are considering how to make non-traditional career paths….it can be hard and you have to be absolutely sure that you want to do it as it can be pretty lonely and tough out there. BUT that being said, there is a great network of us out there and pretty much everyone is keen to help and support, open doors, make introductions where we can. Really think about what you are wanting to achieve, really make sure you know your landscape, understand who and what your competitors and get a great mentor. I have been so lucky as a result of accessing Heropreneuers and their mentoring scheme. Steve, who I met in 2022, has been with us for four years and is now the Chairman of our board. He has become a really close and dear friend and I couldn't imagine being on this journey without his wisdom, his support and his generosity. **Q:** e50K is entirely led by Armed Forces and veteran spouses, and you've built it around five value pillars (Education, Employment, Engagement, Enterprise, Environment). How do you balance delivering measurable community impact, the polytunnels, Move You In Packs, Bramble Woods transformations, while also running e50K Strategic Advisory as a commercially sustainable consultancy? What's the biggest challenge in building a social enterprise that's both impactful and financially viable? **A:** Ha, that's a tough one! I think to start off with being slightly naïve about the enormity of what I was embarking upon helped because building one business let alone two with no money is a tough gig! We were lucky that we had some initial backing from Amey which kept the wolf from the door for the first year and that we managed to drum up business for the advisory side, but it has been for a long time a hand to mouth affair. I think the biggest challenge is making sure that there is enough time to invest in both companies because as soon as you start spending more time on one then the other one needs you too. So, I have been incredibly lucky in being able to find and hold onto the most amazing people who have believed in the vision and have done the hard yards with me. Firstly, having a senior figure such as Brig. Richard Dennis allowed me a foot in the door where I could start building my own network across defence, where I could have the right conversations with the people that matter. Secondly, I have an amazing team who are so committed to our mission that they all give so much and believe in what we are trying to do to help us succeed. I do think the fact that we are mission led has made a difference in terms of approaching the major players in industry and that we very much do what we challenge industry to do. We have employed over 240 people on various contracts over the past 5 years, we have paid over £1m in salaries in that time so we don't sit in an ivory tower, we absolutely roll our sleeves up and get involved ourselves. We don't always get it right, and we always seek to learn as to how we can be better, how we can support more people and grow our offering and capability. We have ambitions to grow and deliver across the UK defence estate and we are always looking for funders and supporters to open doors, introduce us to the right people so we can continue to grow our mission, make the impacts that we know are still desperately needed within Defence. So often our community is packaged as one: the Armed Forces Families, military wives or just the 'military'. Within our community there are so many needs coupled with such limited funds within defence that organisations such as e50K is so critical and we want to be able to widen our reach and our footprint to support as many people as we can. **Q:** Through e50K Strategic Advisory, you work with multinational organizations on social value, impact measurement, and procurement (PPN 06/20 compliance). How do you position yourself as a credible strategic partner to large enterprises when you're running a small, remote team? And what do you wish more companies understood about creating genuine community value versus just checking boxes for compliance? **A:** That is a great question and also a great challenge. We are indeed a small but mighty team and often it does feel a bit like David and Goliath when we go into initial meetings but our track record of advising on £18BN of government procurement, delivering a 16x multiplier on our original investment does at least give us the credibility of being at the table. We have also worked closely with MOD to consider how Social Value should be delivered and wider trader associations as to what good looks like in this space that I do believe we have a hugely unique offer to those we work with. Over the past 5 years industry has shown that they are committed to making a difference in terms of delivering Social Value however, there are challenges and nuances within that. With the maturing of social value within contracts and recent changes that have been announced under PPN026 (August 2026) there does seem to be a real impetus from central government to hone our focus on skills and training. This is alongside the increased weighting of social value, any contract over £5m in value will have a 20% social value weighting plus an increased focus on assurance and verification. We expect more changes to be announced in Autumn 2026 with regards to wider community wealth building under the guise of social justice and growth in every postcode which is where I believe the work we have historically done at Bramble Woods will now sit. So, with that being said, we must bear in mind that a broadbrush approach does not work within any community, and within defence there is no one size fits all solution. Often, we have heard 'we'll organise a CV writing workshop and some interview skill' as if that is the magic bullet that we have been missing. Where we challenge companies is to go beyond that, encouraging upstream personal growth providing low level skills and training through community participation. Weeding Wednesday, Bee50K, Crafty Club, Bramble Brews and other bespoke programmes provides the space for our volunteers to find themselves again and recognise the skills they have and their own capability. All of these activities have been designed by the team at Bramble Woods and it works as its sympathetic to the local needs and desires. These programmes and activities have been designed collegiately without the inference 'you must do this, you must do that to get this qualification'. Everything we do is linked to our key delivery pillars which all deliver into social value requirements and community wealth building at a lower pace after which our members are then ready to present themselves to such a workshop with a real sense of personal wealth and capability. Most companies we work with are sympathetic as to what is needed and I am convinced that e50K having the experience of delivering in the field, of the whole team being in and of the defence world, provides us with the credibility and the right to challenge what is proposed. Whilst often on a bigger scale we never ask companies to do something that we have not trialled ourselves, be that biodiversity net gain and renewal or developing skills focused cohorts, we do believe that we understand what works and know how to deliver it into our community settings. We also must balance this insider knowledge directly to the ask of client's requirements and make sure that there is value add being delivered as a direct result of the procurement process. Again, being able to draw on our specialist position provides the Lived Experience where we can challenge and push clients into making promises that will have a direct and positive impact on our community and not just be box ticking exercise. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring story? Founded by Women elevates the voices of women making an impact. > Breaking barriers or paving the way for others? We'd love to feature you. Get in touch! 👉 [hi@foundedbywomen.org](mailto:hi@foundedbywomen.org) ### Jools Barrow-Read on Building RedWizard and the Future of External Workforce Governance URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/women-who-lead/jools-barrow-read-on-building-redwizard-and-the-future-of-external-workforce-governance/ Last updated: 2026-08-11T06:03:09.000Z Jools Barrow-Read founded [RedWizard](https://redwizard.consulting/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) in 2014 after years spent designing PMO topologies for large organisations, where she saw firsthand that even the best-designed structures fail without strong connections between the parts. That insight became the foundation of RedWizard, a UK-based consultancy helping businesses navigate the increasingly complex world of contractors, freelancers, agency workers, and SOW suppliers. Rather than treating governance, compliance, and workforce strategy as separate problems, Jools built RedWizard around the idea that the external workforce is an ecosystem, one where information flow, decision-making, and accountability all have to work together. That thinking has shaped RedWizard's proprietary Concerto® model, which maps how different parts of an organisation's external workforce capability connect and influence one another, giving leaders a clearer path to reducing risk and using external talent strategically. In this interview, Jools shares what inspired her to start RedWizard, the problem she set out to solve, and what's next as she scales Concerto® and RedWizard's new capability-building platform, Learn, alongside the hands-on consulting work that has defined the business since day one. > Know a founder (or are one) doing incredible work? **Founded by Women Awards** are open for entries. If you're building something bold, leading with purpose, or driving change in your industry, we'd love for you to enter. 👉 [foundedbywomen.org/awards](https://www.foundedbywomen.org/awards/) ## Q: What inspired you to start RedWizard? My route into this work was not especially linear. I trained at Chelsea School of Art and, before I ever found myself in PMO, I ran an independent record label out of Lisbon. So, I think I have always been drawn to work that brings different people, ideas and moving parts together. When I later returned to London and fell into PMO, that instinct became much more structured. RedWizard really came from the work I was doing then, designing PMO structures for complex organisations. I was never just looking at one service in isolation. I was looking at how all the parts fitted together across departments, portfolios and programmes, and I learnt very quickly that the thing that made the difference was not the framework itself. It was the connection between the moving parts. When I was asked to build a PMO in the external workforce space, I could see the same issue everywhere. Businesses needed flexibility, but the way they managed that external workforce was often fragmented. Different teams owned different bits, processes did not join up, and important tasks were getting stranded between functions. RedWizard was built to help organisations bring more coherence, visibility and right-sized governance to the workforce they already depended on. ## Q: What problem are you solving? We help businesses get far more confident about how they use a flexible external workforce: contractors, freelancers, agency workers and SOW suppliers. Most organisations rely on that talent, but many are still trying to manage it through processes and ownership models that they either outgrew some time ago or never really developed at all. That creates a very practical problem. Legislation is changing, different functions are responsible for different parts of the journey, and no one is ultimately accountable. So, the workforce is essential to the business, but it is not always well understood. That is when compliance risk increases, cost control becomes harder, and opportunities to use external talent well are missed. What we do is help organisations build maturity around that. That means clearer governance, better visibility, stronger decision-making and a joined-up operating model. It is not governance for governance's sake. It is about making sure people know what good looks like, decisions are made in the right place, and the business can use external talent with confidence. I think this matters even more now because work itself is changing. More people want choice in how they work, and AI is forcing organisations to think differently about what gets done by employees, what is borrowed or bought from outside, and what might be automated altogether. Our role is to help businesses make those choices deliberately, safely and in a way that works for both the organisation and the people doing the work. ## Q: What's next for you? The next chapter is about scaling Concerto® and our Learn programme, while still doing the consulting work that has always been at the heart of RedWizard. Concerto® is the model I have wanted to get out of my head and into the world for a long time. We are in Phase 1 today. At this stage, the AI-enabled conversation engine helps clients reach out to lots of people across their business and gather input on the current state of their external workforce practices. The model currently includes 40 external workforce capabilities, and we continue to refine those and add new capabilities as the industry itself matures. The assessment in the tool is deliberately quite structured at the moment. It reports maturity indicators for each capability tested, rather than pretending the AI can yet understand all the relationships across the full ecosystem on its own. The consolidated output goes to a dedicated Concerto Consultant, someone who understands the client's industry, who can then contextualise and interpret what the tool has surfaced. That human-in-the-loop element is really important. It means clients get the benefit of technology at scale, but also the judgement and experience needed to make sense of what the findings mean for them. Learn is the capability-building piece. A lot of managers are expected to engage and manage external workers without ever really being taught how to do it well. Learn is designed to make that knowledge practical and accessible, whether someone wants to read, watch, or just get quick guidance at the point they need it. Compliance is often where organisations start, because that is where the immediate risk is, but the bigger opportunity is helping managers build confidence and make better day-to-day decisions. The consulting work will continue alongside that, because that is still core to who we are. We are not a consultancy that hands over a paper and walks away. We get embedded, work as an extension of the client's team, and help them make the change happen. That execution focus is what built RedWizard, and I do not see that changing. Over time, the valuable experience and case studies from client work will feed back into the model, helping us refine and strengthen those notional relationships between capabilities. As clients act on the recommendations, we can learn more about the patterns consultants already recognise through experience: where one capability influences another, what tends to unlock progress, and what creates friction. The more we can capture and evidence that, the more Concerto® can evolve into an assessment tool that organisations can use more widely as part of a subscription-based service. That is the direction of travel: combining AI-enabled reach, a strong external workforce capability model and expert human interpretation, then learning from real client outcomes so the platform becomes more powerful over time. For me, it is about connecting what businesses need, how people want to work, and the governance that makes it all sustainable. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring story? Founded by Women elevates the voices of women making an impact. > Breaking barriers or paving the way for others? We'd love to feature you. Get in touch! 👉 [hi@foundedbywomen.org](mailto:hi@foundedbywomen.org) ### Dr. Silja Litvin: Why the "Soft Skills" Are the Real Bottom Line for Leaders URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/women-who-lead/dr-silja-litvin-why-the-soft-skills-are-the-real-bottom-line-for-leaders/ Last updated: 2026-08-10T11:15:02.000Z Dr. Silja Litvin brings a rare combination to executive coaching: a background as a clinical psychologist, over a decade as CEO of [PsycApps](https://psycapps.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org), an evidence-based mental health company, and firsthand experience navigating the pressures of building and running a business. In addition to leading her company, she also works with C-suite executives at medium to large organizations, including listed companies, across the UK and Europe, bringing a clinical lens into a field that is usually forward-looking, strength-based, and focused on personal development rather than deep psychological work. In this interview, she unpacks why so-called "soft skills" are anything but soft, the biggest misconception leaders have about their own impact on their teams, and why the intersection of psychology and business is where real organizational change happens. > Know a founder (or are one) doing incredible work? **Founded by Women Awards** are open for entries. If you're building something bold, leading with purpose, or driving change in your industry, we'd love for you to enter. 👉 [foundedbywomen.org/awards](https://www.foundedbywomen.org/awards/) --- ## **Q: As a psychologist and founder of PsycApps, what inspired you to bring a clinical psychology lens into executive coaching?** While leading my evidence-based mental health company, PsycApps, I learned more about running a business, managing day-to-day operations, and working in and with teams than a psychologist typically would. I was often able to use my psychological background to help me connect with my employees and clients, as well as monitor my own mental wellbeing so that I knew when to take a break, set a boundary, or seek support. But despite that training, I was often blind to opportunities or risks and had to learn the hard way because, when you’re in the thick of it, you can’t always maintain the meta perspective you feel you ‘should’. Gaining my coaching credentials opened up a new horizon that benefited me far more than I expected. I expected to help *others* push past limitations and acquire skills; I didn’t expect to discover new levels of self-reflection or new ways of using systems I had learned about but never implemented. Today, for example, I would approach a struggling employee quite differently, helping them find their own solutions rather than bombarding them with ideas and suggestions about how to perform better. Business is - despite what it sometimes looks like - a composition of human interactions: nothing can be done without connecting, exchanging, and managing relationships. The better you are at managing yourself and others, the better the business will be. This is supported by over a hundred peer-reviewed studies. Executive coaching, unlike most individual therapy, is largely forward-thinking, strength-based, and personal-development-oriented. It doesn’t take a deep dive into trauma or healing but builds on talent and skills. If you add clinical psychology into the mix, you can multiply the results by customising coaching skills in a deeper and more effective way, which is what makes it so attractive to me. I have seen so many great leaders and innovative minds achieve extraordinary results through pure willpower and raw talent. It is truly impressive. Add coaching to the mix, allowing them to build missing emotional, interpersonal, self-regulation, and stress-management skills, and you can sit back and marvel at what more they can do. ## **Q: What's the biggest misconception leaders have about what's actually driving their performance or team dynamics that a psychological perspective reveals?** I think the biggest misconception that many leaders have is how much their missing skills or poor leadership negatively impact their employees and, therefore, their business numbers, whatever those are: **Leaders judge themselves according to their intentions, but employees experience them through their repeated behaviour and impact.** That important insight leads to 75% of people saying the most stressful aspect of their job is their immediate boss, and that 70% of employees would forgo part of their compensation if it meant getting rid of their boss. - Let that sit with you… Leadership psychology is a vast and messy field, with multiple great minds leading schools of thought that all have a foundation and an effect of some sort. Unfortunately, it’s impossible to point out the ONE leadership strategy that is effective or isn’t. What stands out to me, personally, in the literature is research introduced by Professor Hogan (you may have heard of the evidence-based personality assessment called ‘Hogan Personality Inventory’ and more): **The 4 Core Characteristics of Good Leaders** Integrity: Leaders must be honest, trustworthy, transparent, and fair. Judgment: Leaders need to make sound decisions that guide the team in the right direction. Competence: Leaders must possess deep knowledge and expertise in the team’s business. Vision: Leaders must provide a clear plan that justifies the team's temporary unselfish behaviour. In order to show these competencies, you need to, first, be aware of them and, second, understand how to accomplish them. ## **Q: What's next for you, and what would you tell other founders building at the intersection of psychology and business?** I have been working, and am looking forward to doing so more, with C-suite executives of medium to large entities, including listed companies, mostly in the UK and Europe. I am very much looking forward to working alongside leaders who understand that the so-called ‘soft skills’ are paramount to setting the foundation for any value the business will create and helping them find the missing pieces to becoming their best selves. I am now bringing together three strands of my career: my training as a psychologist, more than a decade of experience as a CEO, and what I learned building an evidence-based mental health company. I am working with C-suite executives in medium-sized and large organisations, including listed companies, primarily in the UK and Europe. I am particularly interested in leaders operating under significant pressure, because their self-awareness, emotional regulation, judgment, and communication affect far more than their own performance. Their behaviour travels through an organisation, shaping decisions, relationships, culture, and the conditions in which other people work. We still call these capabilities ‘soft skills,’ but there is nothing soft about managing conflict, maintaining clarity under pressure, setting boundaries, earning trust, or having difficult conversations. These are often the skills that determine whether a strong strategy can actually be implemented by a functioning team. The more well-rounded, clear-thinking, and clear-communicating leaders we have, the better our organisations - and, I believe, our world - will be. For anyone working at the intersection of psychology and business, my advice would be to keep the scientist working as closely as possible with the business and marketing experts to maximise efficiency and innovation - unusual cross-pollination is where innovation happens. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring story? Founded by Women elevates the voices of women making an impact. > Breaking barriers or paving the way for others? We'd love to feature you. Get in touch! 👉 [hi@foundedbywomen.org](mailto:hi@foundedbywomen.org) ### Whole Person Conversations URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/partners/consulting/whole-person-conversations/ Last updated: 2026-08-10T03:56:29.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2026/08/Logo-with-Tagline-01.png) #### Whole Person Conversations™ trains wealth advisors to hear the loss inside a client's transition, not just the numbers. Founded in 2021 by Melissa M. Douaire, the practice brings awareness to the meaning and validation that losses crave and require, teaching emotional fluency as a retention discipline through four proprietary frameworks. Based in Boulder, Colorado. ****PREFERRED CONTACT EMAIL:** [melissa@wholepersonconversations.com](mailto:melissa@wholepersonconversations.com) ****SOCIAL MEDIA:** [https://linkedin.com/in/melissadouaire](https://linkedin.com/in/melissadouaire?ref=foundedbywomen.org) [Visit website](https://wholepersonconversations.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ### From Investing in 75 Fintech Startups to Co-Founding ResilienceVC: Tahira Dosani on Building Fintech That Makes People Better Off, Not Stuck URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/women-in-vc/from-investing-in-75-fintech-startups-to-co-founding-resiliencevc-tahira-dosani-on-building-fintech-that-makes-people-better-off-not-stuck/ Last updated: 2026-08-07T04:08:54.000Z Tahira Dosani has spent her career betting on the idea that serving the customers everyone else calls "too risky" is actually the biggest opportunity in fintech. She has backed more than 75 early-stage fintech startups, including four unicorns, through roles at Accion Venture Lab and LeapFrog Investments. She then co-founded [ResilienceVC](https://www.resilience.vc/?ref=foundedbywomen.org), and in 2024, ResilienceVC closed its debut fund with $58M of AUM dedicated entirely to early-stage fintech that builds financial resilience for American consumers and small businesses. In this Q&A, Tahira breaks down what separates fintech that genuinely helps people from fintech that just extracts fees from them, and why the real test is what happens to a company's revenue when its customers' lives improve. She also gets specific about what she looks for in a founder before committing to a decade-long relationship, why lived experience with a problem isn't the same as product advantage, and how she's trying to lower the barriers that keep women out of venture, both as founders raising capital and as investors trying to break in. Whether you're building a fintech startup, raising your first fund, or just trying to figure out how to get a seat at the table without an existing network, Tahira's answers offer a rare, unfiltered look at how a working investor actually thinks. > Know a founder (or are one) doing incredible work? **Founded by Women Awards** are open for entries. If you're building something bold, leading with purpose, or driving change in your industry, we'd love for you to enter. 👉 [foundedbywomen.org/awards](https://www.foundedbywomen.org/awards/) --- **Q:* You've invested in over 75 early-stage fintech startups (including four unicorns) across roles at Accion Venture Lab and LeapFrog Investments, plus launched Afghanistan's first mobile payments platform at Roshan. You co-founded ResilienceVC (closed debut fund with $58M in November 2024) focusing exclusively on seed-stage embedded fintech that builds financial resilience for low- and moderate-income Americans and small businesses.* *For female founders building fintech solutions for underserved markets, how do you advise them to position their startups to investors who might see "serving 70% of Americans living paycheck-to-paycheck" as too risky rather than recognizing it as a massive market opportunity?* *What's the difference between fintech that drives real resilience versus fintech that just extracts fees from vulnerable customers?* **A:** When an investor says targeting a certain segment is “too risky,” often what that investor is trying to get at is whether that segment can be profitably served. Whether or not they say it out loud, they are assuming that acquisition cost is too high relative to lifetime value for a customer who is low income and therefore is likely to have lower balances, smaller transaction sizes, etc. It’s clear that it’s a large market - that’s rarely the issue, but underserved segments are underserved precisely because it historically hasn’t been profitable to serve them. So if you’re building for that market, you have to make the case that you can acquire these customers effectively and scalably at a low cost, leverage technology (including AI) to ensure that your cost to serve that customer remains low, that you can achieve high retention, and that you can therefore reach healthy margins and growth while serving this segment. This is why distribution matters as much as product when you’re talking about these markets. And in an AI-driven world where product moats are rarely sustainable and someone can vibe-code a version of your product in a weekend, that’s even more true. Finding the right channels, meeting customers where they are, and leveraging trusted relationships to reach and sell customers is absolutely essential. The response to "these customers are risky or expensive to reach" can’t be framed as a mission statement or simply a big market, it has to be addressed with a robust distribution strategy with the unit economics and CAC analysis attached. On the question of resilience vs extraction, the test I generally use is to look at what happens to the company's revenue when the customer's situation improves. Extractive models earn more when the customer stays stuck. Overdraft, rollover fees, late fees, subscriptions with high passive churn among people who forget to cancel are all examples of this. In those businesses, the customer becoming better off is a revenue loss for the company. Resilient models earn more when the customer does better, through volume, retention, a lower loss rate, or the customer graduating into a new product. That alignment is what I look for when I invest. **Q:* You've said ResilienceVC underwrites "the founder's ability to navigate pivots and regulatory shifts over a 5- to 10-year journey" because the average VC-founder relationship now outlasts the average U.S. marriage. You also emphasize "founder-market fit" and track diversity intentionally (ResilienceVC is 100% BIPOC-owned, 50% female-owned, 40%+ individual LPs are women). For female founders raising seed capital, what signals do you look for that tell you a founder can navigate a decade-long journey versus just having a compelling initial idea? How should founders demonstrate "founder-market fit" when their lived experience with the problem is their biggest competitive advantage, and what are the red flags that tell you a founding team won't make it through the inevitable pivots?* No one can predict a ten-year outcome from a single pitch. What one can assess is how a founder takes in new information, responds to feedback, handles uncertainty, and navigates complexity. These can be important indicators of success and likelihood of a founder’s ability to navigate the long and bumpy journey of entrepreneurship. During diligence I will often share feedback on an element of the pitch, platform, or product. What I am watching for is how the founder is responding to and engaging with the questions I ask. The response I want is a founder who takes the point seriously, tells me which parts she thinks are right and which parts she does not, and comes back a week later having actually looked into my feedback. A clear rationale for her view and openness to be convinced if I can provide a compelling argument are wonderful to see; defensiveness or obsequiousness are both red flags. Another signal that can be valuable is evidence of prior long duration commitment to something hard. Not necessarily a company. It can be an academic program, a career pivot that took four years to pay off, an athletic endeavor. What I am looking for is a track record of staying in a difficult situation past the point where quitting was reasonable and defensible. Another is to look at who she hires early, and whether those people are better than she is at their function. A good founder also has to be a good leader and attract top talent. On founder-market fit and lived experience: I think lived experience is critical, but lived experience alone is not sufficient. Having been the customer gives you an information advantage. It does not automatically give you a product advantage. The founders for whom it becomes a real edge are the ones who can point to a specific decision they made that a smart outsider would have gotten wrong. A pricing choice, a channel, an onboarding step they cut, something they refused to build. The origin story is great, but you have to go beyond that to how that lived experience translates to the non-obvious call. **Q:* Beyond investing, you're an Adjunct Professor teaching venture capital and impact investing at Georgetown and Johns Hopkins, you mentor for Techstars, and you've intentionally reduced minimum check sizes to enable broader LP participation (especially women). You accept unsolicited proposals through your website rather than relying solely on network referrals to diversify your pipeline. For female founders who feel locked out of the "boys club" of venture capital, what's your advice for breaking into VC networks when you don't have traditional connections? How can women position themselves as credible investors or LPs when they're told they need more "experience" but can't get that experience without access?* The question on how female founders can navigate the VC world without deep existing networks is an important one. Much of the industry is relationship-based, and it can be tough to navigate if you don’t have connections. However a growing number of funds are cognizant of this dynamic and are taking steps to be more accessible to founders who aren’t already networked in the venture world. Taking unsolicited pitches on our website, via email, and via LinkedIn is one example. Others do things like publishing their thesis and priority focus areas so founders can better self-select or standardizing due diligence processes so that they can mitigate bias in the questions that get asked as they screen companies. We find that relatively straightforward actions like these improve our ability to both see more deals and ensure that high quality deals can succeed through our process even if the founder comes from outside traditional venture networks. Also note that who sits at the table does change what arrives in the pipeline. We are a diverse team, which inherently gives us access to more diverse sourcing networks and channels. The approaches funds take to this tells you a lot about what they value and emphasize, so pay attention to those signals. For founders, certainly prioritizing the funds who are more likely to take an unsolicited pitch or invest in founders who aren’t tied into existing networks is important given your limited resources. But beyond that, you have to find ways to stand out and to try and find paths to funds that seem aligned from a thesis perspective. Pick a specific topic you know something real about and become visibly useful on it. Write the thing nobody else has bothered to write about your customer or distribution in your category. Answer questions in public. Help other founders in your category with the boring parts. This helps you build relationships with other founders, and they are often a very effective route into a fund. A note from a company we backed gets taken very seriously. But this takes time and effort and while it works, it is slow. And I realize that the burden of doing all of it falls disproportionately on people who did not start with the network. Telling women to out-work a structural problem is not a solution to the structural problem. It is a strategy for individuals operating inside one while it gets fixed slowly. I teach at Georgetown and Johns Hopkins partly for this reason. The mechanics of how venture actually works, how funds make money, what a GP is optimizing for, how terms function, are treated as insider knowledge and there is no good reason for that. These are teachable things and I want to help build the next generation of talent in this space. Becoming an investor or an LP is also tough, because the experience paradox is real. Nobody hands you capital to develop judgment. You have to develop judgment first, mostly on your own time, and then have a record of it to show. The practical routes into that are more numerous than they used to be. Scout programs let you write small checks against someone else's balance sheet and build a track record with a paper trail. Syndicates let you invest at check sizes that are genuinely accessible. Angel groups will take you if you show up and do the work, and the work is where the learning is. Doing diligence on companies you find interesting is a great way to build a real skill set, because it forces you to write down a view and then find out whether you were right. The reframe I would offer is that credibility in this business is a record of judgment, not a credential or a title. A candidate who can show me ten companies she looked at, what she concluded, and how they turned out, is more credible than someone with a decade at a brand-name firm and no articulable view. That record is something you can start building this month with no capital at all. On the LP side, one of the structural barriers is check size. Minimums are often set at a level that filters out anyone who is not already wealthy, and the effect falls hardest on women, who are disproportionately building wealth in first-generation rather than inherited form. We lowered our minimum check size deliberately (and then halved it again for women and people of color), and it changed the composition of our LP base. More than 40% of our individual LPs are women, which is well above where the market sits, and it is a direct consequence of that check-size decision. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring story? Founded by Women elevates the voices of women making an impact. > Breaking barriers or paving the way for others? We'd love to feature you. Get in touch! 👉 [hi@foundedbywomen.org](mailto:hi@foundedbywomen.org) ### Astrid Davies on the Leadership Crisis: Why "Accidental Leaders" Are Failing and What Ethical Leadership Really Looks Like URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/women-who-lead/astrid-davies-on-the-leadership-crisis-why-accidental-leaders-are-failing-and-what-ethical-leadership-really-looks-like/ Last updated: 2026-08-06T11:32:49.000Z After 30 years leading teams across the private, public, and voluntary sectors, Astrid Davies made the leap into consultancy to do something she couldn't do as an employee: work with a wider range of clients, on her own terms. Today she runs [Astrid Davies Consulting](http://astriddaviesconsulting.co.uk/?ref=foundedbywomen.org), helping leaders navigate what she describes as nothing less than a global leadership crisis, one where compassion is too often mistaken for weakness and true leadership gets confused with simply winning the peace. Astrid's work spans two very different worlds. A significant part of her practice supports charity and community leaders, who she says are constantly balancing internal management, trustees, community presence, and financial sustainability, often while overworking themselves for causes they're passionate about. At the same time, she's become a vocal advocate for what she calls "accidental leaders": people pushed into leadership roles without any formal training, a phenomenon she traces back through centuries of business history. In this interview, Astrid unpacks why so many organizations are being run by leaders who don't know what they don't know, why management has wrongly been treated as "leadership-lite," and how she helps both charity leaders and accidental leaders build the self-awareness and purpose they need to lead well, without burning out. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. If you’re breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today! 👉** [**hi@foundedbywomen.org**](mailto:hi@foundedbywomen.org) --- **Q: You've spent 30 years leading high-performing teams across private, public, and voluntary sectors before founding Astrid Davies Consulting. What prompted you to make the leap into consultancy, and how did your eclectic background shape the way you approach leadership development today?** I wanted to be able to help a wider diversity of clients than I would be able to do in employment. I also wanted to run my own show after 30 years! By carving out my consultancy from my varied range of experience, I am able to bring the right elements of my practice to the right clients at the right time. I say this not because it's what I think; I say this because it's what my clients say. What my experience has taught me is that leadership is in crisis right now. On a global stage, leadership is wrongly conflated by some with geo-political bullying, and compassion is wrongly conflated with weakness. That's not leadership, it's winning the peace. True leadership is building a consensus, where the benefit of the many should outweigh the financial opportunities of the few. True leadership is building a vision for a better world, not a vision of a more lucrative future. And true leadership is about finding practical strategic solutions, taking the harder path, when often it is easier to continue to kick an issue down the road for the next generation to deal with. I am writing a book about ethics in leadership, informed by what I have seen and observed over the past 30+ years. It won't pull any punches! **Q: A significant portion of your work supports charities and community organizations, where leaders describe their roles as "a balancing act" between internal management, trustees, community presence, and financial sustainability. What are the most common leadership challenges you see in this sector, and how do you help charity leaders navigate them without burning out?** Charity leaders fall into two camps: the volunteers who are Trustees of charities and set/agree the direction for each charity and who are responsible for its governance; and the paid staff who head up the operations (and who, in practice, often end up running charities anyhow). Often paid staff are underpaid and overqualified for the roles they perform, but they do so because they are passionate about the cause that their charity supports. These contexts offer up a wide range of challenges. Some specific leadership challenges which I note appear frequently in client conversations are: Too many small charities all focused on solving the same problem. While it is totally understandable that memorial charities exist, it is such a shame that, in doing so in isolation, they splinter the marketplace and lower the sums of money invested in important causes as a result. Sometimes these charities are set up as cathartic expressions of frustration. Often they are established to fill a gap in service provision by the State. What these reasons mean in turn is that the "beneficiaries" of the charity may not always just be the people it states it will serve and support. Sometimes it can offer a lifeline for the grieving and the lost. I would love to see more psychological support being offered to those who establish charities in memoriam, so they can focus on their charity AND themselves. In turn this can put a huge strain on those paid to lead within such organisations, both on the emotional AND commercial levels. The passion that volunteers and paid staff have for their charity can often overspill into overwork. Longer hours, harder tasks, often completed with a sigh "because who else will do them if I don't?". This is a key leadership challenge - the challenge to prevent self-exploitation by charity staff. There are all kinds of workplace wellbeing issues at play here. There is also a fundamental challenge facing many leaders: how to keep the show on the road with too few people to do it within the realms of workplace legislation. This is a difficult circle to square. Some leaders will keep pushing on and hope to recruit more volunteers to fill the hole. Other leaders will take the tough but necessary decision to close the charity's doors for limited periods, to permit the staff and volunteers to have a break. In the voluntary sector, saying "No" is sometimes the kindest thing a leader can do. It just doesn't feel like it. **Q: You write about "accidental leaders" - people who find themselves in leadership positions without formal training or preparation. Why is this such a critical issue for organizations today, and what's your approach to helping these accidental leaders evolve into confident, purposeful leaders?** "Accidental" leadership has always been the norm in business, going back to ancient times. The leaders who were trained to lead were mostly in the clergy, the social elite and/or armed forces. The concept of leadership has been taught for centuries. However, where people (mostly men in the yawning gap between classical times and the 20th Century) did manage to secure some kind of social mobility, they would pursue being "a man of letters" as part of that mobility. This, in practice, would be reference to a limited range of texts, all of which focused on how to get what you want (Sun Tzu - Art of War, Machiavelli - The Prince, numerous writers from the 18th Century with the advent of mass printing) - the so-called "mirrors for princes". It was a conscious and demanding act of personal development to acquire leadership skills if you weren't from the leader classes, in most countries in the Northern Hemisphere, until the 20th Century. With the advent of mass industrialisation and the growth of business moguls, social mobility meant more wealth and control - and sometimes even power - reaching more people who had never had access to the literature. Thus started the long and troubled history of the accidental leader. Why are these such a problem? It's because they don't know what they don't know. As a result, their leadership could be inconsistent, reactive and often visceral. Human emotion and the stress of making money often resulted in poor behaviours in the workplace, with exploitation and insecure employment a norm. The leaders who bucked this trend were famous for doing so: the Cadbury and Rowntree families in the UK were famously philanthropic. And yet they weren't saints. They had simply worked out that if you treat your workforce well, you can expect more from them. And they did. Bringing this up to date, we see more inexperienced "leaders" in the workplace than ever before. Leadership is sold, stacked high and sold cheap, to anyone who wants to get on. Management (which I believe is the foundation of all effective leadership) is seen as "leadership-lite" and somehow less-than, when compared with leadership. Everyone wants to be a leader, but no one wants to be a manager because it's inferred to be inferior. This is fundamentally wrong. Organisations today rely on effective management for their success: monitoring; assessing; reviewing; planning; organising; building; training... And they always did. The list goes on. Where accidental leadership falls down is that it doesn't have a way to reliably respond to this plethora of challenges. It lacks resilience, self-awareness and, often, purpose. It just gets on with getting on. Not only then are these accidental leaders untrained and ill-equipped for what is facing them in the VUCA workplace of the 21st Century, but they often are performing a function, rather than choosing a role to fulfill with gusto. That lack of vision is crucial because it is what can really hold businesses back. Add into that, we also see accidental leaders who know how to manage but can't then build on that to add in mission-setting, sharing a purpose and motivating a staff team, and you start to see cracks appearing in businesses, big and small. I have a solution for this (I would, wouldn't I, given this is my focus?!). Help anyone in a management or leadership role to understand their role. What are they for? When they can answer that, for the business, the team and themselves, they are a long way along the track to success. Understanding how someone fits in their "accidental" role is so important. It helps define what the organisation expects of anyone in their role. It could also clarify what the organisation might expect from a specific individual. That, in turn, will help that individual be clear about their own expectations of self. Self-awareness and self-compassion don't often go hand in hand, but for the accidental leaders out there, this is a non-negotiable. Without it, you are setting up innocent managers to fail at leadership. Not on my watch! When I work with leaders, whether accidental or the sort who have ticked off all the training but let it wash over them (there's always one...), I emphasise the importance of purpose, fit and clarified expectations. With those in place, success can be pretty hard to avoid; leaders are confident of their purpose, they understand their role's purpose (not the same thing) and they understand how they contribute to the wider corporate agenda. It's all about motivating them, pulling the right levers in a way that they learn about their own levers and can self-direct at will. I have spent a lifetime doing this and I love seeing the results. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring story? Founded by Women elevates the voices of women making an impact. > Breaking barriers or paving the way for others? We'd love to feature you. Get in touch! 👉 [hi@foundedbywomen.org](mailto:hi@foundedbywomen.org) ### ENVOLV URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/partners/consulting/envolv/ Last updated: 2026-08-06T06:26:37.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2026/08/ENVOLV_PRIMARY_LOGO_RGB_TRANSPARENT.png) #### ENVOLV was founded to make sustainability and ESG accessible to SMEs and mid-market businesses. As a 100% women-owned consultancy, ENVOLV develops strategies that empower businesses to grow sustainably, unlocking new investment, customers and developing a purpose-driven culture that adds value. From fractional leadership to full project design, we help you grow your business the right way. Reach out to find out how we can help. ****Community offer:** Sustainability can feel complex, and it's easy to lose momentum when you're not sure where to start or you hit an obstacle. ENVOLV is offering members a free 1-hour advice clinic, where one of our experts will give practical guidance to help you move forward. Whether you're setting up your governance structure or starting to report your carbon footprint, we'll help you make progress. - Website URL - [ESG & Sustainability Compliance Consultants | ENVOLV](https://www.envolv.co.uk/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) - Preferred contact email - [connect@envolv.co.uk](mailto:connect@envolv.co.uk) - Social media links - [https://www.linkedin.com/company/envolv/](https://www.linkedin.com/company/envolv/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) [Book a session](https://calendly.com/gemma-envolv/meetenvolv?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ### From Executive Search to Executive Impact: How Vanessa Garcia Built Performant Scout on Trust, Not Transactions URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/women-who-lead/from-executive-search-to-executive-impact-how-vanessa-garcia-built-performant-scout-on-trust-not-transactions/ Last updated: 2026-08-06T04:06:06.000Z Vanessa Garcia knows that hiring the right leader can make or break an organization, yet too many executive search firms treat it like a transaction: fill the role, move on to the next one. She set out to do things differently, and in 2015, she and a business partner launched [Performant Scout](https://performantscout.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) to bring a more consultative, relationship-driven approach to executive recruiting. More than a decade later, Vanessa is the firm's sole owner, and Performant Scout has grown well beyond its original focus on agribusiness and food production into sectors like food manufacturing, construction, banking, professional services, and nonprofits. Along the way, the company earned certification as a woman-owned and minority-owned business, opening new doors for partnerships built around supplier diversity. We spoke with Vanessa about what inspired her to start Performant Scout, the gap she saw in executive search, and how she's positioning the firm for its next chapter, including a growing investment in AI to strengthen research, candidate engagement, and client insights. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. If you’re breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today! 👉** [**hi@foundedbywomen.org**](mailto:hi@foundedbywomen.org) --- ## Q: What inspired you to start Performant Scout? Performant Scout was born from a desire to do executive search differently. As a first-generation Dominican American, I've always felt a strong drive to dream big and create opportunities that would make my family proud. After earning my degree in Applied Psychology from Penn State University and building a successful career in recruiting, I realized the timing was right to leverage my education, experience, and passion for connecting people to build something of my own. Throughout my career, I saw too many firms prioritize filling jobs over building meaningful, long-term partnerships. I wanted to create a firm that truly understood each client's business, culture, and leadership needs while treating every candidate with respect throughout the process. In 2015, my business partner and I launched Performant Scout with that vision. Today, as the sole owner, I'm proud that we've built a reputation for quality, integrity, and delivering leaders who make a lasting impact on the organizations they join. ## Q: What problem are you solving? Hiring the right leader is one of the most important decisions an organization can make, yet it's often one of the most difficult. Companies don't just need qualified candidates, they need leaders who align with their culture, values, and long-term goals. At Performant Scout, we solve that challenge by taking a consultative approach to executive search. We invest the time to understand our clients' organizations, then identify, assess, and attract exceptional talent who may not even be actively looking. Our goal is to create lasting matches that help businesses grow and leaders thrive. ## Q: What's next for you? Our roots are in agribusiness and produce, and we've expanded into spaces like CPG, construction, banking, biotech, professional services, nonprofit organizations and more. One of our biggest milestones this year was becoming a certified woman-owned and minority-owned business. That achievement opens the door to new partnerships with organizations that value supplier diversity, creating even more opportunities to align our work with our purpose and make a broader impact. We're also investing heavily in strengthening our AI capabilities to enhance every stage of the executive search process, from research and market intelligence to candidate engagement and client insights. We believe the future belongs to firms that combine innovative technology with authentic human relationships, and we're committed to leading that evolution. As we celebrate more than a decade in business, I believe the next few years will bring exponential growth. I'm energized by the opportunities ahead and excited to continue building meaningful partnerships while helping organizations across the country find transformational leaders who create lasting impact. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring story? Founded by Women elevates the voices of women making an impact. > Breaking barriers or paving the way for others? We'd love to feature you. Get in touch! 👉 [hi@foundedbywomen.org](mailto:hi@foundedbywomen.org) ### Redefining Visibility in Legal Marketing: How Helen Burness Is Helping Women in Law Own Their Expertise URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/women-who-lead/redefining-visibility-in-legal-marketing-how-helen-burness-is-helping-women-in-law-own-their-expertise/ Last updated: 2026-08-05T06:48:14.000Z For nearly 20 years, [Helen Burness](https://www.linkedin.com/in/helen-burness/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) worked across global law firms, barristers' chambers and one of the UK's first alternative legal service providers, watching the legal sector from every angle. What she saw again and again was a visibility gap: brilliant founders and smaller legal businesses doing genuinely interesting work, but without access to the kind of strategic marketing support that larger firms took for granted. That observation, paired with the arrival of LinkedIn and digital marketing as tools that let expertise earn visibility rather than buy it, led Helen to found [Saltmarsh Marketing](https://saltmarsh.marketing/?ref=foundedbywomen.org). The timing was also deeply personal: her daughter was born with complex needs, and building her own business was the only way to create the flexibility she needed as a SEND parent. As the work grew, she teamed up with fellow legal marketer Helen Foord to launch [Helen Squared](https://helensquared.co.uk/?ref=foundedbywomen.org), bringing senior marketing strategy to legal businesses without the overhead of a traditional agency. Today, Helen's focus has sharpened around a bigger mission: closing the authority gap women in law continue to face, and making sure that gap doesn't get baked into the next generation of platforms and technology. Her goal isn't to build the biggest agency, it's to keep Saltmarsh Marketing and Helen Squared thoughtful, sustainable and collaborative, while pushing for a legal profession where people are known for the value they bring, not the size of their marketing budget. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. If you’re breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today! 👉** [**hi@foundedbywomen.org**](mailto:hi@foundedbywomen.org) --- ### What inspired you to start? I'd spent nearly 20 years in legal marketing, working in global law firms, barristers' chambers and one of the UK's first alternative legal service providers as it grew through to exit. Seeing the legal sector from so many different angles taught me several things. There were brilliant founders and smaller legal businesses doing interesting things, but they rarely had access to the sort of strategic marketing support that larger firms took for granted. I wanted to bring the thinking and experience you'd find in a big in-house marketing team, but in a way that worked for ambitious smaller businesses. Second, LinkedIn and digital marketing were starting to change the rules. For the first time, visibility didn't have to be something you bought. You could earn it by sharing expertise, building trust and having something worthwhile to say. There was also a much more personal reason for taking the leap. My daughter was born with complex needs, and I needed the flexibility to be present for appointments, therapies and all the unpredictability that comes with being a SEND parent. Flexible working wasn't really a thing back then, so starting my own business wasn't just a career decision, it was the only way I could build a career that worked alongside my life as a SEND mama. ### What problem are you solving? At its heart, I'm trying to solve a visibility problem. I've never believed visibility should belong to the organisations with the biggest marketing budgets. For a long time, legal marketing has favoured those who could afford the biggest sponsorships, the biggest PR campaigns or the slickest advertising. Meanwhile, some of the most innovative legal businesses, and some of the most interesting people in the sector, were going unnoticed. That's what I built Saltmarsh Marketing to change. As the business grew, so did the work. That eventually led me to set up Helen Squared with my friend Helen Foord, another experienced legal marketer, because we wanted to bring together senior marketing brains to help legal businesses think strategically and deliver, without becoming a traditional marketing agency. Clients still work directly with experienced people who understand the legal sector inside out, and who are all called Helen 😂. (Happily you do not have to be called Helen to work with us though.) More recently, my focus has become more purposeful. We already know women face an authority gap. As technology increasingly influences whose voices are amplified, there's a real risk those inequalities simply become embedded in new platforms. I'm passionate about helping women in law own their expertise, build their profile and become recognised. Visibility isn't just good for individuals; it's good for the entire legal profession. The more representative the voices we hear, the stronger the legal sector becomes. ### What's next for you? I'm much more interested in building something meaningful than building something big. People often assume the goal is to grow into a marketing agency, but that's never been my ambition. I would be a hopeless agency owner! I enjoy working closely with clients on their projects, solving interesting problems and collaborating with brilliant senior specialists. I don't want layers of account management getting between me and the work - that's where I think I add the most value. The next chapter is about growing both Saltmarsh Marketing and Helen Squared in a way that stays true to those values: thoughtful, sustainable and collaborative. Alongside that, I want to keep pushing the conversation around visibility in the legal sector. My hope is that we continue to build a profession where brilliant people become known because of the value they bring, not the size of their marketing budget or the networks they happen to have access to. The legal sector is at its best when the voices shaping it reflect the diversity of the people within it - and if I can play even a small part in making that happen, I'll consider that time well spent. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring story? Founded by Women elevates the voices of women making an impact. > Breaking barriers or paving the way for others? We'd love to feature you. Get in touch! 👉 [hi@foundedbywomen.org](mailto:hi@foundedbywomen.org) ### From Law Professor to Literary Curator: Eleanor Lumsden on Building an Ecosystem of Ideas Across Borders URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/women-who-lead/from-law-professor-to-literary-curator-eleanor-lumsden-on-building-an-ecosystem-of-ideas-across-borders/ Last updated: 2026-08-04T09:09:55.000Z After more than a decade teaching law and splitting her life between Portugal and San Francisco, [Eleanor Lumsden](https://www.eleanorlumsden.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) made a choice many people only dream about: she stepped away from academia to build something entirely her own. Today, from her home base in Madeira, she is the founder and curator of Atlas Round Table, a modern literary salon designed to bring together people who might never otherwise share a table. Eleanor's path from legal education to cultural entrepreneurship wasn't a straight line. It wound through Lisbon, San Francisco's North Beach, and eventually landed on a small island in the Atlantic, with plenty of uncertainty along the way. Alongside Atlas Round Table, she now writes through Cultural Proficiency Exchange (CPX) and her personal publication, Somewhere Over the Tejo, exploring leadership, culture, and the lives we build when we choose to cross borders. In this interview, Eleanor talks about what pushed her to leave a stable career behind, the throughline connecting her current projects, and what's next as she grows her ecosystem of ideas, essays, and in-person gatherings around the world. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. If you’re breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today! 👉** [**hi@foundedbywomen.org**](mailto:hi@foundedbywomen.org) --- **Q: What led you to step away from academia and focus on CPX, Somewhere Over the Tejo, and Atlas Round Table?** After more than a decade in legal education and a life suspended between Portugal and San Francisco, I decided to lean into a few impractical but unfulfilled dreams. If I'm being honest, life pushed me off the plank. For years, I had happily fit myself into a box in exchange for stability and a steady paycheck. When family responsibilities forced other choices, I realized I wanted to make room for a more expansive version of myself. At first, I thought I might continue teaching on the other side of the Atlantic. I landed in Lisbon, uncertain. Deep down, though, I realized the work I wanted to do was no longer confined to the classroom. Comfort is a drug. Even after discovering I could build a meaningful life in North Beach, I wasn't entirely sure which future I wanted. For a while, I wondered whether I'd made the wrong choice. And yet, Madeira was calling. Today I write essays on leadership, culture, and the lives we build across borders. Through Atlas Round Table, I also curate conversations that extend those ideas beyond the page. It's a modern literary salon that brings together people who might never otherwise meet around a single table. Alongside Atlas, I write through Cultural Proficiency Exchange (CPX) and my personal publication, Somewhere Over the Tejo. **Q: What's the throughline connecting these projects - what are you hoping to build or change?** You know, at the beginning, I wasn't sure there was a throughline. Now, I see something my body felt first. As a lawyer, I became accustomed to living in my head, translating words for others within certain prescribed codes. The language of the law can be beautiful in the hands of a skilled writer, but I'd never fully given myself permission to go rogue. Now, whether I'm writing an essay or curating an Atlas conversation, I'm trying to make my outward life more closely reflect who I know myself to be, while creating spaces for honest encounters. We often ground ourselves in work, credentials, and hierarchy. We have fewer opportunities for meaningful encounters with people outside our professional, political, or cultural circles. Atlas is my attempt to design for those encounters. I believe they shape how we see ourselves, how we relate to one another, and ultimately how we lead. From my island outpost in Madeira, I'm building an ecosystem of essays, conversation, and thoughtfully designed encounters that intentionally transcend borders. If my work accomplishes anything, I hope it leaves people feeling a little less alone and a little more connected to the richness of the world and to one another. **Q: What's next for you?** Right now, my focus is on growing all three parts of the ecosystem. I'm continuing to publish essays through CPX and Somewhere Over the Tejo, while expanding Atlas Round Table into a recurring series with both online and in-person gatherings. I've never felt more like myself. I am grateful for my time in corporate law, development, and academia. It feels as though everything that came before has led to this moment. I'm glad I stepped off the yellow brick road. Longer term, I'm developing a couple of book projects and exploring film as another medium for sharing underrepresented stories about culture, belonging, and the choices that shape the lives of those who choose to cross borders. More than anything, I'm interested in building work that is sustainable: ideas that travel, conversations that matter, and communities that endure. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring story? Founded by Women elevates the voices of women making an impact. > Breaking barriers or paving the way for others? We'd love to feature you. Get in touch! 👉 [hi@foundedbywomen.org](mailto:hi@foundedbywomen.org) ### Big Top URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/partners/pr/big-top/ Last updated: 2026-07-31T06:30:22.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2026/07/Big-Top_2021.png) #### Big Top is an independent communications agency founded by Charlie Le Rougetel, delivering creative PR, digital campaigns, social content, award entries and honest strategic support that gets people talking and taking action. Since 2014, we’ve worked with award-winning events and brands including New Scientist Live, Business Travel Show, CTM, SilverDoor, Retail Trust and Borough Broth, in the UK and internationally. ***Social media** - - Charlie - [https://www.linkedin.com/in/charlielerougetel/](https://www.linkedin.com/in/charlielerougetel/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) - Big Top - - [https://www.linkedin.com/company/bigtop-pr](https://www.linkedin.com/company/bigtop-pr?ref=foundedbywomen.org) - [www.instagram.com/bigtoppr](http://www.instagram.com/bigtoppr?ref=foundedbywomen.org) - [www.bigtop-pr.co.uk](http://www.bigtop-pr.co.uk/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) [Contact us](mailto:charlie@bigtop-pr.co.uk) ### The Cartwright Law Firm URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/partners/law/the-cartwright-law-firm/ Last updated: 2026-07-31T06:07:57.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2026/07/cartwright.jpeg) #### The Cartwright Law Firm, Inc. **has been representing clients for more than 70 years* and is dedicating to fighting for the justice each and every client deserves. [Visit website](https://www.cartwrightlaw.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ### From ESG Leadership to Founder: How Gemma Branney Built ENVOLV to Make Sustainability Commercially Viable URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/women-who-lead/from-esg-leadership-to-founder-how-gemma-branney-built-envolv-to-make-sustainability-commercially-viable/ Last updated: 2026-07-30T10:13:55.000Z After two decades leading ESG departments and shaping diversity, equity, and inclusion strategy for major organizations, Gemma Branney made the leap into entrepreneurship. In March 2025, she co-founded [ENVOLV](https://www.envolv.co.uk/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) alongside Mhairi Cameron, a woman-owned sustainability consultancy that spans media, tech, recruitment, professional services, events, and the charity sector. Branney's background includes recognition on the Financial Times Climate Leaders Listing, and she brings a rare vantage point to her work: having sat on the client side of the table with ESG consultancies before building her own. ENVOLV's philosophy is that sustainability and commercial success aren't competing priorities, they're the same goal. Gemma and Mhairi built the firm around a "strategic, pragmatic, commercial, and ambitious" approach, helping clients see ESG not as a compliance box to tick but as a genuine driver of revenue, investment, and talent retention. That same pragmatism shaped how the two co-founders structured their own partnership, built on nearly 20 years of working relationship, a documented partnership agreement, and equal equity paired with performance-based rewards. In this Q&A, Gemma shares why she left the security of corporate life to found a woman-owned consultancy, how she helps skeptical leadership teams see sustainability as a profit driver rather than a cost center, and what she believes makes or breaks a co-founder relationship over the long run. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. If you’re breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today! 👉** [**hi@foundedbywomen.org**](mailto:hi@foundedbywomen.org) --- **Q:* You have 20 years of experience leading environmental, social, and governance (ESG) departments and designing diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) strategies. You've been recognized in the Financial Times Climate Leaders Listing and various industry awards. You co-founded ENVOLV in March 2025 with Mhairi Cameron (who brings 21 years in the charity sector), a woman-founded and owned business delivering across media, tech, recruitment, professional services, events, and charity sectors. For female founders launching consultancies in the sustainability space, what made you decide to leave corporate ESG leadership to co-found your own firm? How do you advise women positioning themselves against established ESG consultancies, especially when clients might perceive smaller, newer firms as less credible than big-name competitors?* **A:** When I first thought about starting ENVOLV, I had a lot of self-doubt about whether I could do it and if the risk was too high. Leaving corporate life meant leaving security both financially and emotionally, but it also meant stepping into something that was purpose-driven and impactful. I think that was the deciding factor for me – I wanted to have a bigger impact and I couldn’t do that from within someone else’s business. What was interesting for me was that I have been a customer of established ESG consultancies. I have sat at the other side of the table which means I understand what good consultancy looks like and what doesn’t work for clients. What we were able to establish very quickly is what differentiates us from others. That is important to any founder and as a woman-founded business you need to have the confidence to identify, own and shout about it. That is definitely outside of my comfort-zone but self-advocacy and self-promotion are key things you need to do to succeed as a business. On credibility specifically, my advice is not to compete on size, compete on depth. Being newer doesn't make you less capable, it just means you have to prove your value faster and more visibly than an established name would. We do that through evidence, being able to demonstrate the outcomes we've delivered rather than relying on reputation, and being genuinely specialis. Clients notice the difference between a firm reciting frameworks and using a cookie cutter approach to one who genuinely understands their business, market and commercial pressures. **Q:* ENVOLV's approach is "strategic, pragmatic, commercial, and ambitious" – you design solutions that deliver measurable sustainability AND business outcomes, not just compliance exercises. Your clients describe you as "pragmatic and commercially minded," helping them focus on ESG issues most material to their business while driving revenue growth and managing regulatory risks. For female founders building purpose-driven businesses, how do you balance "doing good" with delivering commercial value to clients who may see ESG as a cost center rather than a growth driver? What's your framework for helping skeptical leadership teams understand ESG as a driver of profit, not just a regulatory burden?* **A:** Business leaders are becoming more aware of ESG as value-add. There is a mountain of data that proves ESG results in investment, more customers, better financial terms and engaged employees. What is so important though is making it relevant and unique to a business. By ensuring businesses focus on the topics that impact them most, you can start to draw correlations between ESG and performance. For example, if a business is trying to increase profit margin, focusing on supply-chain resilience and net zero will likely support them to achieve this. Alignment with strategic goals and delivering quick wins is essential in building credibility and trust. Often leaders see sustainability as a “nice to have”. The key is building credibility and trust as a strategic contributor. Spending time with leaders, listening and understanding how they operate, their challenges and aligning your language and outcomes with the broader business. This builds credibility and empowers you to influence, especially where you don’t have as much buy-in as you need. For us at ENVOLV we do this in-house within our own strategy. We are woman-founded and therefore our community impact is aligned to supporting other women, through leadership mentoring, donating to women empowering causes and supporting other woman-founded businesses. We also know that as a brand we need to lead by example, so we built the business to be operationally net zero with EV vehicles and minimal supply-chains. For us being purpose-driven is how we are commercially successful, we can’t be one without the other. **Q:* You co-founded ENVOLV with Mhairi Cameron, combining your ESG/DEI expertise with her third sector and private sector bridge-building skills. You're also an accredited executive coach specializing in inclusive and impact leadership. For female entrepreneurs considering co-founding partnerships, what were the non-negotiables you looked for in a co-founder? How do you structure decision-making and equity when both founders bring deep expertise but from different sectors, and what advice would you give women navigating co-founder relationships to prevent the partnerships from fracturing down the road?* **A:** For me having a co-founder was essential, and I am sure Mhairi would say the same. We both have done consultancy before and knew it can be a lonely path. What works well for us, is that we have known each other for almost 20 years. We have a proven track record of working together, having delivered great projects and even navigated major crisis in previous employers. What was important was finding complementary skillsets. Where Mhairi is great at business management, I bring Marketing and Sales experience. When we deliver together, it is seamless because we automatically know each other’s strengths and weaknesses. What has been useful for us is being honest upfront about what is non-negotiables, values and standards for the business. We have a documented partnership agreement that outlines what happens in every eventuality. We have regular business meetings, and an operating rhythm which means we hold each other accountable for agreed deliverables. We have structured the business to have equal equity but with performance related remuneration which means there is individual accountability for the success of the business. This was essential to ensure we have a level of equity but also fairness in how we are rewarded. The biggest bit of advice we would give is picking the right co-founder. Having a relationship that is grounded on trust, transparency and mutual respect is essential. We also share the same values and care more about each other, and doing the right thing, than we do about money. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring story? Founded by Women elevates the voices of women making an impact. > Breaking barriers or paving the way for others? We'd love to feature you. Get in touch! 👉 [hi@foundedbywomen.org](mailto:hi@foundedbywomen.org) ### From CMO to Venture Builder: Sonia Hunt on Scaling Impact-Driven Companies with Zentāra Ventures URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/women-who-lead/from-cmo-to-venture-builder-sonia-hunt-on-scaling-impact-driven-companies-with-zentara-ventures/ Last updated: 2026-07-29T08:41:11.000Z [Sonia Hunt](https://www.linkedin.com/in/soniahunt/?ref=foundedbywomen.org)'s career reads like a masterclass in intentional design. After more than 20 years as a marketing executive working with brands like Apple, TiVo, LVMH, Califia Farms, and Sephora, where she won the 2015 WWD Digital Innovator of the Year award, she made the leap from operator to investor, co-founding [Zentāra Ventures,](https://zentara.ventures/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) a venture studio and syndicate built to help impact and innovation-led companies scale sustainably. What sets Sonia apart is her refusal to treat "doing good" and "building a commercially viable company" as separate goals. At Zentāra, she and her team co-build with portfolio companies rather than investing passively, drawing on her end-to-end background in engineering, product, and marketing to help founders navigate a landscape reshaped by AI, blockchain, and Web3\. Her thesis is simple but demanding: impact isn't the pitch, it's the outcome, and the most fundable companies are the ones where mission and margin come from the same place. Beyond Zentāra, Sonia is a TEDx speaker with over a million views, the number one bestselling author of "[NUT JOB](https://soniahunt.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org)," and Founder of Dekode Health, a Precision Health Intelligence platform helping people achieve optimal health. In this conversation, she talks about her transition from CMO to Venture, how female founders can raise capital without compromising their mission, and why she believes in harmony over balance when building a career across multiple ventures. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. If you’re breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today! 👉** [**hi@foundedbywomen.org**](mailto:hi@foundedbywomen.org) --- **Q:* You spent 20+ years as a marketing executive working with global brands like Apple, TiVo, LVMH, Califia Farms, and Sephora (where you won the 2015 WWD Digital Innovator of the Year award), then co-founded Zentāra Ventures, a venture studio and syndicate helping impact and innovation-led companies scale sustainably. What made you transition from being a CMO and operator to becoming an investor and venture builder? Walk us through how your marketing and brand-building background influences the way you evaluate and support portfolio companies differently than traditional VCs.* **A:** My career progression has been by design because at a young age I wanted to understand every aspect of how a business runs and succeeds. My background is engineering to product to marketing. I grew my career to a C-level, and now I'm on the venture side. None of that was easy for a woman, let alone a woman of color. But I'm tenacious. Zentāra Ventures began when I wrote a thesis on how venture building remained extremely difficult for early-stage companies to scale in an age of Web3/Blockchain/AI/constant market chaos, as these technologies are completely rewriting how you build, grow and scale ventures. Essentially, I'm a builder. My technical and marketing background allows me to help a company grow and scale end to end, which I believe is key compared to just hiring a point fractional executive. Today, you must to have the skills to look at the entire picture of a business. At some point in a company's progression there is always a capital conversation. Zentāra doesn't just invest blindly. We co-build with our portfolio companies to de-risk the venture and accelerate growth. We do that because the old playbook is broken. AI, blockchain, and Web3 haven't just created new markets, they've shattered every traditional model of venture building. The rules that worked even five years ago don't apply. In that kind of market chaos, passive capital isn't enough. Founders need operators in the room who've built through disruption, who can see around corners, and who know how to make decisions when there's no blueprint to follow. That's why we co-build. Not because it's a nice-to-have, but because in this environment, it's the only way to de-risk a venture and actually accelerate growth. **Q:* Zentāra Ventures focuses on companies addressing the UN's Sustainable Development Goals, and you mentor organizations through Unreasonable (having advised 15+ Unreasonable companies). For female founders building impact-driven businesses, how do you balance "doing good" with building commercially viable, scalable companies that can attract capital? What are the most common mistakes you see impact founders make when trying to raise from investors who want both financial returns and meaningful change, and how should they position their businesses to appeal to impact?* **A:** Female founders have an advantage here that nobody talks about. We're wired to build with accountability to our customers, our communities, our teams. That's the exact operating posture that makes an impact business sustainable. You don't balance doing good and building a commercial business, you architect the business so that doing good IS the commercial advantage. The mission and the margin have to come from the same place. That's not idealism, that's intentional design. What I tell female founders specifically is this: stop asking for permission to be both rigorous and values-driven. The investors worth having on your Cap Table don't make you choose. And if someone in the room is asking you to strip the mission out to make the numbers work, that's a signal about the investor, not about your business. Regarding mistakes, the framing itself is the first mistake. When founders walk into a room and lead with impact, they've already lost half the room. Impact is the outcome, it's not the pitch. The pitch is the business. What I tell every founder I work with is that the most fundable impact businesses are the ones where the mission and the margin are the same thing. Because if you have to sacrifice returns to do good, you haven't found the right business model yet. Another mistake I see constantly is founders going after impact investors first. Impact capital is often the most constrained, most competitive, and most conditions-laden capital in the room. Lead with traction. Lead with the market. Lead with why this is inevitable and then let the impact be the multiplier that makes it more defensible, more loyal, and more sticky than a conventional play. Also don't confuse metrics. SDG alignment is not a strategy, it's a framework. Investors want to know: what does success look like at Year 3 and Year 5, and how does the impact make that number bigger, not smaller? If you can answer that question cleanly, you've got a fundable company. What we've built at Zentāra is an operator-led thesis precisely because impact companies don't fail for lack of mission. They fail for lack of execution infrastructure. The founders who win treat their social impact with the same rigor, data, and accountability they apply to their unit economics. **Q:* Beyond Zentāra Ventures, you're a TEDx speaker (1M+ views), #1 bestselling author of "NUT JOB," health advocate who overcame 32+ severe food allergies. You've built a portfolio career spanning investing, speaking, coaching, and advocacy. For women juggling multiple ventures and roles, what's your framework for deciding which opportunities to pursue versus which drain your energy? How do you maintain focus on Zentāra while balancing your other commitments, and what advice would you give female founders who worry that multiple interests make them seem unfocused to investors?* **A:** I'm intentional about everything: my work, my health, my life. This is not a personality trait, it's a practice. I've spent years getting to know myself, finding my purpose, and deciding where I want to put my energy on this earth. Once you know that, the framework for what to pursue versus what to decline becomes almost automatic. If it doesn't align with my purpose, the answer is a hard NO. I actually built a corporate workshop around this called, **"Diversifying the Portfolio of Me"** because I did this for myself long before I had a name for it. That intentional design is how I became an operator, a speaker, an author, and now the venture side. It was not by accident, it was by architecture. In terms of maintaining focus, I don't believe in balance. Balance implies everything gets equal weight at all times, and that's not real life. What I aim for is harmony. Certain areas will demand more of my attention at different seasons, and that's okay, because I've built things that can scale without me being involved in it every single minute. That's the key. You can have a full life if you build scalable products and systems around your purpose — not just a job you feel you can't leave For any female founder worried that multiple interests make her look unfocused...STOP! The right investor sees range as range. Depth in multiple areas isn't a liability, it's pattern recognition, resilience, and lived experience all at once. If an investor is threatened by the fullness of who you are, they're not the right partner for where you're going. And honestly? Who cares! This is your life. Live it the way you want to. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring story? Founded by Women elevates the voices of women making an impact. > Breaking barriers or paving the way for others? We'd love to feature you. Get in touch! 👉 [hi@foundedbywomen.org](mailto:hi@foundedbywomen.org) ### From Passion Project to Purpose: How Olivia Hanlon Built Girls in Marketing URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/women-who-lead/from-passion-project-to-purpose-how-olivia-hanlon-built-girls-in-marketing/ Last updated: 2026-07-29T06:37:33.000Z When Olivia Hanlon launched [Girls in Marketing](https://www.girlsinmarketing.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) back in 2019, it wasn't meant to be a business — it was simply a way to connect with other women in the industry and share what she was learning along the way. But the response was immediate, and by 2020 she'd left her full-time marketing job to build it into something bigger. Today, Girls in Marketing exists to tackle a problem that's hard to ignore: women make up the majority of the marketing workforce, yet they're still far less likely to reach senior leadership. Through education, community, and confidence-building, Olivia is working to close that gap and help marketers step into the leadership roles they deserve. In this interview, Olivia shares the story behind Girls in Marketing, the challenge she set out to solve, and what's next as she continues to scale the platform's impact. --- ## Q: What inspired you to start Girls in Marketing? I started Girls in Marketing back in 2019 as a passion project - I just wanted a space to connect with other women in marketing, share what I was learning, and build a community around it. Once I saw how much appetite there was for that, I left my full-time marketing job in 2020 to build it properly. ## Q: What problem are you solving? Women make up the majority of the marketing workforce, but they're still far less likely to reach senior leadership... men are twice as likely to become marketing directors and four times as likely to become CEOs. Girls in Marketing exists to close that gap, by giving marketers the education, confidence, and community they need to grow their careers and step into leadership. ## Q: What's next for you? There are some really exciting things happening behind the scenes that I can't share just yet... but the focus is all about scaling our impact and education, so we can reach even more marketers than we do today. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring story? Founded by Women elevates the voices of women making an impact. > Breaking barriers or paving the way for others? We'd love to feature you. Get in touch! 👉 [hi@foundedbywomen.org](mailto:hi@foundedbywomen.org) ### From One Bookshelf to Digital Fashion Week: Charina Widjaja on Building DFW Creative URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/women-who-lead/from-one-bookshelf-to-digital-fashion-week-charina-widjaja-on-building-dfw-creative/ Last updated: 2026-07-29T03:09:49.000Z Charina Widjaja didn't set out to disrupt the fashion industry - she set out to solve a problem. Watching talented Singaporean designers pour millions into their brands only to shut down for lack of market access convinced her that the issue was never the product. It was the platform. That realization led to [DFW Creative](https://www.dfw.com.sg/?ref=foundedbywomen.org), and in 2012, to Digital Fashion Week - the world's first fully digital, live-streamed fashion event, letting viewers buy straight off the runway years before "digital transformation" became an industry buzzword. The idea met plenty of skepticism at first. People doubted luxury fashion could ever work online, or that a runway show could hold its value without a physical room. Rather than argue the case, Charina built it, partnered with designers willing to take the leap, and let the results - eventually reaching hundreds of millions of viewers - speak for themselves. What started in a cramped office with one bookshelf, two tables and three computers grew into a company posting 200% annual revenue growth - and then, just as deliberately, Charina chose to scale it back to protect quality and client trust. In this Q&A, she talks about spotting opportunity in industry pain points, why "momentum" and "direction" aren't the same thing, and what she'd tell other female founders about trusting their own perspective. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. If you’re breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today! 👉** [**hi@foundedbywomen.org**](mailto:hi@foundedbywomen.org) --- **Q:* In 2012, you created Digital Fashion Week - the world's first fully digital, live-streamed fashion event that allowed viewers to make instant purchases off the runway. This was years before digital transformation became mainstream. What inspired you to envision a completely virtual fashion week when traditional fashion weeks were still exclusively physical events? How did you overcome the initial skepticism and convince stakeholders that this radical departure from convention could work?* **A:** I've always believed that technology should remove barriers, not create them. When I looked at the fashion industry back then, I saw an ecosystem that was incredibly exclusive. Fashion weeks were limited to those who could afford to travel, secure invitations, or have the right industry connections. Meanwhile, there were so many talented designers whose work deserved a global audience but simply didn't have access to those platforms. I wasn't trying to disrupt fashion for the sake of disruption. I was trying to solve a problem. I asked myself, *if we could already consume music, movies and news digitally, why couldn't fashion be experienced the same way?* More importantly, why couldn't consumers immediately purchase what they saw instead of waiting months for collections to arrive in stores? At the time, people thought the idea was unrealistic. Some questioned whether luxury fashion could ever exist online. Others believed a runway experience had to remain physical to be valuable. I understood their concerns because there wasn't really a blueprint. We were building something that had never been done before. Instead of spending all my energy convincing people, I focused on building. We demonstrated what the experience could look like, partnered with forward-thinking designers, and let the results speak for themselves. As more brands saw the international reach and engagement we were generating, skepticism slowly turned into curiosity, and eventually into confidence. One lesson I've carried throughout my career is that innovation often feels lonely in the beginning. If everyone immediately agrees with your idea, you're probably improving something rather than reinventing it. Sometimes you have to believe in the future before everyone else can see it. **Q:* You mentioned that many Singaporean designer friends who had invested $1–2 million were forced to close their brands due to lack of market support. This crisis became the catalyst for both founding DFW Creative and creating Digital Fashion Week to help local designers gain global recognition. How do you identify market gaps and turn industry pain points into business opportunities? What advice would you give to female entrepreneurs about transforming challenges in their sector into scalable solutions?* **A:** DFW Creative was born because I saw incredibly talented people failing not because they lacked creativity, but because they lacked access. Many of the fashion industry people I know had poured years of their lives and significant investments into building fashion brands, yet they struggled to reach international buyers and consumers. Watching that happen made me realise the problem wasn't the product. It was the platform. I've learned that every industry has frustrations that people simply accept as "the way things are." Those frustrations are often where the biggest opportunities exist. Whenever I see a recurring problem, I ask myself three questions: Why does this problem exist? Who is being affected the most? And if this problem disappeared tomorrow, what would that change? Those questions have guided almost every business decision I've made. For female entrepreneurs, my advice is not to chase trends. Chase problems worth solving. It's easy to become distracted by what's fashionable in business, whether it's AI today or another technology tomorrow. But businesses that last are built around solving genuine human or commercial needs. I'd also encourage women to trust their perspective. Sometimes we underestimate the value of our own experiences because they feel ordinary to us. In reality, the way we observe people, build relationships and approach problem-solving can become our greatest competitive advantage. Purpose creates resilience. When your business exists to solve something meaningful, it becomes much easier to persevere through the inevitable challenges of entrepreneurship. **Q:* Your podcast interview mentioned achieving 200% revenue growth annually, but also discussed how DFW Creative "grew too aggressively" and had to scale down to prioritize service excellence. Starting from a tiny office with just "one bookshelf and two tables, with three computers", how do you balance ambitious creative vision with sustainable business practices? What key lessons have you learned about managing rapid growth while maintaining quality and company culture?* **A:** When I started DFW Creative, we had a tiny office where everyone literally had to turn sideways to walk through the entrance. We had one bookshelf, two tables, three computers, and a big dream. Like many founders, I believed growth was the ultimate measure of success. We experienced years of rapid expansion, growing by as much as 200% annually, and naturally we wanted to keep that momentum going. But growth also exposes every weakness in a business. As we expanded, I realised that saying yes to every opportunity wasn't sustainable. Our clients trusted us because of our creativity and execution, and protecting that trust became more important than simply becoming bigger. Making the decision to scale back wasn't easy. As entrepreneurs, we're often taught that bigger is always better. But I've learned that healthy businesses aren't defined by size they're defined by consistency, profitability, client satisfaction and the ability to deliver excellence over the long term. Today, we're much more intentional about the projects we take on. We invest heavily in our people, our processes and our culture because those are the foundations that allow creativity to flourish. If I could give one piece of advice to other founders, it would be this: don't confuse momentum with direction. Growing fast is exciting, but sustainable growth requires discipline. Sometimes the bravest decision isn't to expand it's to pause, strengthen your foundations, and build a company that can thrive not just for the next year, but for the next decade. Looking back, I'm grateful for every stage of the journey from that tiny office to where we are today. Each chapter taught me that success isn't about how quickly you grow; it's about building something that continues to create value long after the excitement of rapid growth has passed. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring story? Founded by Women elevates the voices of women making an impact. > Breaking barriers or paving the way for others? We'd love to feature you. Get in touch! 👉 [hi@foundedbywomen.org](mailto:hi@foundedbywomen.org) ### Fiona Roberts on Rebuilding Strength: How theMovement Charity Restores Women's Right to Exercise URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/women-who-lead/fiona-roberts-on-rebuilding-strength-how-themovement-charity-restores-womens-right-to-exercise/ Last updated: 2026-07-24T13:01:07.000Z Exercise is often talked about as a universal good, something everyone can benefit from if they simply choose to prioritize it. But for women recovering from abuse, trafficking, or homelessness, access to movement is rarely that simple. Trauma, financial insecurity, low confidence, and unstable housing can all stand between a woman and a safe space to move her body, even when the benefits to her mental and physical health are exactly what she needs most. This is the gap that Fiona Roberts set out to close when she founded [theMovement Charity](https://www.themovementcharity.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org). A Personal Trainer who saw both the transformative power of exercise and the privilege embedded in accessing it, Fiona built theMovement in partnership with charities across London to deliver free, trauma-informed fitness programmes for women impacted by domestic abuse, trafficking, and homelessness. Led by volunteer fitness professionals, these sessions are designed around autonomy, choice, and emotional safety, creating room for women to rebuild strength and confidence on their own terms. We spoke with Fiona about what inspired theMovement, the barriers they're working to dismantle, and their vision for expanding trauma-informed fitness beyond London and into the wider industry. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. If you’re breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today! 👉** [**hi@foundedbywomen.org**](mailto:hi@foundedbywomen.org) --- ## Q: What inspired you to start? As a woman, it is difficult not to notice the additional barriers and disadvantages we face. For many years I have striven to advocate for and support women in both my personal and professional life, particularly survivors of abuse and homelessness. Over time I became increasingly aware of the privileges I held and how different my experience could have so easily been. Alongside this, I had personal experiences of the positive impact of exercise on my physical and mental health. Through these experiences, I realised that it was a privilege to access exercise and that there are many barriers to exercise, financial, emotional, and systemic, that we often don’t think about if we do not face them personally. As I was also a Personal Trainer, I looked for organisations to volunteer or work for to address this issue, but struggled to find any. I decided to take action myself and started theMovement Charity. ## Q: What problem are you solving? At theMovement, we believe every woman deserves access to the life-enhancing benefits of movement. Exercise has proven power to lift mood, build self-esteem, and support mental wellbeing - yet women who are survivors of abuse, exploitation and homelessness are among the least likely to access it. Barriers such as the impact of trauma, financial insecurity, low confidence, social stigma, and unstable housing mean that too many women are excluded from spaces where they can move safely and freely. TheMovement works to change this; in collaboration with partner charities, we offer free, trauma-informed fitness programmes specifically designed for women impacted by domestic abuse, trafficking and homelessness and led by fitness professional volunteers. By removing financial, social, and emotional barriers to exercise, we create safe, supportive, and non-judgemental spaces where women can build strength. Our trauma-informed approach is fundamental: we centre autonomy, choice, and emotional safety in every session, recognising that healing must happen on each woman’s own terms. Through movement, we see women reconnect with their bodies, rebuild confidence, and take powerful steps forward in their recovery journeys. ## Q: What's next for you? TheMovement's vision is a more equitable future, where wellbeing and movement are truly accessible to all. I would love to see our project expand beyond London, breaking down barriers to exercise for many more women. As a small charity founder, I often feel frustrated by the disparity between the need we have identified and the funding available to achieve our goals, so this is something I am currently navigating. I am also looking towards growing opportunities to disrupt the fitness industry as a whole, making it safer and more welcoming for survivors. TheMovement is making strides in this through our trauma informed practice training opportunities and I am excited to see the potential impact. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring story? Founded by Women elevates the voices of women making an impact. > Breaking barriers or paving the way for others? We'd love to feature you. Get in touch! 👉 [hi@foundedbywomen.org](mailto:hi@foundedbywomen.org) ### From Betrayal to Ownership: How Donna Ross-Jones Built One of America's Top Music Publishers - And Why She's Not Done Yet URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/women-who-lead/from-betrayal-to-ownership-how-donna-ross-jones-built-one-of-americas-top-music-publishers-and-why-shes-not-done-yet/ Last updated: 2026-07-24T04:28:07.000Z At 20 years old, Donna Ross-Jones learned the hardest lesson of her career: loyalty and hard work don't guarantee protection. After being blamed for conflict she didn't create, fired, and then assaulted by someone she trusted, she made a decision that would define the next four decades of her life. She would never again place her future in someone else's hands. That decision led her to music publishing, where copyrights, unlike people, could be owned, documented, and protected. Today, Donna is the founder and CEO of [Transition Music Corporation](https://transitionmusic.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org), one of the top 100 music publishers in the United States, and the only woman of color who owns 100 percent of a company at that level. Her catalog has powered music for Eddie Murphy, Heart, Anita Baker, and hundreds of film and television productions. But ownership, for Donna, was never just about her own success. It became a tool for building opportunity for others, through partnerships with independent creators, internship programs that have sent alumni to companies like Warner and the NFL, and now, a new venture: Transition Music Academy, designed to give the next generation a clearer, more affordable path into an industry that has historically kept them out. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. If you’re breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today! 👉** [**hi@foundedbywomen.org**](mailto:hi@foundedbywomen.org) --- ## Q: What inspired you to start Transition Music Corporation? Inspiration was, in a word, pain—but it was also the discovery that pain could become purpose. The road to Transition Music began when I was 20 years old. I had entered the music industry as a teenager and worked incredibly hard. Like many young women, I believed that if I was loyal, worked longer hours, did everything asked of me and made myself indispensable, the people I trusted would protect me. They did not. I was blamed for conflict I did not create and fired because I was the easiest person to sacrifice. Shortly afterward, one of the men I had looked up to pushed himself on me. There was no Me Too movement, no language for what had happened and no one telling young women that the shame did not belong to us. I felt humiliated, vulnerable and powerless. But somewhere inside that pain, I made a decision: I would never again place my entire future in someone else’s hands. I started my first company at 20, using the knowledge I had gained in international marketing and artist management. That experience taught me another difficult lesson: when your livelihood depends entirely on another person, they can fire you, refuse to pay you or even throw a champagne bottle at your head—which actually happened to me. Music publishing offered something different. Copyrights had rules. They could be documented, protected and owned. They could not fire me, intimidate me or decide one morning that my work no longer mattered. I began to understand that ownership was not simply a business strategy. For me, it was a form of safety. Later, I fell in love with connecting music to film and television, and that became the foundation of Transition Music Corporation. I did not build my company because I was fearless or because I had a perfect plan. I built it because creating something of my own became less frightening than continuing to be disposable in someone else’s world. That is what I want women to understand: sometimes what breaks your heart also breaks open your future. The rejection, betrayal or failure that makes you question your value may be the very thing that pushes you toward ownership. You do not have to begin without fear. You only have to believe that what happened to you does not get to determine what becomes of you. ## Q: What problem are we solving now? The problem I have worked to solve throughout my career is exclusion—both creative and economic. People often congratulate me when they learn that I am the only woman of color who owns 100 percent of a music publishing company ranked among the top 100 in the United States. I am proud of that accomplishment, but I am also profoundly saddened by it. I should not be the only one. I want to see more women and more people from communities of color achieving ownership at this level. The music industry has always had talented people on the outside—people fully capable of doing the work, but without the relationships, résumé or access required to get through the door. As the owner of Transition Music Corporation, I have been able to do more than talk about inclusion. I have been able to build it into the way we operate. We have partnered with independent companies, including Byron Allen’s media empire, helping to create an ecosystem in which independent businesses can grow together. We have taken chances on emerging writers, composers and artists based on the quality of their work—not simply their track records or who introduced them. And through our internship programs, we have given young people real work and real responsibilities, teaching skills that translate into employment. Former interns have gone on to opportunities at companies including Warner, the NFL, CBS and Amazon. That is what has made ownership most meaningful to me. It has given me the ability to make a difference wherever I land—to create opportunities, share knowledge and help more people participate in the creative and financial success of this industry. But the larger problem of inclusion in our industry remains. ## Q: What's next for you? Transition Music Academy. Exclusion is a growing issue, and the population that used to comprise the music "middle class" is shrinking and we want to solve that problem. Employers are still saying they cannot find entry-level candidates who are prepared to contribute without extensive retraining. At the same time, many students graduate from expensive programs with theory but without the practical skills, industry context and business understanding employers actually require. Artists and creators are also entering the business without understanding rights, royalties, metadata, contracts or ownership—often learning only after they have made an expensive mistake. TMA will take what we have been doing successfully on a smaller scale and make it accessible to more people. Together with a phenomenal team we are developing practical, vocational training in areas including music-industry structure, rights management, royalty flow, metadata, industry tools and professional skills. The goal is not simply to give someone another certificate. It is to give employers confidence that the person holding it can walk into the room, understand the work and contribute. Most importantly, TMA is about creating a clearer affordable path from creativity to employment, income and ownership—particularly for women, independent creators and people who have historically been left outside the industry’s traditional networks. I did not become an owner just to own a company. I became an owner so I could use that position to open doors. Transition Music Academy is the next door. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring story? Founded by Women elevates the voices of women making an impact. > Breaking barriers or paving the way for others? We'd love to feature you. Get in touch! 👉 [hi@foundedbywomen.org](mailto:hi@foundedbywomen.org) ### From Executive Search to Empowering HR Leaders: Fay Phillips-Jones on Building Coaching With Fay URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/women-who-lead/from-executive-search-to-empowering-hr-leaders-fay-phillips-jones-on-building-coaching-with-fay/ Last updated: 2026-07-23T15:31:00.000Z After nearly two decades in HR and executive search, Fay Phillips-Jones kept noticing the same pattern from her seat on the hiring side of the table: talented HR professionals, people who had spent their careers guiding others through change, often struggled to advocate for themselves. She watched capable candidates undersell their own value and lose out, not because they lacked ability, but because they lacked the space to find their confidence again. That observation led her to found [Coaching With Fay](https://www.coachingwithfay.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) in 2020, offering the kind of thoughtful, human support she had always wished she could give candidates during her years in executive search. Today, she works with HR and People professionals across the globe, helping them navigate everything from burnout and career pivots to redundancy and internal promotions, combining psychological insight with practical strategy in a way that goes far beyond a polished CV. Alongside her one to one coaching, Fay runs Career Circles With Fay, a free fortnightly community where HR professionals can share what they're navigating and find real peer support. We spoke with Fay about what led her to this work, the deeper problem she's solving for her clients, and what's next for both her business and her free community. --- ## What inspired you to start? After nearly two decades across HR and executive search, I spent years on the other side of the hiring table — watching capable HR professionals, people who had spent their careers guiding others through change, find it far harder to navigate their own. I saw people undersell themselves from the very first conversation, lower their expectations, and lose out to candidates who weren't necessarily more capable, just more confident in saying what they brought. Underneath it all was the human reality of a job search: rejection after rejection, some still juggling a demanding role, others out of work altogether, all while supporting a family and keeping up with the mortgage. Executive search is a commercial, sales-led environment, and however much I wanted to help, my time and responsibility sat largely with the hiring client and my own commercial targets, not the candidate. I founded Coaching With Fay in 2020 to give people the thoughtful, human support and space I had always wished I could offer them. ## What problem are you solving? Career decisions are rarely just about finding a new job or improving a CV. The HR and People professionals from across the globe that I support are often navigating much bigger questions around confidence, identity, progression and what they genuinely want from the next stage of their careers. They may be feeling quietly unfulfilled, burnt out, or simply aware they've started taking a back seat — under-motivated or under-utilised, without quite knowing why. It isn't always about finding a new role; sometimes it's about finding their voice again, building new skills, or choosing to direct their own path rather than coasting through it. For others, it's about recovering from redundancy, considering a pivot, coming back after a career break, or pursuing a more senior role internally. My role is to help them make sense of where they are, reconnect with their strengths, and turn that clarity into purposeful action — coaching, CV and LinkedIn positioning, interview preparation, personal branding, or a focused job-search strategy. It's the combination of deeper reflection, psychological insight and practical strategy that makes the work so effective. ## What's next for you? I'd love to make more of the insight and learning from my one-to-one coaching accessible to a wider community - through thoughtful content, practical resources, and eventually, carefully designed courses - without losing the deeply personal support that has always been at the heart of Coaching With Fay. I'm also continuing to grow Career Circles With Fay, my free community for HR and People professionals, where we meet fortnightly and create a safe, welcoming space for people to come as they are, share what they're navigating, and experience real peer support and professional connection. Several members have secured new roles and chosen to stay on, quietly supporting others who are still finding their way forward — which tells me more about what we've built than any growth plan ever could. Just as importantly, what's next for me is personal. After years in the pace of corporate life, I'm building something that lets me be properly present — as a mum to a very busy five-year-old and two equally busy stepsons, that's the part I protect hardest. ### Smile, Engage, Educate: Joanne Lockwood on Turning Awareness Into Inclusive Action URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/women-who-lead/smile-engage-educate-joanne-lockwood-on-turning-awareness-into-inclusive-action/ Last updated: 2026-07-23T13:22:24.000Z [Joanne Lockwood](https://linkedin.com/in/jolockwood?ref=foundedbywomen.org) spent much of her life moving through the world with the privilege of being perceived as a man. In her forties, as she stepped away from a career in IT and began her gender transition, that changed - and so did her view of the workplaces she'd been part of, including the business she once ran. She began to see the gaps: the unchallenged banter, the exclusion, the cultures that quietly left people out. That shift led her to found [SEE Change Happen](https://seechangehappen.co.uk/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ten years ago, built on a simple philosophy: Smile, Engage and Educate. Her work centers on a problem many organisations recognise but struggle to solve - the gap between what they say they value and what employees, candidates and customers actually experience. For Joanne, awareness is only the starting point; real change comes from building the confidence and competence to act differently. Now, she's bringing that mission into digital tools, most notably the [Trans Inclusion Toolkit](https://thetransinclusiontoolkit.co.uk/?ref=foundedbywomen.org), an AI-assisted platform designed to help organisations move from good intentions to confident, defensible action. In this interview, Joanne shares what inspired SEE Change Happen, the problem she's solving, and how she's using technology to scale inclusion without losing the human judgment at its core. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. If you’re breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today! 👉** [**hi@foundedbywomen.org**](mailto:hi@foundedbywomen.org) --- ## Q: What inspired you to start? For much of my life, I experienced the world through the privilege of being perceived as a man. In my forties, as I stepped away from a career in IT and began my gender transition, I also stepped into a vastly different experience of the world—one shaped more directly by marginalisation and exclusion. That shift caused me to look back differently at the workplaces I had been part of, including the business I had run. I could see gaps in how people were included and valued, and I recognised examples of inappropriate banter, exclusion and workplace cultures that had gone unchallenged. Most people were not bad people; they simply had not been shown a better way. That inspired me to establish SEE Change Happen ten years ago: to help people and organisations move beyond good intentions and create positive people experiences through a simple philosophy—Smile, Engage and Educate. ## Q: What problem are you solving? Awareness is only the starting point. Organisations may recognise that inclusion matters, but recognition alone does not change culture or improve people’s experiences. I help organisations move from awareness to confidence and competence by developing the knowledge, skills and practical understanding needed to make better decisions. From there, the critical step is action. I often use the phrase “Action Changes Things” because nothing changes unless somebody is prepared to do something differently. My work focuses on closing the gap between what organisations say they value and what employees, candidates, customers, and communities actually experience. ## Q: What is next for you? I am increasingly using responsible AI and interactive digital tools to make practical inclusion support more accessible. Rather than creating static websites that simply provide information, I am developing platforms that combine learning, assessments, quick guides, diagnostics, and decision-support tools. A major focus is the Trans Inclusion Toolkit, an AI-assisted application designed to help organisations become more trans-positive at a time when confidence around trans inclusion is declining. It supports employers in moving from awareness to confidence, competence, and action through structured, lawful and defensible approaches. Technology can help scale knowledge and strengthen decision-making, but it must not replace human judgment, accountability, or empathy. The aim is to use AI to extend human capability while continuing to create better and more positive experiences for people. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring story? Founded by Women elevates the voices of women making an impact. > Breaking barriers or paving the way for others? We'd love to feature you. Get in touch! 👉 [hi@foundedbywomen.org](mailto:hi@foundedbywomen.org) ### Live Workshop | July 29: Leading Through Grief––Navigating Leadership in Times of Loss with Sweta Vikram URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/workshops/live-workshop-july-29-leading-through-grief-navigating-leadership-in-times-of-loss-with-sweta-vikram/ Last updated: 2026-07-23T12:54:25.000Z We're hosting a live workshop on July 29th featuring Sweta Vikram, A.D. - award-winning entrepreneur, Ayurvedic practitioner, certified grief coach, and author of 15 books. Sweta will explore how grief impacts leadership, nervous system regulation, communication, and resilience - and how to navigate these challenges without abandoning yourself in the process. Whether you're a founder, entrepreneur, or business leader - this conversation is for you. **Date:** Wednesday, July 29, 2026 **Time:** 10:00 AM ET ### Magenta MAD URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/partners/marketing/magenta-mad/ Last updated: 2026-07-22T10:50:24.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2026/07/MAD_Charcoal-Magenta.png) #### Magenta MAD helps ambitious, commission-driven SMEs turn complex marketing into the strategic clarity, visibility and authority that growth needs. ****Contact email:** [team@magentamad.uk](mailto:team@magentamad.uk) ****LinkedIn:** [https://www.linkedin.com/in/jayde-pope/](https://www.linkedin.com/in/jayde-pope/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) [https://www.linkedin.com/company/magenta-mad/](https://www.linkedin.com/company/magenta-mad/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ****Instagram:** [https://www.instagram.com/magenta\_mad](https://www.instagram.com/magenta%5Fmad?ref=foundedbywomen.org) [Visit website](http://www.magentamad.uk/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ### Conn Maciel Carey LLP URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/partners/law/conn-maciel-carey-llp/ Last updated: 2026-07-22T10:21:38.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2026/07/images--2-.png) #### Kara M. Maciel is a founding partner of Conn Maciel Carey LLP and Chair of the firm's national Labor & Employment Practice Group. She focuses her practice on representing employers in all aspects of the employment relationship. Kara develops workplace solutions for clients across all industries, with a particular emphasis on the hospitality, retail, grocery, trade association, and non‑profit sectors. - Contact Email: [kmaciel@connmaciel.com](mailto:kmaciel@connmaciel.com) - Social Media: [https://www.linkedin.com/in/karamaciel](https://www.linkedin.com/in/karamaciel?ref=foundedbywomen.org) [Visit website](https://www.connmaciel.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ### Loss Has a Language: Melissa Douaire Is Teaching Wealth Management to Hear the Person Behind the Portfolio URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/women-who-lead/loss-has-a-language-melissa-douaire-is-teaching-wealth-management-to-hear-the-person-behind-the-portfolio/ Last updated: 2026-07-28T03:37:42.000Z Twenty years ago, Melissa Douaire lost her mother and discovered something that would define the next two decades of her work: grief has a language, and almost no one is taught to speak it. That realization, born in hospice rooms and pastoral care settings, eventually collided with another truth she'd absorbed over twenty-one years working alongside a wealth manager - that the financial industry is built by numbers people who are rarely equipped for the person sitting across from the plan. Today, as founder of [Whole Person Conversations](https://wholepersonconversations.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org), Melissa is closing that gap. With the largest wealth transfer in history now moving disproportionately to women, she's built four frameworks - HELD, Dynamics of Change, Where's Your Waterline, and the Transition Clarity Loop - to train financial advisors to hear the emotional reality behind a client's transition, not just the numbers. Her thesis is striking: what we often treat as anxiety, depression, or burnout is frequently grief wearing a different name, and it's precisely this blind spot that causes widows to leave their advisor at nearly three times the rate of other investing households. Her book, *The Care You Give: Supporting Caregivers*, is already being distributed by advisors to clients navigating one of the most financially consequential and least acknowledged experiences a family can face. Below, Melissa shares what inspired her to start, the problem she's solving, and where she's taking this work next. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. If you’re breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today! 👉** [**hi@foundedbywomen.org**](mailto:hi@foundedbywomen.org) --- ## Q: What inspired you to start? Twenty years ago my mother died, and I learned that you can be surrounded by people who love you and still grieve completely alone. That was my first lesson in the thing I have spent my life on since. Loss has a language, and almost no one is taught to speak it. So I went looking for it everywhere. In hospice rooms, in pastoral care, among friends and family. For twenty years I sat with people in the hardest moments of their lives and heard grief in every form. In 2021 I founded Whole Person Conversations and had, quite literally, thousands of conversations with people about what they were carrying. What surprised me was how rarely it was about a death. It was a divorce, a retirement, a family rupture, a job loss, a diagnosis. Grief was showing up everywhere, and nowhere more quietly than around identity, and the money it takes to hold a life together. That is where the two halves of my life met. For twenty-one years I lived alongside a wealth manager and helped build a practice from the inside. Wealth managers are trusted with the most intimate conversations a person will ever have: what happens when a spouse dies, when a marriage ends, when a lifetime of money changes hands. And yet the profession, by its own design, is built by numbers people. They are brilliant with the plan and largely unequipped for the person sitting across from it. That gap had no name. So I named it, and I built the frameworks to close it. ## Q: What problem are you solving? The largest transfer of wealth in history is underway, and the majority of it is moving to women. That should be a moment of arrival. Instead, it lands on generations of women who were left out of the story of money to begin with. I know this one personally. Until 1974, a woman in this country could not open a checking account without a man's signature. That was my mother's reality. I watched it. I carry its echo. And now I am a woman participating in the very wealth transfer that was designed without women in the room. So when a woman finally sits at the table, the numbers are only half of what is present. What she often needs first is a question no one has ever asked her. What does wealth actually mean to you? Is it freedom? Is it security? Is it shaped by scarcity, by guilt, by the shame of not knowing the beta the men around you seem to discuss so easily? Those are not soft questions. They are the whole relationship. And it is why widows are nearly three times more likely than other investing households to leave the family's advisor. The cause is almost never performance. It is the cumulative feeling of being explained to rather than understood. Here is what I have learned to see that most people miss. As a culture, we treat the feeling rather than the cause. We treat anxiety, when anxiety is often the fear of what could be lost, which is anticipatory grief. We treat depression when it is often sadness about what has already gone, which can be complicated grief. We treat loneliness with shallow suggestions to fill the time, when it is really the loss of meaningful connection, made heavier by the shame of feeling bad about feeling bad, until the stigma of not knowing what to say or do turns it into disenfranchised grief. We treat burnout with platitudes about self-care, when it is often the loss of control and purpose, a secondary loss stacked on top of the others. Every one of these is grief wearing a different name. When an advisor can hear the loss inside a client's transition, the client feels seen, heard, and valued in the exact moment the money is most likely to move away. Teaching advisors to connect at a human level and to understand the emotional economics of a life is how referrals grow a business. Through four frameworks, HELD™, Dynamics of Change™, Where's Your Waterline?™, and the Transition Clarity Loop™, I train advisors to hear the person, not just the portfolio. The whole industry trains advisors to talk. I train them to hear beyond the words, where connection deepens the relationship, professionally and personally. That is where trust is built, where the relationship is kept, and where the next generation of wealth chooses to stay, bonded by values and service. ## Q: What's next for you? I am making this the wealth management industry's gold standard. Not a specialty a few advisors happen to have, but the standard every woman can expect when she sits down to talk about her money. Quality listening is not a nicety. It is better service, and it is the relationship women have always deserved and too rarely been given. The work ahead is scale. Bringing these frameworks into more firms, and training a generation of advisors who can stay in the room while a client's world reorganizes, through widowhood, divorce, inheritance, and retirement. I will keep writing and speaking so this language reaches people long before they ever reach a crisis. My book, The Care You Give: Supporting Caregivers, is out now, and advisors have already begun buying it for clients who are in the throes of caregiving. There are more than sixty-three million of us caring for someone in this country, and we are disproportionately women. Many of us step back from work, or leave it altogether, and that choice follows us for the rest of our lives, in earnings, in earning potential, and in retirement. Caregiving is not a personal aside to the financial plan. It is one of the most consequential financial events a client will ever move through, stressful now and shaping what is possible for decades. This is exactly the kind of moment advisors need to attend to, because the person carrying it is also carrying the plan's future. But the real ambition is bigger than any training room. I want to change what women can expect when they talk about their money. I want her to be asked what it means to her. I want grief, in all its quiet forms, to be something we can finally name inside these relationships, because what you cannot name, you cannot move through. I started a conversation the industry did not know it was missing. What is next is making it the standard, until the value an advisor and a client build together is simply how this work is done. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring story? Founded by Women elevates the voices of women making an impact. > Breaking barriers or paving the way for others? We'd love to feature you. Get in touch! 👉 [hi@foundedbywomen.org](mailto:hi@foundedbywomen.org) ### From Door-Knocking at 8 to Moving Millions: Melanie Ulle's Blueprint for Sustainable Philanthropy URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/women-who-lead/from-door-knocking-at-8-to-moving-millions-melanie-ulles-blueprint-for-sustainable-philanthropy/ Last updated: 2026-07-24T03:33:15.000Z Melanie Ulle was going door to door for a presidential campaign before most kids learn to ride a bike without training wheels. That early start, shaped by parents who treated current events and museum visits as standard weekend fare, set her on a path that's now spanned more than two decades in politics and nonprofit fundraising. As founder and CEO of [Philanthropy Expert](https://philanthropyexpert.org/?ref=foundedbywomen.org), she's helped organizations raise tens of millions of dollars, all while building a reputation as one of Colorado's most influential voices in philanthropy. Along the way, Melanie co-founded Women in Kind, Denver's first coworking space designed specifically for women, complete with lactation rooms and childcare support. The venture earned a State Senate commendation before closing in 2019, a decision she and her partner made quickly and without regret when a values-aligned company entered the market. Today, Melanie is pushing philanthropy toward a more sustainable future, one where nonprofits build earned income models instead of relying solely on donations. In this interview, she talks about the lessons grassroots campaigning taught her about connecting with donors, what it really took to walk away from Women in Kind, and why she thinks the era of over-reliance on traditional philanthropy is coming to an end. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. If you’re breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today! 👉** [**hi@foundedbywomen.org**](mailto:hi@foundedbywomen.org) --- **Q:** From 8-Year-Old Activist to Philanthropy Pioneer You started your activism journey at age 8, going door-to-door for political campaigns, and have now spent over 20 years helping organizations raise tens of millions of dollars. What drove that early passion for making a difference, and how did those formative political experiences shape your approach to building Philanthropy Expert? What lessons from grassroots campaigning do you apply to helping nonprofits connect with donors today? **A:** I was fortunate to have very passionate and intellectually curious parents. When I hear about other friends’ childhoods and all the fun things they did, like going to the pool, playing games, typical kid stuff, I think it sounds amazing, but my experience was very different. A standard weekend for me was going to the art museum with my parents, maybe listening to a lecture, and always, always, always discussing current events and politics. I went door to door for a presidential campaign when I was 8 years old, dropping literature, and I think that helped me never fear approaching and speaking with adults or strangers. It was a great future career training. The world needs a few weirdos like me to keep things interesting. I read something from elementary school that asked what I wanted to be when I grew up, and I said a lobbyist. I was 9\. I don’t think this is a very common answer from a third grader, but I was an only child whose best friends were my parents, so it’s probably to be expected. Only children can often be very close to their parents, and therefore very interested in adult pursuits. You don’t realize until you’re an adult that the experience is very different than your peers. I actually feel really lucky because they taught me to care deeply about the world around me, and that was as normal as playing outside. I always say that philanthropy and volunteerism are learned at home. My parents were not wealthy, but they were (and are) generous. I didn’t realize that being engaged in your community was optional, and I feel more strongly about that every day. In so many ways, Philanthropy Expert is a representation of the love I feel for my community and for humanity. We have dozens and dozens of clients, and all are working hard to improve the lives and health of our people and places. My business partner and our team share that commitment to bettering our communities. I suspect that all of them feel that drive as viscerally as I do. I started my career in politics, and that work really showed me the urgency of meeting our world’s greatest needs. I think people who come out of the campaign world bring that urgency to the nonprofits they serve. We love hiring former political staffers for this reason! --- Q: Building and Letting Go - The Women in Kind Journey You co-founded Women in Kind as Denver's first coworking space designed by women for women, complete with lactation rooms, childcare areas, and temperature controls that actually worked for women's bodies. The space received state Senate commendation but ultimately closed in 2019 due to market saturation. What was the hardest part about making that decision, and what did you learn about building mission-driven businesses in competitive markets? How has that experience influenced your approach to business strategy? **A:** Women in Kind was a brief labor of love, but in retrospect, it was also a bit trendy. I think that it was right for the time we started it, and that moment is over. Coworking was much more relevant in a pre-pandemic world. I think people do miss the connection of working together, but I don’t think we will ever as a society go back. The decision was actually quite easy. A much larger company was entering the market that really aligned with our values, so we sold all our assets to them and came out of it in a great position. Many of our friends in the space were not so lucky. I am so grateful for our timing and ability to make a quick decision and refocus on our primary businesses. I enjoyed the ride and always say that it was a very arduous MBA that I could never have gotten in a classroom. --- **Q:** Transforming Philanthropy Culture Through Philanthropy Expert, you've been featured on major media outlets and recognized as one of Colorado's most powerful women for transforming how donors and nonprofits work together. You've mentioned wanting to move more money to organizations that are "entrepreneurial" and "building earned income models." What systemic changes do you think the philanthropy world needs most, and how are you using your platform to encourage donors to take bigger risks on innovative solutions? **A:** I’ve been at this for decades, and I think it’s clear that the era of over-reliance on philanthropy is over. There is great interest in seeing better models for sustainability. We have clients who are now nearly entirely supported by earned revenue, and, ironically, that makes them more fundable because everyone wants to bet on a winner. The magic is in finding a model that both makes money and enhances the program. For instance, one of our former clients has a moving company where their participants work every day, teaching them resilience, exceptional business practices, and customer service skills. Revenue generation from the moving company supports the organization while teaching job skills and accountability. They are the highest rated moving company where I live and I have used them twice. It’s brilliant! I’m not interested in seeing the industry in stasis while every other field evolves, and frankly, I don’t think donors have patience for watching the same old charity-based models. Just because nonprofits do not exist for returns doesn’t mean they aren’t run by discerning business leaders. In fact, many nonprofits are much more business-minded than the for-profit organizations I see. We are watching an exciting shift toward sustainable revenue streams, and I love being here for it! Because I also work as a funder, leading a couple of small foundations, I am able to see the whole picture- what works for nonprofits and what really entices donors, and that’s a pretty great position to see where things can improve and excel on both sides. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring story? Founded by Women elevates the voices of women making an impact. > Breaking barriers or paving the way for others? We'd love to feature you. Get in touch! 👉 [hi@foundedbywomen.org](mailto:hi@foundedbywomen.org) ### Joyride PR URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/partners/pr/joyride-pr/ Last updated: 2026-07-22T04:58:17.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2026/07/joyride-pr-secondary-logo-brand-black-rgb-900px-w-72ppi.png) #### Joyride Group is a global integrated communications agency dedicated to the intersection of automotive, transportation, and mobility tech. With a commitment to authenticity and transparency, Joyride leverages deep domain expertise to develop unique and stand-out storytelling that turns heads. The firm’s clients represent the forefront in vehicle autonomy and electrification, micro and multimodal mobility, and transportation infrastructure—who have a shared commitment to a future in which transportation is more accessible and attainable. - Preferred contact email - - [hello@joyridepr.com](mailto:hello@joyridepr.com) - Social media links - - [https://www.linkedin.com/company/joyride-group](https://www.linkedin.com/company/joyride-group?ref=foundedbywomen.org) - [http://instagram.com/joyride.group](http://instagram.com/joyride.group?ref=foundedbywomen.org) - [Visit website](http://www.joyridepr.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ### 30 Years, No Pivot: How Ariel Hyatt Built Cyber PR by Refusing to Chase Every Trend URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/women-who-lead/30-years-no-pivot-how-ariel-hyatt-built-cyber-pr-by-refusing-to-chase-every-trend/ Last updated: 2026-07-22T12:53:01.000Z When Ariel Hyatt launched her PR firm from a Boulder apartment in the 1990s, she didn't set out to build a one-woman operation. Within three years she had a team and a roster of 22 bands across the country, built almost entirely through word of mouth and years of relationship building at other agencies before she ever struck out on her own. Nearly thirty years later, [Cyber PR](https://cyberprmusic.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) has survived MySpace, the rise and fall of a dozen platforms since, and the constant reshuffling of how musicians reach their audiences. Hyatt's answer to staying relevant wasn't reinvention. It was consistency. She kept teaching artists the same core principle regardless of which platform was trending: ownership of your audience matters more than any single channel. In this conversation, Hyatt talks about growing up with an entrepreneur mother and a filmmaker father whose industry upended around him, why she built Cyber PR as both an agency and an educational company from day one, and why the hardest part of thirty years in business was never the pivots, it was staying enthusiastic through them. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. If you’re breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today! 👉** [**hi@foundedbywomen.org**](mailto:hi@foundedbywomen.org) --- **Q:** You started Ariel Publicity from your Boulder apartment in the 1990s, and within three years had a roster of 22 bands across the United States. What made you take that leap from working at venues and managing bands to starting your own PR firm, and how did you convince musicians to trust a one-woman operation run from an apartment? **A:** My mother was a highly successful entrepreneur, so I grew up with a great example of what it looked like to build a business from the ground up. Owning my own company always felt like a natural path for me because I saw firsthand the freedom, purpose, and independence that entrepreneurship could provide. It was never really a one-woman operation. From the very beginning, I had an assistant, and within three years I had a team of four or five people. The agency was based out of my home, but it had its own dedicated floor, and since most of my clients were touring musicians, very few ever needed to come into the office. By the time I launched Cyber PR, I had already spent years building relationships and working hard for artists at other agencies. My reputation preceded me, and in the music industry, word of mouth travels fast. One happy client led to another, and before long my roster grew organically through referrals. **Q:** You've written multiple books, spoken at over 100 conferences across 13 countries, and your principles are now taught at universities like Middle Tennessee State. Your latest book even hit number one on Amazon. When did you realize that teaching musicians how to market themselves was just as important as doing the PR for them, and how has that shift from service provider to educator changed your business model? **A:** I never really made a shift from publicist to educator. Education has always been part of my work. I grew up with a front row seat to what happens when a creative industry changes and an artist struggles to adapt. My father was a very successful filmmaker when I was young, but as the film and television industry evolved, I watched how difficult it could be to pivot. That lesson stayed with me. I've always felt a deep responsibility to help musicians understand marketing because I love music and I love artists. The more musicians we empower to build sustainable careers, the more art gets made, and I think that's good for all of us. From the beginning, Cyber PR was both an agency and an educational company. We didn't just want to do the work for artists. We wanted to teach them why we were doing it, so they could make smarter decisions long after a campaign ended. It definitely created twice the work, but it's also been one of the most rewarding parts of my career. Every book I write, every course I build, and every presentation I give sharpens my own thinking and helps my team become better marketers, too. **Q:** You've been running Cyber PR since 1996 - nearly 30 years in an industry that's changed dramatically from MySpace to TikTok. How have you kept the business relevant through every platform shift and trend, and what's been the hardest pivot you've had to make as an entrepreneur to stay ahead of the curve? **A:** Yes, we just turned 30! It's hard to believe. I have kept my business relevant by never changing the core messaging of what I do - the platforms may shift, but the philosophy never changes. Being successful as an independent artist in music is about understanding and owning as much of your audience as possible. I have kept the same core messaging for all of these years. I would say the hardest part has been sustaining my passion and staying true to my purpose - as we grow older and our lives change, so do our priorities and passions. So, it's been less about specific pivots and more about staying in the game while jumping from precipice to precipice while maintaining enthusiasm. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring story? Founded by Women elevates the voices of women making an impact. > Breaking barriers or paving the way for others? We'd love to feature you. Get in touch! 👉 [hi@foundedbywomen.org](mailto:hi@foundedbywomen.org) ### Creating Community Through Storytelling: How Chelsea Marshall Is Documenting the UK's Grassroots Music Scene URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/women-who-lead/creating-community-through-storytelling-how-chelsea-marshall-is-documenting-the-uks-grassroots-music-scene/ Last updated: 2026-07-22T03:53:23.000Z Chelsea Marshall always knew she wanted to build something of her own. As a child, she taught herself to make websites and blogs, chasing one obsession after another - horses, beauty, fashion, photography - and building entire online worlds around them. It took years for her to realize what she actually loved wasn't the subject matter itself, but the act of storytelling and creating spaces where people with shared interests could connect. That instinct got buried under the weight of adulthood - careers, relationships, and the pressure to follow a more conventional path - until a complete breakdown in her late twenties forced her to stop and rebuild from the ground up. She went to therapy, left relationships that weren't serving her, and eventually walked away from her corporate career entirely. Out of that reckoning came [Fleckies.com](https://fleckies.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org), the platform she'd dreamed about since childhood: a home for the stories of the UK's grassroots music scene, alongside her work with Dance Till Dawn and Music Barn Festival. Now, Chelsea is entering a new chapter. After scaling back her creative agency, FS Productions, to recover from burnout, she's putting Fleckies back at the center of her work, with clearer boundaries and a renewed focus on telling the stories of the DJs, bands, producers, promoters, and venues shaping music culture in real time - not after they've "made it," but while they're still building. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. If you’re breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today! 👉** [**hi@foundedbywomen.org**](mailto:hi@foundedbywomen.org) --- ## Q: What inspired you to start? I've always wanted to build something of my own. Since I was about 11 years old, I was teaching myself how to make websites and blogs. Every few months I'd become obsessed with something new - horses, beauty, fashion, photography - and I'd build an entire little online world around it. Looking back, I don't think I realised it then, but what I actually loved wasn't the subject itself. It was telling stories and creating spaces where people with shared interests could connect. Then adulthood happened. Careers, relationships and the pressure to follow a more conventional path slowly drowned that part of me out. In my late twenties I hit a point where everything unravelled. I had what I can only describe as a complete breakdown. It forced me to stop and ask myself some difficult questions. I went to therapy, left relationships that weren't right for me, completely changed my life and eventually left my corporate career too. That period became the catalyst for everything that followed. I launched Fleckies.com because I wanted to create the platform I'd dreamed about since I was a kid - somewhere dedicated to telling the stories of the UK's grassroots music scene. Alongside that I run Dance Till Dawn with my best mate Reece, helping create events that give people somewhere to belong, and I work with Music Barn Festival, championing independent music and culture. They all come back to the same purpose: building communities around music and the people who make it. Fleckies isn't just a business to me. It's the thing I was always meant to build. ## Q: What problem are you solving? I think we've forgotten how important storytelling is. We're constantly being sold something - products, lifestyles and solutions to problems we didn't even know we had. Social media has amplified that. It's brilliant for connecting people, but it's also driven us into algorithms that feed us more of what we already know. If you like house music, you get more house music. If you like indie bands, you rarely see anything outside that bubble. I wanted Fleckies to be the antidote to that. We tell the stories of the people building the UK's grassroots music scene - DJs, bands, producers, promoters, photographers, venues and creatives who are putting everything into their craft because they genuinely love it. Too often we only tell someone's story once they've "made it", as though success is the only part worth documenting. I completely disagree. The most inspiring part is the journey. It's the late nights, the setbacks, the tiny wins, the communities people build around themselves and the resilience it takes to keep creating. Those stories matter because they remind people they aren't alone. They help us learn from one another, celebrate each other's achievements and discover incredible artists and communities we might never have found otherwise. For me, Fleckies isn't about creating celebrities. It's about documenting culture while it's happening. ## Q: What's next for you? Starting a business is no small feat, and the last two years have been a real baptism of fire. Alongside Fleckies I launched my creative agency (FS Productions) because I needed a way to support myself financially while building the platform. The problem was I massively undercharged, gave far more than I should have and slowly found myself pouring all of my energy into helping other people build their dreams, leaving very little time or headspace for my own. It eventually led to burnout. My birthday is in June, and I've always treated it as my personal New Year – so this year I’ve made a conscious decision to reset. I've scaled the agency right back, let go of most of my clients and I'm rebuilding everything with much clearer boundaries. I'm taking everything I've learned over the past two years and creating a business that can sustainably support me without losing sight of the reason I started in the first place. The goal isn't simply to be busy. It's to build something meaningful that lasts. I'm putting Fleckies back at the centre of everything I do, continuing to grow the platform, tell more stories and find new ways to support grassroots music across the UK. It feels less like starting again and more like finally building the version I'd imagined all along. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring story? Founded by Women elevates the voices of women making an impact. > Breaking barriers or paving the way for others? We'd love to feature you. Get in touch! 👉 [hi@foundedbywomen.org](mailto:hi@foundedbywomen.org) ### Forthright Advising URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/partners/pr/forthright-advising/ Last updated: 2026-07-16T05:14:24.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2026/07/Forthright.Advising.Main.Logo.Print.jpg) #### Forthright Advising is a highly experienced public relations and communications firm that works with organizations championing children and families. With more than 20 years of specialized experience in the child and family sector, Forthright Advising’s founder Katie Test Davis established Forthright as a nationwide PR and marketing firm. Our entire team is driven by a love of kids, and laser focused on their success. Our clients are typically nonprofits, foundations, associations and public schools. ****Preferred contact email** [help@forthrightadvising.com](mailto:help@forthrightadvising.com) ****Social media links** [ www.linkedin.com/company/forthright-advising](https://www.linkedin.com/company/forthright-advising?ref=foundedbywomen.org) [Visit website](http://forthrightadvising.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ### How Avyana Chapman Merged Content Creation, Journalism & Communications to Build a South Florida PR Agency URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/women-who-lead/how-avyana-chapman-merged-content-creation-journalism-communications-to-build-a-south-florida-pr-agency/ Last updated: 2026-07-15T14:13:57.000Z Long before brand partnerships lived on Reels and TikTok, Avyana Chapman was already building a career at the intersection of content, journalism, and communication. That layered background - four years as a freelance journalist, hands-on experience as a content copywriter, and early work as a content creator - gave her a rare vantage point on how stories actually move through media, and it's the foundation she built [The Chapman PR Group](http://chapmanpr.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) on. Based in South Florida, Avyana saw a gap that many national agencies overlook: the need for a trusted local partner in Miami who can execute brand activations, media events, and influencer campaigns with real on-the-ground relationships. Rather than treating PR as a one-size-fits-all service, she built a firm that bridges the communication gaps between journalism, content, and public relations - bringing a modern, connected approach to an industry that's often siloed. Now, Avyana is expanding her vision even further. Alongside close friend Amanda Hernandez, she's preparing to launch a sister company dedicated exclusively to social media management - a natural next step that will complement The Chapman PR Group's services and round out a full-circle communications offering for clients. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. If you’re breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today! 👉** [**hi@foundedbywomen.org**](mailto:hi@foundedbywomen.org) --- ## Q: What inspired you to start The Chapman PR Group? My background gave me a unique perspective. I was a content creator before Reels and TikTok even existed, spent four years as a freelance journalist, and worked professionally as a content copywriter. I realized those three industries are far more connected than people think, and I wanted to bridge the communication gaps between them while bringing a fresh, modern approach to public relations. ## Q: What problem are you solving? One of the biggest gaps we fill is providing on-the-ground support in South Florida, particularly Miami, for agencies based in other major cities. Many national agencies don’t have local teams for brand activations, media events, influencer partnerships, or one-off campaigns. We act as their trusted local partner, providing the relationships and execution needed to make those initiatives successful. ## Q: What’s next for you? My good friend Amanda Hernandez and I are currently launching a sister company to The Chapman PR Group focused exclusively on social media management. It’s an exciting next chapter that will complement our PR services, and we’ll be sharing more details very soon. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring story? Founded by Women elevates the voices of women making an impact. > Breaking barriers or paving the way for others? We'd love to feature you. Get in touch! 👉 [hi@foundedbywomen.org](mailto:hi@foundedbywomen.org) ### From University Corridors to a Creative Ecosystem: Noor Armando on Building Title Pro URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/women-who-lead/from-university-corridors-to-a-creative-ecosystem-noor-armando-on-building-title-pro/ Last updated: 2026-07-15T09:57:54.000Z Noor Armando never set out to follow a single career path, she set out to be her own boss. That instinct, paired with a graphic design degree and a chance proximity to a media production course at university, led her to the person who would become both her business partner and her husband. Combining her design background with his media production skills, the two turned a shared curiosity about storytelling into [Title Pro](https://www.titleproltd.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org), a full-service creative agency now based in Bolton. What started as an agency solving a simple problem, businesses needing content that actually sounds like them rather than generic output, has since grown into something bigger. With Title Studios, Noor and her team opened a dedicated content studio, podcast room and edit suite, giving creatives and businesses across the region proper spaces to create without needing to be in London. That same instinct to make good content genuinely accessible now extends beyond the agency itself. Noor is building out Uncivilised Media Network, a venture already partnering with the local council to support students and creatives in the community, alongside Agoraleads, an AI-based platform designed to make it easier for businesses and creatives to find each other. As she puts it, the goal isn't just to run an agency, it's to build an ecosystem. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. If you’re breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today! 👉** [**hi@foundedbywomen.org**](mailto:hi@foundedbywomen.org) --- ## Q: What inspired you to start TitlePro? I've always wanted to be my own boss, owning my own agency was the goal long before I knew what it would look like. I studied graphic design at uni and the media production course happened to be right next to my halls, so I got involved and became fascinated with communication beyond just design - telling stories through media too. That's actually where I met my business partner (now husband). He studied media production and I studied graphic design so when we graduated it just made sense to combine the two. That's how Title Pro was born. ## Q: What problem are you solving? Most businesses know they need content but they're either doing it themselves at 11pm after a full day of running the business or they're paying an agency that churns out generic stuff that could belong to anyone. We solve both: we take content off their plate completely, but in a way that actually sounds and looks like them. It's grown beyond just the agency now. With Title Studios we've opened our own content studio, podcast room and edit suite, giving creatives and businesses proper spaces to create without needing to be in London. It's all the same problem really: making good content genuinely accessible to people ## Q: What’s next for you? We've launched a non-profit called Uncivilised Media Network which allows us to use creativity in a more meaningful way. We're already working with our local council and supporting students and creatives in our community and growing that side of things means a lot to us. We're also expanding Title Studios so more people can use our rental creative spaces. Additionally, we're launching Agoraleads, an AI-based platform that makes it easier for businesses and creatives to find each other because the way that works right now is honestly painful for everyone involved. So the short answer is: we're building an ecosystem, not just an agency. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring story? Founded by Women elevates the voices of women making an impact. > Breaking barriers or paving the way for others? We'd love to feature you. Get in touch! 👉 [hi@foundedbywomen.org](mailto:hi@foundedbywomen.org) ### Courage Over Comfort: How Edith Wolek Built Emperors Media to Help Women Lead Authentically URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/women-who-lead/courage-over-comfort-how-edith-wolek-built-emperors-media-to-help-women-lead-authentically/ Last updated: 2026-07-15T05:08:24.000Z Edith Wolek built Emperors Media on belief that a lasting brand is created by living your values, not by wearing a carefully crafted image. After more than two decades working in advertising, branding and design for global companies, she realised that helping businesses look good was never the real work. The real work was helping people, especially women, discover who they truly are and find the confidence to lead from that place. Her own path took her from growing up in Poland to studying Art and Advertising Design in New York, before building her life and business in the United Kingdom. Along the way she faced her own fears, including public speaking, and moments that tested her resilience and faith. Those experiences shaped her conviction that courage isn't the absence of fear, it's choosing to move forward anyway, a belief that now sits at the heart of everything Emperors Media does. Today, Edith leads Emperors Media as a movement as much as a company, helping female founders, coaches and visionary leaders build personal brands rooted in their true identity rather than a performance of who they think they need to be. As Publisher of [COURAGE Magazine Global](http://www.couragemagazineglobal.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) and Amazon best-selling author of [*Taking The Leap*](https://shop.ingramspark.com/b/084?params=YvIpDu72zYy3jt67L7YZ9RQ8JoDL03YntmRimUKl07F&ref=foundedbywomen.org), she continues to expand that mission, most recently through her upcoming book Identity Advantage PRO and her Brand Impact Mastery Program, which aims to help ambitious women entrepreneurs turn scattered branding into a clear, powerful presence that attracts the right clients and builds lasting legacy. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. If you’re breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today! 👉** [**hi@foundedbywomen.org**](mailto:hi@foundedbywomen.org) --- ## Q: What inspired me to start Emperors Media? Emperors Media was born from my own journey of transformation. I know what it feels like to have the talent, the passion, and the desire to make a meaningful impact while still feeling unseen. After years of working in advertising, branding, and design with global companies, I realised that building a successful brand was never just about beautiful visuals. It was about helping people discover who they truly are and giving them the confidence to lead from that place. My life has taken me across different countries and cultures, from growing up in Poland, studying Art and Advertising Design in New York, and building my life and business in the United Kingdom. Along the way I experienced challenges that shaped my resilience, including overcoming my fear of public speaking and navigating deeply personal moments that tested my strength and faith. Those experiences taught me that courage is not the absence of fear. Courage is choosing to move forward despite it. I founded Emperors Media because I saw too many brilliant women hiding behind uncertainty, overwhelmed by marketing, or believing they had to become someone else to succeed. I wanted to create a company that would help women build brands that reflect their humanity, their values, and their unique voice. A brand should never be a mask. It should be a true expression of the leader behind the business. Today, Emperors Media exists to help female founders, coaches, and visionary leaders create powerful personal brands that attract the right opportunities while remaining authentic to who they are. Every programme, every brand strategy, every creative project, and every edition of COURAGE Magazine Global is built on one belief. When a woman embraces her identity and leads with courage, she creates a ripple effect that transforms businesses, families, communities, and future generations. Emperors Media is more than a branding company. It is a movement that empowers women to stay true to themselves, build boldly with purpose, and inspire many through the legacy they choose to create. ## Q: What problem are we solving? The fear that a woman will spend her life carrying extraordinary gifts while remaining unseen, undervalued, and never fully stepping into the influence she was created to have. What makes Emperors Media different is the transformational women go through. We are not simply building brands, we are helping women become visible without sacrificing their authenticity, lead without losing their humanity, and create a legacy that extends far beyond their business. ## Q: What's next for me? - Stepping fully into global thought leadership - Continuing to lead the COURAGE Magazine Global Movement - 'Identity Advantage PRO' book publishing date is 20th September 2026 - Brand Impact Mastery Program - transforming 1 million women's lives Brand Impact Mastery is a 3-month transformational program that helps ambitious women entrepreneurs overcome scattered branding, inconsistent messaging and uncertainty, moving into a clear, cohesive and powerful personal brand that attracts the clients you want with ease. It aligns who they are, their message, translating all into authentic engagement, attracting high-value clients and leaving a legacy. Book a chat or consultation [here](https://calendly.com/edith-emperorsmedia/1-1-meet-up?ref=foundedbywomen.org). > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring story? Founded by Women elevates the voices of women making an impact. > Breaking barriers or paving the way for others? We'd love to feature you. Get in touch! 👉 [hi@foundedbywomen.org](mailto:hi@foundedbywomen.org) ### Beyond Burnout: How Mandi Casey Built The MindHER Company to Help Women Lead Without Losing Themselves URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/women-who-lead/beyond-burnout-how-mandi-casey-built-the-mindher-company-to-help-women-lead-without-losing-themselves/ Last updated: 2026-07-14T03:53:31.000Z Mandi Casey started [The MindHER Company](https://themindherco.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) after her own experience with burnout reshaped how she thought about success. She didn't want to build a business at the expense of her life, she wanted work that brought her joy and supported the life she actually wanted to live. As she began working with female entrepreneurs, she noticed a gap: plenty of resources existed for women just starting out, but far fewer communities combined coaching, strategy and genuine peer support for the next stage of growth. That gap became the foundation for The MindHER Company, where mindset meets strategy. Mandi and her team help women filter through the noise of entrepreneurship, make wise decisions, and take action aligned with their own vision rather than someone else's expectations. Through coaching, masterminds and coworking, they provide the structure, accountability and community that let women build successful businesses while creating lives they genuinely love. Today, Mandi is scaling her Elevate Mastermind and its CEO Framework, helping more women leaders stop creating another job for themselves and start leading like the CEOs they already are. She's also growing The Collective, her coworking space, with a long-term vision of expanding its reach so more women can access the community, coaching and support that help them thrive. As she puts it, the goal is simple: make this work accessible to more women, without losing the personal connection that makes it effective. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. If you’re breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today! 👉** [**hi@foundedbywomen.org**](mailto:hi@foundedbywomen.org) --- ## Q: What inspired me to start my business? My own experience with burnout changed the way I viewed success. I realized I didn't want to build a business at the expense of my life. I wanted work that brought me joy and supported the life I wanted to live, not the other way around. As I began working with female entrepreneurs, I saw a gap in support for women who had successfully started a business but weren't yet at the million-dollar stage. There were plenty of resources for getting started, but far fewer communities that combined coaching, strategy, and genuine peer support for the next phase of growth. Today, our work sits at the intersection of mindset and strategy, helping women build successful businesses without losing themselves in the process. ## Q: What problem are we trying to solve? At the heart of The MindHER Company, we're helping women get out of their own way. There is no shortage of information for entrepreneurs, but there's a shortage of discernment. We help women filter through the noise, make wise decisions, and take action that's aligned with their vision instead of someone else's expectations. Whether through coworking, coaching, or our mastermind, we provide the support, strategy, accountability, and community that help women build successful businesses while creating lives they genuinely love. ## Q: What’s next? Right now, our focus is on scaling our Elevate Mastermind and bringing its CEO Framework to more women leaders. The framework helps entrepreneurs stop creating another job for themselves and start thinking, leading, and making decisions like the CEO they are. We're also continuing to grow The Collective, our coworking space, with a long-term vision of expanding its footprint so even more women have access to the community, coaching, and support that help them thrive. Our goal is simple. We want to make this work accessible to more women while preserving the personal connection that makes it effective. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring story? Founded by Women elevates the voices of women making an impact. > Breaking barriers or paving the way for others? We'd love to feature you. Get in touch! 👉 [hi@foundedbywomen.org](mailto:hi@foundedbywomen.org) ### Announcing Our Q2 2026 FBW Awards Winners URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/all/q2-2026-fbw-awards-winners/ Last updated: 2026-07-11T10:42:07.000Z We are proud to announce the winners of the Q2 2026 FBW Quarterly Awards. This quarter's cohort spans public relations, financial planning, leadership coaching, and workplace equity consulting, brought together by founders who built their practices around clarity, access, and measurable client impact. Alongside the founders who submitted applications this quarter, our team also expanded the search through independent research to spotlight additional small businesses and founders in the US and UK whose public work stood out. Congratulations to all of this quarter's honorees. > Q3 2026 applications are now open. Apply today: ## Individual Leader Award Winners ### 👑 Strategic Leadership Excellence **Diana Lowe**, Founder & CEO, Blue Light Leadership Diana founded Blue Light Leadership as an executive coaching and leadership development practice focused on a problem many organizations avoid: high performing leaders whose behavior quietly damages morale and retention. Drawing on positive psychology, emotional intelligence, and behavioral science, she built programs that help companies address leadership behavior without losing valuable talent. She grew the business from a solo coaching practice into a firm serving mid-sized organizations across technology, engineering, finance, healthcare, and construction, became a Forbes Coaching Council contributor, and published the Amazon bestselling book Hard to Handle along with its companion workbook. **Prudence Zhu**, Founder, Enso Financial Prudence is a fee-only financial planner serving couples and women navigating major life transitions nationwide. Her path from rural China to a career spanning private equity and corporate finance shapes her focus on accessible, human-centered financial planning, particularly for cross-cultural couples and immigrant families. She authored A Couple's Guide to Money: Grow Closer, Dream Bigger, Thrive Together and was named to NAPFA's 2026 Women to Know, an annual recognition of female financial advisors nominated by peers for their professional impact. ### 📣 Marketing & Brand Leadership **Filomena Fanelli**, Founder & CEO, Impact PR & Communications Ltd. Filomena built Impact PR & Communications into an award-winning strategic public relations firm with a national client roster and a tri-state presence in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut, serving community banks and credit unions, real estate companies, and hospitality and nonprofit organizations. The firm was named the SBA's Women-Owned Small Business of the Year in 2024, and Filomena was named to PRNEWS' 2026 Top Women in PR & Communications Business Entrepreneurs list. ### 💼 Consulting & Advisory Leadership **Kate Rainford-Foakes**, Founder, Kate Rainford-Coaching Kate founded her coaching practice to help women navigate leadership and career transitions, addressing barriers like limited time, support, and confidence that keep many women from stepping into bigger roles. She was named to Small Business Britain's 2026 f:Entrepreneur #IAlso100, a campaign recognizing 100 of the UK's most inspiring female entrepreneurs. --- ## Company Award Winners ### 📣 Marketing & Communications Impact **Melinda Jackson Public Relations**: Melinda Jackson — Raleigh, NC | Founded 2018 Melinda built MJPR around a simple bet against the traditional agency model: keep a tight roster of paid client campaigns while publishing the PR playbook for free to founders who cannot yet afford an agency. Her Unhinged Founder podcast and Substack, together with the Raleigh Female Founder Happy Hour community she grew from zero to 850 plus members in a year, extend that access. MJPR has secured national placements in Forbes, Good Morning America, The Hollywood Reporter, and Deadline, and Melinda has led PR on both a Grammy winning and an Emmy winning campaign. ### 💼 Consulting & Advisory Excellence **Rachel Dunford Consulting Ltd** (The Impact Specialist): Rachel Dunford — United Kingdom Rachel built her consulting practice around helping women share the impact of their own work, a focus that earned her a Gold Winner title in Business Services at the 2025 Best Businesswomen Awards and a finalist place at the 2026 Enterprise Vision Awards, the UK's largest celebration of women in business. ### 🌍 Social Impact **Wcorp Ltd**: Geeta Sidhu-Robb — London, UK | Founded 2024 Geeta founded Wcorp to help organizations build safer, more inclusive workplace cultures for women, working at board and investor level to drive systemic accountability alongside mentoring women leaders directly. She was named to Small Business Britain's 2026 f:Entrepreneur #IAlso100 for her contribution to workplace equity. --- ## What This Quarter's Class Represents The Q2 2026 winners reflect founders building access into industries that have traditionally gated it behind cost or credentials. Taken together, they represent: PR and media access redesigned around transparency instead of retainer size (Melinda Jackson, Filomena Fanelli) Financial and leadership guidance built for people navigating major life or career transitions (Prudence Zhu, Diana Lowe, Kate Rainford-Foakes) Consulting and advisory work that turns individual impact and workplace culture into measurable business outcomes (Rachel Dunford, Geeta Sidhu-Robb) **Winner Benefits Include:** - 📰 Featured Profile — In-depth article on FoundedByWomen.org - 📱 Multi-Platform Promotion — Social media and newsletter features - 🏆 Winner Assets — Digital badge and certificate for marketing materials - 🤝 Network Access — Connection with other recognized leaders - 📊 Quarterly Showcase — Featured in the Q1 2026 winners report > Q3 2026 applications are now open. Apply today: ### Donna L. LaVoie: Bringing Clarity to Communications Under Scrutiny URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/women-who-lead/donna-l-lavoie-bringing-clarity-to-communications-under-scrutiny/ Last updated: 2026-07-10T12:56:41.000Z When markets move fast, scrutiny is constant, and reputations can be made or broken in a single news cycle, having the right communications partner isn't a luxury, it's a necessity. Donna L. LaVoie understands this better than most. As Founder & CEO of [LaVoie Strategic Communications](http://www.lavoiegroup.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org), she has spent more than 25 years helping health and science innovators, as well as government and public sector organizations, navigate complexity with clarity and confidence. After a career spanning government, venture capital, and the health and science sectors, Donna saw a clear gap in the market: clients operating under intense regulation and public accountability needed specialized strategic communications expertise, not a generalist approach. That insight became the foundation for LaVoie Strategic Communications Group, which today operates through two focused practices, LaVoieHealthScience and LaVoieGov, each built to guide clients through their most pivotal moments. In this Q&A, Donna shares what inspired her to start the firm, the two distinct client challenges LaVoie Strategic Communications Group solves for, and what's next as she leads the firm's continued growth and its alliance with Omnicom. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. If you’re breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today! 👉 hi@foundedbywomen.org** --- ## Q: What inspired you to start LaVoie Group? After a corporate career in government, venture capital and health/science, I saw a need for resources to provide specialized strategic communications expertise to clients operating under complexity, scrutiny and public accountability. These clients are generally operating in regulated environments where specialized expertise matters and going alone is not optimal. ## Q: What problem are you solving? At LaVoie Strategic Communications Group, Inc., we are solving problems for two types of clients — health and science innovators who have or will reach their next inflection point — regulatory approval of a new product from FDA or EMEA, preparing for the read out of a pivotal clinical trial or introducing a new product that would change the paradigm. At LaVoieGov, we are working with governments and quasi-government organizations around bringing a message to multiple audiences including policy makers and consumers alike. That translates into strategic messaging, storytelling, spokesperson training and media/digital. ## Q: What's next for you? As Founder & CEO of LaVoie Strategic Communications, I continue to set the strategic vision for the firm, leading growth initiatives, expansion opportunities, and strategic alliances with Omnicom and other organizations. I remain deeply committed to advancing health and science innovation by supporting organizations that are truly changing the paradigm for patients, providers, and society. I am also focused on broadening the firm's reach into adjacent markets where our expertise, relationships, and value creation model can have meaningful impact. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring story? Founded by Women elevates the voices of women making an impact. > Breaking barriers or paving the way for others? We'd love to feature you. Get in touch! 👉 [hi@foundedbywomen.org](mailto:hi@foundedbywomen.org) ### Dr. Kei Helps People Build the Conditions for Change When the Stakes Are High URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/20-founders-edition/dr-kei-helps-people-build-the-conditions-for-change-when-the-stakes-are-high/ Last updated: 2026-07-09T05:57:56.000Z Change is easy to talk about and hard to actually do. That's the gap Dr. Kei Alegria-Flores has spent her career studying - not just why people resist change, but what it actually takes to help them move through it. As the founder of [CatalystIQ](https://www.catalystiqglobal.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org), she blends behavioral science, implementation science, and organizational strategy to help leaders and organizations turn good intentions into lasting action, especially when the stakes are high and the risks feel very real. Her approach centers on a simple but often overlooked truth: people don't stall on change because they lack good ideas, they stall because of what they're afraid to lose. Whether it's an organization rolling out AI, a professional stepping into a leadership role, or someone navigating a major career pivot, Kei's work digs into the human side of transformation - what people value, what holds them back, and what conditions actually make progress possible. Now, she's expanding that work beyond organizations to work directly with high-achieving professionals navigating their own transitions, while continuing to help companies treat AI adoption as a human challenge first, not just a technical one. Below, Kei shares what inspired her to start CatalystIQ, the problem she's built her practice around, and what's next. > *This is part of our ongoing 20 Founders On a Mission series. New editions publish regularly. To be featured or nominate a founder, write to us at* [*hi@foundedbywomen.org*](mailto:hi@foundedbywomen.org) --- ## Q: What inspired you to start? Throughout my career, I kept seeing the same pattern: people and organizations often know what they want to change, but struggle with how to actually make that change happen. I’ve spent my career studying human behavior and helping organizations turn evidence, strategy, and good intentions into real-world action. Over time, I realized I wanted to build something that brought together the different parts of my background and experience—behavioral science, implementation science, organizational behavior, communications, and strategy—in a way that was practical and useful. I started my consulting practice to help people and organizations navigate complex change with greater clarity, confidence, and intention, especially when the stakes are high and the risks feel real. ## Q: What problem are you solving? Change is hard, and it becomes even harder when people are worried about what they might lose. Whether someone is considering a major career transition, becoming responsible for leading a team, or an organization is asking its people to adopt AI or a new way of working, uncertainty and perceived risk can stop even good ideas from moving forward. My work focuses on understanding the human side of change: what people value, what they fear, what gets in the way, and what conditions make action possible. I use behavioral science and implementation science to help turn uncertainty into clear decisions, practical action, accountability, and change that lasts. ## Q: What’s next for you? The next chapter of my work is about bringing what I’ve learned from years of advising organizations more directly to individuals. I’m expanding my work with high-achieving professionals who are navigating major career and life transitions, want to become better leaders to their teams, or want to adopt AI with greater confidence and purpose. At the same time, I’m continuing to help organizations approach AI adoption and other major transformations as human challenges, not just technical ones. Ultimately, I want to build a body of work around a question that has shaped my entire career: How do we help people successfully navigate complex change, especially when uncertainty and risk make moving forward difficult? *This is part of our ongoing 20 Founders On a Mission series. New editions publish regularly. To be featured or nominate a founder, write to us at* [*hi@foundedbywomen.org*](mailto:hi@foundedbywomen.org) ### Di Gilpin: Wind Propulsion Could Save More Emissions Than the Whole of the UK Produces Each Year URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/women-who-lead/di-gilpin-wind-propulsion-could-save-more-emissions-than-the-whole-of-the-uk-produces-each-year/ Last updated: 2026-07-08T10:09:32.000Z Global shipping quietly moves almost everything we consume, from food and medicine to the chocolate, wine and trainers we take for granted, yet the industry produces roughly three times the UK's total greenhouse gas emissions. Di Gilpin, founder and CEO of [Smart Green Shipping](https://smartgreenshipping.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org), has spent the last decade working to change that by bringing wind propulsion back to modern cargo vessels, not with old-fashioned sails, but with autonomous, retrofittable wingsails that can cut a ship's fuel costs and emissions by around 20% a year. Gilpin's path to shipping was anything but conventional. Her career began on the launch team for the UK's first mobile phone network, before she moved through Formula 1, offshore yacht racing and fintech, each time working on problems people insisted were impossible to solve. That experience convinced her that the technology to tackle the climate crisis already exists. What's missing, she says, is the collective will to deploy it at scale. Smart Green Shipping has now raised £10 million and is scaling its FastRig technology across a global fleet where more than 40,000 vessels could benefit from wind assistance. In this Q&A, Gilpin explains what inspired her to start the company, why shipping's emissions problem stays largely invisible to the public, and why women led businesses like hers still struggle to access the funding they need, despite consistently outperforming on returns. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. If you’re breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today! 👉 hi@foundedbywomen.org** --- ## Q: What inspired you to start Smart Green Shipping? Knowing that I could use my several decades experience in innovation to tackle the climate emergency. I worked on the launch of mobile phones in the UK – when everyone said it’d never catch on! I worked in F1, in yacht racing, fintech and renewables all the time tackling challenges people said were impossible. I know we have all the solutions we need to make the critical difference to global warming we just don’t have sufficient will as a society to go all-in. ## Q: What problem are you solving? Global shipping is a significant emitter – accounting for 3 times the UK’s GHG contribution. Almost everything we consume is moved by sea. So far the sector is hidden offshore, no one really understands how dependent we are for fuel, food, medical supplies as well as all the stuff we like to consume like (speaking personally!) chocolate, wine and training shoes! There are more than 100,000 ships at sea and 40% of them, according the Department for Transport, could use wind propulsion to reduce emissions and, critically, cost. When I say wind propulsion is not about old Clipper ships but space-age autonomous wingsails that can be swiftly retrofitted to existing ships reducing emissions and fuel costs by some 20% a year. Just 1 of our FastRigs installed save the emissions of 100s of people – depending on what you like to do. Eat cheese, go on holiday? Check it out here: [Smart Green Shipping](https://smartgreenshipping.com/footprint-calc?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ## Q: What’s next for you? We’ve raised £10m to date and we’re now scaling to create hundreds of jobs, UK exports with the opportunity to significantly reduce global emissions. We have the potential to generate huge returns for investors. It is incredibly challenging to raise finance for this and similar large climate tech projects. There’s a known ‘missing middle’ funding gap for projects that actually make things, money really likes AI at present. Banks, investors, governments all shift the responsibility to someone else, all the while talking a good game about tackling climate change. We are all experiencing in real time the impacts of heatwave after heatwave, and the breakdown of our critical infrastructure – hospitals, transport, education, housing – all of which costs money to fix. But we focus on the cost of investment in isolation rather than looking at the wider societal value of investing in solutions. It’s also startlingly difficult for women-led businesses to get funding, only about 2% of total investment reaches women’s businesses, despite all the warm words about diversity. Crazy thing is women-led business show consistently better returns on investment. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you’re breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > **👉 hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### Sarah Otto: Turning Her Own Health Crisis Into Goodness Lover's Mission to Heal 200,000 Women URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/women-who-lead/sarah-otto-turning-her-own-health-crisis-into-goodness-lovers-mission-to-heal-200-000-women/ Last updated: 2026-07-08T04:58:30.000Z In her early twenties, Sarah Otto was quietly falling apart. Crushing fatigue, painful joints, anxiety and depression left her limping around her own apartment, all while looking completely fine on the outside. An autoimmune diagnosis gave her a label but no real answers, just a shrug and a statistic. It was only when she began editing interview transcripts for her brother's docu-series, hearing doctors discuss the gut microbiome and food as medicine for the first time, that something shifted. Within weeks of applying what she learned, her pain eased, her energy returned and the depression started to lift. That personal turnaround became the foundation for [Goodness Lover](https://goodnesslover.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org), the science-backed wellness brand Sarah co-founded with her husband Matt, built from a one-bedroom apartment in Sydney with no funding and a single conviction: too many people feel unnecessarily sick simply because they cannot access the right information. Sarah went on to complete a Master's in Human Nutrition, determined to give women a trustworthy compass in a space full of conflicting advice, and has since produced 26 live educational events reaching over 2.5 million registrations and built a community of more than 200,000 people. Now a mother herself, Sarah is expanding Goodness Lover's doctor-formulated supplement line and educational content, driven by the same mission that started it all. In this Q&A, she shares what inspired her to build Goodness Lover, the problem she's solving for women who have been dismissed by the healthcare system, and what's next as the brand grows deeper into its purpose. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. If you’re breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today! 👉 hi@foundedbywomen.org** --- ## Q: What inspired you to start Goodness Lover? Honestly, it started with my own health falling apart. In my early twenties, I struggled with crushing fatigue, painful joints, anxiety, and depression. I would limp around our apartment, trying to rest my teacup on my wrist, futilely trying to ease the pain. My joints ached, my energy was non-existent, and I looked completely fine on the outside, which made it even more isolating. After a lot of testing, I finally saw an immunologist who gave me an autoimmune diagnosis, saying, "Oh well, 10 percent of the population has this." And that was it. No game plan. No path forward. Just a label and a shrug. The turning point came when my brother hired me to edit interview transcripts for a docu-series he was working on. The doctors in those transcripts were talking about things I'd never heard in any of my appointments: the gut microbiome, inflammation, how food could actually be medicine. I started implementing what I was learning, and for the first time in years, my joint pain eased, my energy came back, and the depression started to lift. I walked into my husband Matt's office and said, "I want to do a docu-series about the gut microbiome." He said no. He thought I was still too sick. I was only freshly making progress with my health. But I advocated for myself, and before long we were on a plane to the US with no funding, interviewing 40 doctors, building our first series from a tiny one-bedroom apartment in Sydney. 40,000 people registered for that first event. Within weeks, we were getting emails from people saying their blood pressure had normalised, their energy was back, they were off medications they'd been on for years. That feeling of knowing the information we'd gathered was actually helping people? There's nothing more satisfying than that. And I knew I couldn't stop. As Goodness Lover grew, I also went back and completed my Master's in Human Nutrition, because in a world full of conflicting advice, I wanted us to be a true north compass for people who are overwhelmed and don't know who to trust. ## Q: What problem are you solving for your customers? The core problem is this: too many people feel unnecessarily sick because they don't have access to the right information. So many of the women in our community have been told, "Your tests came back normal," or handed a prescription without anyone asking why they feel the way they do. They're exhausted, bloated, anxious, dealing with joint pain or brain fog, and they've been dismissed so many times they've started to wonder if it's all in their head. It's not. Their symptoms are real, and they have root causes. What we do at Goodness Lover is bridge the gap between cutting-edge research from world-leading doctors and the everyday person who can't afford a functional medicine specialist or doesn't even know these options exist. We've produced 26 live educational events reaching over 2.5 million registrations, doctor-approved supplements, and a community of over 200,000 people. All built around one belief: your body wants to heal. It just needs the right tools and the right information. ## Q: What's next for you? More of what we're here to do, just deeper and wider. Our mission hasn't changed since day one: no one should feel unnecessarily sick because they lack information. But the ways we can deliver on that mission keep growing. We're continuing to expand our supplement line with doctor-formulated products that address the root causes people are struggling with most (I'm really excited about the new ones in the pipeline!). And we're always working on new educational content, whether that's docu-series, our YouTube channel, or resources that make complex science feel accessible and actionable. On a personal level, I'm a mum now, and that's added a whole new dimension to this work. Every decision I make about health, I'm also making for my child. It sharpens the "why" behind everything we do. Ultimately, I want Goodness Lover to be the place people find when they've hit a wall, when they've been dismissed, when they're about to give up. I want them to land here and feel two things: "I'm not imagining this" and "change is possible." Because it is. I've seen it too many times to think otherwise. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you’re breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > **👉 hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### Fran Benedict: Why True Wellbeing Starts With Coming Back to Yourself URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/women-who-lead/fran-benedict-why-true-wellbeing-starts-with-coming-back-to-yourself/ Last updated: 2026-07-07T05:46:53.000Z Fran Benedict has spent nearly two decades exploring a single question: what if everything you need is already within you? As the founder of [Simply Mindful](https://simplymindful.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org), she has built a practice rooted in mind-body medicine and mindfulness, helping individuals and organizations reconnect with a sense of self that modern life constantly pulls them away from. Her path began with a simple, almost embarrassingly honest goal written down in college: to be healthy and happy, and to help others do the same. That intention led her through years of experimentation and study, eventually crystallizing into a belief that awareness, not another expert or quick fix, is the real doorway to what's true for each of us. Today, through her attention training program Small Acts of Wellbeing, Fran works with organizations to bring the body back into the conversation, arguing that people who feel grounded and present are better equipped to connect, contribute, and thrive. Splitting her time between Nashville and California, she continues to deepen work that she sees as ultimately communal: not a personal fix, but a shared return to what we've always known. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you’re breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > **👉 hi@foundedbywomen.org** --- ## Q: What inspired you to start? What if everything you need is already within you? That question has guided nearly 20 years of my work, interest, and curiosity - and it started with my personal path back to myself. I graduated from UGA in 1998 with a focus on health promotion and behavior, with no real idea what was in store. I remember in college being asked to write down what I wanted - and my answer was almost embarrassingly simple: to be healthy and happy. And to help others do the same. I didn't know then how much complexity those two words would hold - or how much of this work would be about learning to be with all of it, not just the good parts. What followed was years of experimentation, starting over, and learning the most from what didn't work - and what did. I continued my training in mind-body medicine and mindfulness: tangible ways to connect more intimately with our own experience and how our mental and emotional conditions shape everything about how we live. Deepening my understanding across these modalities helped me grasp something essential: awareness is the doorway to what's true. And what's true for me may not be what's true for you - our paths are our own. But when we strip away the conditioning, the noise, the expectations we've absorbed from the world around us, there is an intangible spirit - something essential - that lives in every one of us. When we get even glimpses of it, we tap into what actually nourishes us. That's what this work is really about. The font I chose for my first logo was called Just The Way You Are - a quiet thread to what has always been at the root of this work. The belief that underneath the noise and the relentless external demands, there is a truer version of ourselves waiting to be heard. This isn't a soft path. Choosing to listen to what's true in us - over what's expected, what's comfortable, what the culture demands - takes real courage. I know because I've tried it both ways. Ignoring what's true is harder in the long run. But facing it isn't easy either. We live in a world that fragments our attention - screens, noise, the unrelenting pull of things that don't ultimately fulfill us. Which is why returning to ourselves isn't a destination we arrive at. It's a north star. An ongoing practice of asking: Is this true for me? Does this feel aligned? Our attention is our most precious asset - and we do choose where it goes. That's actually empowering. It just means we need to be intentional about where we place it and what we allow to shape us. My role isn't to fix what's wrong with people - we're all imperfect humans learning as we go. My job is to create the conditions where people can reconnect with what they already know - in relationship with themselves, with each other, with the natural world, and with something larger than themselves. ## Q: What problem are you solving? We live in a culture that constantly pulls us outward - toward the next solution, the next expert, the next thing that offers to fix us. People are overwhelmed, burned out, lonely, and disconnected from themselves. And beneath all of it, people want to feel valued, seen, respected, and heard. The wellness industry, ironically, often feeds that same dynamic of looking outward rather than addressing what people actually need. Work environments miss a significant opportunity when wellbeing initiatives don't account for this. My approach brings the body back into the conversation - because when people feel physically present and internally grounded, they're better able to show up fully, connect authentically, and do their best work. For me, the entry point was food. Something immediate, sensory, and shared - a doorway back to the body and to each other. Through my studies in integrative nutrition, I encountered the concept of primary and secondary food: what we eat is secondary food, while primary food is everything else that nourishes us - our relationships, our feeling of purpose, our relationship to something larger than ourselves. That wasn't so much a reframing as a recognition of something I already sensed, finally given a framework. It led me more deeply into the gut–brain connection, and into understanding how mind, mood, and nourishment are inextricably linked. We are in a mental health and loneliness crisis. People are struggling - mostly quietly - and the pace of modern life makes it worse. What's missing isn't more information or another app. It's space. Intentional, unhurried space to slow down, reconnect, and remember what we already know. We know far more than we give ourselves credit for. My job is to create the space to tap back into that. At the heart of Small Acts of Wellbeing - an attention training program I run in organizations - is a simple but radical idea: our bodies are brilliant. They are always speaking to us. When we turn our attention toward them - with curiosity rather than judgment - we begin to access a deeper sense of what's true. That listening is where real wellbeing begins. Simply Mindful creates the conditions for that - through community, through the body, through small intentional acts that build over time. ## Q: What's next? Nashville is my hometown - where I was born, where my family is, and where this work keeps on deepening. I also split my time between here and California, where I've spent much of my adult life and where I have clients and collaborators. The work grows in both places and beyond. Lately, that's also meant opening the door to work with people one-on-one, in direct, personal conversation - a different kind of listening becomes possible in that space. I've also been part of this work in the event and production space, helping create intentional environments for thousands of people exploring mindfulness and contemplative practice. That experience deepened my belief that this work isn't just personal. It's communal. What excites me most right now is the possibility of going deeper - into what actually matters, and into how we create lives that are genuinely healthy and well from the inside out. Not because we've been told to, but because it feels true. I understand that external pressure is part of our culture. It's not going away. But it's not the whole story. Turning back toward what feels true to each of us - that's where the gold is. But this requires something of us first. A certain self-awareness. A willingness to tend to ourselves genuinely - not in isolation, but in relationship. Because we can't grow alone. The inner work requires outer engagement too. We need each other to do this well. What I'm pointing toward isn't really new. It's a return to what we've always known and have slowly been steered away from. Back to what we're truly hungry for. Not what we've been told to want. What we actually need. The work is never finished. Neither am I. And within a world that can feel collectively overwhelming - in ways that are hard to look at directly - I find myself more excited than ever about what's possible. Not in spite of the turbulence. Because of it. This work has never mattered more. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you’re breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > **👉 hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### Kaye Moors: Turning Personal Barriers Into a Mission for Digital Accessibility URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/women-who-lead/kaye-moors-turning-personal-barriers-into-a-mission-for-digital-accessibility/ Last updated: 2026-07-01T12:23:11.000Z Kaye Moors founded [DRUM Studios](https://wearedrum.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) back in 2006 with a simple goal: to build a digital media agency that offered honest, jargon-free advice. But it was a life-altering health crisis years later that gave her work its deepest purpose. After surviving two strokes and a ten-hour brainstem surgery, Kaye was left hemiplegic alongside multiple invisible disabilities, and told she would never work again. Rather than step back, Kaye spent the following six years balancing intensive rehabilitation with running her business, determined to prove that limits are made to be pushed. Her firsthand experience of being suddenly locked out of the digital tools she once relied on gave her a rare, lived understanding of web accessibility, one she has since turned into DRUM's core mission: helping companies meet WCAG standards and build products that are genuinely usable for everyone. Today, DRUM works to close a striking gap: 96% of websites still fail basic accessibility standards. Backed by a loyal client base spanning over 15 years and a diverse community of user testers, Kaye and her team are pushing the industry toward a future where a change in physical ability never has to mean a loss of professional autonomy. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you’re breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > **👉 hi@foundedbywomen.org** --- ## Q: What inspired you to start DRUM Studios? I founded DRUM back in 2006 to build a digital media agency that cut through the jargon to provide honest advice and a multidisciplinary, highly accessible approach. However, my deepest inspiration emerged later in life. After surviving two strokes and a grueling 10-hour brainstem surgery, I was left hemiplegic (paralyzed down my left side) alongside multiple invisible disabilities. This life-changing event exposed the stark disparities disabled people face, but it also fueled my determination to keep running my business, even after being told I would never work again. For the past six years, I have juggled intensive rehabilitation alongside my career to prove that anything is possible if you are willing to push your limits every day. Despite the common misconception that a brain injury equates to a lack of capability, I have leveraged my decades of marketing expertise and my profound personal understanding of WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) to lead DRUM to new heights. My disability allows me to see the digital world through a different lens, ensuring our services are not just functional, but truly inclusive. We have turned personal barriers into a professional mission, ensuring our work makes a measurable, positive impact on an underserved community. I truly believe that good can emerge from adversity. My strokes and surgery showed me exactly how our industry can do even better, and I am incredibly grateful for the opportunity to drive that meaningful change. ## Q: What problem are you solving? Currently, 96% of websites fail to meet basic accessibility standards. While the world is shifting to a digital-first model, we are leaving a massive chunk of society behind. DRUM bridges this gap through expert WCAG auditing, dedicated training, and authentic user testing conducted directly within the disabled community. By ensuring digital products are usable for everyone, we are turning a notoriously exclusive industry into an inclusive one. While we compete with standard digital agencies, DRUM occupies a unique niche. We don't just build digital assets; we future-proof them through rigorous accessibility standards and testing backed by our large, diverse database of user testers, something traditional agencies simply cannot match. This loyalty-first model is proven by a core client base that has remained with us for over 15 years. We are driven by the belief that digital accessibility is a fundamental right, not a "nice-to-have." For our clients, compliance unlocks a massive, underserved market and provides a clear competitive advantage. For the end-user, it ensures equal access to the modern world. We are passionate about our work because we aren't just coding; we are removing the digital barriers that limit human potential. This mission is fueled entirely by my lived experience. After successfully running my business for over a decade, I suddenly acquired a disability that, overnight, rendered the tools I relied on completely unusable. I found myself effectively "locked out" of my own business marketing because the platforms I paid for weren't built for someone like me. My story is not an edge case. With 3% of the working population acquiring a disability each year, there is a massive demographic of professionals being forced out of their own ventures by digital gatekeeping. This also means we are looking at internal systems more heavily to enable disabled employees can actually use the systems their employers use. ## **What's next for you?** For me personally, the focus is on continuing my rehabilitation, finishing my book, and growing the community I’ve built around [Never Grey](https://www.nevergrey.shop/?ref=foundedbywomen.org)—a space dedicated to helping the disabled community find accessible, adaptive, and beautifully designed products. For DRUM, the next chapter is about aggressively reducing that staggering 96% failure rate for websites and apps. We are focused on scaling our operations to take on high-impact projects, solving critical digital barriers, and making the online world a much more welcoming and equitable place for everyone. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you’re breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > **👉 hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### Lauren Goyette URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/partners/wellbeing/lauren-goyette/ Last updated: 2026-06-30T07:25:56.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2026/06/1000055677--1-.jpg) #### Lauren Goyette is a relationship coach, sexuality educator, writer, podcast host, and speaker who helps women and couples reconnect with desire, intimacy, and emotional connection through understanding and curiosity of how desire evolves. Through coaching, education, and evidence-informed resources, she creates shame-free spaces where people can better understand themselves, strengthen their relationships, and rediscover pleasure. Website URL [https://linktr.ee/relationshipcoachlaurengoyette](https://linktr.ee/relationshipcoachlaurengoyette?ref=foundedbywomen.org) Preferred email contact [Lauren@laurengoyette.com](mailto:Lauren@laurengoyette.com) Social Media: Instagram: [@laurengoyette\_](https://www.instagram.com/laurengoyette%5F?igsh=OHdvcnRuNXBqdHBu&ref=foundedbywomen.org) Facebook: LinkedIn: [Lauren Goyette](https://www.linkedin.com/in/lngcoaching?utm%5Fsource=share%5Fvia&utm%5Fcontent=profile&utm%5Fmedium=member%5Fandroid) [Book a session](https://linktr.ee/relationshipcoachlaurengoyette?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ### Closing the Disability Price Gap - Georgina Colman on Building Purpl for the People Who Need It Most URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/women-who-lead/closing-the-disability-price-gap-georgina-colman-on-building-purpl-for-the-people-who-need-it-most/ Last updated: 2026-06-25T11:37:14.000Z Georgina Colman is the founder of [Purpl](https://thepurplco.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org), a UK-based members-only discount platform created specifically for disabled people and those living with long-term health conditions. Her motivation was deeply personal - having experienced disability firsthand, she understood the hidden financial pressure that comes with it, and recognised a gap that no existing platform was filling. Purpl was built on a simple but powerful idea: that disabled people deserve access to savings just as much as students or NHS workers do. The platform offers exclusive discounts across categories including fashion, travel, wellbeing, mobility, technology and more - helping members reduce everyday costs and free up money for what genuinely improves their lives. But the vision extends well beyond discounts. Georgina is building Purpl into a trusted community hub where members can access advice, find support, discover disability-friendly brands, and feel seen. With a community grant fund already launched and a future foundation in development, she is focused on creating something that gives back - not just saves money. --- ### 1\. What inspired you to start? I was inspired to start Purpl through my own lived experience of disability and the extra costs that come with it. When you are disabled or living with a long term health condition, everyday life can cost more, from heating and travel to clothing, mobility aids, wellbeing products, therapies and essential services. I could see there were discount platforms for students, NHS workers and other groups, but nothing that truly recognised the financial pressure disabled people face every day. I wanted to create something practical, positive and genuinely useful - a place that helps disabled people save money while also making them feel seen, valued and supported. A big part of my motivation was wanting to help people access the things that could improve their health, wellbeing and daily life, but which they might not otherwise afford. Reducing everyday outgoings means people have more money left for what they really need, whether that is support, products, services, mobility, self-care or simply making life a little easier. Purpl started with discounts, but the vision has always been much bigger. I want it to become the one-stop place disabled people and people with long-term health conditions know they can come to for savings, advice, signposting, support and community. ### 2\. What problem are you solving? Purpl is helping to tackle the disability price gap. People with disabilities and those with long term health conditions often face higher costs just to live safely, comfortably and independently, yet they are frequently excluded from mainstream savings. We are solving this by giving eligible members access to exclusive discounts and offers across everyday categories such as fashion, travel, home, mobility, wellbeing, technology and more. By helping people reduce their outgoings, we hope to free up money for the things that can make a genuine difference to their health, independence and quality of life. But Purpl is about more than discounts. We are building a trusted platform where people can find practical advice, be signposted to support, discover brands that understand their needs and feel part of a safe, members-only community. For many people, disability can feel isolating, and I want Purpl to be a place where members feel understood, included and empowered. ### 3\. What’s next for you? What is next for Purpl is really exciting. We have already launched phase one of our community grant fund for members, which is the first step towards my longer-term vision of building a foundation that can give back directly to the disabled community. That future foundation is a huge part of the mission. I want Purpl to help members access products, services and support that can improve their daily lives, especially when those resources are financially out of reach. Alongside that, we are focused on growing Purpl into the go-to platform for disabled people in the UK and beyond. We want to bring more well-known brands on board, expand the range of discounts available, improve the member experience and keep developing the platform so it offers more than savings alone. Long term, I want Purpl to become a trusted home for the community, a place where members can save money, access advice, find support, connect safely with others and feel represented. We have lots of exciting plans in development to help the community even more, so watch this space. *Photo credit: Timm Cleasby* > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you’re breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > **👉 hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### The Speakership Lab URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/partners/founding/the-speakership-lab/ Last updated: 2026-06-26T03:56:59.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2026/06/TSL-Logo-FullColor-Dark.png) #### Margaret Watts Romney is an executive communication coach, author, and former professional cellist who has spent 10,000+ hours helping high-knowledge professionals close the gap between what they know and who needs to understand. She has coached over 100 TEDx speakers and led communication training for engineers, security teams, legal professionals, wealth managers, and C-suite leaders across industries. Her brain-based Narrative Thinking methodology, developed across 12 years and validated with 300+ professionals, is the through-line in everything she teaches. She is the author of” Speakership is Leadership” and is based in Vermont. - Website URL [https://thespeakershiplab.com/](https://thespeakershiplab.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) - Preferred contact email [margaret@myspeakership.com](mailto:margaret@myspeakership.com) - Social media links - - Margaret's Personal LinkedIn: [https://www.linkedin.com/in/margaretwattsromney/](https://www.linkedin.com/in/margaretwattsromney/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) - Margaret's Professional Instagram: [https://www.instagram.com/margaretwattsromney/](https://www.instagram.com/margaretwattsromney/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) - The Speakership Lab LinkedIn: [https://www.linkedin.com/company/thespeakership-lab/](https://www.linkedin.com/company/thespeakership-lab/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) - The Speakership Lab Instagram: [https://www.instagram.com/thespeakershiplab/](https://www.instagram.com/thespeakershiplab/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) [Book a session](https://calendly.com/margaretwattsromney/30min-1?month=2026-06&ref=foundedbywomen.org) ### Steward of a Legacy - Halimah Basheer on Violence Prevention, Community Service, and Leading Through Grief URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/all/steward-of-a-legacy-halimah-basheer-on-violence-prevention-community-service-and-leading-through-grief/ Last updated: 2026-06-25T04:47:59.000Z Halimah Basheer is a community leader, violence prevention advocate, and Executive Director of The BUILD Program and the Professional Community Intervention Training Institute (PCITI). Guided by a lifelong commitment to service, leadership, and community empowerment, she has dedicated her career to advancing strategies that promote healing, prevent violence, strengthen families, and develop future generations of leaders. Basheer's passion for this work was shaped by both personal experience and the example set by her late father, Dr. Aquil F. Basheer, a nationally respected pioneer in Community Violence Intervention (CVI), youth development, and community-based public safety. Growing up, she witnessed firsthand the transformative impact of mentorship, relationship-building, and community engagement as her father devoted more than five decades to serving communities affected by violence and trauma. Those experiences, combined with her own encounters with adversity and personal challenges, deepened her understanding of resilience, healing, and the importance of creating opportunities for individuals to thrive. Following Dr. Basheer's passing in October 2025, Halimah stepped into the role of Executive Director, accepting the responsibility of preserving and advancing the vision he spent a lifetime building. Under her leadership, BUILD and PCITI continue to train practitioners, develop leaders, and equip communities with evidence-informed tools that address the root causes of violence through prevention, intervention, mentorship, emotional intelligence, conflict resolution, and community empowerment. Her leadership is guided by three core principles: service before self, leadership as responsibility, and a commitment to serving communities rather than working on their behalf. She believes that true leadership is rooted in accountability, integrity, consistency, and creating environments where people can grow, contribute, and reach their full potential. Today, Basheer leads efforts to expand violence prevention initiatives, strengthen partnerships, and cultivate the next generation of community leaders. Through BUILD and PCITI, she remains committed to advancing a mission centered on self-determination, self-resilience, and self-empowerment—helping individuals, families, and communities build safer, healthier, and more hopeful futures.Drawing strength from one of her father's most enduring lessons—"Adversity introduces you to yourself"—Basheer continues to lead with faith, resilience, and an unwavering commitment to ensuring that the work of community healing, leadership development, and violence prevention continues for generations to come. ## What inspired you to found the organization and what challenges did you face? While I did not found The B.U.I.L.D. Program or the Professional Community Intervention Training Institute (PCITI), the work has been part of my life for as long as I can remember. My father, Commander Aquil Basheer, founded BUILD and later PCITI. He was a visionary leader, nationally recognized violence prevention pioneer, community-based public safety strategist, master trainer, mentor, author, retired firefighter, fire inspector, chaplain, and so much more. He trained hundreds of thousands of people throughout his career and built a legacy rooted in service, leadership, discipline, accountability, and love for community. Growing up, I had a front-row seat to his work, but my commitment to this field is also deeply personal. I bring both personal and professional lived experience to this space. My experiences, combined with my education and professional background in behavioral health, management, clinical supervision, public safety, emergency management, leadership, mentorship, development, and violence prevention, have shaped how I show up and serve. Watching him work taught me that leadership is not about position—it is about responsibility. It taught me that we don’t work for the community; we serve the community. After my father's transition in October 2025, I stepped into leadership during the most difficult period of my life. Even to this day, I am grieving, and I know grief will always be a part of my journey. The loss of my father changed me in ways I could never fully put into words. Yet I also understood that the work, the mission, and the communities we serve could not stop. What continues to inspire me is knowing that this work changes and saves lives. Every training delivered, every leader developed, every conflict peacefully resolved, every young person empowered, and every community strengthened reflects the vision my father dedicated his life to. Today, I see myself as both a steward of my father's legacy and a leader building upon that foundation with my own voice, lived experience, vision, and purpose. It is both an honor and a responsibility to continue advancing the work while helping lead the next chapter of BUILD and PCITI's growth and impact. As a woman leading the organizations my father built, I carry the responsibility of protecting the integrity of his vision while also bringing my own leadership, lived experience, perspective, and purpose to help shape the future of this work. I hope my journey serves as a reminder to women and young ladies that leadership is not defined by title or circumstance, but by the courage to serve, persevere, and step forward when your community needs you most. ## Did you start the venture alone? No. BUILD and PCITI were founded by my father, Commander Aquil Basheer, and I believe it is important to acknowledge and honor that legacy. My role has been to continue advancing that vision while helping lead the next chapter of the organization's growth and impact. Over the years, I have contributed to the work through my own personal and professional lived experience, leadership, education, training, and service to communities. I also firmly believe that no meaningful community work is accomplished alone. It takes dedicated teams, community leaders, credible messengers, mentors, practitioners, and partners all working together toward a shared mission. I am blessed to work alongside people who are equally committed to service and community transformation. ## What's your business model, and how have you grown your revenue? BUILD and PCITI provide training, technical assistance, leadership development, mentorship, strategic planning, capacity building, and community-based public safety support to organizations, government agencies, community leaders, and violence intervention practitioners across the country and internationally. Our growth has been built on relationships, credibility, consistency, and results. We have expanded our reach by maintaining high standards, investing in people, and remaining committed to the communities we serve. While revenue is important for sustainability, our true measure of success is impact. We focus on developing leaders, strengthening organizations, empowering youth, supporting women and men, advancing community violence intervention, and helping communities build safer and healthier futures. As my father often reminded us, “If service is beneath you, leadership is beyond you.” That principle continues to guide everything we do. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2026/06/unnamed--15-.png) ### Why Your Body Isn't Broken - Lauren Goyette Rowe on Desire, Disconnection, and Rebuilding Intimacy URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/women-who-lead/why-your-body-isnt-broken-lauren-goyette-rowe-on-desire-disconnection-and-rebuilding-intimacy/ Last updated: 2026-06-25T04:09:01.000Z Lauren Goyette Rowe is a sexual wellness educator and coach who has spent over a decade helping women and couples understand desire, intimacy, and the dynamics that quietly shape their relationships. Since 2013, she has worked at the intersection of sexual health, pleasure education, and relationship coaching - building a framework that goes far beyond surface-level advice. Her approach is rooted in one foundational insight: low desire is rarely a personal failing. It is almost always a response to something - stress, mental load, nervous system dysregulation, or a slow drift into emotional disconnection. Lauren helps women stop diagnosing themselves as broken and start understanding what their bodies are actually responding to. Through body-based tools, nervous system support, and practical communication strategies, she guides clients toward what she calls a Personal User Pleasure Manual - a clear, embodied understanding of what they love, crave, and need, along with the skills to communicate it. Her work meets people where they are, not where they think they should be. --- ## **Q: You work with burned-out, low-libido women who feel disconnected from their bodies - what's usually the first thing you help them understand that genuinely shifts things for them?** What I usually help women understand first is that their libido isn't broken - it's actually just not responding to the current input, stimuli or nervous system state. Most of the women I work with are exhausted, overstimulated, and carrying a lot mentally and emotionally. And then on top of that, they're wondering why they don't feel turned on. Because desire doesn't thrive in stress. It thrives in safety, space, and presence. So the first shift is helping them stop making it mean something is wrong with them and instead start looking at their nervous system, their stress levels, their mental load, the dynamic in their relationship, and what their body and desire type is craving now. When that clicks, there's usually a lot of relief. From there, we can actually start rebuilding connection with their body in a way that feels supportive instead of forced. --- ## **Q: You've said that being in "roommate mode" with a partner is one of the most common patterns you see. What does it actually take to move out of that dynamic - and why do most couples get stuck there?** "Roommate mode" is one of the most common patterns I see - and honestly, it sneaks up on people. It usually looks like talking only about logistics, dividing responsibilities and bills, running the household like a team - but not actually feeling like partners. There's no real emotional or physical connection happening. What it actually takes to shift out of that is intentional reconnection. Not just "we should spend more time together," but learning how to talk without it turning into tension or blame, rebuilding emotional safety and getting to know each other again, bringing back playfulness and curiosity like there was in the beginning, and reintroducing touch in a way that doesn't feel like pressure. Most couples get stuck because they think: if we love each other, this should come naturally. But no one teaches people how to stay connected when life gets heavy. So they drift, assume something is wrong, and then avoid the exact conversations that would actually help. --- ## **Q: Your approach blends body-based tools and nervous system support alongside practical coaching. How did you come to that framework, and what made you realize that traditional relationship advice wasn't cutting it?** My approach really came from seeing the gap between what people are told to do and what actually works in real life. A lot of traditional relationship advice is very surface-level - things like "just communicate more," "schedule date nights," "try to be more intimate." And people try those things and then feel frustrated when nothing actually changes. What I started noticing in my work is that people weren't lacking effort - they were lacking capacity, curiosity, and communication skills. If someone is stressed, overwhelmed, disconnected from their body, feeling unsafe in their relationship, or harboring resentment from years ago - they can't just "talk better" or "desire more." So I started integrating more body-based and nervous system work alongside practical tools for communication and intimacy. Because once the body feels more regulated and supported, everything else becomes a lot more accessible. It's not about forcing connection. It's about exploring where you are now, what the body craves, what the body is turned off by - and creating your Personal User Pleasure Manual so you're crystal clear on what you love, desire, and crave, with the skills to communicate that with intention. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you’re breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > **👉 hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### Tysheda Williams: Building Visibility, Connection, and Legacy Through Global Experiences URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/20-founders-edition/tysheda-williams-building-visibility-connection-and-legacy-through-global-experiences/ Last updated: 2026-06-24T04:43:32.000Z Some founders build a business around a product. [Tysheda Williams](https://www.tyshedawilliams.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) built hers around a feeling, the moment a single connection, whether through travel, photography, or a room full of the right people, changes what someone believes is possible. As the Signature Global Experiences Architect and founder of The Signature Atelier and Luxury Travels by DDE, she has spent over a decade turning that belief into a body of work spanning more than 20 countries, helping founders and leaders translate their expertise into visibility, authority, and lasting impact. Through brand photography, visibility strategy, retreat planning, and global experiences, Tysheda helps clients move beyond simply being seen to being remembered, strengthening community ties and building sustainable growth along the way. As Co-Founder of Authentic Ambitions Global, she is also amplifying a wider community of bold leaders ready to step into their own spotlight. Below, she shares what inspired her path, the gap she's closing for her clients, and where her work is headed next. --- ### What inspired you to start your business? I've always believed that some of life's greatest opportunities begin with a single connection. Whether through travel, visibility, photography, retreats, or community, I found myself helping people create experiences that opened doors, built relationships, and expanded what they believed was possible. What started as a passion for connecting people and creating meaningful experiences eventually grew into businesses centered around visibility, transformation, and helping founders elevate their impact. ### What problem are you solving for your clients? Many incredible founders and leaders have the expertise, passion, and vision to make a difference, but they often struggle with visibility, strategic growth, and creating meaningful experiences that strengthen their communities. Through brand photography, visibility strategy, retreat planning, and global experiences, I help clients become more visible, create deeper connections, build authority, and design experiences that support both impact and sustainable business growth. ### What's next for you? I'm continuing to expand my work helping founders create intentional visibility and transformative experiences through global retreats, strategic brand experiences, and retreat planning education. I'm also growing my digital education offerings, including resources that help entrepreneurs design profitable retreats, strengthen community, and create experiences that leave a lasting impact. My focus is helping more founders build visibility, connection, and legacy on a global scale. *This is part of our ongoing 20 Founders On a Mission series. New editions publish regularly. To be featured or nominate a founder, write to us at* [*hi@foundedbywomen.org*](mailto:hi@foundedbywomen.org) ### Rosie’s People URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/partners/hr/rosies-people/ Last updated: 2026-06-22T04:52:28.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2026/06/RP-Logo-LinkedIn-v2.png) #### Rosie’s People is an executive HR, people operations and business consultancy that partners with founders, leadership teams and scaling organisations to build high-performing, people-centred businesses. We provide strategic advice and hands-on support across the full employee lifecycle, including organisational design, people strategy, leadership development, employee relations, talent acquisition, workforce planning, HR technology, operational effectiveness and change management. Led by Chartered HR executive and entrepreneur Rosie Hewat, we work as a trusted extension of our clients’ teams, helping them navigate complex people and business challenges while building the foundations for sustainable growth. ****Website URL** [https://www.rosiespeople.com](https://www.rosiespeople.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ****Preferred Contact Email** [info@rosiespeople.com](mailto:info@rosiespeople.com) ****LinkedIn** [https://www.linkedin.com/company/rosies-people/](https://www.linkedin.com/company/rosies-people/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ****Instagram** @rosiespeople ****Facebook** [Book a meeting](https://calendar.google.com/calendar/u/0/appointments/schedules/AcZssZ1CoX0gtjyTOlbCCSvDeC8vh%5FupckqOYgfYjl9rBpa0NDWGY1fLRnL55jUYkOhWRODcObhcSoXD?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ### When Loss Walks Into the Office: Ruth Cooper-Dickson on Grief, Resilience, and Mental Wealth URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/women-who-lead/when-loss-walks-into-the-office-ruth-cooper-dickson-on-grief-resilience-and-mental-wealth/ Last updated: 2026-06-22T04:10:49.000Z Most workplace wellbeing programmes are built for struggle - for burnout, anxiety, stress. But what happens when an employee is grieving? Ruth Cooper-Dickson has spent the better part of a decade answering that question. An accredited trauma-informed coach, positive psychology practitioner, and Mental Health First Aid instructor, Ruth founded CHAMPS in 2015 after navigating her own experience with anxiety, panic disorder, and burnout. What began as a wellbeing consultancy has evolved into a focused mission: helping individuals and organisations move beyond coping and into what she calls genuine thrivership. Today, through her company [Ruth Cooper-Dickson Limited](https://ruthcooperdickson.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org), she works at the intersection of grief, resilience, and post-traumatic growth - a niche she sees as one of the most underserved in the corporate world. "Most organisations have a wellbeing policy," she says. "Very few know what to do when an employee's world falls apart." We spoke with Ruth about what inspired her journey, the gap she is working to close, and what comes next. > Are you a woman leader with a story to tell? We'd love to feature you. Get in touch at [hi@foundedbywomen.org](mailto:hi@foundedbywomen.org) --- ## What inspired you to start? Like many founders, my business was born from lived experience. After navigating my own challenges with anxiety, panic disorder, burnout and significant life adversity, I wanted to change the conversation around mental health in the workplace.This was back in 2015, and I became fascinated by what helps people not just survive difficult experiences but grow through them. I went on to complete an MSc in Applied Positive Psychology and Coaching Psychology and became a Mental Health First Aid Instructor.I founded a wellbeing consultancy called CHAMPS, which evolved into Ruth Cooper-Dickson Limited in 2024\. My purpose is clear: to help individuals and organisations move from simply coping to truly thriving. ## What problem are you solving? We've become much better at talking about mental health when people are struggling, but there's one experience that still leaves most workplaces silent: grief. Most organisations have a wellbeing policy; very few know what to do when an employee's world falls apart.Loss doesn't wait for a convenient moment. It walks into the office, joins the Teams call, and sits in the leadership meeting. Yet managers are rarely equipped to respond, and grieving employees are often left to navigate it alone, usually while still expected to perform.My role is to close that gap. Through coaching, speaking, training and consultancy, I help organisations build genuine grief capability, support people through adversity, and normalise these conversations so they happen earlier and more openly. ## What's next for you? The next chapter is about taking grief literacy into organisations at scale. I recently launched an organisational grief capability offering, and my focus over the next 18 months is to grow this work and help more employers better support people experiencing loss.Alongside this, I'm continuing to expand my leadership grief coaching and speaking work, while growing my media and broadcast platforms to bring conversations around grief, resilience and post-traumatic growth to wider audiences.I'm also developing new programmes that make this work more accessible beyond the corporate world. Ultimately, my mission remains simple: helping people turn pain into purpose and build their own Mental Wealth. > Are you a woman leader with a story to tell? We'd love to feature you. Get in touch at [hi@foundedbywomen.org](mailto:hi@foundedbywomen.org) ### Beyond the Balance Sheet: Alex Falcon Huerta on Technology, Global Business, and the Future of Accounting URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/women-who-lead/beyond-the-balance-sheet-alex-falcon-huerta-on-technology-global-business-and-the-future-of-accounting/ Last updated: 2026-06-18T13:34:04.000Z Alex Falcon Huerta FCCA did not set out to reinvent accounting. She set out to build a business that gave her freedom - and in doing so, she ended up reimagining what a modern accounting firm could look like. As the founder of [Soaring Falcon](https://soaring-falcon.co.uk/?ref=foundedbywomen.org), a multi-award-winning digital accountancy and business advisory firm, Alex has spent over a decade helping entrepreneurs and international businesses cut through complexity, automate the mundane, and grow with confidence. She is a Xero MVP, former ACCA International Assembly Member, and one of the Top 50 Women in Accounting - and she runs her practice from wherever in the world she happens to be, having now visited more than 50 countries. Her work sits at the intersection of finance, technology, and strategy. Whether helping an overseas founder establish a UK entity, integrating AI into client workflows, or advising on cross-border expansion, Alex's approach is shaped by a simple conviction: business owners deserve a partner who looks forward, not one who hands them a historical report and calls it advice. We asked Alex what drives her, what problem she is solving, and where Soaring Falcon goes next. --- ### What inspired you to start Soaring Falcon? Soaring Falcon was born from a belief that business should be about freedom, opportunity, and impact—not being tied down by inefficient processes or outdated ways of working. Throughout my career, I've worked with businesses ranging from ambitious start-ups to international organisations, helping them navigate growth, expansion, and change. I saw first-hand that many business owners were receiving historical reports when what they really needed was strategic advice, actionable insights, and a trusted partner who could help them look ahead. I've always been passionate about technology, innovation, and finding smarter ways to work. Combining my background in accounting, business advisory, technology, and security, I founded Soaring Falcon to create a firm that embraces the future—where technology handles the repetitive tasks, allowing people to focus on strategy, relationships, and growth. The business also reflects my own lifestyle. As a digital nomad, I've had the privilege of travelling the world while running Soaring Falcon, working from different countries and experiencing diverse cultures and business environments. This global perspective has helped me build strong relationships with clients across multiple jurisdictions and better understand the opportunities and challenges that businesses face in an increasingly connected world. ### What problem are you solving? At its heart, Soaring Falcon helps businesses remove barriers to growth. Many business owners are overwhelmed by administration, disconnected systems, and information overload. They often have access to data but struggle to turn it into meaningful decisions. Others want to expand internationally or modernise their operations but don't know where to start. We help solve these challenges by combining strategic advice, technology, automation, and financial expertise. Whether it's helping an overseas entrepreneur establish a business in the UK, supporting a growing company with international expansion, automating processes, or providing clarity through better reporting, our focus is always on helping clients work smarter and grow with confidence. One of the most rewarding aspects of what we do is working with incredible clients from around the world. From innovative founders and technology businesses to international entrepreneurs looking to establish a UK presence, we're fortunate to work alongside people who are building exciting businesses and making a real difference in their industries. ## What's next for you? The future is incredibly exciting. I'm continuing to explore how AI, automation, and emerging technologies can transform the way businesses operate and how professional services are delivered. My goal is to help clients spend less time on administration and more time creating value, while ensuring they have access to the insights they need to make informed decisions. We're also developing new solutions that integrate directly with platforms such as Xero, creating smarter workflows and automating complex accounting processes. At the same time, I want to continue supporting businesses that are looking to expand internationally, particularly those establishing operations in the UK and navigating cross-border opportunities. Personally, I plan to continue embracing the digital nomad lifestyle, travelling, learning from different cultures, and bringing those global insights back to the businesses and communities I serve. The world is becoming increasingly connected, and I believe the most successful businesses of the future will be those that think globally while acting locally. Ultimately, my vision for Soaring Falcon remains simple: to help businesses soar higher by combining technology, expertise, innovation, and human connection to create lasting success. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you’re breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > **👉 hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### From Toxic Workplaces to Thriving Cultures: A Conversation with Dr. Rosie Ward URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/20-founders-edition/from-toxic-workplaces-to-thriving-cultures-a-conversation-with-dr-rosie-ward/ Last updated: 2026-06-18T13:11:07.000Z Dr. Rosie Ward knows firsthand what it feels like when a workplace erodes your well-being. After experiencing the effects of two toxic environments, she made it her mission to ensure others wouldn't have to go through the same - and that by the time her son enters the workforce, dehumanized workplaces would simply be a relic of the past. As CEO and founder of [Salveo Partners](https://salveopartners.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org), an award-winning consulting firm based in Minneapolis, Rosie helps organizations future-proof themselves by strengthening culture and equipping leaders and teams to navigate change and disruption. With a PhD, Board Certified Coach and Certified Dare to Lead Facilitator credentials, and over 25 years of experience translating behavioral science into practical action, she brings a deeply human approach to organizational transformation. Her latest book, Future-Proofing Leadership, is already a bestseller - and she's showing no signs of slowing down. We sat down with Rosie to talk about what drives her work, what organizations are getting wrong, and what's on the horizon. --- ## What inspired you to start? After personally experiencing the ill effects of two toxic workplaces, I knew I wanted to change things so others wouldn't have to experience the same. And my hope was that by the time my son enters the workforce, dehumanized workplaces would no longer be the norm, and movies like "Horrible Bosses" or cringy television shows like "The Office" would no longer exist because people couldn't relate to them. I knew I had a different way of approaching the intersection of behavior change, organizational culture, leadership and well-being, and I wanted to leverage this to help create a better work experience. ## What problem are you solving? We are solving the problem of failing individual and organizational change efforts, increasing rates of disengagement and people not feeling like they matter at work. Most traditional methods fail or are mediocre at best because they don't care for the messiness of how human beings show up in the face of disruption and change. We future-proof organizations by strengthening culture and equipping leaders and teams to show up more courageously and better navigate change and disruption. ## What's next for you? Right now I'm busy promoting my new bestselling book, *Future-Proofing Leadership* and leveraging the content to help leaders, teams and organizations thrive in this disruptive environment. We're working with several clients across industries to apply these concepts to build comprehensive leadership academies within their organizations and revamp their leadership development and succession planning strategies. And, believe it or not, I'm already working on my fourth book that will build on *Future-Proofing Leadership* and provide many of the tools and mental reframes we use in our work with clients. *This is part of our ongoing 20 Founders On a Mission series. New editions publish regularly. To be featured or nominate a founder, write to us at* [*hi@foundedbywomen.org*](mailto:hi@foundedbywomen.org) ### ARE U Motivated URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/partners/consulting/are-u-motivated/ Last updated: 2026-06-18T04:53:40.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2026/06/ARE-U-logo.jpg) #### Sarah Livingstone, MSW, is a Social Worker, presenter, expert columnist, and Founder and CEO of ARE U Motivated. Through The Connection Hour, she helps individuals, groups, and organizations build healthier communication, stronger relationships, emotional awareness, and practical life skills using a strengths-based approach. Website url: [www.areumotivated.com](http://www.areumotivated.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) Preferred contact: [sarah.livingstone.msw@gmail.com](mailto:sarah.livingstone.msw@gmail.com) Social Media Link: [https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarahlivingstonemsw](https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarahlivingstonemsw?ref=foundedbywomen.org) [Book a call](https://areumotivated.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org#contact) ### Live Workshop | Jun 16: Defining Your Superpower & Owning Your Narrative with Ruby Veridiano URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/workshops/live-workshop-jun-16-defining-your-superpower-owning-your-narrative-with-ruby-veridiano/ Last updated: 2026-06-11T04:34:55.000Z We're hosting a live workshop on June 16th featuring Ruby Veridiano, a narrative strategist and communications consultant specializing in social impact and sustainability. Ruby will guide you through the process of defining your personal mission and building the foundation of your personal brand - so your story truly reflects who you are and what you stand for. Whether you're a founder, entrepreneur, or purpose-led professional - this conversation is for you. Date: Tuesday, June 16, 2026 Time: 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM EDT [Register for Event](https://luma.com/gaonpbgd?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ### Introducing the FBW Best Workplaces for Women 2026 URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/best-workplaces-for-women/introducing-the-fbw-best-workplaces-for-women-2026/ Last updated: 2026-06-11T04:16:03.000Z We are proud to publish the inaugural FBW Best Workplaces for Women — a curated list recognizing companies that are building cultures where women genuinely thrive. Starting this year, we will publish this recognition quarterly, spotlighting organizations across industries and geographies that are setting a new standard for inclusion, leadership, and workplace experience. If your organization would like to be considered for a future edition, we welcome you to reach out at [hi@foundedbywomen.org](mailto:hi@foundedbywomen.org). --- ## How We Selected These Companies The FBW Best Workplaces for Women is not a survey-based ranking. It is an editorial selection based on a combination of publicly available data and qualitative research across the following criteria: - **Female leadership** \- companies led or co-led by women at the founder or CEO level - **Company health** \- active, funded, and growing organizations with a stable workforce - **Workforce size** \- companies in the 100-1,000 employee range, where culture is shaped intentionally rather than inherited - **DEI commitment** \- published policies, programs, or measurable initiatives supporting women in the workplace - **Mission alignment** \- companies whose core product or service has a meaningful connection to the advancement of women, health, or human potential Companies may apply to this program through our formal application process. All applicants are evaluated against the same editorial criteria regardless of participation status. --- ## The FBW Best Workplaces for Women 2026 **Carrot Fertility** Founded by Tammy Sun, Carrot Fertility is the leading global fertility and family-building benefits platform, trusted by over 1,500 employers and health plans worldwide. With 600+ employees and a mission to make fertility care accessible to everyone regardless of background, Carrot has built one of the most inclusive benefit programs in the industry - and its internal culture reflects that same commitment. Carrot is Great Place to Work certified. [carrotfertility.com](https://www.carrotfertility.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) **Cityblock Health** Co-founded and led by Dr. Toyin Ajayi, Cityblock Health is a tech-enabled healthcare provider focused on communities that have historically been underserved. With nearly 850 employees, the company delivers personalized care across medical, mental health, and social support - and has built a culture explicitly centered on belonging, equity, and dignity for all employees. [cityblock.com](https://www.cityblock.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) **Cleo** Under the leadership of CEO Madhavi Vemireddy, Cleo is a family benefits platform that helps working parents navigate pregnancy, parenting, and caregiving with personalized guidance and clinical support. With 250 employees and a product built around the needs of families, Cleo has created a workplace that walks the talk on family-friendly culture. [meetcleo.com](https://www.meetcleo.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) **Sanas** Sanas is an AI-powered speech technology company based in Palo Alto that uses real-time accent and noise modulation to improve communication clarity across global teams and customer service environments. With a hybrid work model, formalized promotion processes with structured performance review cycles, pay equity practices, and an active ERG, Sanas has embedded DEI into its core people operations rather than treating it as a standalone initiative. The company also provides menstrual leave as part of its broader commitment to employee wellbeing. "We are building a culture where clarity, accountability, and inclusion are not separate initiatives but embedded into how we hire, promote, and operate every day," says Saralynn Pizano, Chief People Officer. [sanas.ai](https://www.sanas.ai/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) **Honeycomb.io** Honeycomb is an observability platform built for engineering teams, co-founded by Christine Yen (CEO) and Charity Majors (CTO) - a rare example of a technical startup with women at the top of both product and engineering. With $150M raised and a team of around 200, the company is widely recognized in the tech community for its thoughtful, human-centered culture. [honeycomb.io](https://www.honeycomb.io/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) **Incredible Health** Founded and led by Dr. Iman Abuzeid, Incredible Health is the largest AI-powered healthcare career marketplace in the US, connecting over 1.5 million healthcare workers with more than 1,500 employers. Abuzeid is one of the few women leading a unicorn startup valued at $1.65 billion, and has built a mission-driven organization focused on improving the lives of healthcare professionals - the majority of whom are women. [incrediblehealth.com](https://www.incrediblehealth.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) **Leapsome** Co-founded and co-led by Jenny Podewils, Leapsome is a people enablement platform that helps organizations build cultures of continuous feedback, growth, and engagement. Headquartered in Berlin with a growing US presence, the company has 136 employees across multiple countries, speaks 35 languages internally, and has made an explicit commitment to DEI, sustainability, and equitable career development. [leapsome.com](https://www.leapsome.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) **Maven Clinic** Founded by Kate Ryder, Maven Clinic is the world's largest virtual clinic dedicated to women's and family health, serving over 15 million lives through partnerships with employers and health plans. With 500 employees, $425M raised, and recognition as one of Time's 100 Most Influential Companies of 2026, Maven has built both a product and a workplace centered on women's wellbeing. [mavenclinic.com](https://www.mavenclinic.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) **Nu Quantum** Founded by Dr. Carmen Palacios-Berraquero, Nu Quantum is a UK-based deep tech company building the future of distributed quantum computing through quantum networking. Having raised a $60M Series A in 2025, the company is one of a small number of frontier technology startups led by a female scientist-founder - and a compelling example of what women-led innovation looks like at the cutting edge. [nu-quantum.com](https://www.nu-quantum.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) **Vanta** Founded and led by Christina Cacioppo, Vanta is the leading trust and compliance automation platform, helping companies streamline security certification and data protection. With 500+ employees and $500M raised, Vanta has grown into one of the most recognized female-founded companies in enterprise SaaS - and has consistently invested in building a culture where transparency, growth, and inclusion are core operating principles. [vanta.com](https://www.vanta.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) --- ## Be Part of the Next Edition The FBW Best Workplaces for Women will be updated quarterly. If you lead or work at a company you believe belongs on this list, we would love to hear from you. Reach out at [**hi@foundedbywomen.org**](mailto:hi@foundedbywomen.org) to submit your organization for consideration. *Founded by Women is an editorial platform spotlighting female founders, leaders, and the companies building a more equitable future of work.* ### Lauren Baptiste URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/partners/consulting/lauren-baptiste/ Last updated: 2026-06-10T05:10:50.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2026/06/AcheloaWellness_PrimaryLogo_Color-01.png) #### Lauren Baptiste helps ambitious professionals earn more, work more intentionally, and create extraordinary careers without burnout. As an executive coach and the founder of [Acheloa Wellness](http://acheloawellness.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) and [Text Lauren](http://textlauren.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org), she equips leaders with the tools, strategies, and support needed to accelerate growth, strengthen leadership, and reclaim control of their time. - Preferred contact email - [hello@acheloawellness.com](mailto:hello@acheloawellness.com) - Social media links: [linkedin](https://www.linkedin.com/in/lauren-baptiste/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) | [instagram](https://instagram.com/thelaurenbaptiste?ref=foundedbywomen.org) | [facebook](https://www.facebook.com/acheloawellness) [Visit website](https://www.acheloawellness.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ### The Marketing Gap No One Talks About: Emily Lyman on Empathy, Behavior, and What Really Drives Customers URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/20-founders-edition/the-marketing-gap-no-one-talks-about-emily-lyman-on-empathy-behavior-and-what-really-drives-customers/ Last updated: 2026-06-09T03:33:42.000Z Emily Lyman will tell you her best professional skill is co-dependency. She's only half joking. Growing up as a military kid, perpetually the new girl in the room, she developed an almost involuntary ability to read people and anticipate what someone needs before they say it. That instinct followed her through a winding career: corporate finance, PR, a stretch in book editing, and eventually marketing. For over a decade, Emily worked with top global brands on both the agency and brand side. She loved the craft. But she grew increasingly frustrated by a gap no one seemed to want to talk about: the industry had built an entire infrastructure around measuring what customers did. Almost no one was asking why. After years of watching good thinking get watered down in execution, she opened her own shop. [Branch & Bramble](https://www.branchandbramble.com/?utm%5Fsource=founded-by-women&utm%5Fmedium=earned-click&utm%5Fcampaign=interview-article-2026) is a marketing agency for DTC lifestyle brands that turns audience curiosity into customer obsession using behavioral psychology and empathetic marketing. We sat down with Emily to talk about what's broken in modern marketing, why empathy isn't a soft skill, and what brands need to understand before AI leaves them behind. > *This is part of our ongoing 20 Founders On a Mission series. New editions publish regularly. To be featured or nominate a founder, write to us at* [*hi@foundedbywomen.org*](mailto:hi@foundedbywomen.org) --- **What inspired you to start?** After more than a decade in marketing, I kept running into the same problem: the industry had built an entire apparatus around measuring what customers did, and almost no infrastructure for understanding why they did it. We had data, frameworks, personas with names, and stock-photo faces. What we rarely had was a real answer to the question that actually mattered: why does this person care? After years of watching good thinking get watered down in execution, starting something of my own felt less like a leap and more like the obvious next step. I built what I actually believed in. The agency I wanted to exist was one rooted in behavioral psychology and empathy, one that goes deeper than traditional data to understand not just what customers do, but what actually moves them. **What problem are you solving?** Data has become the holy grail of modern marketing, and for good reason. But the pendulum has swung too far. Most DTC brands are making decisions based almost entirely on logic and rationality, without accounting for the emotions that actually drive purchasing decisions. To quote neuroscientist Antonio Damasio: "We are not thinking machines that feel. We are feeling machines that think." If your marketing strategy doesn't account for that, you're not reaching your customer. Just their inbox. The most uncomfortable part is that most marketers think they're already doing this. Research by Dr. Johannes Huttula found that the more empathetic marketers believed themselves to be, the worse they actually were at predicting their customers' emotional responses. We're all working from our own biases and calling it customer insight. What's missing is the layer underneath behavior: values. Our values drive our emotions, which drive our decisions. But most marketing programs are built on demographics and surface-level data that tell you what a customer does, not why. Branch & Bramble's work starts there. We build clever, empathetic campaigns that feel human and work like hell. A program built on these principles for a major outdoor brand produced a 59% increase in consumer engagement and a 104% increase in clicks. Not because we had a bigger budget. Because we understood what we were saying and to whom. **What’s next for you?** Empathetic marketing isn't a new concept, but it's becoming the most urgent one. In an AI-accelerated world, brands can generate more content, more campaigns, and more targeting variations than ever before. What AI can't do is understand what actually moves a person. It can predict behavior but it can't decode values. The brands that win won't be the ones with the fastest content engines. They'll be the ones who understand their customers at a genuinely human level. That's the conversation I'm taking to national and international stages. Empathy isn't a soft skill. In a world where AI can execute almost anything, the competitive advantage shifts to understanding the psychology behind why customers make the decisions they make. And the brands that build it now aren't just ahead of a trend. They're building something their competitors can't replicate. For brands ready to start, Branch & Bramble's [guide to empathetic marketing](https://www.branchandbramble.com/empathetic-marketing?utm%5Fsource=founded-by-women&utm%5Fmedium=earned-click&utm%5Fcampaign=interview-article-2026) is the place to begin. > *This is part of our ongoing 20 Founders On a Mission series. New editions publish regularly. To be featured or nominate a founder, write to us at* [*hi@foundedbywomen.org*](mailto:hi@foundedbywomen.org) ### From Kitchen Batches to Clean Haircare: How Tanya Perkins Built The Refig URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/women-who-lead/from-kitchen-batches-to-clean-haircare-how-tanya-perkins-built-the-refig/ Last updated: 2026-06-04T04:11:14.000Z Tanya Perkins didn't set out to build a haircare brand. She set out to solve a problem she'd lived with her whole life - the impossible choice between staying active and having healthy, defined curls. After an autoimmune diagnosis pushed her to rethink everything she put on her body, she started making her own products: clean, simple, and small enough to fit in a gym bag. What happened next surprised her. Friends wanted them. Then friends of friends. Then a stranger texted her a photo of a child asking for more conditioner - and Tanya realized her hobby had become something bigger. That's how The Refig was born: a clean haircare brand built for people who refuse to choose between an active life and great curls. --- ## What inspired you to found The Refig and what were the main challenges you faced? The story for The Refig starts in 2 places: 1\. I was born with curly hair and I love being active and, 2\. I was diagnosed with an autoimmune condition As a kid and adult I faced the same conundrum as many of us - play sports, enjoy the outdoors and travel OR have great looking hair. I chose to be active and work my hair in a ponytail well into adulthood. Then, about 10 years ago, an autoimmune condition made me realize the importance of what I put in and on my body. So I made products that were clean, quick and easy to use, and could travel with me and fit into my gym bag. One day, my college roommate came over and saw I was making a batch. She goes “Is that why your curls are so defined! Jeeezzzz… you’ve been holding out on me and I made you a God Parent” She goes home, uses it on her and her kids, and then texts the rest of the roommate group to say “my curls are doing things they never do… get some of Tanya's conditioner.” The roommates start sending me money although I’m telling them I’m not in business. They laugh and say “send it”. Pretty soon I’m sharing with family and friends on the regular and, it turns out, they are sharing with their family and friends. One day, I got a text message with a picture of a small child asking for more conditioner. I didn’t know the kid or the mother and so I’m excited that there’s a market. But I’m also freaked out because this is my hobby and I’m making it in my kitchen. So, I decided to figure out how to bring this to market with manufacturers and more. It took a long time to find partners who were really going to work with me and respect the vision. I’ve had formulators take my money and ghost, or were slow or just couldn’t figure it out, so I learned to formulate. We’ve had production teams ask if we could switch to liquid formats when they could figure out how to pour a bar, I’ve had manufacturers who ignored us because our batch sizes would be too small, so I found women and minority owned manufacturers who knew what it was like to be the underdog. All that said, we’ve relaunched and are selling through our website. ## Did you start the venture alone? Yes. But I’ ve had some great friends and family rally around the brand to help me really nurse it through the years of R&D. From testing the product to handing out hundreds of samples in 90 degree weather to setting up ad accounts, I’ve been amazed at how one’s community can really show up. ## What's your business model, and how have you grown your revenue? We’re D2C first and working on other channels. We’re starting with limited runs and scaling from there to ensure product quality. Plus, by keeping inventory low we can put more capital into marketing and other activities. The Refig is committed to expanding access to sports, outdoors and travel. We do so by offering hair and personal care that is quick and easy to use, has ingredients you can feel good about and is eco- and travel friendly. That said, we are looking to partner with orgs and individuals you expand access in these areas amongst youth and returning service members. Past partners include a nonprofit which teaches swim lessons, at risk youth shelters etc. ### The Executive, the Artist, and the Idea She Carried for a Decade URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/20-founders-edition/the-executive-the-artist-and-the-idea-she-carried-for-a-decade/ Last updated: 2026-06-02T07:44:26.000Z Rosie Hewat is a Chartered HR executive, entrepreneur, and founder with over 25 years of experience helping start-ups, technology companies, and scaling organisations build people functions that actually work. Through [Rosie's People](https://www.rosiespeople.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org), her global HR and business operations consultancy, she has partnered with leadership teams and boards across six continents, working with clients ranging from fintech scale-ups to public sector bodies. Alongside her consultancy practice, Rosie is the founder of [Mitchly](https://www.mitchly.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org), a platform at the intersection of music, community, and AI-driven creativity, as well as a recording artist under her creative identity, Candy Rose. In this conversation, Rosie shares what drove her into people operations, why she believes the growing narrative around AI replacing human contribution is one worth challenging, and how she has spent years building across executive leadership, entrepreneurship, and creativity simultaneously - long before that became a trend. > *This is part of our ongoing 20 Founders On a Mission series. New editions publish regularly. To be featured or nominate a founder, write to us at* [*hi@foundedbywomen.org*](mailto:hi@foundedbywomen.org) --- ## What inspired you to start? My career has always centred around leadership, people, innovation and growth. What originally inspired me to move into HR and people operations was quite simple: I wanted to become the person I wished I’d had access to during my own career journey. Early on, I saw how many employees struggled silently with workplace challenges, unsure who they could speak to, whether they would be taken seriously or whether anything would actually change. At the time, HR often had a reputation for feeling disconnected, procedural or inaccessible, and I wanted to help challenge that perception. I believed there had to be a more human way to approach people operations — one that balanced empathy with strategy and recognised that people should never be treated as an afterthought to business growth. To me, people operations should be embedded into the strategic design of an organisation, because people are ultimately at the heart of every successful business. Through Rosie’s People, my executive HR and business operations consultancy, I’ve spent years supporting founders, leadership teams, boards and scaling organisations across multiple industries, particularly within start-ups, technology and innovation-led businesses. Alongside that, I’ve also built businesses, invested in ventures and maintained a creative career as a recording artist under my artist identity, Candy Rose. Music and creativity have always been deeply important to me because art, in all its forms, is one of the most powerful ways human beings connect with one another. Even within my creative work, I found myself naturally applying lessons from leadership, branding, strategy and business growth. In many ways, both worlds continuously informed each other. Mitchly itself is an idea I’ve carried with me for well over a decade. Long before the current AI boom, I already knew there was a major problem within the music and creative industries that I wanted to solve. At the time, however, the technology simply didn’t exist to make the vision fully possible, and I was often told the idea was unrealistic or impossible. What’s changed now is that technology, particularly advancements within AI and creative technology, has finally started catching up with that vision. That’s one of the reasons I’m passionate about approaching AI responsibly. I see AI as a tool that can unlock opportunity, creativity and innovation when used correctly. Ironically, AI itself only exists because of human imagination, ambition and creativity. Human innovation created AI, so I think it’s important that we don’t lose sight of the people behind the technology. Having worked closely with fast-growth businesses and technology-driven teams for years, and even helping to hire, train and build some of the people shaping future technologies along the way, I’ve seen firsthand both the incredible power of innovation and the risks of removing humanity from the centre of decision-making. Mitchly represents the intersection of everything I’ve learned across executive leadership, entrepreneurship, creativity, technology and people. More personally, I also hope my journey encourages other women not to feel pressured to shrink themselves into a single box. For years, I balanced executive leadership, entrepreneurship, creativity and innovation side by side, even when those worlds didn’t always appear to fit neatly together publicly. Sometimes the things that make us different are actually the foundation of the most meaningful things we’ll eventually build. ## What problem are you solving? One of the biggest challenges I see right now is the growing disconnect between technology and humanity. AI can absolutely improve productivity, accessibility and innovation when used responsibly. However, I think there’s an increasingly dangerous narrative emerging that human contribution is becoming disposable, and I fundamentally disagree with that approach. Technology should enhance human capability, not erase it. Mitchly is being built around the idea that innovation and humanity should coexist. I’m far more interested in creating opportunities, fostering collaboration and driving meaningful progress than simply replacing people for efficiency’s sake. I also believe people are increasingly craving authenticity and human connection again — whether in leadership, business, creativity or technology. Audiences want brands, founders and platforms that feel thoughtful, real and purpose-driven. At its core, Mitchly is about embracing innovation while keeping people firmly at the centre. ## What’s next for you? I’ll continue growing Rosie’s People and my wider consultancy work while thoughtfully and intentionally building Mitchly alongside them. A major part of my career has involved helping businesses scale, advising leadership teams, supporting founders and building strong people-focused strategies, and that remains a huge part of who I am professionally. What’s changing now is that I’m increasingly applying those same lessons and experiences to my own ventures. Alongside that, I’m continuing to write and speak more publicly about leadership, technology, creativity, responsibility and the future of work. Through platforms such as Brains Magazine, media commentary and public discussions, I’ve increasingly spoken about the intersection between creativity, technology, identity and responsible innovation. Personally, I’ve never seen my executive career, entrepreneurial ventures and creative work as separate versions of myself. They’ve always coexisted quite naturally. For many years, however, those worlds were intentionally kept more separate publicly, largely because of external perceptions around what leadership, professionalism and credibility were “supposed” to look like. There were people who knew me exclusively as Rosie within executive and boardroom environments, and others who only knew me as Candy Rose within creative spaces. In reality, both have always shaped the way I think, lead, build and create. The strategic discipline from the corporate world strengthened my approach to business and creativity, while creativity itself strengthened my understanding of people, emotion, storytelling and human connection. I think the world is gradually becoming more open to the idea that leadership, creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship do not have to exist in separate boxes; and I hope more women, in particular, feel empowered to embrace every dimension of who they are without feeling pressured to reduce themselves to fit a single narrative. Ultimately, what’s next is continuing to build meaningful businesses, create opportunities for others and contribute to conversations around innovation in a way that remains deeply human while fully embracing the possibilities of technology. > *This is part of our ongoing 20 Founders On a Mission series. New editions publish regularly. To be featured or nominate a founder, write to us at* [*hi@foundedbywomen.org*](mailto:hi@foundedbywomen.org) ### Built to Run Without You: How Cristy O'Connor and Aggie Chydzinski Are Helping Women Build Businesses That Create Real Wealth URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/20-founders-edition/built-to-run-without-you-how-cristy-oconnor-and-aggie-chydzinski-are-helping-women-build-businesses-that-create-real-wealth/ Last updated: 2026-06-02T07:36:30.000Z Most business owners know the feeling. Revenue is growing, the brand has momentum, clients keep coming back - and yet the owner is somehow more exhausted than ever. Every decision still lands on her desk. Every gap in the business quietly absorbs her time. The company is working, but it cannot yet work without her. That is exactly the problem Cristy O'Connor and Aggie Chydzinski set out to solve when they co-founded [Athena Advisory Collective](https://www.athenaac.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org). Cristy had spent years working alongside owner-led companies navigating the tension between growth and operational stability. Aggie had watched the startup and investment world up close - and kept noticing who was missing from those rooms. Together, they built an advisory firm specifically designed for women business owners who are ready to stop carrying the business on their backs and start building something with transferable, lasting value. Athena works with founder-led businesses at the $1M to $50M+ revenue stage, helping them strengthen financial visibility, leadership structure, sales infrastructure, and operational clarity - whether the goal is a future exit, an acquisition, or simply a business that gives its owner more freedom now. You can also follow their conversation on [Badass Women in Business](https://badasswomeninbusinesspodcast.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org), their podcast exploring what it really takes to build and scale. In this conversation, Cristy and Aggie share what inspired them to build Athena together, the problem they keep seeing behind the scenes of "successful" businesses, and what they believe the next chapter of women's entrepreneurship should look like. > *This is part of our ongoing 20 Founders On a Mission series. New editions publish regularly. To be featured or nominate a founder, write to us at* [*hi@foundedbywomen.org*](mailto:hi@foundedbywomen.org) --- # **What inspired you to start?** Athena started with both a frustration and a belief. The frustration was that too many women business owners were being told to keep growing, keep pushing, and keep doing more, without enough strategic support to help them step back and examine the business as a whole. The belief was that women deserve more than encouragement. They deserve partners who can look honestly at the company with them, identify what is working, name what is fragile, and help them make decisions that create lasting value. We saw women doing extraordinary work, often with strong revenue, loyal customers, capable teams, and respected brands. But behind the scenes, many were still operating as the center of everything. Every major decision still came back to them. Every problem still landed on their desk. Every gap in the business was quietly absorbed by their time, energy, and attention. From the outside, the business looked successful. Inside, the owner was often exhausted. That is what inspired Athena. We wanted to build the kind of advisory firm that does not look at one isolated piece of the business. The numbers matter. The team matters. The sales process matters. Leadership structure matters. Owner dependency matters. Long term value matters. All of it is connected. For us, this work is not about helping women build bigger businesses simply for the sake of size. Bigger is not always better if the owner is more overwhelmed, the margins are weaker, the team is unclear, and the business is harder to run. The real goal is strength. We help women build companies that create income, wealth, freedom, impact, and choice. Athena exists because women should not have to wait until they are burned out, preparing to sell, facing a leadership crisis, or reacting to an unexpected offer before they start building a business that can truly support their future. # **What problem are you solving?** We help women business owners solve the problem that often appears after the business starts working. The company has clients. Revenue is growing. The brand has momentum. The team is expanding. From the outside, it looks successful. But inside the business, the owner is still carrying too much. She is still the primary salesperson. Still the final decision maker. Still the person everyone turns to when something breaks. Still the one holding the vision, the relationships, the standards, and often the institutional knowledge. The business may be growing, but it is not yet strong enough to grow without her at the center of everything. That is the gap Athena helps close. Many owners are never taught to distinguish between a business that produces income and a business that has transferable value. Those are not the same thing. A company can have strong sales and still be too dependent on the founder. It can have a team and still lack leadership depth. It can have momentum and still struggle with weak margins, unclear roles, inconsistent sales processes, customer concentration, or operational chaos beneath the surface. Athena helps owners strengthen the parts of the business that create real enterprise value: financial visibility, margin discipline, leadership structure, role clarity, sales infrastructure, operational rhythm, accountability, recurring revenue, and reduced owner dependency. We are not interested in growth that simply creates more pressure. Growth without infrastructure burns people out. Growth without margin creates stress. Growth without leadership keeps the owner trapped inside the company she built. Our work helps women understand what their business is worth, what is limiting its value, and what needs to change to create more options. For one owner, that may mean preparing for a future sale. For another, it may mean transitioning leadership internally, acquiring another company, bringing in a strategic partner, stepping out of daily operations, or building a company that gives her more freedom now. Exit is not always about leaving. Sometimes, exit means the business no longer depends on the owner’s constant sacrifice. # **What’s next for you?** The next chapter for Athena is about helping more women business owners ask bigger questions earlier. Too often, owners wait until they are exhausted, reacting to an unexpected offer, facing a leadership gap, or preparing to sell before they begin thinking seriously about value, transferability, acquisition, or exit. By then, the options are often narrower than they should be. We want to change that. We want women asking these questions earlier: - Is this business built to run without me? - Do I know what it is worth? - Are the right people in the right roles? - Are my margins strong enough? - Is growth creating value, or just more pressure? - Could acquisition help us expand faster than building every new capability from scratch? - Am I building income, or am I building an asset? A major part of Athena’s next chapter is making acquisition, transition, and exit strategy more accessible to women owned businesses before they reach a breaking point. Buying, selling, merging, and transitioning are not strategies reserved for large companies, private equity firms, or founders who are already at the finish line. They can be powerful tools for small and mid sized businesses when owners understand them early enough to make intentional decisions. We are expanding our advisory work around acquisition readiness, exit preparation, business transition, and leadership handoff. We want to help first time buyers evaluate opportunities with confidence, and we want current owners to prepare their companies for a future sale, internal transition, merger, or next stage of leadership before they are forced into reactive decisions. We are also continuing to build Athena as a collective because business owners need different expertise at different stages. No single advisor has every answer. Our role is to help owners see what matters most, then bring the right strategic guidance to the table. And we will continue growing the Badass Women in Business Podcast because storytelling is part of the work. Women need to hear from other women who are building, failing, scaling, buying, selling, inheriting, leading, transitioning, and starting over. They need inspiration, but they also need the truth. Long term, our vision is for Athena to become a leading advisory firm for women owned businesses that are ready to scale, strengthen, acquire, transition, or exit. Athena exists for the woman who knows her business has potential, but also knows it cannot keep depending on her the way it does today. We help her build with intention, lead with clarity, and create more options for the future. > *This is part of our ongoing 20 Founders On a Mission series. New editions publish regularly. To be featured or nominate a founder, write to us at* [*hi@foundedbywomen.org*](mailto:hi@foundedbywomen.org) ### From Hollywood Campaigns to Conscious PR: How Mona Loring Rebuilt Her Agency Around Authenticity URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/women-who-lead/from-hollywood-campaigns-to-conscious-pr-how-mona-loring-rebuilt-her-agency-around-authenticity/ Last updated: 2026-05-29T03:50:02.000Z Mona Loring spent over two decades building one of Hollywood's most respected entertainment PR firms, running awards campaigns for the Oscars, Emmys, and Golden Globes and representing talent including Wendi McLendon-Covey, Carrie Preston, and Michael B. Jordan. But at a certain point, success and alignment stopped feeling like the same thing. Rather than stay on the path that had already proven itself, Mona made the kind of decision most established founders avoid: she rebuilt. The result was [Conscious Living PR](https://www.consciouslivingpr.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org), a Los Angeles-based agency that brings together strategic publicity, intuitive practice, and a commitment to purposeful storytelling. The firm now spans Literary PR, Lifestyle PR, Spiritual PR, and the Conscious Hollywood division, serving thought leaders, authors, and entertainers who want visibility that actually reflects who they are. We sat down with Mona to talk about what it takes to pivot without losing your footing, what "conscious PR" looks like in practice, and the advice she has for women building something meaningful in one of the most competitive industries in the world. > Are you a woman leader with a story to tell? We'd love to feature you. Get in touch at [hi@foundedbywomen.org](mailto:hi@foundedbywomen.org) --- **Q: You founded MLC PR from the ground up, built it into one of Hollywood's top entertainment firms, ran award campaigns for the Oscars, Emmys, and Golden Globes, and then made the bold decision to rebrand as Conscious Hollywood - bringing together entertainment, philanthropy, spirituality, and wellness. For female founders who are considering a major pivot or rebrand, what made you take that leap, and how do you build a new identity without losing what made you successful in the first place?** The decision didn't happen overnight, but I felt an itch and knew I needed a change. When the time came, it was undeniable. I had built MLC PR into something I was genuinely proud of from the ground up. We had handled awards campaigns, worked with major talent, and earned a reputation in an industry that doesn't hand those out easily. But at some point I started noticing a gap between the work I was doing and the way I wanted to do it. Something felt misaligned, and I've learned to pay attention to that feeling. The rebrand to Conscious Hollywood wasn't about walking away from what worked. It was about what I felt was a missing element in the PR industry while also being honest about what I had actually been doing all along. I had always approached client relationships with a level of intuition and intentionality that went beyond traditional PR strategy. I just hadn't named it yet, so that was the official leap. What kept the foundation intact was my reputation and track record. The credibility I built over the first decade of my career did not disappear with the rebrand. I had simply evolved. If anything, it gave me the permission to go deeper with what I believe makes a PR campaign truly land. My advice to female founders considering a pivot is to do it in love and not fear. Then, once you decide on what to do— stop treating your past as a liability in your new chapter. Your history is the reason the evolution holds weight. The pivot looks risky from the outside, but looking at it from the inside, it feels like you are finally arriving at your authenticity. **Q: You've worked with some of the most recognizable names in entertainment - Wendi McLendon-Covey, Carrie Preston, Michael B. Jordan, Jenna Ortega - while also championing conscious living, mindfulness, and spiritual awareness in your work. What does "conscious PR" actually mean in practice, and how does your intuitive approach to public relations set you apart from traditional entertainment firms?** People hear the phrase conscious PR and sometimes assume it means the work is soft. In reality, while it is mindful and ethical, it is also the opposite of soft. Conscious PR requires a level of honesty that traditional firms often avoid. It means being clear about whether a strategy is right for a specific client instead of applying a formula simply because it worked before or because everyone else is doing it. In practice, it means I pay attention to things a traditional firm might overlook. The energy a client brings into a campaign cycle. Whether the story we are telling publicly matches who they actually are. Whether the timing feels natural or forced. These things matter more than most people in this industry realize. A campaign can generate press and still fall flat if the alignment is off. I have watched it happen, and it is one of the reasons I stepped into a new chapter of this work through a methodology I created called Intuitive Visibility Strategy. Working with talent at the level of Wendi McLendon-Covey or Carrie Preston means you are not just managing publicity. You are helping steward a legacy. That requires a different quality of attention. My intuitive approach is simply a willingness to slow down enough to see what is actually there instead of what we want to be there. **Q: You've been building in one of the most competitive and relationship-driven industries in the world for over 20 years. For female founders navigating male-dominated industries, what has kept you grounded through the challenges - and what's your advice for women who want to build something meaningful without compromising who they are?** Twenty years in, the thing that has kept me most grounded is knowing what I'm not willing to compromise. That clarity didn't come easily, and it certainly didn't come early on in my career. I had to learn some hard lessons along the way. But once I had it, that knowing became a useful tool. My industry will offer you opportunities that look like wins but can cost you something you can't get back. You have to know the difference, and that is why I love using the word "discernment" when making choices in business. Women are actually well-represented in entertainment PR, but the talent industry itself is still a different story. It has long been shaped by powerful men, and I've navigated plenty of rooms where I was the only woman leading with heart, where my intention wasn't solely transactional. There were moments where I had to decide whether to shrink into what was expected or hold my ground. I'm proud to say I chose to hold my ground, even when it meant standing up to toxicity more times than I should have had to. What I learned over time is that holding your ground doesn't have to be dramatic. It's about being sure of yourself, leading with confidence and clarity, and having the ability to trust your own read on a situation without needing someone else to validate it. I also want to be clear about something, because I think it matters: some of the most genuinely kind and supportive people I've ever met in this business have been men. You tend to find what you're looking for, and if you walk in expecting every man to be an obstacle, that's largely what you'll find. I've always tried to stay open-minded and not assume the worst in people. That said, I'd be leaving out part of the story if I didn't acknowledge that women can be just as toxic, especially when their competition enters the scenario. Watching women hurting other women was one of the hardest things to witness coming up in this industry. It's gotten better, and I'd like to think that those of us who chose a different path helped move the needle. I've aimed to be the woman straightening someone else's crown, not the one figuring out how to take it away. All of that said, my advice for women building something meaningful in competitive spaces is simple: stop waiting for the industry to make room for you and start building the room yourself. I created my place in the PR world. I had no help. Also, remember that uniqueness is a benefit. Your differentiation is not a weakness to be diminished. It's the thing that will outlast everyone who told you to be more like what already exists. Build your business from this mindset. > Are you a woman leader with a story to tell? We'd love to feature you. Get in touch at [hi@foundedbywomen.org](mailto:hi@foundedbywomen.org) ### Tiara J., LVN, Certified Health & Life Coach URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/partners/consulting/tiara-j-lvn-certified-health-life-coach/ Last updated: 2026-05-28T09:16:27.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2026/05/New-Logo.png) #### Tiara J. is a Certified Health and Life Coach and Licensed Vocational Nurse with over 26 years in healthcare she's not guessing what burnout feels like; she's lived it from the inside. As the creator of the ****Root to Resilience Framework** and ****S.O.B. Model**, she helps clinicians cut through stress, brain fog, and anxiety to reclaim their energy and clarity. If you're ready to stop surviving your career and start thriving in it, Tiara is the coach who gets it. ****Preferred email:** [TiaraJ@transformyourjourneycoaching.com](mailto:TiaraJ@transformyourjourneycoaching.com) ****Social Media Links:** ****Instagram**: [Coach\_tiara\_johnson\_](https://www.instagram.com/coach%5Ftiara%5Fjohnson%5F/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ****Facebook**: [https://www.facebook.com/people/Transformyour-Journey-Coaching/61578126158556](https://www.facebook.com/people/Transformyour-Journey-Coaching/61578126158556/) ****LinkedIn**: [https://www.linkedin.com/company/tiara-johnson-overwhelmcoach-transformyourjourneycoaching-llc](https://www.linkedin.com/company/tiara-johnson-overwhelmcoach-transformyourjourneycoaching-llc?ref=foundedbywomen.org) [Visit website](https://transformyourjourneycoaching.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ### From Artist to Climate Entrepreneur: How Jane Langley Built a Business Community with Nature at Its Core URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/20-founders-edition/from-artist-to-climate-entrepreneur-how-jane-langley-built-a-business-community-with-nature-at-its-core/ Last updated: 2026-05-28T08:59:01.000Z Jane Langley spent 27 years as an artist, curator, and visiting lecturer in art. Sustainability wasn't her industry, it was her conviction. After hearing author Tom Friedman speak and reading his book on climate and globalization, she began asking a question that wouldn't leave her alone: could a business community built around genuine care for nature and ethical values survive in the free market? That question sent her to a notebook in Canada in 2009, and eventually into a decade-long project that became Blue Patch. Launched in 2014, [Blue Patch](https://www.bluepatch.org/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) is a UK-wide sustainability-minded business community and directory designed specifically for micro and small businesses. It is part learning platform, part peer network, part accountability structure. The model itself is rooted in nature at its most fundamental: Jane developed the Blue Patch approach in part through observing pollinators and plants in a wildlife meadow at Wakehurst, the Royal Botanic Gardens' site in Sussex. A healthy ecosystem is not a monopoly - it is diverse, and therefore robust. Where big tech and big business crowd out variety, a meadow loses richness and becomes vulnerable. Blue Patch was built to work differently: surplus income flows back into communities rather than accumulating at the top. And in a detail that captures something essential about Jane's approach, Blue Patch invests 100% of its surplus income into community-owned renewable energy projects. Since 2019, that has meant stakes in 15 projects across the UK, making it what Jane describes as a quadruple bottom-line business. The focus has always been practical. Blue Patch exists to meet small business owners where they are: curious about sustainability, but often short on time, budget, and technical knowledge. Blue Patch Learning, the platform's growing education arm, is designed to change that, one accessible module at a time. We spoke with Jane about the moment her idea crystallised, the very real barriers small businesses face around sustainability, and what she is building next. > *This is part of our ongoing 20 Founders On a Mission series. New editions publish regularly. To be featured or nominate a founder, write to us at* [*hi@foundedbywomen.org*](mailto:hi@foundedbywomen.org) --- ## What inspired you to start? Blue Patch began with a simple question: could a business community, united by care for nature, sustainability and ethical values, exist within the free market economy? My friends Emma Kirby, Matt Beale-Collins and I explored that question over several years before Blue Patch launched in 2014. My own inspiration came from a mixture of concern, kick-started by hearing Tom Friedman speak and reading his book "Hot, Flat and Crowded," and creativity - I taught art and worked as a professional artist and curator for 27 years. In 2008 I launched Cool It Schools, a creative arts-based environmental project for young people, which became a stepping stone towards Blue Patch. I was increasingly concerned about climate change, the loss of independent local businesses and the pressure on small business owners. A moment of clarity came in 2009, during a holiday in Canada, when I began sketching out ideas for what would become the Blue Patch model. The conceptual challenge was to create something practical and positive: a platform that would celebrate independent businesses, support accessible sustainability-focused training for micro and small businesses, connect them with approved, qualified suppliers and unite everything on a single platform that could sustain itself - like a cooperative business model. One unique aspect of the model is we invest 100% of our surplus income by buying shares in community-owned renewable energy. Since 2019 we have invested in 15 community-energy projects making us a quadruple bottom-line business model. ## What problem are you solving? Blue Patch exists to help small businesses understand and reduce their environmental impact without feeling overwhelmed. Many small businesses want to act, but sustainability, net zero, carbon reporting and supply-chain expectations can feel technical, expensive and confusing. Blue Patch describes its mission as understanding the barriers faced by micro and small businesses and providing accessible, community-based support to help reduce environmental impact in the sector. Today, this includes a UK-wide directory, a business network, cost-saving collaborations and Blue Patch Learning - a comprehensive programme designed to embed climate-consciouness and practical actions. In the UK there are over 5 million micro / small businesses, and they need our help. We are also helping solve a visibility problem. Many small businesses are doing thoughtful, responsible work, but they can struggle to be seen, trusted and connected. Blue Patch brings those businesses together, helps them learn, and gives them a place to show their progress. ## What’s next for you? The next phase is about scaling Blue Patch Learning and strengthening the community so more micro and small businesses can take practical action. Blue Patch Learning is already helping small businesses build confidence through short, accessible modules on carbon reduction, environmental impact and responsible communication. The CO₂ Reduction course is designed for people with no prior knowledge and is structured around five short modules. In 2025, Blue Patch also introduced a Sustainability Progress Check-in, with plans to gather member stories, link to the Green Claims Code, support impact reporting and encourage participation in the Blue Patch Awards. Looking ahead, the priority is to make sustainability simpler, more useful and more rewarding for everyday businesses: more practical workshops, clearer carbon and impact tools, stronger partnerships, and a growing national community of businesses backing the UK’s clean-energy transition. The aim is not just to tell small businesses what they “should” do, but to give them the confidence, language, connections and tools to do it. > *This is part of our ongoing 20 Founders On a Mission series. New editions publish regularly. To be featured or nominate a founder, write to us at* [*hi@foundedbywomen.org*](mailto:hi@foundedbywomen.org) ### From the ER to Executive Coach: Lauren Baptiste on the Cost of "Success" and the Strategy to Actually Have It All URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/20-founders-edition/from-the-er-to-executive-coach-lauren-baptiste-on-the-cost-of-success-and-the-strategy-to-actually-have-it-all/ Last updated: 2026-05-28T08:47:42.000Z Lauren Baptiste has lived the story she now helps others escape. As a CPA and consultant at a Big Four accounting firm for over a decade, she was, by every external measure, thriving. Behind the scenes, she was running on fumes. In 2013, her body delivered the message her career wouldn't let her hear: she ended up in the emergency room from workplace burnout. That moment didn't just change her life, it gave her a mission. Today, Lauren is the founder of [Acheloa Wellness](https://acheloawellness.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) and one of the most direct voices in the conversation around sustainable high performance. Her coaching practice serves ambitious professionals in accounting, law, and consulting - the people most likely to wear burnout as a badge of honor and least likely to ask for help. Drawing on evidence-based frameworks, Ayurveda, and more than a decade of frontline client work, she helps her clients recover from burnout while actually advancing their careers. Her clients regularly reclaim 10 or more hours per week, earn promotions, and negotiate bigger paychecks - not by doing more, but by learning to operate differently. Her next move extends that work further: [TextLauren.com](https://textlauren.com/?utm%5Fsource=chatgpt.com), an AI-powered coaching tool trained on her full methodology, designed to reach the professionals who need support before they hit a breaking point. We spoke with Lauren about what drove her to start Acheloa Wellness, the real cost of burnout for individuals and organizations, and what she's building next. > *This is part of our ongoing 20 Founders On a Mission series. New editions publish regularly. To be featured or nominate a founder, write to us at* [*hi@foundedbywomen.org*](mailto:hi@foundedbywomen.org) --- ## What inspired you to start? As a former CPA and consultant, I knew firsthand how normalized overworking and overachieving had become. I saw colleagues experiencing serious physical effects of chronic stress, including early-onset diabetes, temporary vision loss, infertility, anxiety, and other health challenges that were being treated as “part of the job.” I started [Acheloa Wellness](http://acheloawellness.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) because I was the professional who looked successful on paper but was completely burned out behind the scenes. In 2013, after years working in a high-pressure corporate environment and constantly pushing myself to the limit, my body finally forced me to stop. I ended up in an Emergency Room from workplace burnout, and that one experience changed the trajectory of my life and career. I created the kind of support I wish I had back then: practical, evidence-based coaching that helps ambitious professionals succeed without sacrificing their health, relationships, or entire identity in the process. ## What problem are you solving? As a society, we've built workplaces where high performers are expected to operate like machines, and it’s no surprise that turnover is higher than ever. Burnout costs companies hundreds of thousands of dollars in lost talent, reduced performance, disengagement, and leadership gaps, especially at the manager and senior manager level. The problem is that most professionals have never actually been taught how to sustainably handle the pressure that comes with success. They’re rewarded for overworking, people pleasing, perfectionism, and constantly proving themselves… until eventually it catches up to them. At Acheloa Wellness, we help ambitious professionals recover from burnout while simultaneously improving their careers. Individual clients often gain back 10+ hours per week, achieve promotions faster and earn more in their paychecks... all because they learned to say no without guilt, delegate effectively, increase visibility and step into their leadership presence. Organizations I work with are able to retain their hardest workers and protecting their future leadership pipelines. Win win. ## What’s next for you? The next chapter is [TextLauren.com](https://textlauren.com/?utm%5Fsource=chatgpt.com), which I’m incredibly excited about. It’s an AI-powered executive coach trained on more than a decade of my coaching frameworks, methodologies, client work, and real-world experience helping high-achieving professionals navigate burnout and career growth. When I was burned out and stuck in my own career, I knew I needed support, but I didn’t quite know how to raise my hand for it. Therapy didn’t feel like the right fit for what I was experiencing, and while coaching can be incredibly transformative, it can also feel financially out of reach for many professionals early in their careers. The more I learned about burnout, the more I realized this wasn’t a personal failure or a one-off experience. It’s a widespread workplace issue affecting millions of high performers who are silently struggling behind the scenes. TextLauren.com was built to help bridge that gap. It gives professionals access to practical coaching, mindset support, burnout prevention tools, and strategic guidance in real time, directly through SMS/iMessage. No scheduling, no apps, no waiting weeks for help. She’s available anytime someone needs support, whether that’s before a difficult conversation, during a stressful workday, or at 11pm when someone is spiraling about work and doesn’t know what to do next. For me, that’s what's next. The bigger mission: making meaningful support more accessible before people hit a breaking point. > *This is part of our ongoing 20 Founders On a Mission series. New editions publish regularly. To be featured or nominate a founder, write to us at* [*hi@foundedbywomen.org*](mailto:hi@foundedbywomen.org) ### Value-Led Legal Strategy for Purpose-Driven Businesses - Recording Now Available URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/workshops/watch-the-recording-a-special-offer-from-dian-trabulsy/ Last updated: 2026-05-28T03:59:47.000Z We recently sat down with Dian Trabulsy, Founder & Principal Advisor at Faithfully Legal, for a conversation that every founder needs to hear. Whether you caught it live or are hearing about it for the first time — the full recording is now available on LinkedIn. Watch it here: [https://www.linkedin.com/events/7462461379019476992?viewAsMember=true](https://www.linkedin.com/events/7462461379019476992?viewAsMember=true&ref=foundedbywomen.org) Dian shared practical insights on building a strong legal foundation for your business - from website compliance to protecting your brand with clarity and purpose. As a follow-up to the session, Dian is offering our community an exclusive discount on her Website Compliance Bundle, which includes: - Privacy Policy Template - Terms & Conditions Template - Website Disclaimer Template - Accessibility Statement Template - Customization Guidance + Walkthrough Videos - Bonus Faith-Fuelled Entrepreneur's Legal Starter Guide Perfect for coaches, consultants, creatives, and service providers looking to strengthen their legal foundation. If you have a website, you have legal exposure — privacy laws, accessibility standards, and disclosure requirements apply the moment your business shows up online, regardless of size or revenue. Website compliance isn't optional; it's the baseline that protects your brand, your clients, and your peace of mind. Use code **LEGALIZENOW** for $100 off: [https://faithfullylegal.com/page/bundle](https://faithfullylegal.com/page/bundle?ref=foundedbywomen.org) If you enjoyed Dian's session, she would truly appreciate a [Google review](https://www.google.com/maps/place/data=!4m3!3m2!1s0x62d8242a65ee985:0xb937107de64f75da!12e1?source=g.page.m.ia.%5F&laa=nmx-review-solicitation-ia2) sharing your experience. It only takes a minute and means a great deal to her and her team. Best, FoundedByWomen.org ### Creative Reset URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/partners/consulting/creative-reset/ Last updated: 2026-05-27T10:28:21.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2026/05/unnamed--12-.png) #### Whether you're questioning your direction, running low on confidence, or simply wondering if there's a better way to do this - Creative Reset is a coaching practice designed for people who care deeply about their work and are ready to invest in themselves. Emma Dobinson works with media and creative professionals who are ready to pause, reflect and move forward - with clarity, confidence and a plan that's genuinely theirs. ****Email**: emma@creativereset.co.uk ****Website**: [https://www.creativereset.co.uk/](https://www.creativereset.co.uk/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) [Book a call](https://calendly.com/coach-emmadobinson/let-s-talk?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ### Burnout, Boundaries, and Building Connection: How Sarah Livingstone Is Teaching People the Skills No One Ever Taught Them URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/20-founders-edition/burnout-boundaries-and-building-connection-how-sarah-livingstone-is-teaching-people-the-skills-no-one-ever-taught-them/ Last updated: 2026-05-27T10:03:51.000Z Sarah Livingstone knows what it looks like when people are running on empty. As the founder of [ARE U Motivated](http://www.areumotivated.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org), she has spent years working alongside youth, families, employees, and small groups, and what she found was a consistent thread beneath every struggle: most people are expected to manage stress, conflict, relationships, and their own emotional lives without ever being shown how. What started as a graduate school project rooted in encouragement and opportunity has grown into a focused mission around practical human skills. In 2022, Sarah shifted the company's attention toward burnout prevention, and that work eventually gave rise to The Connection Hour, a discussion-based experience designed to help people build healthier communication, stronger relationships, and real emotional awareness. Her approach is simple but rare: meet people where they are, and give them tools they can actually use. We sat down with Sarah to hear more about what drives her work, the gap she's working to close, and what she's building next. > *This is part of our ongoing 20 Founders On a Mission series. New editions publish regularly. To be featured or nominate a founder, write to us at* [*hi@foundedbywomen.org*](mailto:hi@foundedbywomen.org) --- ## What inspired you to start your company? I started ARE U Motivated while in graduate school as a way to support people through encouragement, visibility, and connection to opportunities. In 2022, after noticing growing patterns related to stress, burnout, communication challenges, and emotional wellbeing, the company focused on leading discussions about burnout prevention with employees and small groups. Through my work with youth, families, employees, and small groups, I began to see that our common struggle is being deeply connected to communication, relationships, boundaries, emotional awareness, and coping skills. This led to the recent development of The Connection Hour — a discussion-based experience designed to help people build healthier communication, stronger relationships, emotional awareness, and practical life skills through approachable, human-centered conversations. ## What problem are you solving? ARE U Motivated addresses the growing disconnect many people experience in communication, relationships, emotional wellbeing, and everyday life skills. Many individuals are expected to navigate stress, conflict, self-awareness, boundaries, and emotional challenges without ever being taught practical ways to do so. As a result, many experience burnout and overwhelm. “When people learn practical skills and healthier patterns, they can find relief and build community.” ## What’s next for you? The next phase of ARE U Motivated will be developing curriculum, discussion guides, and training materials that companies, organizations, schools, and groups can implement within their own spaces. I am newly serving as an expert columnist for a parenting magazine and as an interviewee and contributor for organizations and companies seeking conversations surrounding emotional wellness, communication, relationships, and practical life skills. The goal is to create resources that feel approachable, relatable, and actionable for everyday people. > *This is part of our ongoing 20 Founders On a Mission series. New editions publish regularly. To be featured or nominate a founder, write to us at* [*hi@foundedbywomen.org*](mailto:hi@foundedbywomen.org) ### The Insider Who Got Outvoted One Too Many Times: How Gaia Tonanzi Built Tootilab to Finally Get Curly Hair Right URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/20-founders-edition/the-insider-who-got-outvoted-one-too-many-times-how-gaia-tonanzi-built-tootilab-to-finally-get-curly-hair-right/ Last updated: 2026-05-27T03:16:07.000Z Gaia Tonanzi spent years being the only curly-haired person in the room. Working across both the manufacturing and brand sides of the haircare industry, she had a front-row seat to how the curl market actually worked, and it wasn't pretty. Brands chasing a trend rather than solving a problem. Straight-hair formulas repackaged in new bottles. Marketing built around ingredient percentages too low to do anything useful. And a community of people with wavy, curly, and coily hair, 65% of the global population by Gaia's count, left more confused than when they started. She kept fighting for better. She kept getting outvoted. Then, on the day she returned from her honeymoon, she was made redundant. That was enough. Gaia founded [Tootilab](http://www.tootilab.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) on a straightforward bet: if brands with no real understanding of their customer could succeed, imagine what was possible when you actually cared. Before launching a single product, she started sharing everything she knew about curly hair on social media. 120,000 people followed. Then came the products - science-backed, community-tested, and built around simplicity rather than the complexity that keeps people endlessly spending. Today Tootilab has grown to over 230,000 followers across platforms, with a new strong hold gel launching in September developed in public, alongside the community that asked for it. We spoke with Gaia about what she saw from the inside of the industry, the problem she set out to solve, and what comes next for Tootilab. > *This is part of our ongoing 20 Founders On a Mission series. New editions publish regularly. To be featured or nominate a founder, write to us at* [*hi@foundedbywomen.org*](mailto:hi@foundedbywomen.org) --- ## What inspired you to start? I spent my entire career in haircare, first working for manufacturers and then on the brand side. Everyone kept talking about curly hair as a trend, but no one really understood it. I was always the only person with curly hair in the team. I watched brands trying to capitalise on the community I was a part of without really trying to solve their problems. Repurposing straight hair formulas in new bottles. Relying on lab testing rather than seeing if their products worked on actual people. Focusing their entire communication on marketing ingredients at concentrations that did nothing, rather than investing in actives that were going to make a difference. Selling complexity to a community that was already overwhelmed. I kept fighting for the right thing. I kept getting outvoted. Then, the day I came back from my honeymoon, I was made redundant. That was the last drop. I thought, if they can be successful without understanding their customer, imagine what you could do when you actually care. And Tootilab was born. ## What problem are you solving? The curly hair industry has a dirty secret: most of it wasn't built for curly hair. It was built for a trend, and complexity is the business model. More products, more steps, more confusion keeps people spending. Meanwhile 65% of the global population has some form of texture, and most of them have never been properly taught how to work with their hair. Tootilab exists to make curly hair simple, genuinely simple, through science-backed products that actually work and education that reaches people before they spend a penny. We started sharing everything we knew on social media without a single product to sell. 120,000 people followed before we launched anything. The community came first, and it still does - we're up to over 230,000 across platforms now. ## What’s next for you? Two years in, we're doubling down. In September we're launching our first new product since the brand launched, a strong hold gel that our community has been part of developing from the beginning. We've been testing it publicly on social, and the anticipation has been something else. That's what happens when you build *with* your community rather than *for* them. We can't wait to see it drop! > *This is part of our ongoing 20 Founders On a Mission series. New editions publish regularly. To be featured or nominate a founder, write to us at* [*hi@foundedbywomen.org*](mailto:hi@foundedbywomen.org) ### Blue Light Leadership URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/partners/consulting/blue-light-leadership/ Last updated: 2026-05-26T06:15:10.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2026/05/Blue-Light-Logo_Dark-Blue_Centered_CMYK.png) #### Diana Lowe is an Executive Coach and Founder of Blue Light Leadership, specializing in Positive Psychology and leadership development. With a master’s in Applied Positive Psychology and a PCC credential through the ICF, she helps organizations build Psychological Capital (Hope, Efficacy, Resilience, and Optimism) to drive real behavior change. Diana has coached leaders at Fortune 500 global organizations, and is known for translating research into practical tools that L&D professionals can immediately apply. ****Contact email:** [hello@bluelightleadership.com](mailto:hello@bluelightleadership.com) ****LinkedIn:** [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/dianaelowe/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) [Visit website](https://www.bluelightleadership.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ### Dignity Without Agreement: How Cynthia Fortlage Is Closing the Gap Between Leadership Intent and Lived Experience URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/20-founders-edition/dignity-without-agreement-how-cynthia-fortlage-is-closing-the-gap-between-leadership-intent-and-lived-experience/ Last updated: 2026-05-26T05:52:00.000Z Cynthia Fortlage spent years helping organisations build high-performance cultures - until she found herself excluded from the one she had helped create. That experience didn't just change her direction; it sharpened her thinking. It showed her that a culture can be built around accountability, ambition, and delivery, and still leave people feeling unseen, unsafe, or unable to contribute fully. That gap - between what leaders intend and what people actually experience - became the focus of her work. As CEO of [The FORTLAGE Collective](https://www.fortlagecollective.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org), a leadership development consultancy focused on inclusion, trust, and organisational performance, Cynthia partners with leaders and organisations to translate values like trust, belonging, and respect into visible, measurable leadership behaviour. Her philosophy, Acceptance Without Understanding™, holds that dignity cannot depend on whether someone fully understands you - and that inclusion, done right, is not only a values exercise; it is a performance strategy. In this interview, Cynthia shares what shaped her framework, the real cost of the gap between leadership intention and lived experience, and how her 4P Leadership Accelerator is helping organisations move from intention to impact. > *This is part of our ongoing 20 Founders On a Mission series. New editions publish regularly. To be featured or nominate a founder, write to us at* [*hi@foundedbywomen.org*](mailto:hi@foundedbywomen.org) --- ## What inspired you to start? I helped build an organisational culture of high performance, until I realised that culture no longer included me. That experience taught me that performance and belonging cannot be treated as separate conversations. A culture can be built around accountability, delivery, and ambition, yet still leave people feeling unseen, unsafe, or unable to contribute fully. It helped me understand the gap between leadership intention and lived experience, and shaped my belief that dignity cannot depend on whether someone fully understands you. That became the foundation of my work and my framework, Acceptance Without Understanding™. ## What problem are you solving? I help organisations close the gap between leadership intention and lived experience. Many cultures are built around performance, accountability, and delivery, yet still leave some people feeling unseen, unsafe, or unable to contribute fully. That has a real performance cost: trust erodes, decisions slow down, and discretionary effort is lost. My work helps leaders understand how their behaviour is experienced by others, then translate values such as inclusion, trust, and respect into visible leadership practices that strengthen both belonging and performance. ## What’s next for you? I am expanding this work through The FORTLAGE Collective and the 4P Leadership Accelerator, a structured leadership development programme that helps organisations close the gap between leadership intention and lived experience. It supports leaders and leadership teams to move beyond awareness and into visible leadership practice, aligning behaviour with trust, accountability, belonging, and measurable performance. The next chapter of my work is helping leaders build cultures where people can contribute fully without having to leave parts of themselves behind. > *This is part of our ongoing 20 Founders On a Mission series. New editions publish regularly. To be featured or nominate a founder, write to us at* [*hi@foundedbywomen.org*](mailto:hi@foundedbywomen.org) ### From Knitwear to Compliance: How Keshika Mahesh Is Making Fashion Traceability Accessible for Every Brand URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/20-founders-edition/from-knitwear-to-compliance-how-keshika-mahesh-is-making-fashion-traceability-accessible-for-every-brand/ Last updated: 2026-05-20T07:47:30.000Z [Keshika Mahesh](https://www.linkedin.com/company/digipropass?ref=foundedbywomen.org) started in fashion with her hands close to the product - trained in knitwear design, grounded in how clothes are actually made. But it was during her Master's research at the University for the Creative Arts that her focus shifted upstream. Studying fashion traceability, she kept returning to the same question: if brands are doing genuine work to make their products more responsible, why does so little of that effort reach the customer? Working at Marks & Spencer brought the gap into sharper focus. Sustainability claims were everywhere - yet the detail behind them rarely was. And with EU Digital Product Passport regulations set to become mandatory by 2027, the pressure to close that gap was no longer optional. The problem, she saw, was that most solutions were built for large enterprises. Smaller and mid-sized brands were expected to meet the same standards with a fraction of the resources. That's what [DigiProPass](http://www.digipropass.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) is built to change. The SaaS platform helps fashion brands structure product-level data, generate compliance-ready sustainability insights, and make that information visible to customers - without requiring perfect data or a large team to get started. In this interview, Keshika explains what she observed, what she built, and where she sees the future of product transparency in fashion. > *This is part of our ongoing 20 Founders On a Mission series. New editions publish regularly. To be featured or nominate a founder, write to us at* [*hi@foundedbywomen.org*](mailto:hi@foundedbywomen.org) --- ## What inspired you to start? DigiProPass came from something I kept noticing over time. My background in knitwear design grounded me in the product side of fashion, but it was during my Master’s at the University for the Creative Arts (UCA) that my perspective started to shift. Through my dissertation, I began focusing more closely on fashion traceability, specifically, how sustainability in fashion is measured, structured, and ultimately communicated. By the time I was working at Marks & Spencer in the UK, I could see how much effort goes into making products more responsible. But more broadly, I also noticed how disconnected that effort can feel from what customers actually see. Sustainability often gets reduced to broad claims, or explained in ways that are too technical to relate to. Over time, that makes it harder for brands to communicate clearly, and for customers to understand what’s actually being done. When Digital Product Passports started becoming part of the conversation, it felt like a shift, but much of it was still framed around compliance. I wanted to build something that didn’t just help brands meet requirements, but helped close the gap between the work being done and what people actually see. ## What problem are you solving? Traceability in fashion is becoming non-negotiable, especially with upcoming EU regulations like Digital Product Passports. But most existing solutions are built for large enterprises, while small and mid-sized brands are expected to meet the same standards without the same resources. DigiProPass is a SaaS platform built with that reality in mind, making Digital Product Passports practical and accessible for these brands. It enables them to structure product-level data, generate clear sustainability insights, and translate that information into formats that are structured, compliant, and customer-facing, without adding unnecessary complexity. By starting with the data brands already have and allowing them to build over time, DigiProPass helps turn traceability from a compliance burden into something more useful, both for meeting requirements and for communicating impact more clearly. ## What’s next for you? Right now, the focus is on making it easier for fashion brands to get started with Digital Product Passports, even without perfect or complete data. As regulations evolve across the EU, we’re building in a way that helps brands stay ahead without adding complexity to how they already work. But beyond compliance, the bigger opportunity is in how product information is actually used. Today, most sustainability data is collected for reporting, but rarely translates into something customers can see or engage with. Digital Product Passports create a way to change that, by making product-level information visible, understandable, and connected to the product itself. That same layer also opens up more practical circular pathways. By linking information directly to products, it becomes easier to keep them in use for longer, whether through resale, reuse, or redistribution models, rather than letting them drop out of the system. The long-term vision is simple: sustainability shouldn’t sit in disconnected systems or high-level claims. It should live at the product level, where it can be understood, trusted, and used to extend the life of the product itself. > *This is part of our ongoing 20 Founders On a Mission series. New editions publish regularly. To be featured or nominate a founder, write to us at* [*hi@foundedbywomen.org*](mailto:hi@foundedbywomen.org) ### The CFO in Every Founder's Pocket: How Candice Tait Is Closing the Finance Gap for Female Founders URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/20-founders-edition/the-cfo-in-every-founders-pocket-how-candice-tait-is-closing-the-finance-gap-for-female-founders/ Last updated: 2026-05-20T07:42:00.000Z For nearly two decades, Candice Tait was the CFO in the room - and usually the only woman in it. Working with private equity and venture capital-backed tech companies in London, she helped startups raise over $2 billion, navigated the Lyft IPO, and built the kind of financial fluency that most founders never get access to. Then she started mentoring at 500 Global, and something shifted. The female founders she worked with were capable, driven, and building genuinely impressive businesses. But they kept asking the same questions - how do I build a model, how do I read a P&L, how do I walk into an investor meeting and hold my own? And almost every question started the same way: "I know this is probably a silly question, but..." Male founders, she noticed, rarely asked at all. They bluffed. The women wanted to actually understand. That observation became the foundation for [Founded To Be Counted](http://foundedtobecounted.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org), a finance coaching and advisory practice built specifically for female founders. Candice delivers CFO-level thinking through workshops, fractional CFO work, and AI CFO Candice - an AI tool trained on 140+ pages of her real frameworks and client sessions, available by voice or text, 24/7, for $28 a month. Her mission is simple and specific: help one million women feel in control of their business finances. In this interview, she shares what she saw, what she built, and what's coming next. > *This is part of our ongoing 20 Founders On a Mission series. New editions publish regularly. To be featured or nominate a founder, write to us at* [*hi@foundedbywomen.org*](mailto:hi@foundedbywomen.org) ## What inspired you to start? For nearly two decades, I was a CFO for private equity and venture capital-backed tech companies in London, and most of the time I was the only woman in the boardroom. When I started mentoring at 500 Global 6 years ago, I noticed something interesting. The conversations I had with female founders felt much more real and honest than those I had with male founders. I kept getting asked the same questions over and over — how do I build a model, how do I read a P&L, how do I prepare for an investor meeting? And so often the question would start with, “I know this is probably a silly question, but…” That was the first time I realised how many founders were quietly asking for help. Male founders almost never did this. Even when they didn’t know the answer, they’d usually just bluff their way through it. What really struck me was that these were incredibly capable women building amazing businesses, but many had simply never been brought into the rooms where this finance language is learned. So I decided to go all in on supporting female founders in the area where I think they need it most - building confidence and capability around the financial side of their business. ## What problem are you solving? A large proportion of female founders say financial literacy is their biggest barrier to raising investment. Investors are fluent in numbers. If you're asking someone for money, you have to speak their language and most female founders have never been in the rooms where that language is learned. Sadly this is an access gap that needs to change. Founded To Be Counted closes this gap. I deliver CFO-level thinking through workshops, fractional CFO work, and AI CFO Candice ([aicfocandice.com](http://aicfocandice.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org)) an AI trained on twenty years of my expertise that puts a CFO in every founder's pocket, 24/7\. I've helped startups raise over $2B and I'm on a mission to help 1,000,000 women feel in control of their business finances. I truly believe that when women have equal access to capital, we all win. ## What's next for you? Two things. **AI CFO Candice** is almost about to relaunch. I rebuilt it from the ground up on 140+ pages of my real frameworks and client sessions, so it responds the way I would in a session, not the way a generic AI would. Founders can talk to her by voice or text, upload their financials for my insights, and get advice that remembers their business and sharpens over time. Next is the **Finance-Ready Framework**, a seven-week version of the one-on-one work I've done with over 20 founders. It takes a female founder from financial fog to fully in control of her numbers, ready to lead her business and fund her growth with confidence. > *This is part of our ongoing 20 Founders On a Mission series. New editions publish regularly. To be featured or nominate a founder, write to us at* [*hi@foundedbywomen.org*](mailto:hi@foundedbywomen.org) ### Nine Years, Two Organisations, One Mission: How Melissa Kramer Is Closing the Gender Gap in UTI Research URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/20-founders-edition/nine-years-two-organisations-one-mission-how-melissa-kramer-is-closing-the-gender-gap-in-uti-research/ Last updated: 2026-05-20T07:37:17.000Z When Melissa Kramer sought help for recurrent UTIs and endometriosis, she encountered what too many women do: inadequate testing, misdiagnosis, and dismissal. The more she researched, the clearer it became that her experience wasn't just bad luck. It reflected something systemic - a gender gap in healthcare and health research that has left conditions disproportionately affecting women chronically underfunded and underexplored. In 2016, she founded [Live UTI Free](https://liveutifree.com/clinical-trials/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) to begin changing that. What started as a platform for better patient information has grown into a leading global patient research organisation, connecting thousands of women with the clinical studies that need them - and shaping how researchers engage with patient communities in the process. That work eventually led her to found [PARED Insights](https://paredinsights.org/?ref=foundedbywomen.org), where her team has developed and validated the RUTISS and RUTIIQ: the first patient-reported outcome measures specifically designed for recurrent UTI, tools that didn't exist before she built them. Nine years in, Melissa operates at both ends of the problem - a global patient community on one side, a research recruitment and outcomes organisation on the other - in a position few people occupy. In this interview, she shares what drove her to build both, the two connected problems she's working to solve, and where she's pushing next. > *This is part of our ongoing 20 Founders On a Mission series. New editions publish regularly. To be featured or nominate a founder, write to us at* [*hi@foundedbywomen.org*](mailto:hi@foundedbywomen.org) --- ## What inspired you to start? My own experiences with recurrent UTIs and endometriosis, which were met with inadequate testing, misdiagnosis, and dismissal, were the spark. The more research I conducted, the clearer it became that my experience wasn't just bad luck. It reflected something systemic: a gender gap in healthcare and health research that has left conditions disproportionately affecting women chronically underfunded and underexplored. I started Live UTI Free in 2016 to change that, beginning with access to better information. It has since grown into a leading patient research organisation with a vast global community, and a platform through which we've been able to connect patients directly with the research that needs them. That work eventually led to the founding of PARED Insights, where we've developed and validated the first patient-reported outcome measures specifically for recurrent UTI (the RUTISS and the RUTIIQ), and we're actively expanding that repertoire to better capture the full patient experience across multiple areas of women's health. ## What problem are you solving? For the past 9 years, I've been working to solve two deeply connected problems. First: patients with recurrent and chronic UTI, and increasingly, overlapping pelvic health conditions, are still widely underserved. In a landscape of underresearched women's health conditions, one of the biggest challenges is the lack of differential diagnosis; symptoms are too often attributed to the most familiar label or psychological origins rather than being comprehensively investigated. Live UTI Free bridges that gap by providing reliable information, community, and access to research. Second: health research itself is subject to a recruitment crisis. Studies frequently fail because researchers can't reach or retain enough participants. Through Live UTI Free and PARED Insights, we're changing how researchers engage with patient communities and, in the process, making studies more accessible, more patient-centred, and more likely to succeed. ## What's next for you? I'm focused on continuing to leverage the organisations I've built to create change at both ends of the problem: the patient experience and the research pipeline. Having a foot in both worlds, through a global patient community on one side and a research recruitment and outcomes organisation on the other, puts me and my team in a rare position to connect these communities in ways that actually move things forward. There is still much research to be done, and so many patient voices that need to be heard, but we have created change, and that's where I intend to keep pushing. > *This is part of our ongoing 20 Founders On a Mission series. New editions publish regularly. To be featured or nominate a founder, write to us at* [*hi@foundedbywomen.org*](mailto:hi@foundedbywomen.org) ### The Brand She Wished Existed: How Sara Stokes Built SKN TO SKN for Every Stage of Motherhood URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/20-founders-edition/the-brand-she-wished-existed-how-sara-stokes-built-skn-to-skn-for-every-stage-of-motherhood/ Last updated: 2026-05-20T07:31:47.000Z When Sara Stokes was six months pregnant with her first daughter, her facialist gently flagged something she hadn't known: several of the products she had been using for years contained ingredients that weren't safe during pregnancy. That moment of discovery - arriving late, arriving by chance - set off a search that would change the direction of her career entirely. Store after store gave her the same answer: there was nothing specifically designed for pregnancy skincare. What she found instead were stretch mark creams and nipple balms, tucked between nappies and baby food, with labels that said "check with your doctor" and offered little else. Over 90% of women experience significant skin changes during pregnancy. The guidance, and the products, simply weren't there. Sara left a 15-year career in the music industry to change that. [SKN TO SKN](https://skntoskn.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) \- named for the skin-to-skin bonding moment between mother and newborn - is the first clinically proven active facial skincare brand formulated for women from conception through pregnancy, breastfeeding, and postpartum. Developed with an all-female team of consultant dermatologists, GPs, and cosmetic chemists (all mothers themselves), the range launched in Boots stores across the UK and Ireland in July 2025\. In this interview, Sara shares what drove her to build it, the gap she found no one else was filling, and where she wants to take the brand next. > *This is part of our ongoing 20 Founders On a Mission series. New editions publish regularly. To be featured or nominate a founder, write to us at* [*hi@foundedbywomen.org*](mailto:hi@foundedbywomen.org) --- ## What inspired you to start? I started SKN TO SKN after becoming frustrated by how difficult it was to find skincare products that felt both safe and luxurious during pregnancy. At the time, I was working in the music industry, but I kept coming back to the same thought: why were women having to compromise between efficacy, aesthetics and peace of mind during such an important chapter of their lives? Pregnancy can feel overwhelming, especially when you start researching ingredients and realizing how much conflicting information is out there. I wanted to create a brand that simplified that experience and made women feel cared for, confident and empowered, rather than anxious. SKN TO SKN was born from a very personal desire to create products and a community that genuinely support women through motherhood and beyond. ## What problem are you solving? The biggest problem I’m trying to solve is the lack of clarity and trust in pregnancy-safe skincare. So many women are left second-guessing the products they use every day, often spending hours researching ingredients or feeling like they have to give up skincare altogether during pregnancy. I wanted SKN TO SKN to remove that stress by creating products that are thoughtfully formulated by leading dermatologists, GPs and chemists, easy to trust, and still feel elevated and enjoyable to use. Beyond the products themselves, I also want the brand to create emotional reassurance, helping women feel seen, supported, and connected during a time that can be both beautiful and incredibly vulnerable. ## What’s next for you? Right now, I’m focused on continuing to grow SKN TO SKN into a trusted destination for modern motherhood and skincare. That includes expanding the product range, building stronger retail partnerships, and continuing to educate and support our community through content and conversation. Longer term, I’d love for SKN TO SKN to become more than just a skincare brand. I want it to become a trusted lifestyle brand for women navigating fertility, pregnancy, postpartum, and even perimenopause and menopause. Everything we create will continue to come back to the same mission: helping women feel safe, confident, and cared for. > *This is part of our ongoing 20 Founders On a Mission series. New editions publish regularly. To be featured or nominate a founder, write to us at* [*hi@foundedbywomen.org*](mailto:hi@foundedbywomen.org) ### From Teen Struggles to Raising Standards: How Emma Loker Built PsychWrite to Fix Mental Health Misinformation Online URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/20-founders-edition/from-teen-struggles-to-raising-standards-how-emma-loker-built-psychwrite-to-fix-mental-health-misinformation-online/ Last updated: 2026-05-20T07:24:35.000Z Emma Loker knows what it feels like to be a teenager searching for answers and finding nothing you can trust. Growing up, she navigated social anxiety, depression, and suicidal thoughts largely without support - not because help didn't exist, but because she didn't have easy access to accurate information or even the language to understand what she was experiencing. She didn't seek support until much later. That gap stayed with her. Years on, training as a Child and Adolescent Therapist and working as a mental health writer, she kept noticing the same problem from the other side: the internet had become one of the first places people turned when struggling with their mental health, yet much of what they found was oversimplified, clinically uninformed, or outright harmful. And the professionals best placed to change that - therapists, private practices, mental health organisations - often lacked the marketing and SEO expertise to reach the people who needed them most. Emma founded [PsychWrite](https://psychwrite.co.uk/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) to close that gap. The clinical mental health marketing agency works with private practices and mental health organisations on SEO, content, website copy, Google Ads, and psychoeducational resources - with every piece produced by writers who hold a mental health background. In this interview, she shares what shaped her mission, the problem she's building toward solving, and what's next - including a book co-authored with Reebok founder Joe Foster, a Substack academy for mental health writers, and a UK Startup Awards 2026 shortlist. > *This is part of our ongoing 20 Founders On a Mission series. New editions publish regularly. To be featured or nominate a founder, write to us at* [*hi@foundedbywomen.org*](mailto:hi@foundedbywomen.org) --- ## **What inspired you to start?** I started PsychWrite because of my own experiences growing up and the gap I later noticed while training to become a Child and Adolescent Therapist. As a teenager, I struggled with social anxiety, depression and suicidal thoughts, but I didn’t have easy access to reliable mental health information or the language to fully understand what I was experiencing. I often felt incredibly alone, and because of that, I didn’t seek support until much later. Years later, while training to become a therapist and working as a mental health writer, I quickly realised there were very few mental health professionals combining clinical expertise with a knowledge of mental health marketing, content and SEO. Yet, there was a huge demand for this. More and more people were turning to the internet for support and answers, yet much of the information available was oversimplified, inaccurate or potentially harmful. I wanted to change that. I couldn’t meet the demand alone, so I started PsychWrite - a clinical mental health marketing agency, with a writing team made up entirely of experienced writers with a mental health background. From the beginning, the goal has been to raise the standard of mental health communication online and make accurate, compassionate information accessible to people when they need it most. To do this, we help mental health organisations improve their marketing, content and SEO, making them more visible to prospective clients and encouraging those clients to reach out for support. ## **What problem are you solving?** PsychWrite exists to solve the growing problem of mental health misinformation online, and we do this in several ways. The internet has become one of the first places people turn when they are struggling with their mental health. However, much of the information available is created without clinical expertise (and sometimes with AI!), which can leave people less likely to seek support or feeling more judged and ashamed. We address this by ensuring that every marketing campaign and piece of content we produce is created by writers with a mental health background. This means the information is not only accessible and engaging, but also clinically informed, accurate and safe. We support mental health organisations with SEO-driven blog content, digital marketing strategies, website copy, Google Ads, and psychoeducational resources. This helps them reach people at the exact moments they are searching for help, whether that is on Google, social media or their own platforms. Our work increases their visibility and ensures that what people find is helpful and responsible. ## **What's next for you?** Right now, we’re focused on helping mental health organisations and private practices support vulnerable people through ethical, evidence-based marketing, content and SEO. We’re currently developing a program (which I can’t share too much about) that will help people identify trustworthy, evidence-based mental health content online. The goal is to make it easier for everyone to know what information they can trust when searching for support. We’ve also recently launched [PsychWrite Academy on Substack](https://substack.com/@emmalokerpsychwrite?ref=foundedbywomen.org), helping mental health writers build their skills and ensure their writing is ethical, compassionate and helpful. Alongside this, I’m co-authoring a book with Joe Foster, the Founder of Reebok, which will amplify conversations around mental health and entrepreneurship. We’ve been shortlisted for the UK Startup Awards 2026 in the Advertising and Marketing category, and we’re looking forward to the regional finals in June, followed by the national finals in September. Over the past two years, I’ve also built a LinkedIn audience of almost 14,000 followers by speaking openly about mental health misinformation and encouraging higher standards across the industry. In April 2026, I was named the [#1 UK mental health LinkedIn creator](https://www.linkedin.com/in/emma-loker-psychwrite/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) by Favikon and #14 worldwide. I’m excited to continue growing and connecting with others in this space. > *This is part of our ongoing 20 Founders On a Mission series. New editions publish regularly. To be featured or nominate a founder, write to us at* [*hi@foundedbywomen.org*](mailto:hi@foundedbywomen.org) ### From 15 ER Visits to Burnout Coach: Tiara Johnson on Eliminating Overwhelm at the Root URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/20-founders-edition/from-15-er-visits-to-burnout-coach-tiara-johnson-on-eliminating-overwhelm-at-the-root/ Last updated: 2026-05-20T06:34:39.000Z Tiara Johnson knows burnout from the inside. As a single mother of five working in a demanding professional role, she found herself visiting the emergency room 15 times in a single year - not from illness, but from the compounding weight of stress and overwhelm. Instead of managing symptoms, she did what her background as an auditor trained her to do: she followed the problem back to its source. That shift changed everything. The clarity she found on the other side became the foundation for [Transform Your Journey Coaching](https://transformyourjourneycoaching.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org), where she now helps ER clinicians do the same. Using her signature S.O.B. Model - Stress, Overwhelm, Burnout - Tiara works with clinicians and healthcare organizations to identify and eliminate the root causes of overwhelm, so they can protect their health, sustain their careers, and stay in the work they love. In this interview, Tiara shares what drove her to build this practice, the gap she's filling in clinician support, and her plans to bring structured burnout prevention directly into hospitals. > *This is part of our ongoing 20 Founders On a Mission series. New editions publish regularly. To be featured or nominate a founder, write to us at* [*hi@foundedbywomen.org*](mailto:hi@foundedbywomen.org) --- ## What inspired you to start? My inspiration came from being a single mother of five while working in a high-stress professional role. The weight of it all caught up with me in one year alone, I visited the ER 15 times, not because I lacked knowledge, but because I was drowning in stress and overwhelm. Drawing on my background as an auditor, I stopped trying to manage symptoms and started asking ***why*** nothing was working. I applied a root-cause framework to my own life, and everything changed. That transformation from burned out to clarity, career advancement, and entrepreneurship became the foundation of the work I do today. ## What problem are you solving? ER clinicians are operating in one of the most demanding environments in healthcare, yet the support they're offered rarely addresses what's actually driving their burnout. I help clinicians identify and eliminate the root cause of their overwhelm not just manage the symptoms so they can prevent burnout and stay in the career they love without sacrificing their health. ## What's next for you? I'm bringing my 12-Week Resilient Clinician Coaching Program directly into hospitals to serve ER clinicians at scale. Rather than waiting for clinicians to seek help on their own, I want to meet them where they are inside the very systems where burnout takes hold and give teams a structured, sustainable path forward. > *This is part of our ongoing 20 Founders On a Mission series. New editions publish regularly. To be featured or nominate a founder, write to us at* [*hi@foundedbywomen.org*](mailto:hi@foundedbywomen.org) ### Why Great People Leave - and How Leaders Become the Reason They Stay URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/20-founders-edition/why-great-people-leave-and-how-leaders-become-the-reason-they-stay/ Last updated: 2026-05-20T06:23:23.000Z Following our Women Who Lead: 20 Founders edition, we continue the conversation with Diana Lowe - CEO and founder of [Blue Light Leadership](https://www.bluelightleadership.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org), executive coach, and Amazon bestselling author based in Denver, Colorado. Diana spent the early part of her career working internationally across the US, UK, Ireland, Australia, and Japan - and it was in those corporate environments that she first came face to face with the kind of leadership that breaks people. What followed was a painful and deeply personal journey through toxic workplaces, clinical depression, and recovery - and a vow to make sure it wouldn't keep happening to others. Today, Diana holds a Master's in Applied Positive Psychology Coaching and is an ICF PCC certified coach with over a decade of experience working with directors and C-suite executives at Fortune 500 companies. Through Blue Light Leadership, she helps organizations stop losing their best people by transforming how leaders show up under pressure - using evidence-based tools rooted in emotional intelligence, resilience, and positive psychology. Her first book, *Hard to Handle: A High Performer Paradox*, became an Amazon bestseller, with a companion workbook, audiobook, and Spanish edition all on the way. --- ## What inspired Diana to start? Early in my career, I worked in finance. Living abroad just out of college, I was wide-eyed, energized, and independent. Life was vibrant: clubbing in London, dinners with friends, a buzzing social life. But as the novelty faded, reality hit hard. Job after job became a battlefield. I can't say I ever had a boss who believed in me or mentored me the way I would have liked. Instead, I faced a slew of managers who constantly disparaged me, undermined me, excluded me, and sometimes even humiliated me publicly and cruelly. One manager told me, in excruciating detail, why every teammate supposedly hated me - without offering a single solution. Another "awarded" me a used pair of tighty-whities in front of the entire company at a town hall meeting, calling me "the most annoying person" simply because I had sat in his seat. I was devastated, but I felt powerless to quit because I desperately needed the paycheck. There were days I wished I'd get hit by a bus - not to die, but to have a legitimate reason to stop showing up to work. That's when I knew something was wrong. Deeply wrong. Eventually, after an emotional breakdown that left me crying for three days straight, I was diagnosed with clinical depression. Even in recovery, I encountered dismissal and judgment. One woman told me, "No one wants to hear your story." A therapist mocked my dreams as "foolish." But with the support of my loving husband and cherished friends, I began to heal - bit by bit. I found solace in learning new skills, returning to the things I once loved, and gradually rebuilding my confidence. And I made a vow: I would do everything I could to stop bad bosses from ruining people's lives. That vow became Blue Light Leadership, founded with the mission to empower people leaders to elevate personal engagement from the inside out for the betterment of work and society. I can't change every toxic workplace - at least not yet! But I can help people navigate them, and I can support leaders in becoming more self-aware, more empathetic, and more accountable. Today, I'm a certified cognitive behavioral coach with expertise in emotional intelligence. I help organizations retain their top talent by transforming technical experts into impactful people leaders. My work is grounded in the science of positive psychology, resilience training, and intentional relationship-building. ## What problem is she solving? Blue Light Leadership is solving the costly problem of top talent leaving because of difficult, emotionally unaware leaders. That is why I left almost every job. And to me that just isn't right. More specifically, Blue Light Leadership exists to address this core business problem: Companies lose great people when technically strong leaders create fear, frustration, disconnection, and burnout. That problem shows up as: - disengagement - low morale - toxic team dynamics - high turnover - poor communication - leaders who deliver results but damage culture in the process What makes Blue Light Leadership different is that we do not just offer generic leadership development or surface-level training. We work with evidence-based interventions that create real and lasting change. That means helping leaders become more self-aware, emotionally intelligent, accountable, and effective under pressure so they stop driving away the very people the company wants to keep. Blue Light Leadership solves the problem of talented employees leaving because of hard-to-handle leaders. We help organizations retain top talent by changing how leaders show up under pressure - improving engagement, communication, and culture from the inside out. ## What's next for her? It's been an extraordinary season of growth and creative momentum. Last year I published my first book, Hard to Handle: A High Performer Paradox, which went on to become an Amazon Best Seller. Since then, the work has taken on a life of its own. In the next six weeks, we will be releasing the companion workbook and the audiobook - opening up new ways for leaders, HR professionals, and organizations to engage with these ideas in a practical and deeply personal way. And we're just getting started. Later this year, we will launch a full Spanish edition of the book, along with a Spanish audiobook and workbook. This expansion is about more than translation - it's about reaching more leaders around the world who are navigating the complex human realities of modern work. Because leadership today is not just about strategy or performance. It is about emotional impact. It is about behavior under pressure. It is about the unseen dynamics that determine whether people stay, disengage, or quietly lose confidence in themselves. This past March, we launched our Substack - The Emotional Cost of Work - where leadership behavior, workplace psychology, and positive psychology collide. The response has been really encouraging, and it has already found its audience among people who want the real conversations, not the polished talking points. This publication goes beyond surface-level leadership advice. It opens the door to the conversations happening behind closed coaching sessions and inside organizations - the moments where brilliant leaders struggle, teams fracture, trust erodes, and growth becomes possible again. Through powerful stories, research, and practical insight, I explore questions many professionals feel but rarely articulate: - Why do high performers sometimes become the hardest people to work with? - How does leadership behavior shape confidence, motivation, and culture? - What is the true emotional cost of toxic or unaware leadership? - And what does science actually tell us about helping people thrive at work? This work lives at the intersection of leadership psychology, emotional intelligence, and positive psychology. It is for leaders who want to grow, for thoughtful professionals who want to understand the human side of performance, and for anyone who has ever wondered why workplaces that look successful on paper can still quietly break the people inside them. Because when we understand the psychology of work, we gain the power to change how work feels - not just how it functions. There are many exciting ways to connect with this movement in the coming months. I'm deeply grateful to be building something that is resonating with so many people who care about better leadership and healthier workplaces. More to come very soon. > *This is part of our ongoing 20 Founders On a Mission series. New editions publish regularly. To be featured or nominate a founder, write to us at* [*hi@foundedbywomen.org*](mailto:hi@foundedbywomen.org) ### She Taught Herself to Code and Built a Faith-Based Travel App Solo. Meet the Founder Behind HelloFellow URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/women-who-lead/she-taught-herself-to-code-and-built-a-faith-based-travel-app-solo-meet-the-founder-behind-hellofellow/ Last updated: 2026-05-19T04:07:39.000Z Niqueea had traveled to 25 countries when she hit a wall she couldn't navigate alone. Sitting in her Airbnb in South America one Sunday morning, she couldn't find a church with English services. She couldn't find other Christian women nearby. She felt completely cut off from the spiritual community she had back home. When she posted about it, hundreds of women responded with the same story. So she built something. With no coding background, no cofounder, and no technical experience - just a calling she couldn't ignore. Over 11 months, she taught herself to code and built [HelloFellow](https://www.hellofellowapp.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) from scratch: a travel app that helps Christian women find churches abroad, connect with other women travelers, and stay spiritually rooted on the go. It launches June 12th in the Apple App Store. This is her story. > Are you a woman leader with a story to tell? We'd love to feature you. Get in touch at [hi@foundedbywomen.org](mailto:hi@foundedbywomen.org) --- ## What inspired you to start? I've solo-traveled to 25 countries within the last few years, and last year, I lived for six months in South America. Every Sunday morning, I sat alone in my Airbnb feeling spiritually isolated. I would constantly check Facebook travel groups I was a part of to see if anyone answered my question of where the best Christian churches with English services were in the area I was traveling to. Crickets! I couldn't find biblically sound churches with English services. I couldn't find other Christian women to fellowship with. I felt completely disconnected from the spiritual community I had back home. One particular Sunday, I was desperately Googling "churches near me" and coming up empty (*none with English services*), and I just broke down. I remember thinking, "There has to be a better way. There has to be something that helps Christian women stay spiritually connected while traveling." So I posted about my struggle on social media. Within hours, hundreds of Christian women flooded my DMs saying, "I've felt this exact same way." Women who traveled for work. Women who relocated abroad for school. Women who moved to new cities and couldn't find their church home. That's when I knew this wasn't just my problem; this was a gap that needed to be filled. The Holy Spirit gave me the idea for HelloFellow right there. I felt called to build an app that would help Christian women stay spiritually grounded no matter where in the world they go. Even though I had zero technical experience, I couldn't ignore the calling. ## What problem are you solving? HelloFellow solves spiritual isolation for Christian women who solo-travel and desire a church community away from home. Right now, there's no dedicated mobile travel app that helps Christian women find biblically sound churches with English services abroad, connect with other women travelers for real in-person fellowship, and access devotionals and Bible studies that help with spiritual mindset, **all in one.** Most women are piecing together multiple apps—a travel buddy app here, a devotional app there, a spiritual wellness app when needed—and still coming up short because none of them address the unique challenge of staying spiritually rooted while away from home. HelloFellow consolidates everything into one travel app designed specifically for women of faith who refuse to compromise their spiritual lives just because they're exploring the world. We're not just helping women find travel companions. We're helping them find their people, their church community, and their spiritual grounding, no matter where they land. ## What's next for you? **HelloFellow officially launches June 12th in the Apple App Store**, and I'm working on getting it approved for Google Play so Android users can access it too. Right now, I have under 500 people on my waitlist, and my biggest focus is visibility and reach. I've been documenting my journey on social media for the last 11 months, but now that we're weeks away from launch, I'm ramping up—pitching to faith-based publications, partnering with a UGC creator from my beta testing group, and getting in front of as many Christian women travelers as possible. Long-term, I want to grow HelloFellow into the go-to platform for Christian women who travel. I want to add more features based on user feedback, expand our church database to cover more cities globally, and eventually bring on a small team so I'm not doing this solo anymore. I'd also love to partner with churches and ministries to help them reach women who are visiting their cities. But honestly? Right now, I'm just focused on making sure HelloFellow launches strong and serves the women who need it. Everything else will come as God leads. > Are you a woman leader with a story to tell? We'd love to feature you. Get in touch at [hi@foundedbywomen.org](mailto:hi@foundedbywomen.org) ### "You Should Not Have to Already Know the System": Leigha Hollis on Building Legacy House While Caregiving URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/all/you-should-not-have-to-already-know-the-system-leigha-hollis-on-building-legacy-house-while-caregiving/ Last updated: 2026-05-15T04:50:02.000Z When Leigha Hollis's mother needed care, she didn't know what a geriatric care manager was. She didn't know she could hire someone to help navigate Medicare. She didn't know estate planning attorneys specialized in families like hers. She found out the hard way - through phone calls, dead ends, and trial and error. That experience became [Legacy House](https://golegacyhouse.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org), a vetted directory of professionals for families navigating some of life's hardest moments: elder care, estate planning, hospice, senior housing, grief support, and more. It launches June 15 - on what would have been her grandmother's 100th birthday. What makes Legacy House different is what the word "vetted" actually means. Every professional is manually license-verified before their profile goes live - through FINRA BrokerCheck, state bar associations, or state licensing portals depending on the discipline. No paid listings. No unverified reviews. Every person in the directory earned their spot. Leigha has been building all of this while caregiving for five years. In this conversation, she talks about what it means to build from inside the problem, the hardest part of doing both at once, and the one thing she wishes someone had told her from the very beginning. > Are you a woman leader with a story to tell? We'd love to feature you. Get in touch at [hi@foundedbywomen.org](mailto:hi@foundedbywomen.org) --- **Q: Legacy House launches June 15 - what does "vetted" mean in practice? How do you ensure the professionals in your directory are genuinely trustworthy for families in vulnerable moments?** Every professional who applies to Legacy House goes through a verification process before their profile goes live. Each applicant submits their license type, license number, and licensing state. Before approving any profile, we manually verify the license through the relevant licensing authority: FINRA BrokerCheck for financial professionals, state bar associations for attorneys, and state licensing portals for care managers, social workers, and other practitioners. We confirm the license is active and in good standing with no disciplinary actions, suspensions, or complaints on record. For our higher tiers, we also conduct a founder interview and professional reference check. What this means for families is that when they find a professional on Legacy House, they are not scrolling through unverified listings or reading paid reviews. Every person in the directory earned their spot. That is not something any other platform in this space can say. **Q: You've been a caregiver for five years while building this company. How has that dual role shaped the product - and what's been the hardest part of building while caregiving?** Everything about Legacy House stems from caregiving. The ten categories we serve—elder care, estate planning, financial planning, life insurance, retirement planning, caregiver support, hospice and grief, funeral and memorial, senior housing, and special needs planning—are not a business decision. They point to every phone call I made, every professional I scrambled to find, and every moment I realized I did not know where to turn. The hardest part has been building something that requires relentless energy at the exact moment when caregiving takes everything you have. There are days when my mother needs me and Legacy House needs me simultaneously and neither can wait. I have learned that building from within the problem makes the platform more honest. But it also means there is no separation between the Legacy House mission and my life. Legacy House is not what I do. It is what I live. **Q: What's the one thing you wish someone had told you at the very beginning of your caregiving journey - before you knew what you didn't know?** Asking for help is not a sign of failure. It is actually the whole point. I spent years trying to figure everything out myself. My response to challenges and obstacles was always, "I'll figure it out." I thought that was what strength looked like. It seemingly worked in the past when I was only responsible for myself. But caregiving is a totally different ball game. I did not know what a geriatric care manager was. I did not know I could get a professional to help me navigate Medicare. I did not know there were estate planning attorneys who specialized in families like mine. Nobody told me these people existed or how to find them. It took trial and error, and letting go of trying to figure it out alone, before I could share what I've learned with my friends, family, and anyone else who will listen. Legacy House is trying to fill that gap. You should not have to already know the system or start at a disadvantage to navigate it. Especially when making major life decisions. I'm beyond grateful for everyone who has pointed me in the right direction, answered questions on the fly, checked in on me and my mom, and who continues to lend a listening ear. For families and individuals seeking support during the aging process and legacy planning journey, Legacy House is a member of your village. > Are you a woman leader with a story to tell? We'd love to feature you. Get in touch at [hi@foundedbywomen.org](mailto:hi@foundedbywomen.org) ### From Broadcast News to Brand Strategy: Monica Elias on the Art of Producing Branded Content and Newsworthy stories URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/women-who-lead/from-broadcast-news-to-brand-strategy-monica-elias-on-the-art-of-producing-branded-content-and-newsworthy-stories/ Last updated: 2026-05-19T03:54:15.000Z Monica Elias built her career at the intersection of two worlds most people keep separate - broadcast journalism and brand strategy. As CEO and Executive Producer of [Elias World Media](https://eliasworldmedia.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org), she channels decades of production experience into a niche service that gets brands onto news segments, not as advertisements, but as stories that earn their place. With a client roster spanning De Beers, L'Oréal, Microsoft, and Mercedes-Benz, and more than 30 industry awards to her name, Elias has made a clear case that the most credible way for a brand to reach consumers is still through the trust of broadcast news. After 15 years in corporate media, Elias took the leap to launch her own company - not out of dissatisfaction, but out of a drive for growth that corporate life could no longer contain. She identified a gap in the market where few had truly mastered both broadcast production and brand strategy, and built EWM around that intersection. The validation came quickly: clients she had worked with for years came to her first, a signal that the trust she had earned over a long career was ready to become the foundation of something new. Today, EWM offers end-to-end services - from strategic counsel and full-spectrum video production to earned placement across national and local broadcast outlets. The company has been recognized with more than 20 Telly Awards, 8 Hermes Creative Awards, and 4 MarCom Awards, and Elias herself has been named one of the "25 Women in Luxury to Watch" and "Most Innovative Woman of the Year" by the Stevie Awards. We sat down with her to talk about what branded broadcast production really means, how luxury clients think about media, and why authenticity is still the most powerful currency in news. > Are you a woman leader with a story to tell? We'd love to feature you. Get in touch at [hi@foundedbywomen.org](mailto:hi@foundedbywomen.org) --- **Q: What was the "aha" moment that led Monica to leave her corporate media career and launch Elias World Media - and what did that leap of faith actually look like in practice?** After 15 years in a corporate role, I knew it was time for a new chapter. Not because anything was lacking, but because I’ve always been driven by growth, challenge, and evolution. Remaining stagnant was never part of the vision. The pieces were all there. I had the production and media experience, technical skills, a longstanding and substantial client network and book of business, and relationships with industry service partners — everything I'd need to build something of my own. So after a lot of reflection, I took the leap. It was, of course, a significant undertaking. I had to step back and evaluate the competitive landscape with clarity and intention. Where was there an unmet need? Where could I carve out a meaningful niche? Most importantly, how could I differentiate myself by offering something more elevated, strategic, and impactful than what already existed in the market? The answer was fluency in two languages — broadcast production and brand strategy. That intersection became my niche, a space where storytelling meets strategy, and where few have truly learned to move seamlessly between both worlds. What surprised me most? Clients came to me first. That was the real validation — people I'd worked with over the years saying, *I trust you with this project.* That meant everything. Because trust, when you've earned it, is the foundation of everything else. **Q: Branded broadcast production is a niche that many founders don't fully understand. How does Monica describe what she does to someone hearing about it for the first time?** I produce branded video content for clients, then build the media strategy to place it on broadcast news — from national morning shows to local and regional stations. What that looks like in practice varies. Sometimes it's a satellite media tour, where a brand spokesperson connects live with local and national TV stations over the course of several hours. Other times it's pre-packaged content: video news releases, b-roll packages, fully produced lifestyle segments ready to air. We handle it all: strategic counsel, full-spectrum video production, placement and distribution across broadcast media outlets. My career started in broadcast news. That background shaped everything about how I work with brands. When I'm producing content for a client, I'm not only prioritizing their message, I'm thinking about what a producer actually needs to put that segment on air, and how to make it look and feel organic, not forced. This isn't advertising. It isn't a commercial. It's content that has to earn its place in a news segment. The broadcast news landscape is changing rapidly, and budgets are being cut. The upside for us is that producers are increasingly open to sourcing external content — as long as it's credible, newsworthy, and serves their audience. The one thing I always tell clients: broadcast news remains one of the most powerful and credible ways to reach consumers. People are still seeking trusted sources and meaningful storytelling. And when brands show up with authenticity and relatability, the message resonates. **Q: When working with luxury clients like De Beers or L'Oréal, what do they prioritize most when it comes to news coverage - and how has that shaped the way Monica approaches her work?** The luxury market is very specific. Clients come to me with precise goals and a well-defined target consumer group. They're not chasing widespread reach. They're focused on the right demographics, the right regions, and the markets across the US that deliver real ROI. What they care about is where the story was broadcast, whether the message was delivered in its entirety, and how the news anchor presented it. Again, it all comes back to the quality of the placement from how much "broadcast airtime" it achieved to where it landed. The aesthetic standard for luxury clients is exceptionally high. The visual storytelling must feel refined and cinematic, while still maintaining the authenticity and editorial integrity required to integrate seamlessly within the broadcast landscape. After decades in both worlds, I’ve developed a discerning eye for striking that balance. > Are you a woman leader with a story to tell? We'd love to feature you. Get in touch at [hi@foundedbywomen.org](mailto:hi@foundedbywomen.org) ### Chandra Lynn: From Brand Strategy to Inner Transformation URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/20-founders-edition/chandra-lynn-from-brand-strategy-to-inner-transformation/ Last updated: 2026-05-13T06:30:02.000Z [Chandra Lynn](https://chandralynn.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) built a thriving career in music, media, and brand strategy - working with artists, entrepreneurs, and global brands through her consultancy, Glow Marketing. But beneath the external success, she kept seeing the same quiet struggle: high-achieving people disconnected from themselves, searching for something more. That pattern became a calling. Today, Chandra is the founder of Glow Living and creator of the Root-to-Rise Framework - a system blending human needs psychology, nature-based wisdom, and coaching tools to help people build lives that feel as good as they look. Her book, *Root-to-Rise: How to Love Life*, earned praise from Deepak Chopra and recognition from Kirkus Reviews. She's also building The Life Lounge, a private community for women navigating life and business transitions. We sat down with Chandra to talk about reinvention, emotional resilience, and why she believes success should never come at the cost of your well-being. > *This is part of our ongoing 20 Founders On a Mission series. New editions publish regularly. To be featured or nominate a founder, write to us at* [*hi@foundedbywomen.org*](mailto:hi@foundedbywomen.org) --- ## What inspired you to start? I’ve always been drawn to the intersection of human transformation and meaningful communication. I grew up around psychologist grandparents who wanted me to take over their practice. Instead, I built a career in music, media, and brand strategy working with artists, entrepreneurs, and global brands through my consultancy, Glow Marketing LLC. Over time, I saw a common thread: many successful people were quietly overwhelmed, disconnected, or searching for deeper meaning beneath external achievement. That realization inspired me to create the Glow Living community and its flagship Framework Root-to-Rise, a system for helping people reconnect with themselves and create lives they genuinely love. The Root-to-Rise system grew from my own experiences navigating reinvention, pressure, loss, burnout, and growth, along with years of coaching and studying human behavior. The framework blends human needs psychology, nature-based wisdom, and coaching tools to help people understand the hidden emotional drivers behind their decisions, relationships, and patterns. It eventually became the foundation for my book, *Root-to-Rise: How to Love Life*, which was praised by Deepak Chopra and recognized by Kirkus Reviews for its inspiring approach to personal transformation. ## What problem are you solving? I believe one of the biggest challenges today is that many people, especially women, are carrying enormous emotional pressure while trying to hold together careers, relationships, caregiving responsibilities, financial stress, identity shifts, and the expectations placed on them by society. Mental and emotional well-being have become critically important in today’s world, particularly for women navigating midlife transitions, reinvention, burnout, grief, or the question of “What now?” after years of taking care of everyone else. Through Root-to-Rise, I help people better understand the emotional needs driving their choices and create more grounded, intentional lives from the inside out. The system focuses on six core human needs and five key life areas: health, family, relationships, career, and friendships. Instead of offering surface-level motivation, it gives people practical tools for emotional resilience, self-awareness, and authentic growth. At the same time, through Glow Marketing, I help companies and founders communicate their deeper purpose and create brands people genuinely connect with. I’m especially passionate about supporting fellow female entrepreneurs in building businesses and legacies that reflect who they truly are, not just what they produce. I think women are redefining success right now, and I want to help create spaces where ambition and well-being can coexist. ## What’s next for you? Right now, I’m focused on expanding Root-to-Rise into a larger ecosystem that supports people through multiple forms of transformation and connection. That includes companion workbooks, workshops, community experiences, wellness programs, digital tools, and live events designed to help people apply the framework in real life, not just read about it. I’m also growing The Life Lounge, a private online community centered around meaningful conversations, support, leadership, and personal growth for women navigating life and business transitions. Long term, my vision is about legacy. I want to build work that continues helping people long after a single conversation, event, or book. I want to create tools, communities, and conversations that remind people they are not alone in what they’re navigating. I also want to continue mentoring and supporting women founders, creatives, and leaders who are building meaningful businesses while trying to stay connected to themselves in the process. At the core of everything I do is the belief that success should not come at the cost of your well-being. We deserve lives and businesses that feel aligned, nourishing, and deeply human. *Photo credit: Robert Downs Photography* > *This is part of our ongoing 20 Founders On a Mission series. New editions publish regularly. To be featured or nominate a founder, write to us at* [*hi@foundedbywomen.org*](mailto:hi@foundedbywomen.org) ### Live Workshop | May 20: Value-Led Legal Strategy for Purpose-Driven Businesses with Dian Trabulsy URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/workshops/live-workshop-may-20-value-led-legal-strategy-for-purpose-driven-businesses-with-dian-trabulsy/ Last updated: 2026-05-13T07:04:19.000Z We're hosting a live workshop on May 20th featuring Dian Trabulsy, an attorney and advocate for purpose-driven entrepreneurs. Dian will share how values-based legal strategy can help founders build businesses that are legally sound and mission-aligned from day one. Whether you're a founder, entrepreneur, or business leader — this conversation is for you. **Date:** Tuesday, May 20, 2026 **Time:** 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM EDT ### How to Unlock the Hidden Capacity You Didn’t Know You Have URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/20-founders-edition/how-to-unlock-the-hidden-capacity-you-didnt-know-you-have/ Last updated: 2026-05-11T06:15:55.000Z Clare Sadler has spent almost three decades working at the edges of human performance - with Olympic athletes, people in defence and intelligence‑related environments, critical incident responders, and senior leaders navigating high‑stakes complexity. As the founder of [Beyond Instinct](https://beyondinstinct.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) and a Human Systems Development specialist, she has built a career studying one question: what conditions cause access to capability to collapse under load — and what conditions allow the same system to unlock the hidden capacity people don’t always realise they have. Her answer reframes the opportunity entirely. It’s not about skill gaps, mindset blocks or lack of motivation. It’s about architecture — the conditions that determine whether individuals, teams and organisations can access the capability they have, unlock hidden capacity and grow new capability when it matters most. In this feature, Clare breaks down the framework behind her work and what it reveals about the capacity you may never have realised was there. **Q: Most people try to perform better by working harder, or learning more skills. You're saying that the real lever is the human system itself. What are people missing about how capability actually works under load?** Performance isn’t driven by how much capability an individual, team, or organisation has — it’s driven by how much of that capability they are able to access in the moment. Effort, motivation and skill are outputs of a system that’s working well, not levers that create performance. They matter only when the system can access them. People think capability is the problem. But under load, people don’t lose capability, they lose access to it because access depends on the state the system is in, not on how much capability they have. The real issue is access because it changes with load. Capability is universal. Access is state- and condition-dependent. This means the biggest performance gap isn’t a deficit, it’s the largest untapped pool of hidden capacity inside every individual, relationship, team, or organisation. The gap isn’t between teams, organisations, people or skills. It’s between the capability the system has and the capability it can reach under load. The human system stays functional by unconsciously predicting what it expects to happen and preparing for it in advance. Updating those predictions with new information costs energy, so prediction is the system’s primary way of managing its energy budget. Every human system has a point where access collapses. As load rises, the system reduces what it can process and defaults to older predictions — accurate or not — because they cost less energy to run. Access drops long before capability changes. The capability is still there, but the system can no longer reach it. That loss of access is what causes effectiveness and performance to drop. The opposite is also true. When the human system maintains the right conditions under load, it can afford to keep updating predictions even under pressure. This is what enables access, unlocks hidden capacity and enables new capabilities to grow that would otherwise remain out of reach. Most people try to use the wrong lever - effort, skills, motivational tools, or hacks. More effort adds more load which makes collapse happen faster. More skills may increase capability, but they don't affect what can be reached under pressure. Motivation is simply effort by another name. The real lever is strengthening the conditions that allow the human system to keep access open under load. This architecture underpins every form of human performance — learning, creativity, strategic thinking, judgement and decision‑making, communication, teamwork, leadership and execution under pressure. It applies to every level of the human system: individual, relational, team and organisational. **Q: You work in high‑consequence environments — from elite sport and Olympic cycles to national security, critical incident response, and complex multi‑stakeholder systems. What do these contexts reveal about human capacity that everyday environments don’t show?** In everyday environments, the architecture is obscured. People compensate, work harder, and mistake effort for capability. Extreme environments strip away that illusion. Operating at the absolute edge, you see the human system in its purest form: a predictive, adaptive architecture constantly balancing uncertainty, energy cost, and consequence. You see how quickly clarity barrows, prediction becomes rigid and access collapses when the human system is overloaded. What these environments taught me is that capacity isn't fixed, it’s conditional. The same individual, team or organisation can operate with extraordinary clarity one moment and lose access to basic capability the next, depending on what their system can stabilise under load. Under high load, people don’t rise to the occasion; they fall to what their system can carry before access collapses. Extreme environments force you to see the distinction between what collapses under pressure and what holds, and only architectural conditions hold. I also learned that people with extraordinary talent and exceptional training experience the same architectural constraints as everyone else. The difference is environments like elite sport, olympic cycles, special operations, aviation, national infrastructure and defence require them to build systems — individually and collectively — that stabilise access under pressure. They don’t rely on willpower. They rely on architecture. And perhaps most importantly: collapse often doesn’t show up in the crisis — it shows up after. The human system can hold extraordinary load in the moment, but this compensation only delays the cost. Without the right conditions the cost is paid later. Understanding that is essential for anyone leading, caring for others, or operating at the edge. These environments reveal something universal: humans are capable of far more than they can access day‑to‑day, and access depends entirely on the conditions the human system can stabilise under load. **Q: For people who know they’re capable but can’t always access what they know they have — what’s the one architectural insight that changes everything for them?** The most important thing to understand is this: there is nothing wrong with you. When people can't access what they know they have, they assume it's a personal flaw - inconsistency, lack of skills, weakness or lack of confidence. But access isn't a reflection of character or competence. It's a reflection of system conditions. Skills matter, but they are irrelevant if your system can't access them. Under load — emotional, cognitive, relational, organisational — the human system reallocates resources to manage energy and prediction. That reallocation reduces access to capability. Not because you’re failing, but because your system is prioritising the most energy-efficient path. This shift happens unconsciously. People only notice the outcome: reduced clarity, narrowed bandwidth, loss of perspective, diminished presence, reactive decisions, and reduced ability to think strategically or see the whole picture. They assume the solution is to push harder. But the real solution is to restore the conditions that allow access. The insight that changes everything is this: you don’t need more capability — you need access to the capability you already have. And access depends on which predictions your system defaults to as the lowest‑cost option under load. A large part of my work is recoding predictions so the human system defaults to the ones that keep access open. Those predictions become the most energy efficient path for the system to run, access returns instantly — and is maintained even under load that would previously have shut it down. When access stays open, the human system expresses itself through the Five Capabilities — clarity, bandwidth, perspective, presence and decision quality. People don’t just regain what they had; hidden capacity comes online, and new capabilities can grow because the system can finally afford to update again. This creates an instant step‑change in performance without requiring more effort or energy. The shift begins when you stop pushing harder and start strengthening the conditions that keep access open under load. Transformation doesn’t come from adding more. It comes from restoring access. > *This is part of our ongoing 20 Founders On a Mission series. New editions publish regularly. To be featured or nominate a founder, write to us at* [*hi@foundedbywomen.org*](mailto:hi@foundedbywomen.org) ### "This Work Found Me": Rachelle Carrié on Coaching Women Who Hold Everything Together URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/20-founders-edition/this-work-found-me-rachelle-carrie-on-coaching-women-who-hold-everything-together/ Last updated: 2026-04-28T02:10:42.000Z Following our *Women Who Lead: 20 Founders edition*, we continue the conversation with [Rachelle Carrié](https://rachellecarrie.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) \- Executive and Certified Somatic Coach, E-RYT 500, Speaker, and founder of SEQ Consulting, based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Rachelle works with high-achieving women - particularly Black women and first-generation leaders in high-stakes roles - helping them build the clarity, capacity, and quiet authority to lead sustainably without sacrificing who they are. Through her proprietary Harmonized Leadership™ Approach, she blends executive strategy, somatic practice, and emotional intelligence to develop regulated leaders who perform at their highest level from the inside out. She delivers coaching, corporate workshops, masterclasses, and keynotes, co-owns The Bloom Events, and hosts The Dialogic Approach podcast. She is also the author of Amazon eBooks on emotional intelligence and leadership. Her mission: your next level does not require more force. It requires more capacity. ## What inspired you to start? I spent 25 years across corporate, education, and consulting, looking like I had it together - and quietly over-functioning the whole time. The COVID pause was the first time I sat still long enough to notice I didn't recognize the leader I'd become. A Tony Robbins seminar cracked something open, a clarity coach told me to use my voice, and Brene Brown's Dare to Lead confirmed what I already knew. I didn't find this work. This work found me - and now I recognize it in every woman who walks through my door. ## What problem are you solving? The women I work with are the ones everyone leans on - high-achieving, first-generation, holding it together at work and at home while carrying pressure no one around them fully sees. They don't need another productivity hack; they need regulated leadership. With my Harmonized Leadership approach, we build clearer decisions under pressure, steadier energy, and boundaries that hold without guilt - so ambition doesn't cost them their peace. ## What's next for you? Taking Harmonized Leadership beyond 1:1 coaching - into the rooms, stages, and programs where more women and first-generation leaders can access this work. My mission is simple: to make sure the women who've been carrying everyone else finally have somewhere to be led, too. > Are you a woman leader with a story to tell? We'd love to feature you. Get in touch at [hi@foundedbywomen.org](mailto:hi@foundedbywomen.org) ### Announcing Our Q1 2026 FBW Awards Winners URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/all/announcing-our-q1-2026-fbw-awards-winners/ Last updated: 2026-04-27T07:27:45.000Z *Celebrating Excellence in Female Leadership and Women-Founded Companies* We are proud to announce the winners of the Q1 2026 FBW Quarterly Awards. This quarter's cohort brings together founders and leaders redefining estate planning, legal accessibility, AI education, wellness, and financial strategy. Each winner was selected for the clarity of her vision, the measurability of her results, and the broader impact her work creates for clients, communities, and industries. From building referral-only law firms grounded in faith-based integrity to producing a globally recognized patient health platform, these women are creating change that compounds. > Q2 2026 applications are now open. Apply by May 31st: --- ## 🏆 Individual Leader Award Winners ### 👑 Strategic Leadership Excellence #### Marie Torossian *Founder, Marie Torossian CPA, PLLC & The Profit Lab* Marie built her firm from the ground up as a virtual, strategy-first advisory practice at a time when the accounting industry was still largely compliance-focused. As Founder of both Marie Torossian CPA, PLLC and The Profit Lab, she developed the proprietary VALUEATION-MT® methodology — a framework integrating financial diagnostics, KPI systems, and execution planning to help growth-minded business owners make data-driven decisions. Serving clients primarily in the $750K–$15M revenue range, Marie's approach has helped clients identify 10–30% cost savings, improve profit margins, and build stronger cash flow visibility. Recognized as a Top 50 Accounting Services Practice by Woodard and a sought-after speaker at Scaling New Heights and FICPA, she is also a 10X Certified Performance Coach and host of The Profit Lab podcast. "I lead by combining financial clarity with disciplined execution. I don't let teams or clients hide from the numbers." ### ⚖️ Legal Leadership #### Dian Trabulsy *Founder & Principal Advisor, Faithfully Legal™ — King of Prussia, PA* Dian founded Faithfully Legal™ in August 2024 to solve two of the most persistent barriers in legal services: uncertainty and delay. Her firm operates on a predominantly flat-fee, proactive model — pairing legal strategy with client education so families and business owners can protect what they are building without being blindsided by scope or cost. Built entirely on referrals with zero paid advertising, Faithfully Legal™ maintains a 24-hour average turnaround on client communications and consistent five-star reviews highlighting clarity, responsiveness, and peace of mind. Dian leads with integrity and service, welcoming clients of all backgrounds while rooting her firm's culture in values-aligned legal stewardship. "My work reframes legal services as preventive and empowering — making legal planning clear, accessible, and action-oriented." #### Lynita Mitchell-Blackwell *Founder & Managing Attorney, LMB Law Offices PC — Austell, Georgia* With nearly two decades leading LMB Law Offices, Lynita transformed a traditional estate planning practice into a holistic legacy model through her Light Legacy Stewardship™ framework. This shift — from transactional legal services to integrated legal, financial, and personal values alignment — delivered a 200% revenue increase, a significant expansion into trust services and real estate estate planning, and speaking engagements that grew from quarterly to monthly. Lynita is a bestselling author and founder of the Sacred Self-Leadership Movement, extending her work through transformational programs that help high-achieving professionals align wealth, purpose, and well-being. Her Live Life on FIRE philosophy underpins everything she does. "I am redefining estate planning as a tool for intentional living and generational impact, shifting the industry from transactional services to transformational legacy design." ### 🌿 Health & Wellness Impact #### Sweta Vikram *CEO & Founder, NimmiLife LLC* Sweta founded NimmiLife to bridge ancient Ayurvedic wisdom with modern stress science, creating practical frameworks for nervous-system health for high-performing professionals. Since April 2016, she has delivered dozens of workshops, keynotes, and university lectures on stress resilience, grief management, and burnout prevention — bringing these conversations into corporate and academic settings where they are rarely addressed. Sweta is also an adjunct professor, podcast host of The Grounded Leader, and author of her 15th book, with her upcoming title Rhythms of Resilience exploring sustainable approaches to stress and leadership. Her work advocates for work cultures that treat recovery as performance strategy, not weakness. "I aim to normalize conversations around stress, grief, and nervous-system health — because sustainable performance starts on the inside." #### Priya Menon *VP Operations, TrialX & Host/Producer, CureTalks* Priya has led CureTalks from a small patient-focused show into a globally recognized platform connecting patients with the world's leading scientists, clinicians, and researchers — hosting 300+ episodes and featuring speakers including Nobel Laureate Dr. Drew Weissman. As VP of Operations at TrialX, she simultaneously leads global HR, talent, and quality functions across a 11–50 person organization. She writes regularly for The Week magazine on medical research and scientific developments, translating complex breakthroughs for a broader audience. Priya's dual role — operational leader and patient advocate — makes her a distinctive voice at the intersection of healthcare access and innovation. "My work helps bridge the gap between clinical research and the patient community by making complex medical advances accessible and engaging." #### Fran Benedict *Founder & Facilitator, Simply Mindful LLC* Fran has spent nearly 20 years in health promotion, mind-body medicine, and organizational wellbeing. Her Small Acts of Wellbeing program challenges the prevailing logic of corporate wellness by asking only three minutes a day — using that small pause to interrupt chronic stress cycles rather than adding more obligations to already overloaded schedules. In a 2024 corporate pilot with 120 employees, her program achieved a 40% voluntary participation rate — double the industry average — with 86% of participants requesting similar programming in the future. She has also served as direct liaison between Plum Village monastics and Salesforce at Dreamforce, and led workshops at Pinterest and Stanford. Fran's work proves that simplicity, not complexity, is the entry point to lasting behavioral change. "True wellbeing can't be outsourced to external rules. I create conditions for people to reconnect with what they already know." --- ## 🚀 Company Award Winners ### ⚖️ Legal Excellence #### Faithfully Legal™ *Founder: Dian Trabulsy — King of Prussia, PA | Founded 2024* Faithfully Legal™ was built on the premise that legal services should feel less like a risk and more like a resource. By pairing proactive strategy with flat-fee pricing and an educational approach to client communication, the firm has eliminated two of the biggest sources of client anxiety: unpredictable costs and lack of clarity. Every client interaction is designed to leave families and business owners feeling informed, protected, and confident — not overwhelmed. The firm has grown entirely through referrals, achieving 5-star reviews that consistently emphasize clarity and responsiveness, and plans to expand Legacy Stewardship offerings alongside scalable digital resources. #### LMB Law Offices PC *Founder: Lynita Mitchell-Blackwell — Austell, Georgia | Founded 2006* LMB Law Offices is redefining what estate planning can be. Under Lynita Mitchell-Blackwell's Light Legacy Stewardship™ framework, the firm has moved beyond document preparation into integrated legacy design — helping clients align their legal, financial, and personal values into a coherent plan for generational impact. The results are measurable: 200% revenue growth, expanded service categories, and a steadily growing market presence among real estate investors and mission-led families. The firm also prioritizes access, with ongoing programs that educate underserved communities about legal rights, wealth protection, and the mechanics of building generational legacies. ## 💼 Consulting & Advisory Excellence #### System + Soul AI Institute *Co-Founders: Emmy Hernandez & Lizette Espinosa — Los Angeles, CA | Founded 2025* System + Soul AI Institute was founded to fill a clear gap: practical, ethical, accessible AI education for business leaders, educators, and entrepreneurs who need to understand AI in real-world terms — not theoretical ones. Co-founders Emmy Hernandez (CMO) and Lizette Espinosa (CEO) developed applied AI training curricula focused on literacy, responsible implementation, and hands-on application. To date, they have impacted 100+ business owners, formed a partnership with Rio Hondo Community College to deliver AI continuing education to faculty and staff, and contributed to the USC Marshall School of Business Multicultural Entrepreneur Program. Their model shows what community-centered AI education can look like when it starts with who is often left out of the conversation. --- ## What This Quarter's Class Represents The Q1 2026 winners reflect a cohort of founders and leaders who are not waiting for their industries to evolve — they are doing the evolving themselves. Each has identified a structural gap, built something specific to close it, and produced outcomes that can be measured. Taken together, they represent: - Legal services redesigned around prevention, transparency, and values — not transactions (Dian Trabulsy, Lynita Mitchell-Blackwell) - AI education that reaches communities often excluded from the conversation (Emmy Hernandez & Lizette Espinosa) - Wellness frameworks that work within the constraints of real working lives (Sweta Vikram, Priya Menon, Fran Benedict) - Financial strategy redefined as execution leadership, not compliance (Marie Torossian) **Winner Benefits Include:** - 📰 Featured Profile — In-depth article on FoundedByWomen.org - 📱 Multi-Platform Promotion — Social media and newsletter features - 🏆 Winner Assets — Digital badge and certificate for marketing materials - 🤝 Network Access — Connection with other recognized leaders - 📊 Quarterly Showcase — Featured in the Q1 2026 winners report > Q2 2026 applications are now open. Apply by May 31st: ### From Network to Policy: How Shqipe Neziri Vela Is Reshaping Energy Leadership for Women Worldwide URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/women-who-lead/from-network-to-policy-how-shqipe-neziri-vela-is-reshaping-energy-leadership-for-women-worldwide/ Last updated: 2026-04-21T04:32:09.000Z There are women who enter rooms - and women who change what happens inside them. Shqipe Neziri Vela is firmly in the second category. With over two decades of experience spanning energy governance, anti-corruption, and international development across various countries worldwide, Shqipe has built a career defined not by proximity to power, but by the persistent, unglamorous work of redistributing it. As co-founder and chairperson of Kosovo Women in Energy and Mining (WEM), she turned an informal circle of isolated professionals into a network of 100+ members actively shaping national policy. As a programme manager at the EITI International Secretariat, an association of 57 states, she leads various funded initiatives holding governments accountable for how they manage their most valuable natural resources. And as a mentor to emerging leaders across Afghanistan, South Africa, Sudan, Kenya, and beyond, she is quietly multiplying her impact across borders and generations. In 2025, Reuters named her one of the Top 10 Women in the Global Energy Sector - a recognition that reflects not just her individual achievements, but the movement she has helped build. In this conversation, Shqipe shares what the early days of WEM actually looked like, what it takes to move from being present in male-dominated industries to shaping their direction, and how she sustains systemic impact across multiple roles - including, as she is clear to say, being a mother of two. **Q: You’ve spent 20+ years working across energy, extractive industries, and anti-corruption in many countries, and co-founded Kosovo Women in Energy and Mining to ensure women aren’t just present in the room but influencing policy. For female founders building networks and movements from scratch, what did the early days of WEM actually look like, and how do you turn a network of 100+ professionals into real policy change?** Kosovo Women in Energy and Mining (WEM) was established in February 2022 as a professional network of women working across Kosovo’s energy and mining sectors, bringing together experts from government, private companies, academia, civil society, and international organizations. Today, it includes over 100 voluntary members from Kosovo and abroad. The early days of WEM were very informal and built on trust. It started with a small group of women working across Kosovo’s energy and mining sectors who rarely had a structured space to connect, despite being part of the same ecosystem. The initial focus was simply to bring together professionals who were already in the system but operating in isolation. This network was created to address the lack of supportive professional networks and the absence of structured mentorship for women in energy and mining. As my own experience in the sector grew, so did my awareness of the gaps created by the limited presence of women in decision-making roles and the lack of clear pathways for professional advancement. Many talented young women were entering the sector, but they often faced barriers such as limited access to mentorship, weak support systems, and constrained career progression. At that stage, there was no immediate ambition for WEM to become a policy actor. The priority was to understand where women were positioned across institutions, map existing expertise, and identify structural barriers in both technical and leadership roles. This early work revealed both the depth of untapped talent and the lack of coordination across the sector. Through our work, hundreds of students and early- to mid-career professionals have benefited from free trainings and mentoring. The network provides a space for women to share experiences, develop skills, and build long-term professional connections. Through capacity-building activities, mentoring, and engagement in international networks such as the Global Women’s Network for the Energy Transition (GWNET) and the International Women in Mining (IWiM), WEM has strengthened women’s participation in the energy and mining sectors while also contributing to shifting perceptions of women’s roles in these strategic fields. One of the most encouraging outcomes has been seeing tangible change in young women entering the sector with greater confidence, ambition, and access to support than previous generations. Likewise, the growing presence of women in decision-making positions is a positive development. Through the network, we have created a space where women feel supported, included, and encouraged to take on larger roles, generating a long-term positive impact across the sector. As the network evolved, the shift toward policy engagement happened organically and gradually became more structured. Instead of focusing solely on networking, WEM began aligning its work with specific policy processes and producing coordinated, evidence-based input. We have also contributed to working groups, including Kosovo’s Energy and Mining Strategy. Over time, WEM has become recognized not simply for its size, but for its role as a credible stakeholder that connects technical expertise with policy dialogue and reform processes. > Are you a woman leader with a story to tell? We'd love to feature you. Get in touch at [hi@foundedbywomen.org](mailto:hi@foundedbywomen.org) **Q: You mentor emerging leaders from various countries, including Afghanistan, South Africa, Sudan, Germany, and Kenya, contribute to global networks like the Global Women’s Network for the Energy Transition and Women in Green Hydrogen, and served on the Advisory Council of International Women in Mining. You were named by Reuters among the Top 10 Women in the Global Energy Sector in 2025, and received the Equality in Energy Transitions Woman of Distinction Award from the International Energy Agency and the Clean Energy Ministerial. What have you learned about building influence across borders and cultures, and what does it actually take for women to move from being present in male-dominated industries to shaping their direction?** Building influence across borders requires consistency more than visibility. Working across countries and institutional contexts has shown me that systems differ significantly, but credibility, reliability, and technical clarity always translate. People may operate in different political and cultural environments, but they recognize rigor, fairness, and substance. Cross-border influence is not built through occasional participation in high-level forums or networks. It is built through sustained contribution over time, showing up repeatedly in relevant spaces, delivering quality input, and being someone whose analysis others can rely on when decisions are being made. Trust is accumulated through consistency, not moments of exposure. For women in male-dominated sectors like energy and mining, moving from presence to influence requires a shift in role identity. Presence is being invited into the room; influence is shaping what the room discusses, prioritizes, and ultimately decides. That shift happens when women are not only participating in conversations, but setting agendas, framing problems, and contributing solutions that decision-makers adopt. A key barrier remains structural rather than individual. Many women are highly capable and technically strong, but lack sponsorship, meaning senior leaders who actively advocate for their progression into decision-making roles. Unlike mentorship, sponsorship directly affects access, visibility, and appointment to leadership positions, and is often the missing link in advancement. There has been progress, particularly in the visibility of women in energy transition platforms and the growth of global networks such as GWNET and IWIM. However, representation at senior decision-making levels is still limited. Real influence is reached when women are consistently positioned not only as contributors or experts, but as decision-makers shaping institutional and policy direction. **Q: You balance leading programs at the EITI International Secretariat, mentoring students and early-career energy professionals, publishing and peer-reviewing research, and driving WEM’s mission simultaneously, while being a mother of two. For women navigating leadership across multiple sectors at once, what keeps you grounded, and what is your advice for women who want to make systemic impact without burning out?** For women navigating leadership across multiple sectors at once, what keeps me grounded is being intentional about how I work rather than trying to do everything at the same time. Over time, I’ve learned that clarity on priorities matters more than constant responsiveness, and that not every opportunity or demand requires immediate attention. I am also a mother of two, and that part of my life is very important to me. It requires time, presence, and attention, and it has shaped how I think about focus and prioritization in a very real way. It is not separate from my professional life; it is part of what grounds it. There are moments when the pace becomes intense, but I’ve also learned to step back when needed, recalibrate, and return with focus. Taking a break when possible is important for sustaining long-term work across multiple roles and sectors. Early in my career, I sometimes questioned whether the pace and complexity were sustainable. What kept me in the sector was seeing tangible outcomes, policy frameworks being shaped, renewable energy projects being implemented, and women advancing into leadership positions through structured support. That sense of impact made the work feel meaningful and worth continuing. Sustainability in leadership comes from structure, protecting focused time, delegating responsibility, and building trust in others to carry parts of the work. It also means being selective about commitments and understanding that saying no is part of maintaining focus, not limiting ambition. For women who want to make systemic impact, my advice is to focus on depth over volume. Build strong technical and policy expertise, seek both mentors and sponsors, and take on roles that stretch capability without constant overload. Real impact is not about being everywhere at once, but about consistent contribution over time and building systems where others can grow and lead alongside you. > Are you a woman leader with a story to tell? We'd love to feature you. Get in touch at [hi@foundedbywomen.org](mailto:hi@foundedbywomen.org) ### From Brooklyn Roots to the Beauty Chair: Shana on Healthy Hair, Self-Expression, and Building on Her Own Terms URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/women-who-lead/from-brooklyn-roots-to-the-beauty-chair-shana-on-healthy-hair-self-expression-and-building-on-her-own-terms/ Last updated: 2026-04-21T04:26:58.000Z For Brooklyn-based hairstylist Shana, hair has always been personal. What began as a childhood act of self-reclamation - taking control of her own look after years of feeling overlooked - grew into something far bigger: a calling rooted in confidence, creativity, and care. Long before she became officially licensed in 2019, Shana spent five years learning the craft from the ground up, assisting and absorbing everything the industry had to offer. That foundation, built quietly and deliberately, is what sets her apart today. Over the course of her career, Shana has moved fluidly across salon environments - from blow-dry bars to natural hair spaces - and has brought her skills to fashion week productions, editorial shoots, jewelry campaigns, and a music video in 2024\. She has worked with celebrity clients through personal referrals, appeared as a guest on a beauty-focused podcast, and continued to grow her reputation as a stylist who brings both technical versatility and a grounded, intentional presence to every project. At the heart of her work is a specialization in healthy hair and natural styles - wash-and-gos, two-strand twists, precision cuts, trims, and color - though her adaptability extends well beyond any single technique or hair type. What ties it all together is her philosophy: that every client deserves to feel safe, seen, and genuinely empowered by the time they leave the chair. Born and raised in Brooklyn and proudly Guyanese, Shana draws inspiration from wellness, holistic health, and an active lifestyle. She is currently in a season of intentional refinement - building a sustainable, aligned career at her salon, Serenity and Style, while expanding into products and education. We sat down with her to talk about where it all began, what she has learned building a business entirely on her own, and what she is working toward next. --- ## What inspired you to found {business}, and what were the main challenges you faced? My inspiration really started in childhood. My grandmother used to do my hair, and while I’m grateful for that, I didn’t always have the trendy styles other kids had—and I got teased for it. I was already a bit of an awkward child trying to find my place, so I decided to take matters into my own hands. Hair became my way of reclaiming confidence and self-expression.The biggest challenges I faced were internal—building confidence in myself, trusting my work, and truly understanding my worth. Once I started strengthening that foundation, everything else began to align. ## Did you start the venture alone? Yes, I did. I built everything from the ground up on my own, which taught me resilience, discipline, and how to trust my vision. ## What’s your business model, and how have you grown your revenue? My business is rooted in providing intentional, high-quality hair services, with a strong focus on healthy hair and long-term results. I prioritize client experience, education, and trust—so my clients aren’t just booking a service; they’re investing in a relationship with their hair.I’ve grown my revenue through a mix of consistent client retention, word-of-mouth referrals, and strategic use of social media to showcase transformations and educate my audience. I’m also expanding into products and virtual/in-person classes to create additional income streams beyond working behind the chair. ### Executive Support Media URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/partners/leadership/executive-support-media/ Last updated: 2026-04-07T09:01:56.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2026/04/original-BBF2826F-09BA-401F-9D5E-44D2FEEF61BB.jpeg) #### Lucy Brazier OBE is the world’s leading authority on the assistant profession and CEO of Executive Support Media, home to Executive Support Magazine. With a database of over 140,000 assistants across 100+ countries and author of The Modern-Day Assistant (Kogan Page, 2023), Lucy is the go-to expert for organisations that want to understand, develop and maximise the potential of their executive support teams. Through keynotes, training, and the Global Skills Matrix, Lucy helps founders and leaders build the partnerships that free them to grow. ****Preferred contact email:** lbrazier@executivesupportmedia.com [Visit website](http://executivesupportmedia.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ### WCorp URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/partners/wellbeing/wcorp/ Last updated: 2026-04-05T04:24:27.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2026/04/WCorp-Ltd.png) #### WCorp is a global certification platform founded by award-winning entrepreneur Geeta Sidhu-Robb, helping companies create workplaces where women feel genuinely safe, supported and able to thrive. Through its rigorous certification framework, WCorp holds organisations accountable across culture, leadership, equity and everyday women's experiences — from periods and menopause to caregiving and career progression. WCorp Green Flag, launched in 2025, is a pioneering investment standard reshaping how capital flows to women-led businesses. ****Preferred contact email:** [geeta@wcorporation.org](mailto:geeta@wcorporation.org) / [accounts@wcorporation.org](mailto:accounts@wcorporation.org) ****Social Media links:** [https://www.linkedin.com/in/geetasidhurobb/](https://www.linkedin.com/in/geetasidhurobb/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) [https://www.instagram.com/wcorpltd/](https://www.instagram.com/wcorpltd/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) [https://www.instagram.com/geetasidhurobb/](https://www.instagram.com/geetasidhurobb/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) [https://www.tiktok.com/@geetasidhurobb](https://www.tiktok.com/@geetasidhurobb?ref=foundedbywomen.org) [https://www.youtube.com/@GeetaSidhu-Robb](https://www.youtube.com/@GeetaSidhu-Robb?ref=foundedbywomen.org) [Visit website](https://www.wcorporation.org/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ### Holistree URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/partners/wellbeing/holistree/ Last updated: 2026-04-02T02:33:34.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2026/04/Holistree-Logo--white-background-.jpg) #### Rakita Lillard-Brown is the founder of Holistree LLC, built on a simple truth: sweetness is your birthright. With over 10 years in luxury wellness, retreat curation, and community building, she creates intentional space for Black women and women of color to rest, restore, and return to themselves - through intimate luxury retreat experiences and a thriving membership community, The Sweet Life Society. ****Preferred contact email** \- for general questions: [info@holistree.com](mailto:info@holistree.com) ****Social media links:** Instagram - [https://www.instagram.com/undertheholistree/](https://www.instagram.com/undertheholistree/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) LinkedIn - [https://www.linkedin.com/in/rakitalillardbrown/](https://www.linkedin.com/in/rakitalillardbrown/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) [Visit website](http://www.holistree.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ### 20 Founders On a Mission: Meet the Women Building What Matters — Issue 002 URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/list-feature/20-founders-on-a-mission-issue-002/ Last updated: 2026-04-01T02:44:26.000Z This is the second in our ongoing Women's History Month series spotlighting women founders building businesses that matter. Some started after a layoff. Some walked away from careers most people would kill for. Some spotted a gap so obvious they couldn't look away. Every one of them built something from it. These are 20 more founders on a mission. > *Know a women founder who belongs in this series? We feature founders year-round. Reach out at* [*hi@foundedbywomen.org*](mailto:hi@foundedbywomen.org) --- ### Emma Dobinson | [Creative Reset](https://www.creativereset.co.uk/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) After more than twenty years working in television and film production across Palestine, Tunisia, Libya, Algeria and beyond, Emma Dobinson founded Creative Reset in 2025 to bring that hard-won understanding directly to creative professionals. Through coaching, workshops, consultancy and online programmes, she helps them reclaim their sense of worth, navigate career progression and find their voice in industries that too often work to silence them. ### Dr. Sula Windgassen | [The Health Psychologist](https://www.healthpsychologist.co.uk/itsallinyourbody?ref=foundedbywomen.org) Sula Windgassen's path began with her own experience of bladder health issues, medical dismissal, and the kind of hopelessness that comes when the system offers no real answers. That search led her through a seven-year academic journey into the mind-body connection, a PhD in psychological medicine, and a practice built on a simple conviction: the body and the mind are not separate things. Today she helps people find relief from chronic health conditions by working with their biology rather than around it. Her book, It's All In Your Body, extends that work to a wider audience. ### Jacynth Bassett | [Ageism Is Never In Style](https://www.ageismisneverinstyle.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) Jacynth Bassett began noticing a contradiction while studying Law at Cambridge. We are living longer, working longer, building influence across the life course - including in later in life - and yet culturally and commercially, visibility, value, opportunity and contribution still seemed to have an expiry date. Watching her parents become increasingly marginalised because of their age brought that contradiction into sharp focus. She founded global consultancy & movement Ageism Is Never In Style to challenge those outdated perceptions and build genuine age inclusion and intergenerational cohesion across generations across business, culture and society. This year marks the platform's tenth anniversary. ### Natalie Luckham | [Naturally Social](https://naturallysocial.co.uk/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) Natalie Luckham spent fifteen years in social media and communications watching two things happen as AI became widely accessible: some organisations rushed in without understanding the risks, while others avoided it entirely out of fear of getting it wrong. Naturally Social was born from a desire to find a better path, helping organisations use AI in ways that protect trust, credibility, and the human connection that good communications depends on. Her mission is straightforward: AI should enhance expertise, not replace it. ### Geeta Sidhu-Robb | [WCorp](https://www.wcorporation.org/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) Geeta Sidhu-Robb built her first business working with 21,500 women over fifteen years. What she kept seeing was women trying to fix the outside before addressing what was happening inside. That observation became the foundation for her coaching practice and eventually WCorp, where she works with founders and CEOs on the gap between self-esteem and self-confidence. Her clients range from women at £275k revenue to those running businesses above £1 billion. The speed of transformation, she says, surprises even her. ### Emmy Brunner | [emmybrunner.com](https://www.emmybrunner.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) Emmy Brunner spent over twenty years as a clinician watching high-achieving women arrive at support with temporary relief but no deeper resolution. What she kept seeing beneath the stress and anxiety was something more honest: a longing for connection, love, and joy. Her work, codified into a system she has trademarked as VINTIVITY, helps women reconnect with themselves by accessing vulnerability, intimacy, and creativity. She is now building her community in the US and expanding her reach to the global stage. ### Clare Sadler | [Beyond Instinct](https://www.beyondinstinct.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) As a child, Clare was fascinated by the question: why do two people in the same situation respond differently? That curiosity led to a 27‑year career helping those in high‑pressure environments excel and the insight — under load, people don’t lose their skills, experience or knowledge; they lose access to them. Access is the foundation of how humans learn, create, lead, innovate, connect and decide, and when restored, everything changes. Human Systems Development gives this insight language and practical solutions. Clare’s mission is to share this work widely restoring access for high‑impact, high‑value transformation where it matters most. ### Emma Olmi | [emmaolmi.com](https://www.emmaolmi.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) Emma Olmi walked away from a high-flying corporate career to build a coaching practice rooted in a different definition of success. Having lived across four continents, travelled solo to more than seventy countries, and raised her son as a single mother, she brings a deeply global and human perspective to her work supporting professionals through career transitions, personal growth, and life change. She is passionate about social justice, courage, and the belief that a life of meaning is not a compromise. ### Katrina Purcell | [katrinapurcell.com](https://www.katrinapurcell.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) Katrina Purcell was tired of helping people she didn't admire get rich. She wanted to create a level playing field for founders who were building on willpower rather than repeatable systems. Today she works with sub-$1M founders to provide the structural architecture that allows them to lead strategically while their businesses run reliably. Her goal: to convince founders that documenting processes creates room for innovation rather than stifling it, and to redefine what success looks like for female founders beyond survival-mode endurance. ### Diana Lowe | [Blue Light Leadership](https://www.bluelightleadership.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) Diana Lowe's career began in finance, living abroad just out of college, wide-eyed and energised. Then reality hit. Job after job became a battlefield. One manager told her in detail why every teammate supposedly hated her, without offering a single solution. Another awarded her a used pair of tighty-whities in front of the entire company at a town hall, calling her "the most annoying person" for sitting in his seat. There were days she wished she'd get hit by a bus, not to die, but to have a legitimate reason to stop showing up. Eventually she was diagnosed with clinical depression. In recovery, she made a vow: she would do everything she could to stop bad bosses from ruining people's lives. That vow became Blue Light Leadership. Today she is a certified cognitive behavioural coach helping organisations retain their top talent by transforming technical experts into impactful people leaders. Her book Hard to Handle became an Amazon bestseller, with a companion workbook, audiobook, and Spanish edition all coming this year. ### Tiffany Woodman | [Canna Bella Wellness](https://www.mycannabella.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) Tiffany Woodman's inspiration came from her own experience as a woman in her 40s and the conversations she kept having with friends going through the same things. She wanted support they could trust. At Canna Bella Wellness, she worked with a renowned PhD to create high-quality supplements designed to match moods with what the body may need, without white-labelling or chasing trends. Beyond products, she is building an ecosystem that helps women understand their patterns, walk into doctor appointments prepared, and take action with real data in hand. ### Elizabeth Rosenberg | [The Good Advice Company](https://www.thegoodadvicecompany.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) Elizabeth Rosenberg quit her job in March 2020\. A week later, the world shut down. The time at home gave her space to ask what brought her joy, what she was good at, and what could make her money. The intersection of those three things and twenty-plus years of brand, PR, and communications experience became The Good Advice Company. She helps executives find their ownable narrative and show up with authority, blending storytelling, intuitive intelligence, and communications strategy. She recently launched Chief Spiritual Officer, a leadership platform redefining what modern leadership looks like when it's grounded, intentional, and human. This global movement helps executives integrate intuition and spiritual health into how they lead, decide, and show up in business. ### Nelly Yusupova | [TechSpeak](https://techspeak.co/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) Nelly Yusupova spent years as a CTO watching the same story repeat itself: brilliant founders losing tens of thousands of dollars because they didn't know how to think about technology strategically. The problem wasn't that they needed to learn to code. They needed a different framework entirely. She founded TechSpeak to give non-technical founders that framework, helping them validate ideas, build MVPs, and use AI and technology to grow their businesses with confidence. Her focus is expanding access to tech education for underrepresented entrepreneurs, particularly women. ### Jenni Kavanagh | [ClimbUp Coaching](https://www.climbupcoaching.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) Jenni Kavanagh spent years in the Data and AI space watching capable people get promoted into leadership roles and then struggle. Not because they were not good enough, but because no one had prepared them for what leadership now demands. She felt it herself. The expectations of leaders have risen sharply, especially with AI accelerating everything, but leadership capability has not kept pace. ClimbUp Coaching exists to close that gap, helping leaders make better decisions, carry less pressure, and lead in a way that does not burn them or their teams out in the process. ### Erika Biddix | [erikabiddix.com](https://www.erikabiddix.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) Erika Biddix is a speaker, strategist, founder, and community builder who believes the strongest strategies are those that account for reality. She spends her days aggressively helping others and working to change the narrative that ROI can only be measured financially. Her work is rooted in the conviction that the power of community can create something that strategy alone never could. ### Abi Harmon | [House Harmon](https://www.househarmon.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) Abi Harmon was a high-performing tech executive who believed success meant pushing harder, sleeping less, and powering through. Until she began studying the neuroscience of stress and realised that the smartest people in the room were often operating with nervous systems that were completely maxed out. House Harmon was born from that insight: that leadership is not just mental, it is physiological. When you train the system that runs your brain and body, everything else changes. ### Kim Richards | [Caring for Mama](https://caringformama.co/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) Kim Richards founded Caring for Mama as the flagship initiative of the Caring Collective, a growing effort to reimagine care as essential infrastructure for families and caregivers. Through curated care boxes and partnerships with nonprofits and organizations, she delivers tangible, timely support to mothers navigating postpartum recovery, illness, and burnout, as well as family caregivers moving through major life transitions. Sourcing from more than 50 women-owned and impact-driven brands, her work supports both those receiving care and a broader ecosystem of women-led businesses, expanding access to care while circulating dollars back into a more connected and care-centered economy. ### Nicole Wilhelmi | [Worcester Wellness Collective](https://worcesterwellnesscollective.my.canva.site/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) After being laid off from her corporate job, Nicole Wilhelmi found herself looking for connection and support within the local wellness community in Central Massachusetts. What she found instead was a gap: no networking opportunities specifically designed for wellness professionals. She built the Worcester Wellness Collective to fill it. Today the network has 322 members and is growing, with regular in-person events, co-working days, and a wellness market featuring over 20 local vendors planned for this September. ### Anna Butterworth | [Ultra Violet Agency](https://www.ultraviolet.agency/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) Anna Butterworth launched Ultra Violet in 2018 after her time as the first promotional communications hire at Elvie, where she discovered that women's health marketing operates by entirely different rules. The education lead time is longer, the barriers are higher, and the standard playbook simply does not apply. Over time, she noticed a deeper problem: the industry was working in silos, building point solutions without anyone asking what the best possible future for women's health could look like. Ultra Violet pivoted from marketing communications to futures forecasting to answer that question. Today it is the only futures agency dedicated to women's health, publishing free trend reports made possible through mission-aligned sponsors. Their most recent report, The Future of Menopause 2035, makes the case plainly: menopause will affect everyone, personally, professionally, or by proxy. ### Michelle Niziol | [IMS Property Group](https://imspropertygroup.co.uk/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) As a teenager, Michelle Niziol nearly lost her home. That experience shaped everything. She took three jobs, kept a roof over her head, and by 18 had bought her first property. From that came a mortgage brokerage, which grew into IMS Property Group — an award-winning, family-run business now in its eighteenth year, helping everyone from first-time buyers to portfolio investors manage the entire property journey under one roof. Twenty-six years on, she has helped more than 20,000 clients build the kind of financial security she was determined to create for herself. She also supports Homeless Oxfordshire, mindful that nearly 40% of UK households are just one missed pay cheque away from losing their home. ### Noelle Federico | [Fortunato Partners Inc.](https://linktr.ee/theworkingstrategist?ref=foundedbywomen.org) Noelle Federico spent 39 years identifying patterns and producing results before turning that accumulated knowledge into a practice built around one conviction: capability alone is never the problem. At Fortunato Partners, she works with leaders and small business owners who are smart, driven, and experienced but stuck — overwhelmed by patterns they cannot see, inconsistent in execution, or unclear on strategy. Her work cuts through that noise: getting clients clear on how they lead and communicate, and building strategies they can actually execute. Next, she is scaling access through her Unbreakable Wisdom brand, expanding her community, and deepening practical business education for those who want to operate at a higher level. ### Deepika Phakke | [Nama Water & Ayurvedist](https://linktr.ee/theluckiestwomanalive?ref=foundedbywomen.org) Deepika Phakke didn't set out to build two brands. She set out to solve two problems she couldn't ignore. Growing up with water scarcity shaped her thinking about hydration long before it became a business, and a bout of long COVID brought her back to her roots in Ayurveda. The result is Nama Water, rethinking sustainable hydration for offices, hotels, and hospitality, and Ayurvedist, a line of functional caffeine-free teas designed to support gut health and longevity rather than deliver a temporary lift. Together they form the beginning of something larger: a portfolio of everyday essentials that make it easy to choose what supports both your health and the planet. --- *This is part of our ongoing 20 Founders On a Mission series. New editions publish regularly. To be featured or nominate a founder, write to us at* [*hi@foundedbywomen.org*](mailto:hi@foundedbywomen.org) ### "I Was Just Trying to Build Something Real": Jordyn Palos on Founding Persona PR at 25, Navigating 16 Years in Entertainment PR, and What Sustainability Actually Looks Like URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/women-who-lead/i-was-just-trying-to-build-something-real-jordyn-palos-on-founding-persona-pr-at-25-navigating-16-years-in-entertainment-pr-and-what-sustainability-actually-looks-like/ Last updated: 2026-03-30T02:48:33.000Z Jordyn Palos launched [Persona PR](https://persona-pr.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) in 2010 from her Los Angeles apartment at 25 - no investors, no financial safety net, and significant consumer debt. What she had was four years of agency experience, a handful of clients who believed in her, and a clear priority: make the transition completely seamless for them. Sixteen years later, Persona PR is a bi-coastal firm with offices in Los Angeles and New York City, a team of 10, and a roster of close to 200 clients spanning award-winning actors, New York Times bestselling authors, directors, showrunners, writers, and leading voices in the creator economy. The agency has navigated every major shift the entertainment industry has thrown at it - the rise of streaming, the explosion of social media, the actors and writers strikes, and the COVID pandemic - and come out the other side with the same philosophy it started with: do the work, be excellent, be honest, and build with the right people. In 2015, *Variety* named Jordyn one of Hollywood’s New Leaders. She currently mentors students at CSUN and authored an op-ed for *Variety* examining how the SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes impacted professionals beyond the guilds. She is also a wife and mother—and is refreshingly honest about the reality that doing everything at once, perfectly, isn’t possible. As Persona PR approaches its 16th anniversary this May, Jordyn reflects on what it took to build something with real longevity in one of the most relationship-driven industries in the world - and why, in 2026, boutique is her greatest competitive advantage. > Know a woman leader who belongs in this series? Reach out at [hi@foundedbywomen.org](mailto:hi@foundedbywomen.org) --- **Q: You founded Persona PR in 2010 at 25 from your LA apartment with no team, no office, and no blueprint for what a modern boutique entertainment PR firm could look like. For female founders building service businesses from scratch, what did those early years actually look like - how did you land your first clients, build credibility before you had a track record, and make the decision to scale rather than stay small?** I had about four years of agency experience and a handful of clients who believed in me enough to come along when I left to start Persona PR. Within my first week of leaving my job, I had a simple website, a P.O. Box, and one clear priority: make the transition completely seamless for my clients. I didn’t have investors or a financial safety net—in fact, I had significant consumer debt. A big part of my drive came from the belief that I could build a better life for myself, create stability, and take control of my own path. The early years were extremely scrappy. I was doing everything myself, mailing magazines from a gas station post office, pitching, reporting, and invoicing. There was no real separation between work and life; I worked constantly. But that time was invaluable because it forced me to understand every part of the business from the ground up. I didn’t focus on building credibility in a traditional way; I focused on doing the work. Delivering on what I said I would, being honest when something didn’t land, and staying consistent. Over time, that built trust, and word of mouth became the foundation of the business. My first hire was an intern I later brought on full-time, and from there, I grew the team slowly and intentionally, eventually expanding to New York City. I never set out with a big plan to scale; it was simply a response to demand. As more clients came in and the right people wanted to be part of the company and the vision, growth became the natural next step. At its core, my approach hasn’t changed: do the work, be excellent, be honest, and build with the right people. **Q: Variety named you one of "Hollywood's New Leaders" in 2015, and since then Persona PR has grown to represent award-winning actors, NYT bestselling authors, directors, showrunners, and digital creators across film, TV, theater, and beyond. Entertainment PR is a notoriously relationship-driven industry - how have you built and maintained media relationships over 16 years as the landscape has shifted from traditional press to digital, podcasts, and social? And what does "boutique" actually mean in 2026 when your clients need national and international coverage?** What’s unique about entertainment publicity is that it’s not just about media relationships, those are critical, but they’re only one piece of a much larger ecosystem. Our work requires deep, ongoing relationships across the entire industry: managers, agents, attorneys, studio and network publicists, glam teams, fashion houses, and now platform teams at companies like Meta, TikTok, and YouTube. Because our client roster spans award-winning actors, showrunners, writers, authors, and leading voices within the creator economy (to name a few), our relationships have to be equally expansive and adaptable. Over the past 20 years since I got my start, one of the biggest shifts has been the expansion of where and how stories are told. Traditional press still matters, but it now exists alongside podcasts, digital platforms, and of course, social media. The core of relationship building, though, hasn’t changed. It’s about trust, consistency, and delivering value on both sides. That’s what sustains relationships over time, regardless of the medium. On a global level, the landscape has changed dramatically. Our clients are filming, living, and creating all over the world, and with the rise of streaming platforms and social media, content travels instantly. Audiences are no longer tied to one market, and neither are we. As a firm, we’re constantly tapping into both national and international opportunities, building campaigns that reflect where the audience actually is, not just geographically, but culturally and digitally. When it comes to the term “boutique” in 2026, to me it means bespoke. We’re not a 200-person, corporate-backed agency—we run each client’s publicity campaign or how I like to view it, another arm of their business, with a highly individualized, 360-degree approach. For a long time, I thought boutique meant “small” or “limiting.” Today, I see it as our greatest advantage. It allows us to be deeply involved, highly strategic, and incredibly responsive, and that level of attention is what our clients value most. **Q: You've written op-eds for Variety on workplace change, mentor students at CSUN, and sit on advisory boards - all while running a growing agency and being a wife and mother. For female founders navigating leadership, visibility, and personal life simultaneously, what have you learned about sustainability and setting the terms of your own success? And what does Persona PR's 16-year anniversary mean to you personally?** One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned is that sustainability isn’t about balance, it’s about alignment. There are seasons where work requires more of you, and seasons where your personal life does, and I’ve had to become comfortable with that ebb and flow instead of chasing the idea of doing everything perfectly at once. There is no perfect. If I’m being completely transparent, it’s impossible to show up fully for faith, family, career, and friendships all at the same time. It’s a constant work in progress, and I just try to be the best example I can be and trust that it’s enough. Setting the terms of my own success has meant getting very clear on what matters to me. I’m deeply committed to building a business that is respected, that delivers for clients, and that creates real opportunity for my team, but equally important is being present for my family and building a life that feels stable and fulfilling. What mattered to me at 30 is very different from what matters at 40\. Time and experience have a way of refining your priorities. That clarity has been essential in guiding decisions, especially during more demanding seasons. I’ve also learned that you can’t do it alone. Mentorship, both giving it and receiving it, has been a defining part of my journey. Whether it’s working with students or fostering mentorship within my own firm, staying connected to the next generation and to other leaders keeps me grounded and continuously evolving. Reaching 16 years with Persona PR feels incredibly meaningful. It’s hard to believe how quickly the time has passed. I have more wrinkles, now! When I launched the company, I was just trying to build something real, working day to day and hustling 24/7, doing whatever it took to be taken seriously and prove I belonged in the room. To now have built something with real longevity, something that has grown alongside the industry and remained steadfast through challenging moments like COVID, the actors and writers strikes, and the devastating fires in Los Angeles last year, is something I’m extremely proud of. It represents not just the work but the resilience, the risks, and the belief that it was all possible in the first place. Sixteen years in I’m still building with the same mindset I started with, just with more perspective and greater responsibility. I feel incredibly lucky to wake up every day passionate about this career, and to do it alongside the best people in the business. *Follow Jordyn Palos on Instagram* [*@jordynpalos*](https://www.instagram.com/jordynpalos/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) *and Persona PR* [*@personapr*](https://www.instagram.com/personapr/?ref=foundedbywomen.org)*, or visit Persona PR at* [*www.persona-pr.com*](http://www.persona-pr.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) > Are you a woman leader with a story to tell? We'd love to feature you. Get in touch at [hi@foundedbywomen.org](mailto:hi@foundedbywomen.org) ### "I Started with Every Hat and Trusted the Process": Michelle Blue on Founding Next YE Development, Reaching 10,000 Students Across NYC, and Building a Business Rooted in Purpose, Possibility, and Prosperity URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/women-who-lead/i-started-with-every-hat-and-trusted-the-process-michelle-blue-on-founding-next-ye-development-reaching-10-000-students-across-nyc-and-building-a-business-rooted-in-purpose-possibility/ Last updated: 2026-03-27T14:31:43.000Z **Michelle Blue** is a TEDx speaker, entrepreneur, and trained psychoanalytical coach with over 12years of experience transforming how individuals approach work and life. As the Founder of Next YE Development, an education consultancy focused on future-ready entrepreneurial andcareer development programs, she equips early talent and educators with the mindset, skills,and tools needed to thrive in a rapidly changing world. Since 2021, Next has supported over10,000 students and educators across New York City. Michelle is committed to empoweringmore than one million people and teams by 2035 to build futures rooted in purpose, possibility,and prosperity. --- ### Q: Did you start the venture alone? Yes, I started Next YE Development on my own.In the early stages, I did everything: designing the curriculum, facilitating workshops, building partnerships, handling operations, and figuring things out in real time. It was very much a “figure it out and make it happen” season.As the work started to grow, one of the most important decisions I made was to bring on facilitators who were also entrepreneurs. That was really intentional for me. I didn’t just want instructors—I wanted students to learn from people actively building, failing, pivoting, and creating in real life.Now, we’ve built a strong team of facilitators and collaborators who bring the work to life at a high level. But those early days definitely required me to wear every hat and trust the process. ### Q: What’s your business model, and how have you grown your revenue? Our business model is centered around B2B partnerships with schools, districts, and corporate organizations that are invested in education and workforce development.We design and deliver: - Future-ready curriculum - Workshops and multi-session programs - Teacher trainings - Large-scale events and career experiences We also partner with corporations and institutions that want to support talent pipeline development and community impact, aligning our programming with their goals.In terms of revenue growth, it’s really come down to three things: **Delivering real impact** We focus heavily on outcomes—student engagement, skill development, and transformation. That’s led to a 95% customer return rate, which has been huge for sustainable growth. **Building strong relationships** A lot of our growth has come from referrals, renewals, and expanding within existing school systems and partners. **Evolving our offerings** We’ve grown from single workshops to district-wide curriculum development, multi-program partnerships, and larger contracts. As the need for future-ready skills continues to grow, we’ve positioned ourselves as a long-term partner, not just a one-time vendor.Now, we’re focused on scaling that model—expanding into more cities, deepening corporate partnerships, and continuing to build programs that prepare students and entrepreneurs to thrive in a rapidly changing world. ### "I Knew How Hard I Worked, and I Wanted to Pour That Into Something of My Own": Ashley White on Leaving Atlantic Records, Founding AWPR, and Why Caring Is the Most Underrated Skill in Music PR URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/women-who-lead/i-knew-how-hard-i-worked-and-i-wanted-to-pour-that-into-something-of-my-own-ashley-white-on-leaving-atlantic-records-founding-awpr-and-why-caring-is-the-most-underrated-skill-in-music-p/ Last updated: 2026-03-27T08:29:43.000Z Ashley White spent 15 years at Atlantic Records - 11 in New York City and four working remotely from Austin, Texas, where she had moved to give her kids a different way of life. That remote chapter, which predated COVID by years, taught her something important: she could do this job from anywhere. Atlantic gave her the space to prove it. And when a layoff eventually came, she was ready. "I knew how hard I worked," she says, "and I wanted to pour that work into something of my own. It didn't feel right to ask permission from someone to go pick up my kids from school at this point in my career." She founded [Ashley White Public Relations](https://www.ashleywhitepr.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) in Austin - a boutique firm rooted in the belief that the best PR isn't only about generating coverage, it's about deepening the relationship between creators and their audiences. The clients she'd spent years earning the trust of became her first believers. Halestorm, whose lead singer Lzzy Hale Ashley describes as "always inspiring and empowering to women," was her first client. Jason Mraz followed. Both are still with her today, a testament to her priority of long-term, deep partnerships fueled by trust. In addition to the clients who followed her from Atlantic, since starting AWPR Ashley has partnered with Neon Trees, Lady Blackbird, The Script, and Disney Concerts among others. Her clients have earned GRAMMY Awards, been featured in Rolling Stone, and appeared on everything from American Idol to NPR. And Austin Woman magazine named her a 2024 Changemaker - the same year she became inaugural Co-Chair of Women in Music's Austin chapter. What sets her apart, according to the people she works with, is simple: she cares. Deeply. Growing up in New Orleans as the daughter of two musicians, she saw firsthand what it costs artists to put themselves out there - and built her entire practice around honoring that. In this conversation, Ashley shares what it took to take the leap, how she thinks about authentic storytelling in an era of noise, and why the artists she grew up around shaped everything about how she shows up for her clients. > Know a woman leader who belongs in this series? Reach out at [hi@foundedbywomen.org](mailto:hi@foundedbywomen.org) --- ### From 15 Years at Atlantic Records to Founding Your Own Boutique Agency - What Made You Go Independent in 2018 *You spent 15 years at Atlantic Records - first in New York, then remotely from Austin - boosting the careers of artists like Jason Mraz, Vance Joy, and Halestorm. In 2018, you founded Ashley White Public Relations. For female founders considering leaving corporate roles to start their own agencies, what made you decide to go independent? How did longtime collaborators like Halestorm and Jason Mraz come with you? What's your advice for building a boutique agency while competing with the resources and budgets of major labels?* I started Ashley White Public Relations after I was laid off from Atlantic Records. I don't know if I would have taken the leap without a little push, but in retrospect, it forced me to get real about a dream that seemed far away. I knew how hard I worked, and I knew that I wanted to pour that work into something of my own. It didn't feel right to ask permission from someone to go pick up my kids from school at this point in my career. I wanted flexibility to be present for my family. Halestorm validated the idea when I was considering it. They had a new album coming out, and when I mentioned that I was considering taking the leap, they assured me that they would be my first client. They were the first band I was assigned at Atlantic when I was promoted to lead my own projects, and the first client to sign with AWPR. Working with them has always been very rewarding, as the band is immensely talented, and Lzzy Hale is and always has been so inspiring and empowering to women. I don't take that partnership for granted. Jason is another artist who I've always felt so grateful to serve and who brings so much earnestness and thoughtfulness to everything he does. I don't think there's any real "convincing" these artists - there wasn't a secret plan to bring them over. It was years and years of earning their trust by working hard for them and being transparent every step of the way. And that's a responsibility that I carry over to my new clients - if they are entrusting me, it's my privilege and my duty to be a true partner, working tirelessly and collaborating with them and their teams to help them reach their goals. --- ### "Changing the World One Story at a Time" - Your Framework for Authentic Storytelling vs. Generic Music PR *You've said your clients are "musicians, authors and creators who document the human experience, shape conversations and spark movements." Your clients say things like "she goes above and beyond" and "her dedication to understanding an artist's story is what truly sets her apart." For female founders in creative industries, what's the difference between PR that builds genuine fan relationships versus PR that's just noise? How do you help artists figure out what their authentic story actually is? What makes a campaign resonate emotionally versus just generate coverage that doesn't matter?* I see my role as deepening the relationship fans have with creators. There's no direct ROI - you (usually) can't draw a line from press to increased streams or ticket sales. But when you hear something on a Spotify playlist that moves you or discover someone on TikTok who grabs your attention, you want to know more. You find and read stories about the person who created them - that's where PR comes in. Or if you're listening to your favorite podcast, and an artist you don't know tells a personal story of grief or of love or makes you laugh, and it prompts you to look them up to hear what they've created - that is the effect of PR. And it's not only humans finding and consuming these stories to have a better idea of who these creators are: we live in an age where AI provides fans a fuller picture of who artists are based on their media placements. Because AI weights earned media more than the content that appears on their social profiles, we're entering into a new era where an artist's public profile is even more dependent on the stories that they share in major media outlets. My goal with all of my artists is to give fans, casual or devoted, a glimpse into why this person creates. What moves them, what motivates them, what keeps them up, and what gets them out of bed. There is so much noise in the pop culture and media landscapes, but ultimately, every person is looking to connect with someone else that they can relate to. That is an instinctive human desire. And when artists share their stories and connect on a personal level, that is an emotional connection that runs deep for fans. --- ### Growing Up in New Orleans as the Daughter of Two Musicians - How Your Background Shapes Your Approach to Artist PR *You grew up in New Orleans immersed in music as the daughter of two musicians. For female entrepreneurs building businesses in industries they grew up around, how has your musical background shaped your approach to working with artists? What do you understand about "the beauty and vulnerability of artistic expression" that publicists without that background miss? How do you balance protecting artists' creative vision while also pushing them to take PR opportunities that feel uncomfortable?* My parents are really the reason I chose to become a publicist and not a journalist. I saw them get beat down time and time again while they were creating and trying to make a living. I always loved writing, but I wanted a career where I partnered with artists and advocated for them. I've been told before that people hire me because I "care." And I do. When I want to give up on a day of all nos, I keep going because I owe it to the client to stay persistent. I've seen what they've been through, and how many times they've faced rejection, and I need to honor that by not giving up on my small part. I rarely purposely put my clients in spaces where they are uncomfortable. However, there are times that I believe that by being vulnerable or by saying yes to an opportunity, they are going to tell a story that someone needs to hear or to inspire someone - then I feel like it's my duty to convey that. Or there are opportunities that might not be ideal, but are a stepping stone to a larger goal. Those are also times when I believe sharing my insight is necessary and worthwhile. The bottom line is that when your relationship is based on trust, you can be vulnerable with each other and have hard discussions. But that is where growth happens for everyone - stepping outside your comfort zone and taking thoughtful leaps into unfamiliar territory. > Are you a woman leader with a story to tell? We'd love to feature you. Get in touch at [hi@foundedbywomen.org](mailto:hi@foundedbywomen.org) ### "I Built Everything From Scratch, With Zero Connections": Mara Cracaleanu on Founding Melancholia Pictures at 24, Breaking Into International Film, and Why You Don't Need Permission to Build Globally URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/women-who-lead/i-built-everything-from-scratch-with-zero-connections-mara-cracaleanu-on-founding-melancholia-pictures-at-24-breaking-into-international-film-and-why-you-dont-need-permission-to-build-g/ Last updated: 2026-03-26T01:58:17.000Z Mara Cracaleanu founded her first company while still at university - in her room, in a country where she knew no one. By 24, she had built two companies from the ground up and was developing internationally oriented film and television projects with collaborators across London, Milan, New York, and Los Angeles. Today, she is the founder and producer at [Melancholia Pictures](https://www.melancholiapictures.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org), a UK and Romania-based production company focused on independent films and international co-productions. Her work has earned over 70 awards and selections at some of the most competitive festivals in the world - including TIFF, BFI Flare, Torino Film Festival, FIPADOC, and Rhode Island International Film Festival. She won the Council of Europe Series Co-Development Award for her docu-series project, which she is now developing in collaboration with HBO alongside a slate of 5+ feature films and series. She regularly participates in major film markets and festivals including Cannes, Berlinale, and Venice, and has received mentorship from Netflix and HBO executives through the Film London Connect program. She holds diplomas in Law and Leadership from Harvard, and is a member of Women in Film & TV UK and Women in Film Los Angeles. Mara built all of this without a roadmap, without connections, and without waiting until she felt ready. In this conversation, she shares what building a global production company actually looks like day to day, what moves the needle in independent film, and what first-time producers consistently get wrong about the business side of filmmaking. > Know a woman leader who belongs in this series? Reach out at [hi@foundedbywomen.org](mailto:hi@foundedbywomen.org) --- **Q:* You built Melancholia Pictures across two countries and multiple continents at 24, developing co-productions with collaborators in London, Milan, New York, and LA. For female founders building internationally from day one - what does that actually look like operationally? How do you finance, pitch, and manage projects across borders when you're still early in your career, and what's your advice for women who want to build global businesses without waiting until they feel "ready"?* **A:** It’s a bit of a nightmare. It’s a mix of laughter and tears as I’m saying this. It can sound very high-level from the outside, but in reality it’s many hours of work, sleepless nights, days full of meetings, and others when you feel like nothing is moving. It’s constant networking, planning, organising, scheduling, multitasking, coordinating - especially when working on international co-productions, where time differences mean waking up at 5am or taking calls late in the evening. Within the company, it’s myself, and I’m very lucky to have three other partners, one based in New York. We’re pushing from different directions, expanding our network and bringing in new collaborators. But as the founder and managing director, all operations and decisions come through me, which makes the workload heavier, especially with a branch in Romania that I’m also responsible for. Some days I focus on the UK, other days on Romania. Multitasking is essential - you have to make sense of all the open tabs in front of you and find a way to close them. Financing is always the most challenging part, and like many in the independent film sector right now, I’m navigating that struggle. I try to think outside the box, reaching out to places that wouldn’t be considered a “traditional” route. And I’m still learning. There’s always more to absorb, it never feels like enough for me. I’m very proud of how we pitch and package our projects. We look for bold, original concepts and aim to hit that “sweet spot” - something that doesn’t yet exist in the market, that gap. We keep things sharp, clear, and concise, constantly refining how we present ourselves to stand out. And I’m still finding my voice, and that’s the beauty of it. You try, fail, get back up, shift direction, and keep going. You have to believe in what you’re building. My advice to women building global businesses: don’t wait for permission. Focus on what you do best, find your passion, and build relentlessly. You have to believe in it before anyone else will. Even if your idea doesn’t feel “revolutionary,” it’s still valid and capable of creating change. I built everything from scratch, with zero connections. I moved to a new country without knowing anyone. I founded the UK company in my room while still at university, with nothing but an idea - just passion and a drive I couldn’t silence. **Q*: Independent film is notoriously difficult to break into, and yet your projects have screened at TIFF, BFI Flare, Torino, and FIPADOC, and you're now developing a docu-series with HBO. What actually moves the needle - festivals, co-production labs, markets, or relationships? And how did you get in the room with the right people before you had the track record to back it up?* **A:** By believing in your project. That’s the first thing you have to do. As a producer, you have to be the driving force behind your projects and map out a way to give them a platform and a voice. And of course, relationships - who you know, who you meet, and who you build a bond with - can make a difference. I’ve managed to acquire these skills and access certain opportunities because of the connections I’ve built. It’s a mix of things - attending festivals and markets definitely helps (going to Cannes, Berlinale, Venice, as well as smaller ones, helped me a lot. I’ve gathered friends, a network of people I still keep in touch with every year, and built a “little family”). But equally important is to think strategically - to submit to labs and markets where the project is a good fit. The docu-series I’m developing now, and the collaboration with various streamers, started from submitting it to a specialised lab. That’s where you have the chance to network meaningfully, have industry mentors, and one-on-one discussions, as well as dissect every part of the project, what’s working, what’s not. Feedback is great, you need that, but only up to a certain point. You have to stand up for what you believe in and keep developing your idea until it finds the right collaborators and the right place in the market. Then the right people will follow. I’ve knocked on many doors before someone opened one. And the battle is far from being over, it’s constant, you need to push, push, push. Sometimes it’s daunting to be a young woman in a room full of older people, the decision-makers, the “dinosaurs” as we call them. But it’s important to remember that you have as much power as they do. Age doesn’t matter. If you have something to say and show, that’s all that’s needed. People might not look at you first, but if you show courage, determination, and never take no for an answer, you’ll get there eventually. **Q:* You've built a production company while navigating a male-dominated industry as a young female founder. What have you learned about protecting yourself legally and commercially - and what do most first-time producers get wrong about the business side of filmmaking?* **A:** As a young female founder in a room full of suits, it’s easy to feel misunderstood and looked down upon. But never let your light diminish, you’re bringing something equally important as those around you, if not even more. You belong in that room. It’s all about negotiation and doing your homework. This industry, and relationships in general - in business and in creation - are all about negotiation and open discussion. I’ve found it’s always better to say things upfront and make sure you’re on the same page with your producing or creative partners before you realise it’s not working. I say homework because you’ve got to be prepared before you enter any room. You have to know what you’re doing, what you’re saying, who you’re talking to - you need to be ready and understand almost everything about the people you’re speaking with (yes, it involves a bit of stalking too). Especially as a first-time producer, you need at least a foundational understanding of the legal and business side. It’s non-negotiable. You have to know how these things work before you start negotiating a deal, talking about your idea, or developing your IP and slate. This is where I think some producers fail. Producing is not just about the creative side, it’s many things. Sometimes you have to act as a lawyer, some days as someone with an analytical, strategic, problem-solving mindset, and other days as a creative supervisor - you will wear many hats. There’s not one single book in this world about how to produce - no one can teach you that. You have to be aware, careful, informed, read and watch a lot, and teach yourself, it’s a constant learning process. Over the years, I’ve devoured books, articles, newspapers, magazines - everything I could get my hands on. This gave me, at least, a theoretical understanding of the nucleus of what lies behind the title of “producer” or “founder” of a creative business. Another important aspect is attending workshops, webinars, and specialised industry training programmes. These are essential for any producer because they cover what film school often doesn’t. We need more hands-on training and experience - these are the most valuable. You learn from your own experiences and mistakes. That’s what I’ve done so far. I always say I’m self-taught - but never in isolation, always shaped by the people I work with and the world around me. > Are you a woman leader with a story to tell? We'd love to feature you. Get in touch at [hi@foundedbywomen.org](mailto:hi@foundedbywomen.org) ### 20 Founders On a Mission: Meet the Women Building What Matters URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/list-feature/20-founders-on-a-mission/ Last updated: 2026-03-25T05:23:18.000Z *This is the first in our ongoing Women's History Month series spotlighting women founders building businesses that matter. Each week throughout March, we're featuring a new group of mission-driven founders from across industries and continents. These are their stories.* Some founders are chasing market share. Others are chasing something harder to measure – impact, meaning, the kind of change that outlasts a funding round. The women in this series refused to separate who they are from what they do. Their stories span leadership, wellness, communications, education, and beyond. But every one of them starts in the same place: a decision to build something real. These are 20 founders on a mission. > *Know a women founder who belongs in this series? We feature founders year-round. Reach out at* [*hi@foundedbywomen.org*](mailto:hi@foundedbywomen.org) --- ### Rakita Lillard-Brown | [Holistree](https://www.holistree.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) Rakita Lillard-Brown is a wellness strategist, retreat curator, and founder of Holistree, a luxury wellness brand devoted to helping Black women build resourced, sustainable lives. Through immersive retreats and community experiences rooted in The Sweet Life philosophy, she creates spaces where powerful women can rest, reconnect, and expand their leadership without sacrificing themselves. Her work is driven by a commitment to redefining success so that power and care can exist together. --- ### Sana Fatima | [My**SafeTherapy**](https://www.mysafetherapy.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) Sana Fatima watched professionals silently suffer through stress and burnout for years — first as a global HR leader, then as a psychotherapist. Support was always reactive, hard to access, and rarely built to last. So, she built something different. The MySafe ecosystem combines AI tools, therapy, and weekly progress insights to help people develop genuine self-awareness and build emotional muscle over time - your emotional gym, shifting mental health from a clinical response to an everyday practice. Through MySafeWellbeing, she brings that same approach into organisations, helping leaders move from crisis management to proactive, data-informed care for their people. --- ### Sharise Nance | [Vitamin C Healing](https://www.sharisenance.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) Sharise Nance, LCSW, CCTP didn't set out to become an entrepreneur. She set out to help people. As a social worker early in her career, she saw how the people doing the most important work in communities were often the most depleted – carrying trauma, overwhelming caseloads, and systems that expected endless giving without sustainable support. That observation became a mission. Through Vitamin C Healing and the SWAG Alliance Foundation, she helps organisations understand compassion fatigue, secondary trauma, and the quiet load that leaders and helping professionals carry. Her guiding belief: you cannot build healthy systems on the backs of exhausted people. --- ### Melissa Sherry | [Works Well Consulting](https://www.workswellconsulting.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) Melissa Sherry works with mission-driven leaders to cut through the noise and turn big-picture ideas into clear, actionable plans for their teams. Her focus is on straightforward training and operations – the kind that makes sure everyone knows exactly how to contribute to organizational success. That focus is rooted in her own experience. In her early 20s, Melissa worked in corporate environments where she felt she had to wear a mask to succeed – over-performing within rigid structures that stifled who she was, eventually leading to burnout and a mental health leave at 26. That turning point shaped her approach today. Melissa builds systems that put people at the center – not just for efficiency, but to create clarity and alignment for teams in a way she once lacked. No overcomplicated frameworks. Just clarity, alignment, and work that actually works. --- ### Marcey Rader | [RaderCo](https://www.marceyrader.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) In her 30s, Marcey Rader was addicted to more. More work. More travel. More achievement. She travelled 48 weeks a year, competed in over 100 ultra and endurance events, and wore busyness like a badge of honour. Then it cost her her health, her marriage, and her ability to enjoy the life she was working so hard to build. That reckoning became a business. Today, through RaderCo, she helps teams break the cycle of constant busyness – not by doing everything faster, but by doing what matters most, sustainably. A multi-award-winning Certified Speaking Professional and four-time author, her clients include Delta Air Lines, Vertex Pharmaceuticals, and the U.S. Treasury. --- ### Emily Bissen | [Blue Heron Business Partners](https://www.blueheronbusinesspartners.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) Emily Bissen saw the gap while working at a business coaching firm: the coaches were missing the human element. They weren't seeing that the person and the business aren't separate things. So she built something different. Through Blue Heron Business Partners, she works with solopreneurs and small business owners using Human Design as a framework to help clients understand how they work best, then realigns their offers, marketing, and voice so that selling and showing up start to feel natural instead of forced. Her vision: a full community ecosystem where service-based entrepreneurs can grow without burning out or compromising what matters to them. --- ### Liesl Drought | [Liesl Coaching](https://www.lieslcoaching.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) We spend so much of our lives at work – it shapes who we are, what we feel capable of, and how much energy we have left for everything else that matters. That's the conviction behind Liesl Drought's work. Passionate about burnout and the job search, she helps people build careers that add to their lives rather than drain them. Because everyone deserves work that energises rather than depletes. --- ### Camille L. Miller | [Soul Professional Network](https://www.soulprofessional.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) Camille L. Miller started with a simple observation: remarkable, purpose-driven people were everywhere – but most of them felt a quiet tension between who they were and what they did professionally. Her response was equally simple: these people should know each other. What began as a coffee club has grown into the Soul Professional Network, now spanning six continents and more than 48 countries and counting. The network operates on an open-access model built around partnerships and affiliations, rooted in a belief that people should be able to bring their gifts to the world regardless of their financial circumstances. --- ### Erika Matallana | [Threadwell Studio](https://www.threadwellstudio.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) After more than twenty years navigating corporate spaces as a Latina communications leader – often the only one in the room – Erika Matallana stepped away from her corporate role in 2024 to build something more aligned. Threadwell Studio is a strategic communications consultancy that helps mission-driven organisations close the gap between what they say externally and what people experience internally. Through the Threadwell Framework™ and the Culture Resonance Engine™, she helps leadership teams align culture, behaviour, and messaging so that communication reflects organisational reality. Her work also champions in-house communicators – the people who often carry the most operational intelligence in an organisation, yet are too rarely given a seat at the strategy table. --- ### Murphy Hopkins-Hubbard | [Stamp](https://thesocialstamp.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) Murphy is the Founder of Stamp, a start up on a mission to bring trust, accountability and impact to the creator economy. Driven to create safer online spaces for audiences, creators, brands and agencies Stamp brings trust, transparency, and accountability to the global influencer economy. They are not an agency. Not a marketplace. They are building the first ethical certification and compliance toolkit for digital creators, agencies, and brands. Think of them as the ethical trustmark for digital influence, a layer of infrastructure that verifies creator behaviour, flags content risk, and strengthens brand safety. --- ### Jennifer Chaibet | [Excelling in Hospitality](https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifer-chaibet/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) After building a twenty-year career in luxury hospitality and events, Jennifer Chaibet became a multi-award-winning entrepreneur with a clear mission: to help others succeed without losing themselves in the process. Today she mentors hospitality professionals and entrepreneurs to strengthen their mindset, lead with confidence, and build careers they are truly proud of – without burning out along the way. --- ### Georgina Shute | [KindTwo](https://www.linkedin.com/in/georgina-shute/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) After facing brain surgery at 15, Georgina Shute built an unconventional path that included over twenty jobs, learning Serbian, and spending time living between the UK and the Balkans. She went on to consult with some of the UK’s biggest brands on major technology transformations and share her story at the House of Lords. Today she is the founder of KindTwo, helping leaders rethink how they work so that ambition and wellbeing can exist together – not as opposing forces, but as partners. --- ### Lauren Chiren | [Women of a Certain Stage](https://www.womenofacertainstage.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) In her early 40’s, after 18 months of sleeplessness, spiking anxiety, and a loss of the lightning-fast recall that had defined her career as a senior financial services leader, Lauren Chiren believed she might have early-onset dementia. She left her job. It turned out she had experienced premature menopause. That misdiagnosis became a mission. Today, Women of a Certain Stage is a global, evidence-based platform providing menopause education, certification, and workplace culture change. She has worked with 400+ companies globally, trained over 1,800 Menopause Champions and Coaches across 36 countries, and spoken at the Sydney Opera House, in Johannesburg, and across the US, UK, and Middle East. --- ### Lucy Brazier | [Executive Support Media](https://executivesupportmedia.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) For decades, one of the most influential roles inside organisations has also been one of the most misunderstood. Lucy Brazier set out to change that. Fifteen years ago she launched Executive Support Magazine to give the administrative profession the professional infrastructure it had always deserved – research, development pathways, and recognition. That publication has since grown into Executive Support Media, a global platform she has taken to over sixty countries and six continents. This month, in conjunction with the World Administrator's Alliance, she is launching the next evolution of the Global Skills Matrix – a free resource that builds clear career pathways for administrative professionals worldwide. --- ### Claire Ashton | [Inna Health](https://inna.health/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) Claire Ashton founded Inna Health after her own search for answers that conventional approaches couldn't provide. That journey led her to bioresonance, nutrition, light, minerals and emotional healing – and to a deeper understanding of how intelligent the body truly is. At Inna, she helps people step back from the noise, understand what their body is communicating, and reconnect with their innate capacity for health. Rather than treating isolated symptoms, Inna looks at the body as an interconnected system – using bioresonance, bio-energetic nutrition and lifestyle guidance to support the body's natural return to balance. --- ### Autumn Noble | [The Lawyer Life Collective](https://thelawyerlifecollective.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) After experiencing domestic violence while navigating the gruelling early years of her legal career, Autumn Noble realised that what society called success felt hollow – and that she had lost her identity to her career. Through mindfulness, meditation, yoga, energy work, and coaching, she rebuilt her life and reimagined her path. Today she works as a career coach, speaker, and attorney helping ambitious women redefine success by integrating purpose, career growth, and holistic wellbeing. She is expanding her podcast toward one million listeners and working on her next book. --- ### Wendy Wollner | [Balancing Life's Issues](https://www.balancinglifesissues.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) Raising three children alone – ages 5, 6, and 8 at the time – reshaped how Wendy Wollner saw the relationship between work and life. That lived experience became the foundation for Balancing Life's Issues (BLI), now a global corporate training and consulting company reaching individuals and organisations across multiple countries. Through customised seminars, workshops, and executive coaching, Wendy operates from a single conviction: when people truly thrive, businesses do too. --- ### Dr. Erica Kreismann | [OneWild Coaching](https://www.onewildcoaching.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) An emergency physician turned executive coach, Dr. Erica Kreismann brings a rare lens to leadership development, shaped by years in high-stakes medical environments and a deep commitment to authentic living. Through OneWild Coaching, she helps leaders cultivate self-awareness, courage, and clarity so they can show up fully in their careers and in their lives. Her work is grounded in a belief that personal transformation ripples outward into communities. --- ### Caroline Dowd-Higgins | [carolinedowdhiggins.com](https://carolinedowdhiggins.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) After clocking 90-hour weeks as an executive and surviving burnout firsthand, Caroline Dowd-Higgins built a business around a principle she wishes more organisations would adopt: you shouldn't have to choose between doing great work and living a great life. Today she works as an executive coach, keynote speaker, and talent development consultant helping individuals and organisations connect employee wellbeing to the bottom line. Her bestselling book *Your Career Advantage* is part of a growing platform bringing that message to audiences around the world. --- ### Carolyn Warsham | [carolynwarsham.com](https://www.carolynwarsham.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) With a decade of leadership experience at Salesforce, Google, and Vox Media and three promotions in four years, Carolyn Warsham knows what high performance looks like from the inside. She also knows its cost. A personal awakening mid-career led her to ICF certification as a coach and Reiki certification, and eventually to a new way of working that blends nervous system support, mindfulness, and practical leadership strategy. Today she helps high-performing managers build their own personalised approach to leadership— one that allows them to thrive while continuing to expand their career. *This is part of our ongoing 20 Founders On a Mission series. New editions publish regularly. To be featured or nominate a founder, write to us at* [*hi@foundedbywomen.org*](mailto:hi@foundedbywomen.org) ### Ottinger Employment Lawyers URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/partners/law/ottinger-employment-lawyers/ Last updated: 2026-03-21T05:21:29.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2026/03/Ottinger-Employment-Lawyers-1.png) #### We are one of California's top boutique employment law firms. For more than 25 years, Ottinger Employment Lawyers has focused on just one thing: helping employees resolve serious employment problems. [Visit website](https://www.ottingerlaw.com/san-francisco-employment-lawyers/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ### "Publicity Amplifies Clarity - It Doesn't Create It": Yetunde Shorters on Identity Latency, When Founders Are Ready for Visibility, and Building Authentic Authority vs. Performing Expertise URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/women-who-lead/publicity-amplifies-clarity-it-doesnt-create-it-yetunde-shorters-on-identity-latency-when-founders-are-ready-for-visibility-and-building-authentic-authority-vs-performing-expertise/ Last updated: 2026-03-20T07:09:49.000Z [Yetunde Shorters](https://mysig.io/VPBwpg3J?ref=foundedbywomen.org) was born in Chicago, raised in Lagos, Nigeria, and graduated college at 20\. She built her career as an international publicist working with Grammy, Tony, and MTV Award-winning artists - securing over 1,500 media features reaching 40 million people in outlets including Good Morning America, Essence, Forbes, and CBS News. Then a hospital visit in 2009 due to adrenal fatigue changed everything. That experience pushed her to fully step into her purpose - and pivot. Today, Yetunde is an NLP Master Practitioner, 4x Amazon bestselling author, and founder of ICY Coaching & Consulting International, where she helps female entrepreneurs achieve what she calls "radical clarity" on their purpose and translate that into positioning, visibility, and profit. She has helped 14 clients become bestselling authors and works with founders, executives, and thought leaders across industries from music to medicine. Her approach sits at the intersection of neuroscience and brand strategy. Using her proprietary Identity Integration Framework and the concept of "Identity Latency" - the gap between who a founder has already become internally and how they're still showing up externally - Yetunde helps women stop hiding behind their work and start leading with their full story. In this conversation, she shares how to know when you're ready for visibility, what it looks like to outgrow your brand, and why authentic authority and performing expertise are two very different things. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we'd love to feature your story. Get in touch with us today - [**hi@foundedbywomen.org**](mailto:hi@foundedbywomen.org) --- ## When Founders Know They're Ready for Visibility vs. Still Hiding Behind Their Work **Q:* You work with purpose-driven leaders on what you call "Identity Latency" - closing the gap between who they've become internally and how they're expressing themselves externally. For female founders who feel like they're hiding behind their work, what are the signs that a founder is ready for visibility versus still figuring out their message? How do you help clients recognize when they're holding back versus when they genuinely need more clarity first?* **A:** One of the most common things I see with purpose-driven founders, especially women, is what I call Identity Latency™. It's the gap between who someone has already become internally and how they're still presenting themselves externally. There's a specific moment I watch for, and it's when someone starts apologizing for who they're becoming instead of celebrating it. Many founders assume they're hiding because they're not confident enough yet. When the reality is most times the opposite. They've grown, matured, and evolved faster internally than their brand or messaging has caught up. There are usually four signs that someone is ready for visibility. 1. Their work naturally reflects their new perspective and they're not forcing it. 2. They feel a quiet frustration with how they're currently being seen. 3. They know they are holding back ideas or perspectives because they are not sure how to communicate them yet. 4. They can articulate their evolution clearly and without fear of their past. For example, "I used to believe X, now I know Y." When someone is genuinely not ready, the signal is different. They are still exploring the problem they solve or the impact they want to make, or they keep saying "I should rebrand" but never do. My role is to help founders and leaders close the Identity Latency™ gap by translating who they have become into language, positioning, and presence. Most founders think they need clarity before visibility. Actually, sometimes visibility creates clarity. But you need enough internal alignment that you're not shape-shifting every time you speak or share your message. Once that alignment happens, visibility stops feeling like exposure and starts feeling like leadership. --- ## How to Identify When You've Outgrown Your Current Brand or Message - and What to Do to Get Ready for PR and Visibility **Q:* You've secured 1,500+ publicity features reaching 40M+ people for Grammy, Tony, and MTV Award-winning artists, and now help female entrepreneurs through ICY Coaching & Consulting. For female founders who sense their brand or message no longer fits who they've become, how do you help them identify when they've outgrown their positioning? What's your framework for getting ready for PR and visibility when your old message feels outdated?* **A:** Outgrowing your brand is actually a healthy, good signal. It usually means your experience, perspective, and sense of purpose have expanded. And expansion means growth. We like growth. I often tell founders that brands don't become outdated because of the market. They become outdated because the person behind the brand has evolved and forgets to update us on that upgrade on-time. There are four signs someone has outgrown their message. 1. When the work they are known for no longer reflects the depth of what they actually know. 2. When opportunities they attract feel misaligned with where they want to go next. 3. When explaining what they do begins to feel forced or overly simplified. 4. When they see old interviews or features on themselves and feel like it was lifetimes ago. To become PR-ready after outgrowing your message, first, we do what I call the Identity Integration Framework. We map out who they are NOW, audit the gaps, then intentionally bridge their evolution through their messaging. Openly announcing "this is who I used to be, this is where I am now" and explain why specifically. We pitch their new Breakout story. How they moved from where they were to where they are, and why that journey matters for their audience. Media loves transformation stories, especially when the leader owns their growth instead of apologizing for it. The key is communicating evolution as strength, not inconsistency. We identify: - who they have become - the problem they are uniquely positioned to solve - the perspective that only they can bring to the conversation Publicity amplifies clarity. It doesn't create it. Once someone's identity, message, and positioning are aligned, PR becomes far more powerful because the story being shared is grounded in truth rather than performance. --- ## Building Authentic Authority vs. Performing Expertise **Q:* You're a 4x Amazon bestselling author, NLP Master Practitioner, and have helped 14 clients become bestselling authors. For female entrepreneurs trying to build thought leadership, what's the difference between building authentic authority versus performing expertise? How do you help clients communicate in a way that feels true to who they are versus what they think they're "supposed" to say?* **A:** Authentic authority is built from lived experience and conviction. Performing expertise usually comes from trying to match what other people or your industry expects. The difference is subtle but powerful. Here are 3 signs you may be performing: 1. Using industry jargon to sound credible 2. Avoiding contrarian viewpoints to stay safe 3. Copying successful people's language When someone is performing expertise, their messaging often sounds technically correct but emotionally disconnected. They repeat ideas they've heard in their industry rather than expressing what they genuinely believe. Authentic authority feels different. It has a point of view. It has language that reflects personal experience. And it communicates ideas in a way that makes people feel seen and understood. With my clients, I help them identify their core subconscious values, beliefs, insights, and patterns that have shown up from their life's journey. Those insights become the foundation of their Thought Leadership. When a founder stops trying to sound impressive and starts speaking from clarity and conviction, their authority becomes magnetic. People trust it because it feels real. That's when visibility stops being a performance and becomes an extension of who they actually are. Performing expertise is exhausting because you're constantly trying to sound like someone else's version of an expert. Authentic authority comes from owning your specific angle on universal truths no matter how simple you think it may be. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you’re breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > **👉 hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### "Referrals Are the Byproduct of Doing Excellent Work": Jen Rogers and Lori Jung on Co-Founding Hudson West, Getting Clients on The Today Show and The New York Times, and Building a Bicoastal Agency on Reputation Alone URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/women-who-lead/referrals-are-the-byproduct-of-doing-excellent-work-jen-rogers-and-lori-jung-on-co-founding-hudson-west-getting-clients-on-the-today-show-and-the-new-york-times-and-building-a-bicoastal/ Last updated: 2026-03-20T05:37:44.000Z Jen Rogers and Lori Jung co-founded [Hudson West](http://hudsonwestpr.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) in 2012 - not in a boardroom, but at their daughters' swim lessons. Both had just relocated from New York City to Scottsdale, Arizona, and once they realized they were in the same industry, the idea came quickly. What followed was over a decade of building one of the rare female-owned PR agencies operating entirely on reputation-based referrals, with a 100% female team and a bicoastal presence spanning Scottsdale and Brooklyn. Jen brings a background in entertainment and broadcast PR, having worked at Sony Pictures Television on shows like "Seinfeld" and "Breaking Bad," and becoming an Emmy-nominated producer along the way. Lori is a veteran consumer and lifestyle publicist with 20+ years of experience placing clients in outlets including The Today Show, The New York Times, Food Network, GQ, Sports Illustrated, and Better Homes & Gardens. Together, they've built Hudson West into an agency known for its reporter-first approach, deep media relationships, and a philosophy that great PR amplifies a story - it doesn't manufacture one. In this conversation, Jen and Lori share how they grew a business entirely through referrals, what actually gets clients national media coverage, and how their yin-and-yang partnership has been the foundation of it all. ## Building Hudson West on Referrals Only Since 2012 - Why You Don't Do Outbound Sales and How That Actually Works **Q:* You've operated solely on reputation-based referrals since 2012 - no outbound sales, no cold pitching for clients. For female founders building service businesses, how did you get to the point where you could rely entirely on referrals? What did the early days look like before you had that reputation built? What's your advice for entrepreneurs who want to build referral-based businesses but need clients now?* **A:** When we started Hudson West in 2012, the idea wasn’t that we would only grow through referrals. The reality was simply that the first opportunities came from the relationships we had built over the years working in the industry. Former colleagues, past clients, and people who had seen our work were the ones who trusted us first. Those early years were about proving ourselves all over again, but this time as founders. We took on projects that allowed us to demonstrate how we worked, how we thought about brand storytelling, and how seriously we took the responsibility of representing someone’s business or brand. Over time, something interesting happened. Instead of spending energy chasing new business, the work itself started generating introductions. Clients would finish a launch or campaign and say, “You should talk to Hudson West.” Those introductions carried far more credibility than any outbound sales effort ever could. At a certain point, we made a conscious decision not to build the agency through cold outreach. Public relations is fundamentally a relationship business. If someone is trusting you with their brand and reputation, the strongest starting point is often a trusted introduction. Today, almost every new conversation begins with someone saying they were referred to us by a client, founder, or publicist who has worked with us before. For founders building service businesses, our advice is that referrals are the byproduct of doing excellent work consistently. In the early days, you still have to earn that reputation one project at a time. Focus on delivering results people talk about when you’re not in the room. If you take care of the work and the relationships, referrals tend to follow. ## The Honest Truth About What Gets Clients on Today Show, Food Network, and NYT (and What Doesn't) **Q:* Between you, you've placed clients on The Today Show, Food Network, in The New York Times, GQ, Sports Illustrated, Better Homes & Gardens, and across major outlets. For female founders trying to get national media coverage, what do most people get wrong about pitching to major outlets? What actually makes a pitch land with producers and editors versus get ignored? How should founders know if their business is actually ready for national press versus still too early?* **A:** One of the biggest misconceptions founders have is that national media coverage is about how exciting their company is. Editors and producers are not looking for businesses. They are looking for stories that serve their audience. When a producer at the TODAY show reviews a pitch, they are asking whether the segment will resonate with millions of viewers that morning. A reporter at The New York Times is thinking about the broader cultural or industry conversation their readers care about. The brand itself is likely only one part of that story. The pitches that land usually have three things in common. First, they are timely. There is a clear reason the story matters right now. Second, they are audience-driven. The pitch explains what the reader or viewer gains from the story. Third, they are credible. Founders often reach out to national media before they’ve built enough traction or proof points. Media wants to see momentum, expertise, or a clear point of view within a larger trend. Where founders struggle most is pitching too early or making the story entirely about their company. National media is rarely interested in a product alone. They are interested in the broader narrative the product represents. In our experience, the brands that secure national coverage usually have something larger happening around them: a compelling perspective, cultural relevance such as a launch or newsworthy story, or a role in a trend that journalists are already covering. Public relations doesn’t create a story out of nothing. It helps amplify the story when it’s ready. ## Co-Founding a Bicoastal Agency While Splitting Time Between Scottsdale and Brooklyn - How You Actually Make It Work **Q:* You run a bicoastal operation with Jen between Scottsdale and New York, and Lori based in Brooklyn. For female founders considering co-founding businesses or working with remote partners, what makes a co-founder partnership actually work versus fall apart? How do you divide responsibilities, handle difficult decisions, and maintain the relationship when you're not in the same city? What's your advice for women considering going into business with a partner?* **A:** When we started Hudson West, we were both navigating the realities of raising young families while building careers in an industry that rarely runs on a traditional schedule. The agency grew at the same time our lives were evolving, which is part of why flexibility became central to how we operate. Our partnership works because we share the same values about how we want to build the business and how we want to treat the people we work with. That alignment matters far more than geography. We also have complementary strengths. We don’t approach every decision the same way, and that’s been an advantage. It allows us to divide responsibilities naturally while still staying closely aligned on strategy and major client relationships. Running a bicoastal agency between Scottsdale and New York has actually strengthened the business. Being in different time zones helps tremendously. Our clients operate across the country and internationally, with some as much as twelve hours ahead, so the ability to think and work across different time zones is a real advantage. It also means we can stay incredibly responsive. Whether it’s the right moment to pitch a producer, follow up with a journalist, or jump on an opportunity that moves quickly, someone from our team is always available. Public relations often moves in real time, and that kind of coverage window doesn’t always fall neatly into one workday. What keeps it all working is constant communication. We talk frequently about client work, strategy, team dynamics, and the long-term direction of the agency. That communication keeps decisions aligned even when we’re not physically in the same place. For women considering going into business with a partner, our advice is to focus first on values and trust. Skills can complement each other, but the underlying philosophy about how you run a company has to match. You need the confidence that each person can operate independently while still building the same vision together. When that foundation is there, distance becomes much less important. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you’re breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > **👉 hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### "Creators Are Becoming Entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurs Must Become Creators": Ashley Rudd on Co-Founding MODA PR Over Caesar Salad and Fries, Getting Media-Ready, and Why PR Is Really About Managing Human Beings URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/women-who-lead/creators-are-becoming-entrepreneurs-entrepreneurs-must-become-creators-ashley-rudd-on-co-founding-moda-pr-over-caesar-salad-and-fries-getting-media-ready-and-why-pr-is-really-about-mana/ Last updated: 2026-03-17T05:15:32.000Z Ashley Rudd co-founded [MODA PR](https://www.moda-pr.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) in 2020 over what she calls "the ultimate girl dinner" - Caesar salad, fries, and a Diet Coke. The catalyst? Reading Kelly Cutrone's "If You Have to Cry, Go Outside," which gave her the push to leave her corporate digital marketing role in the middle of a global pandemic and go after the career she actually wanted. Today, MODA PR is a UK-headquartered personal PR and brand consultancy with teams across New York, Los Angeles, and Dubai. Ashley and co-founder Jennifer Delgado built the agency from scratch - monthly trips to London, virtual coffees, relationship by relationship - into a firm trusted by disruptive founders, high-profile talent, and industry leaders who want to go from being known to being credible, in-demand, and commercially relevant. Ashley's background is in corporate marketing and digital strategy, and it shows in how she approaches PR. For her, press coverage that doesn't move the needle on business growth is just noise. MODA PR's philosophy centers on "narrative economics" - strategic visibility that builds authority and opens commercial doors, not just headlines. Her client roster sits at the intersection of two converging worlds: creators who are building businesses and need credibility, and founders and executives who suddenly realize they need to show up like creators. In this conversation, Ashley shares what it took to build a referral-based agency from zero, what actually gets founders media-ready, and why the most underrated skill in PR is emotional intelligence. --- ## From Corporate Marketing to Co-Founding MODA PR During a Pandemic Over "Caesar Salad, Fries, and a Diet Coke" **Q:* You left your corporate digital marketing job during the pandemic in 2020 after reading Kelly Cutrone's "If You Have to Cry, Go Outside." You co-founded MODA PR with Jennifer Delgado over what you call "the ultimate girl dinner." Today, MODA PR has teams in the UK, New York, LA, and Dubai, working with everyone from Love Island talent to disruptive founders. For female founders considering leaving corporate roles to start agencies, what made you take the leap during a global pandemic? How did you convince your first clients to trust a brand-new agency with no track record?* **A:** We didn’t actually position ourselves as “brand new”; we were not building the agency from scratch. We were building from experience. Between Jen and I, we had years of experience in marketing, communications and brand strategy in-house. So when we spoke to early clients, the conversation wasn’t about begging for a chance; we leaned into what we could see happening in media and what their competitors were doing in the space. **Q:* What's your advice for building a boutique agency that competes with established firms?* **A:** Lean into your personal brand; boutique agencies win when the founder has a point of view and is strategically visible, showing up where their potential clients are and positioning themselves as an authority and expert. Frankly, when up against established firms, we've won down to vibes and personality; the agency and client relationship is just as much down to chemistry as it is roster. ## "Creators Are Becoming Entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurs Must Become Creators" - Why Everyone Is a Media Brand in 2026 **Q:* You've said the line between "influencer" and "entrepreneur" has dissolved - creators are launching businesses, and CEOs realise they need to show up like creators. You work with both viral content creators, trying to build credibility, and seasoned leaders who've barely posted on LinkedIn but suddenly need thought leadership. For female founders who know they need visibility but hate "being a brand," how do you help them figure out what authentic personal branding actually looks like?* **A:** Most people hear “personal brand” and immediately think of becoming an influencer and posting GRWMs on TikTok. Honestly, it really doesn’t …. your personal brand is simply the reputation people associate with your name. Depending on the Founder, their business, and who their clients are, it can look really different: for some, it might look like LinkedIn thought leadership; for others, it might be media commentary, podcast interviews, or speaking. Strategic visibility is about oversharing your life online. It’s about understanding the overlap of your expertise, story and where your clients are consuming content. **Q:* What's the difference between founders who are "media-ready" versus those who need more work first?* **A:** There are usually three things I look for when someone is media-ready. The first is a real understanding of what they want to be known for and how their expertise fits into the bigger conversations happening in the media. The second is success factors, both internally and externally. That might be business growth, results they’ve delivered for clients, or milestones that give them credibility. Media outlets want experts who have something tangible behind what they’re saying. And the third is some sort of digital footprint. It doesn’t have to be huge, but if someone is already sharing ideas on LinkedIn or building a small following online, it shows they’re comfortable communicating publicly. Where founders sometimes need more work is when their positioning is still a bit too broad. If someone says, “I can talk about anything,” that’s usually a sign they haven’t quite defined their space yet. The media doesn’t reward generalists, they want experts with a clear point of view. We’re also seeing a big shift with podcasts. A few years ago, having an inspirational story was often enough to land a guest slot. Now podcasts are operating much more like businesses. They’re thinking about audience growth, downloads, partnerships and mutual leverage. So founders need to think beyond just “this is my story?” and start asking, “What value do I bring to that audience, and how can we amplify this together?” ## The Emotional Labour of PR - Why You're "Managing Human Beings, Not Just Narratives" **Q:* You've said PR people sit at "the crossroads of everyone's emotions" creators battling imposter syndrome, CEOs masking insecurity, agents protecting turf, journalists stressed on deadlines. You're doing more than managing narratives; you're managing people. For female entrepreneurs building service businesses that involve emotional labor (coaching, consulting, creative work), how do you set boundaries while still genuinely caring about clients?* **A:** This is something people outside PR don’t always realise a big part of the job is emotional intelligence. You’re working with founders who are incredibly invested in their businesses, creators who might be battling imposter syndrome, journalists on tight deadlines, and sometimes agents or partners all caught up in the middle too. The key is remembering you can care about people without absorbing everything yourself. For me, that starts with really clear communication from the beginning about what we’re responsible for, how we work and what success realistically looks like. When expectations and markers of success are crystal clear, it removes a lot of pressure for everyone involved. **Q:* What's your framework for knowing when a client needs hand-holding versus when they need tough love?* We spend a lot of time in the audit and positioning phase when we start working with someone, and that’s actually where you learn a lot about how someone works. You get to understand their goals, their communication style and sometimes their confidence levels too. Some clients thrive on very direct feedback. Others need a bit more reassurance along the way. We can suss out which of our clients need that encouraging WhatsApp before a journo call or who love a straight-to-the-point "this angle isn’t strong enough yet.” > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you’re breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > **👉 hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### "At Heart, I Will Always Be a Journalist": Nealy Gihan, APR on 25 Years From Newsrooms to Corporate to On Point Transportation PR, and Why Career Paths Are Rarely Linear URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/pr/at-heart-i-will-always-be-a-journalist-nealy-gihan-apr-on-25-years-from-newsrooms-to-corporate-to-on-point-transportation-pr-and-why-career-paths-are-rarely-linear/ Last updated: 2026-03-16T06:21:09.000Z Nealy Gihan, APR, is a seasoned communicator with 25 years of experience spanning print journalism, corporate communications, nonprofit work, and government communications. But as she puts it: "At heart, I will always be a journalist." That drive to tell good, impactful stories has propelled her through every phase of her career. She spent five years writing and editing for newspapers and magazines, including producing a tourism guide for the City of Lincoln, Nebraska. She spent seven years developing messaging and crisis communications at Anthem, where she also helped maintained a Nielsen Norman award-winning intranet. Today, she's a Senior Public Relations Specialist at [On Point Transportation PR](https://communicateonpoint.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org), specializing in communications and public involvement for transportation and infrastructure projects in and around the Hampton Roads, Virginia, region. She's also President of PRSA Hampton Roads, sits on the Virginia Beach Public Library Board (where she served as Board Chair 2022-2023), and holds a board position with the Norfolk Tourism Foundation. She was named a 2024 Inside Business Women in Business honoree and is a Maynard Institute Fellow. She's Accredited in Public Relations (APR). Through [Purple Inked](https://www.purpleinked.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org), which she founded, Nealy provides writing coaching, media training, and personal branding guidance. She has short stories published and is currently working to finish her first novel. Her career path wasn't linear. She's been laid off three times. She's worked in environments where support and collaboration were not always present. Those experiences were difficult, but they taught her important lessons about resilience and leadership. They helped her become very clear about the kind of communicator and leader she wants to be: someone who values integrity, supports their team, and creates an environment where people feel respected and appreciated. One of her most influential mentors was Dick Thien, a founding editor of USA Today, whom she first met through the Chips Quinn Scholarship program while she was in college. The program, supported by the Freedom Forum, played a significant role in shaping her path in journalism and helped open doors that later led to opportunities like becoming a Maynard Institute Fellow. She started her career at the Lincoln Journal-Star, where she was surrounded by talented journalists and editors who poured into her. There, she found another mentor in editor-in-chief Kathy Rutledge, one of the first female leaders she observed closely. Kathy showed her that leadership doesn't have to be loud or performative to be effective. She led with kindness, thoughtfulness, and quiet confidence. As someone who is not naturally the most outgoing person in the room, seeing Kathy's leadership style helped Nealy understand that thoughtful, steady leadership can be incredibly powerful. For women building communications careers, one of the most important things Nealy has learned is that career paths are rarely linear. Layoffs, transitions, and unexpected challenges can be discouraging in the moment, but they can also strengthen your adaptability and perspective. As she reflects: "You can do everything and have it all. You just can't do it all at once." --- ## From Print Journalism to Corporate Communications to PR Leadership - 25 Years of "Transforming Ideas Into Strategies, Words, and Images That Resonate" **Q:** You're a seasoned communicator with 25 years of experience spanning print journalism (5 years writing and editing for newspapers and magazines, including producing a tourism guide for the City of Lincoln, Nebraska), corporate communications (7 years developing messaging and crisis communications at Amerigroup, which later became part of Anthem and is now Elevance Health, where you helped maintained a Nielsen Norman award-winning intranet), and now PR leadership as Senior Public Relations Specialist at On Point Transportation PR. You also founded Purple Inked, where you provided writing coaching, media training, and personal branding support. For female founders building communications careers or transitioning between journalism, corporate comms, and agency work, what did each phase of your career teach you about strategic communications that you wouldn't have learned otherwise? How did your journalism background shape your approach to PR and media relations, and what made you decide to move from corporate communications into agency work at On Point Transportation PR? **A:** At heart, I will always be a journalist. The drive to always tell a good, impactful story is innate for me and has been what’s propelled me through each phase of my career. One of the most influential mentors in my early career was Dick Thien, a founding editor of USA Today, whom I first met through the Chips Quinn Scholarship program while I was in college. The program, supported by the Freedom Forum, played a significant role in shaping my path in journalism and helped open doors that later led to opportunities like becoming a Maynard Institute Fellow. Dick continued mentoring me through my early years as a journalist and was always a phone call or email away with encouragement and professional and fatherly advice. He was also very instrumental in helping me get my first newspaper job as a copy editor with the Lincoln Journal-Star, where I had previously interned. I was incredibly fortunate to start my career at the Lincoln Journal-Star, where I was surrounded by talented journalists and editors who poured into me and to this day continue to encourage me. In that nurturing environment, my career and writing and editing skills flourished and the firm foundation for everything I’ve done since then was set. At the paper, I also found another mentor in editor-in-chief Kathy Rutledge. Kathy was one of the first female leaders I observed closely in my career, and she showed me that leadership doesn’t have to be loud or performative to be effective. She led with kindness, thoughtfulness, and quiet confidence. As someone who is not naturally the most outgoing person in the room, seeing her leadership style helped me understand that thoughtful, steady leadership can be incredibly powerful. Eventually, like many journalists, my path changed because of layoffs in the industry. I was laid off from *Link*, a free daily publication of *The Virginian-Pilot*, which pushed me to transition into corporate communications. That shift taught me how communications operate inside large organizations, how messaging supports business strategy, how internal communications shape culture, and how leaders rely on communicators during moments of crisis or change. During my time at Anthem, I had a boss who trusted me and gave me the freedom to be creative and do my best work. That level of trust allowed me to grow professionally and reinforced how important supportive leadership is in helping communications professionals succeed. My career has also included meaningful experiences in nonprofit and government communications, including work with Senior Services of Southeastern Virginia, where my supervisor became both a mentor and what I often call my “work mom.” She introduced me to the Public Relations Society of America and has been my professional and personal sounding board every since. Throughout my career, however, not every experience along the way has been positive. I’ve been laid off three times and have also worked in environments where support and collaboration were not always present. Those experiences were difficult, but they also taught me important lessons about resilience and leadership. They helped me become very clear about the kind of communicator and leader I want to be: someone who values integrity, supports their team, and creates an environment where people feel respected and appreciated. Alongside my professional work, I also founded [Purple Inked](https://www.purpleinked.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org), where I provide writing coaching, media training, and personal branding guidance. Purple Inked grew out of my lifelong belief that strong writing and clear communication are essential leadership skills. Whether I’m working with communications professionals, entrepreneurs, or individuals developing their voice, the goal is the same: helping people communicate their ideas with clarity, confidence, and authenticity. Today, as a Senior Public Relations Specialist at On Point Transportation PR, I’m applying lessons from every phase of my career while learning an entirely new industry focused on transportation and infrastructure. My journalism background has proven especially valuable because strong writing, storytelling, and the ability to explain complex issues clearly are skills that translate across every sector of communications. For women building communications careers, one of the most important things I’ve learned is that career paths are rarely linear. Layoffs, transitions, and unexpected challenges can be discouraging in the moment, but they can also strengthen your adaptability and perspective. Every chapter of my career—journalism, corporate communications, nonprofit work, government communications, and agency work—has helped shape the communicator and leader I am today. ## PRSA Hampton Roads President, 2024 Women in Business Honoree, and Building Leadership While Serving Your Community **Q:** Beyond your day job, you serve as President of PRSA Hampton Roads, sit on the Virginia Beach Public Library Board (where you served as Board Chair 2022-2023), and hold a board position with the Norfolk Tourism Foundation. You were named a 2024 Inside Business Women in Business honoree and are a Maynard Institute Fellow. You're also Accredited in Public Relations (APR). For female founders juggling professional growth, community leadership, and building credibility in their industries, how do you balance your PR career with extensive board service and professional association leadership? What's your framework for deciding which leadership opportunities are worth your time versus which are distractions? How has your involvement with PRSA and community boards actually impacted your professional development and business opportunities? **A:** Balancing my professional career with board service and community leadership has always been intentional for me. While I care deeply about the work I do in public relations, the reality is that the work I produce in my day job ultimately belongs to the organizations and clients I serve. The work I do through community leadership, writing, and service is where I’m able to channel my personal passions and make an impact that feels uniquely my own. Serving as president of PRSA Hampton Roads this year has been an especially meaningful leadership opportunity. Professional organizations such as PRSA play a critical role in strengthening our field, supporting ethical communications practices, and creating spaces where professionals can continue learning and connecting with one another. Leading the chapter has given me the opportunity to contribute to the profession while also growing as a leader. My involvement on boards such as the Virginia Beach Public Library Board, where I previously served as chair, and the Norfolk Tourism Foundation allows me to contribute to organizations that directly shape the communities where I live and work. Similarly, the international missions work I’ve done through my church has allowed me to stay grounded in service and community. Writing has always been another important outlet for me. I have short stories published and am currently working to finish my first novel. Through Purple Inked, I’m also able to teach writing workshops and provide editing support—two things I genuinely love because they allow me to help others strengthen their own voices and stories. In many ways, my day job provides the stability that allows me to pursue those passions. At the same time, I’ll be the first to admit that I sometimes take on too much. Staying involved in different organizations and creative pursuits energizes me, but it can also be my downfall if I’m not careful about protecting my time. One of the best pieces of advice I’ve ever received came from an incredible woman who once told me, “You can do everything and have it all. You just can’t do it all at once.” That perspective has stayed with me because it reframes the idea of balance. It’s not about trying to do everything simultaneously; it’s about recognizing that different seasons of life and career allow different priorities to take center stage. Ultimately, the leadership opportunities I choose, whether through PRSA, community boards, or creative work, are the ones where I know I can contribute meaningfully, continue learning, and build relationships with people who care about making a difference. ## Specializing in Transportation and Infrastructure PR, Media Relations, and Influencer Marketing - Your Approach to Public Involvement and Strategic Communications **Q:** At On Point Transportation PR, you specialize in communications and public involvement services for transportation and infrastructure projects in Hampton Roads. You've also led influencer marketing as Director of Public Relations & Influencer Marketing at Qantm Creative, managing media outreach, brand messaging, and securing earned media placements. For female entrepreneurs working in specialized B2B or government sectors (like infrastructure, transportation, or public sector communications), what are the biggest misconceptions about PR in these industries? How do you approach public involvement and stakeholder communications differently than traditional consumer PR? What's your advice for founders trying to build media relationships in niche or highly regulated industries where traditional PR tactics don't always work? **A:** One of the biggest misconceptions about public relations, especially in specialized industries, is that people often confuse it with marketing or advertising. I’ve heard that throughout my career. In reality, public relations is fundamentally about building and maintaining relationships with different publics, whether that’s journalists, community members, stakeholders, or government partners. In transportation and infrastructure communications, those relationships are especially important because projects directly affect people’s daily lives. When roads are widened, transit systems expanded, or resilience projects implemented, residents want to understand what’s happening, why it matters, and how it will affect them. Public involvement in this space isn’t about promotion; it’s about communication and trust. Our role is to translate complex projects into information communities can understand while also creating opportunities for dialogue through community meetings, stakeholder outreach, media engagement, and other forms of communication that help keep people informed and heard. This approach is very different from traditional consumer PR, where the goal is often to generate buzz around a product or brand. In infrastructure and public sector communications, success is measured by whether people feel informed, whether stakeholders trust the process, and whether communication is clear and transparent throughout the life of a project. Another challenge in media relations today is the reality that newsrooms are shrinking. Many journalists are covering multiple beats with fewer resources, which makes it even more important to approach media relationships thoughtfully. My advice is to be as helpful as possible to the reporters covering your industry. Take the time to understand their beat and the types of stories they write before reaching out, and don’t pitch reporters whose coverage has nothing to do with your work. It’s also important to make sure what you’re sharing actually has a real story or news angle. Journalists are looking for information that serves their audiences, not promotional material. When you focus on being a credible source—providing clear information, responding quickly to questions, and respecting deadlines—you build relationships that lead to stronger and more meaningful media coverage over time. Ultimately, whether you’re working in infrastructure, healthcare, or another highly regulated sector, effective public relations comes down to the same principle: building trust and maintaining strong relationships with the people you serve. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you’re breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > **👉 hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### "Reporters Are Working in Service of Their Audience, Not You": Lacy Talton on Co-Founding Evergreen & Oak, When Founders Actually Need PR, and Pricing Your Services Without Undervaluing Your Work URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/women-who-lead/reporters-are-working-in-service-of-their-audience-not-you-lacy-talton-on-co-founding-evergreen-oak-when-founders-actually-need-pr-and-pricing-your-services-without-undervaluing-your-wo/ Last updated: 2026-03-13T06:09:58.000Z Lacy Talton is Partner and Co-Founder of [Evergreen & Oak](https://www.evergreenandoak.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org), a global PR and marketing agency headquartered in North Carolina's Research Triangle (Raleigh, Durham, and Chapel Hill). The agency specializes in B2B tech, including adtech, healthtech, and martech, and has secured coverage for clients in major publications like CNN, BBC, Fast Company, Forbes, The Wall Street Journal, TechCrunch, Adweek, and Ad Age. Lacy co-founded Evergreen & Oak with Brook Terran. The two women built the agency to address the need for a trusted PR partner with a proactive approach and bespoke strategies. Prior to launching Evergreen & Oak, Lacy and Brook guided dozens of public and private companies around the world through mergers and acquisitions, IPOs, fundraising rounds, product launches, and program rollouts. What makes Evergreen & Oak different? Lacy and Brook focus on what they call "narrative economics." They leverage storytelling to positively impact key business metrics. They shine a light on clients in a way that directly impacts their public presence, ultimately driving revenue. Because of their trusted client partnerships, clients share data so they can assess if their narratives are truly moving the needle. They confirm if top tier placements are growing market share and driving metrics like web traffic. Unlike some PR agencies that sell in senior-level experts who barely touch the account, Lacy and Brook remain highly engaged with each client throughout the partnership. As Lacy explains, they focus on being a trusted advisor to reporters and clients alike rather than "just hammering them with press releases of what you think is interesting." Lacy actively nurtures relationships with a personal "board of advisors." Her network of trusted peers who also run agencies, act as consultants, or lead in-house communication teams. They regularly compare notes on what they're seeing in the market related to business development trends, pricing expectations, response times, and ways they're evolving to meet client needs. This network gives them a reality check to ensure they're not working in a vacuum or underpricing their work. One of the biggest lessons Lacy learned as a founder? In the early days, Evergreen & Oak experienced fast growth while she was actually expecting a baby. There was so much happening that they didn't take the time to really think about certain aspects of the business, specifically around operations. From this experience, Lacy recommends that founders "slow down" and celebrate accomplishments, and "push yourself to think bigger about the company too." As she reflects on when founders are ready for PR: "The companies that are ready for PR usually have early proof that their product or service is resonating in the market. That looks like early traction with customers, a unique data set, a strong point of view about where their industry is heading, or a milestone accomplishment like fundraising or strategic partnerships." --- ## Taking a "Reporter-First Approach" Without a Journalism Background - What That Actually Means **Q:* You take a "reporter-first approach" at Evergreen and Oak. For female founders trying to get media coverage, what does thinking like a reporter actually mean when you're not a journalist yourself? What do most people misunderstand about what journalists actually want? What makes a pitch land versus get deleted immediately?* **A:** Journalists are under immense pressure right now. Newsrooms are shrinking, beats are constantly shifting, and the news cycle moves incredibly fast. A reporter-first approach simply means respecting that reality. Reporters are working in service of their audience, not you or your company. Most founders assume journalists want company updates or announcements. In reality, reporters are looking for expertise that helps them and their readers understand broader trends happening in their industry. The pitches that land usually do three things well. 1) They focus on a trend, not a company. 2) They offer a clear or even counterintuitive point of view. 3) They answer the question that the editor will ask the reporter: why does this matter right now? A good pitch should make a reporter’s job easier. That means a short email, a clear angle and a subject line that reads like a headline. ## The Honest Truth About When Founders Need PR vs. When They're Wasting Money **Q:* For female founders considering hiring a PR agency, what are the signs that a business is actually ready for PR versus too early? What can founders realistically handle themselves versus what actually requires an agency? How do you know if PR is driving business results - revenue, partnerships, clients - versus just generating mentions that don't matter?* **A:** The companies that are ready for PR usually have early proof that their product or service is resonating in the market. That looks like early traction with customers, a unique data set, a strong point of view about where their industry is heading or a milestone accomplishment like fundraising or strategic partnerships. PR becomes especially important during key moments when companies need to proactively shape how the market understands them. That could include raising capital, recruiting talent, launching a new product category or positioning the company for acquisition. Founders can absolutely do some PR themselves early on such as building meaningful relationships with a handful of journalists. Doing this with a reporter-first mentality where you want to act in service of the reporter versus your own motivations is incredibly important for it to be meaningful. This also includes sharing thoughtful commentary on industry happenings or breaking news on platforms like LinkedIn. Many women entrepreneurs are especially used to wearing multiple hats and building things from the ground up. But scaling a PR program while simultaneously running a company is challenging. Agencies bring the consistency and strategic positioning needed to sustain that work. Ultimately, mapping PR to business outcomes requires open communication. The PR team has to be aligned with marketing, leadership and even sales to ensure that earned media is consistently being used effectively in conversations with prospects and partners. One thing many founders overlook is that the most niche coverage can often deliver the biggest return. A highly targeted article read by the right audience can drive more meaningful business results than a broad mention that reaches everyone and no one at the same time. ## How to Price Your Services Without Undervaluing Your Work **Q:* As a co-founder of a boutique agency, how did you figure out what to charge when you started? What's your advice for female entrepreneurs building service businesses about pricing their expertise? How do you have the "pricing conversation" with clients who want boutique quality but commodity pricing?* **A:** In a services business, pricing should reflect the value of the expertise as well as the time spent delivering it. Strategic communications can help a company land enterprise clients, attract investors, recruit talent and establish market leadership. When you look at it through that lens, the value of the work becomes much clearer. We actively nurture the relationships with a personal “board of advisors,” our network of trusted peers who also run agencies, act as consultants or lead in-house communication teams. We regularly compare notes on what we’re seeing in the market related to business development trends, pricing expectations, response times and ways we’re evolving to meet client needs. This network gives us a reality check to ensure that we’re not working in a vacuum or underpricing our work. Your network is one of the most valuable things you build as your career grows. For female founders in particular, having open conversations with peers makes it easier to price your work confidently and sustainably, while also creating more transparency across the industry. Ultimately, the pricing conversation comes down to alignment. The right clients understand the difference between transactional support and a strategic partner who is invested in helping their business grow. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you’re breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > **👉 hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### "At 6:15 am Music Lessons with Teenagers In Pajama Pants, I Learned What Leadership Really Is": Margaret Watts Romney on 20+ Years From Professional Cellist to TEDx Coach, and Why Speakership Is Leadership URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/women-who-lead/at-6-15-am-music-lessons-with-teenagers-in-pajama-pants-i-learned-what-leadership-really-is-margaret-watts-romney-on-20-years-from-professional-cellist-to-tedx-coach-and-why-speakership/ Last updated: 2026-03-12T15:40:30.000Z Margaret Watts Romney's first students of the day walked into her studio at 6:15am for cello lessons - teenagers in pajama pants, barely able to function. Despite their shared battle with circadian rhythms, they had a job to do. The parents were paying her to somehow get this lump of lanky limbs to play with grace and power, on an instrument designed in the 17th century that didn't even have frets for where to put their fingers. She never bribed or bulldozed or manipulated the kids into playing. It wasn't possible. But somehow they did join together to collaborate on this project. Not just to learn the cello, but to enjoy it. She couldn't do that alone. She needed their buy-in. So each lesson, she invited them to be themselves. She asked what parts of the music they liked. She listened to what resonated. She kept the boundaries around music and cello, but their curiosity, expression, and natural growth were the fuel and the forward motion. Those moments of students sharing their hard work and expression on the stage thrilled her. The pride on students' faces. Their awe in connecting their listeners to something bigger. She'll be bold here and say it even felt holy. After a 20+ year career of this, parts of her mind and soul that she hadn't fully used yearned to run free. In 2013, TEDxSaltLakeCity became that outlet. She jumped into every volunteer opportunity they offered: fundraising, marketing, technical writing, stuffing nametags, sweeping floors, and designing an event with a team of purpose-driven professionals. With her background of performing and teaching performers, she settled into supporting the speakers. Her brain loved stretching across every topic those speakers brought. And the core work was the same: helping people find the one thing only they could say, and share it in a way that was authentically theirs. With some education and training, over time she tipped the scales of her professional life from cellist to communication coach. From music to words, from children to professionals, from cello to slide decks and conference rooms. Then the pandemic hit. Events disappeared. And what her clients actually needed came into sharper focus. Where did they feel unprepared? Where did they not have the tools to face the moment? This was her full circle moment. What she'd been doing all along (with teenagers at 6:15am and with leaders in boardrooms) was the same work. A lot of unknowns. A lot of gaps and blocks. Not a lot of clarity or even motivation. But a project ahead and a need to find a way to ask questions, listen, talk together, find the common ground, get on the same side of the table, and come together to move forward. That is leadership. That is speakership. Today, Margaret is the founder of [The Speakership Lab](https://thespeakershiplab.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) (formerly MasterSpeaker Lab), where she's coached over 100 TEDx speakers and supported hundreds of leaders from small companies to Fortune 50\. She's the author of *Speakership Is Leadership: a Guide for Sudden Leaders Who Need to Lead with Their Words. Yesterday.* Her training includes a certificate from the Neuroleadership Institute and graduate studies in the Master of Strategic Communication program from Westminster University. As she reflects: "The gap I see most often in experienced leaders isn't that they can't speak. It's that they've learned to communicate in a way that transmits information but doesn't create shared understanding. They're explaining when they need to be inviting. They're presenting conclusions when the other person needed to feel part of the thinking." --- ## From Professional Cellist to TEDx Coach - How You Realized "Speakership Is Leadership" After Coaching 100+ TEDx Speakers **Q:** You spent years as a professional cellist and teacher before jumping into coaching TEDx speakers. You've now coached over 100 TEDx speakers and founded The Speakership Lab (formerly MasterSpeaker Lab). In 2020, you had a pivot moment when a planned in-person workshop shifted online and speakers told you what they really needed: "an easy approach for what to do when there's a surprise." For female founders who need to communicate clearly but feel like they're "not natural speakers," what made you realize that "if you speak, you are leading"? How did your background as a performer shape your approach to helping people find their voice? What's the biggest misconception people have about public speaking or presenting? **A:** When I was a professional cellist, my first students of the day walked into my studio at 6:15am. I was barely out of pajamas and they were barely able to function. Three-syllable sentences counted as high engagement. Despite our shared battle with circadian rhythms, we had a job to do. The parents were paying me to somehow get this lump of lanky limbs to play with grace and power, on an instrument designed in the 17th century that didn’t even have frets for where to put their fingers. I never bribed or bulldoze or manipulated the kids into playing. It wasn’t possible. But somehow we did join together to collaborate on this project— not just to learn the cello, but to enjoy it. I couldn't do that alone. I needed their buy-in. So each lesson, I invited them to be themselves. I asked what parts of the music they liked. I listened to what resonated. I kept the boundaries around music and cello, but their curiosity, expression, and natural growth were the fuel and the forward motion. When it was time to do the vulnerable thing of sharing their music from the stage, we turned to their fuel, curiosity, expression, and pride to shape their moments on the stage. I asked them, *“What’s the one thing you want the audience to feel?” “What part of this piece are you proud of?” “What do you want to feel while you are playing for them?”* These moments of them sharing their hard work and expression on the stage thrilled me. The pride on students’ faces. Their awe in connecting their listeners to something bigger. I’ll be bold here and say it even felt holy. It never got old, but after a 20+ year career of this, parts of my mind and soul that I hadn’t fully used yearned to run free. Parts of my mind and soul that I hadn't fully used started to itch for something more. In 2013, TEDxSaltLakeCity became that outlet. I jumped into every volunteer opportunity they offered me: fundraising, marketing, technical writing, stuffing nametags, sweeping floors, and designing an event with a team of purpose-driven and like-minded professionals. With my background of performing and teaching performers, I settled into supporting the speakers. My brain loved stretching across every topic those speakers brought. And the core work was the same: helping people find the one thing only they could say, and share it in a way that was authentically theirs. *“What do you want the audience to carry with them when they leave? How do you need to show up? How do you want to feel?”* With some education and training, over time I tipped the scales of my professional life from cellist to communication coach—from music to words, from children to professionals, from cello to slide decks and conference rooms. Public speaking. Presentations. Keynote speeches. Prepare, deliver, mission accomplished. Then the pandemic hit. Events disappeared. And what my clients actually needed came into sharper focus — or rather, the disruption of the world created space for a deeper conversation. Where did they feel unprepared? Where did they not have the tools to face the moment? This was my full circle moment.What I'd been doing all along — with teenagers at 6:15am and with leaders in boardrooms — was the same work. A lot of unknowns. A lot of gaps and blocks. Not a lot of clarity or even motivation. But a project ahead and a need to find a way to ask questions, listen, talk together, find the common ground, get on the same side of the table, and come together to move forward toward the end state of satisfaction in creating something we were proud of together. That is leadership. That is speakership. ## Helping People Find Their Story When They're Too Close to See It - Your Framework for Discovering "The Gold Nugget" **Q:** You've said every talk should have a "gold nugget" - a piece of wisdom or gift the speaker gives the audience. You help clients figure out their message by listening to their life experience, pinpointing a powerful idea, and preparing them for the stage. For female founders who need to pitch investors, present to clients, or build their personal brand but don't know what their story actually is, how do you help people discover what their "gold nugget" is when they're too close to their own experience to see it? What's the difference between a founder who's "communication-ready" versus one who needs more work first? How should founders think about their message before they worry about delivery? **A:** Yes, this is true that when I worked with TEDx speakers, our job was to find the one “Idea worth spreading.” Simple to say but not easy to do. Early on, I thought I could see that idea for my clients and simply show it to them. With one speaker in particular, I thought this would be easy. He was already a public speaker and somewhat public figure. He had told his story dozens of times. But we kept getting stuck on the one idea he wanted audiences to take away. I'd get excited in our meetings. *There it is — it's about teaming together to overcome obstacles.* He'd agree in the moment, then text the next day: it didn't feel right. The event drew closer. Meeting after meeting, I'd spotlight a phrase he'd used or a concept that intrigued me. He'd nod, then write the next day that it still didn't feel right. Finally, on the day before the event to a sold out crowd, he called to say he got it. He found it. He came to my house and delivered his talk. It was breathtaking. The core idea was nothing I had seen or could have seen. It was part of his own soul shining through. He asked me not to share his details or his specific story, so I won't. But the audience gave him a standing ovation, and many said they'd never experienced anything like it. These days, my clients are rarely preparing for a stage. No spotlight, no red dot carpet, no standing ovation. They're navigating the real terrain of leadership: *“Why do I hold back when it’s my turn to lead a room?”* *“How can I respond to the backlash or even dismissal of others in a way that isn’t destructive, and even makes me proud?”* *“In these days of huge upheaval and unpredictability, what does my team need from me and how do I manage my own feelings in uncertainty?”* For this work, I turn to a framework called Narrative Thinking. Our brains are constantly looking for stories to make sense of the world — and when information is missing, we make them up anyway. Who is here? Where are we? What's happening? Where are we going? What's blocking us from getting there? When we take a moment to identify the actual outcome we want — not the solution that clicks everything into place, but the transformed state on the other side of all the messy adventures — we can get clarity about how to move forward. Not Dorothy clicking her heels. The moment she realizes there's no place like home. When I sit down with a client who isn't sure of their direction or how to face a communication challenge, I'm not looking to their expertise or their toolkit. I listen for where they are in their story — the characters, context, action, conflict — and the gap between that and where they want to be. What success actually looks like. Then we explore what they know about the story their listeners are standing in. Teammates, partners, stakeholders — what do they believe right now? What are they worried about? What would have to be true for them to move forward together? We find the questions they need to ask, the spaces they need to open, the guidance they need to offer — so they can be in the same story with others. Even when it's as awkward and unresolved as a teenage music lesson at 6:15am. ## "Speakership Is Leadership" - Why Every Founder Needs Communication Skills Beyond Just "Public Speaking" **Q:** Your book *Speakership Is Leadership* argues that communication isn't just about stages and presentations - it's about boardrooms, family gatherings, one-on-one conversations, and even "silent moments of presence." You work with leaders from small companies to Fortune 50\. For female entrepreneurs building businesses, how should they think about developing their communication skills when they're not trying to be "keynote speakers" but just need to lead teams, pitch clients, and have difficult conversations? What are the communication gaps you see most often in founders, and how do those gaps actually hurt their business? What's the first communication skill every founder should develop? **A:** Like your founders and entrepreneurs, the leaders I work with are not exclusively trying to become keynote speakers (though that might be a solid marketing tactic). They're trying to get things done. They're trying to move a decision forward in a room full of skeptics, or keep a team aligned through a pivot, or make a case to someone who controls resources they need. Those are communication challenges, and they're where leadership actually lives. The gap I see most often in experienced leaders isn't that they can't speak — it's that they've learned to communicate in a way that transmits information but doesn't create shared understanding. They're explaining when they need to be inviting. They're presenting conclusions when the other person needed to feel part of the thinking. That distinction — between communicating *at* people and communicating *with* them — is what separates leaders who create real alignment from those who wonder why nothing quite sticks. The first skill I'd point any founder toward: before you think about what you want to say, spend time understanding the world your listener is standing in right now. What do they already believe? What are they worried about? What would change for them if they trusted what you're saying? Start there. Because the leaders I've watched do this work — really do it — don't just become better communicators. They become leaders they're proud to be. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you’re breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > **👉 hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### "She Goes Way, Way Beyond": Charlie Le Rougetel on 30+ Years in PR, Why She Measures Attention Earned Instead of Vanity Metrics, and Building Big Top After More Than 25 Years Creating Campaigns URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/pr/she-goes-way-way-beyond-charlie-le-rougetel-on-30-years-in-pr-why-she-measures-attention-earned-instead-of-vanity-metrics-and-building-big-top-pr-after-more-than-25-years-creating-campa/ Last updated: 2026-03-11T11:01:12.000Z Charlie Le Rougetel founded [Big Top](https://www.bigtop-pr.co.uk/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) in 2014 after two decades creating campaigns for major consumer and B2B brands. With more than 30 years of experience in communications, she has worked across consumer and B2B sectors helping brands, organisations, and events grow their reach and reputation. Today, Big Top is an independent communications agency working with award-winning events like New Scientist Live, Brand Licensing Europe, and Business Travel Show Europe, as well as organisations including The Retail Trust, CTM, SilverDoor, and Borough Broth. Her clients consistently describe her in the same way: “Charlie goes way, way beyond.” “Charlie isn’t fluffy where PR can be.” “Charlie does what she says she will.” “Charlie genuinely cares about the businesses she works with and treats them with the same level of commitment and focus as her own.” One client testimonial sums it up: “I’ve worked with Charlie and her team for 8 years and she’s not only a wonderful PR specialist, she’s also now a good friend. Our shows and media cover more than 19 vertical sectors and multiple geographies, which is an extremely tall order for any comms strategy. Charlie navigates this with ease. We’ve definitely seen a positive impact on commercial revenues and attendance as well as reputation.” What makes Charlie’s approach different? She doesn’t do “fluffy” PR. She measures real business results. Big Top invests in Releasd for all clients to measure Attention Earned (hours readers engaged with PR content) and Advertising Cost Estimates (how much it would cost to buy the same attention online). They track backlinks, keywords, quotes, prominence, sentiment, and recall. This allows them to optimize PR the way digital marketers continually refine campaigns for maximum performance and ROI. Charlie is also known for award writing that wins. Her clients specifically credit her work with helping them secure major industry recognition. She offers free LinkedIn optimization consultations to help businesses turn their LinkedIn into a growth tool. As she puts it: “Everything starts with objectives. Agree clear, measurable objectives with your PR agency and establish KPIs together. Be specific about the baseline against which to measure your achievements and at what frequency. Your objectives can be anything you decide is going to drive your business forward.” --- ## Going Independent in 2014 - Why You Built Big Top and What "Going Way, Way Beyond" Actually Means **Q:* You founded Big Top in 2014 after* *two* *decades in PR. Your clients say you "go way, way beyond" and "care about* *their* *business more than your own." For* *women* *founders considering going independent, what made you launch Big Top rather than stay at larger agencies? What does "going way, way beyond"* *actually look* *like in practice?* **A:** Like a lot of entrepreneurs – especially agency (and women) entrepreneurs – the impetus and confidence to set up my own agency was ignited by redundancy after 16 years working for a London agency. I’m naturally an introvert and worked with very confident men with big personalities, which could leave me feeling intimidated and questioning my talent, expertise and potential. It was awful at the time, but redundancy turned out to be a really positive experience for me. The agency I left wasn’t large. Quite the opposite, when I left, it was a carcass of just four or five people (they are doing very well now, I’m happy to point out – a real Phoenix revival). So, it wasn’t a case of stay at a large agency or set up on my own. It was more a case of, I don’t have a job anymore, let’s see what comes first – a new job, or a client – and take things from there. Thankfully, it was the client – Business Travel Show Europe – who we still work with today after 23 years and have helped to launch in North America and Asia Pacific - and that cemented my decision to go freelance. As I won more clients, I started employing freelance PRs and things grew organically. I always knew Big Top would be a ‘virtual’ agency because our first clients were B2B trade show organisers, which is almost always project based work and doesn’t need a year-round team. We still do a lot of work in the events industry, but we have retainer clients, too. Despite, that, I wouldn’t change our business model. I get to work with amazingly, senior PR talent who care about our clients and deliver incredible results for them. Our ‘virtual’ team is a network of remote consultants specialising in a variety of sectors (retail, tech, brand/marketing, not for profit, food and beverage, corporate travel, start-ups, kids’ entertainment, and more) across all comms disciplines (consumer, national and trade media, social, content, thought leadership, strategy). It gives us flexibility, means we avoid being under or over resourced, and gives our clients access to tailored, scalable teams of top talent at competitive rates. For us, going way, way beyond means never limiting ourselves to our KPIs – we always aim to exceed them (but smartly, I am anti-overservicing) and are incredibly proactive at finding ways to do that. We’re always looking for ways to add value, and often that comes through mining our collective experience (well over 100 years!) and networks. As for caring for our clients’ businesses more than our own, I love that our clients think that, but it’s more accurate to say we care about them equally. Valuing our business and the team, values and culture that drive it, is critical to being able to deliver incredible service and results for our clients’ businesses. ## When PR Actually Drives Business Results vs. Just Media Mentions **Q:* You helped Borough Broth, a women-founded business, achieve coverage that directly resulted in traffic shooting up by 85%. For other women founders navigating their first PR campaigns, what are the biggest mistakes you see them make? What should they focus on to ensure PR drives* *real business* *impact rather than just vanity metrics?* **A:** It’s a good question. One thing that can work in women’s favour is the push for and interest in diverse stories from the media, and that can give women (especially those working in traditionally male-dominated industries like science, tech, engineering, etc) an edge when pitching to journalists. The biggest mistakes are being too close to your own story / product to be objective about its potential coverage wise and how interesting it really is to journalists, which can lead to unrealistic expectations. There is also often a lack of understanding around what is fair to expect from budgets, how long it will take to see a business impact as a result of media coverage/social media campaign, and the link between PR and sales. When it comes to this ‘mistake’, in my opinion, it’s more likely to come from men than women. Men are often (definitely not always) pushier, louder and more confident - they expect and demand more and their expectations can be harder to manage. Women typically have a quieter self-belief. The ideal is probably somewhere in the middle. Final tip - before even picking up the phone to talk to a PR agency, ask yourself, “What do I want to achieve from the PR campaign? Who is our audience? What does our product/business do for that audience that is new? How will it change their lives/businesses?” And, campaign wise, “What does success look to me and can I afford it?” **Q:* How do you measure whether PR is driving real business results versus just vanity metrics?* Vanity PR can relate to two things – 1) activity that’s ego driven and with a very thin, or even invisible, line back to business growth, and 2) metrics. We still see agencies share coverage reports with media reaches of ‘billions’ and an AVE (Advertising Value Equivalent) of millions. These aren’t realistic, accurate or useful. Especially if you have a board and shareholders. They are much more interested in how many people in your target universe actually engaged with a piece of coverage and will potentially buy from or into you. This is why we invest in Releasd for all our clients. It measures actual ‘views’ on online and social media coverage (not UMUs) and lets us give our clients Attention Earned and Advertising Cost Estimates. The first is the number of hours readers engaged with our PR content. The second is how much it would cost our clients to buy the same attention online. It also measures backlinks, keywords, quotes, prominence, sentiment and recall. This allows us to optimise PR in the way digital marketers continually refine campaigns for maximum performance and ROI. Once again, everything starts with objectives – agree clear, measurable objectives with your PR agency and establish KPIs together. Be specific about the baseline/s against which to measure your achievements and at what frequency – monthly, quarterly, annually? Your objectives can be anything you decide is going to drive your business forward and on paper some of those may look like vanity PR. For example, if you have a consumer product and one of your KPIs is to appear in the business pages of The Times. But founder profiling can be crucial in building awareness among the business community – retailers, manufacturers, investors and more. ## LinkedIn and Award Writing - Building Visibility Without a Full PR Agency **Q:* You offer free LinkedIn optimisation and you're known for award writing that helps your clients win. For women entrepreneurs who can't afford a full agency, what's your advice on using LinkedIn for business development?* **A:** If you want to use LinkedIn for business development, our advice is frequency and consistency. The LinkedIn algorithm values regular posting. Use your own page if you already have a strong following rather than post through your company page. As the founder, it’s your face and name that peers, industry leaders, customers and investors either already know, or you want them to know. So, lead from the front. Be authentic. Write about what you care about whether that’s entrepreneur and business related, industry specific, gender issues, even politics and very personal topics. People are blending home and work life on LinkedIn a lot more, and people are open to that. Think about the image – and ideally use video. Video increases engagement dramatically. A great image will grab people’s attention. And make sure you are following and interacting with the people you want to do business with. **Q:* How should founders think about awards - which are worth entering versus which are vanity plays?* **A:** Like everything PR-related, think strategic and consider these questions: - What do we want to achieve from entering any award programme? Peer recognition? Brand awareness? New business? Employee appreciation? - Do we have a chance of winning? If the answer is no, then why waste valuable time (and sometimes money) entering? If you’re happy being on the shortlist, though, then go for it. - Will a finalist place/winning change your business? If not, don’t waste time entering. - Do you have time to invest in producing a decent entry, proof points and testimonial? Also check if can you afford to enter and attend to celebration night. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you’re breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > **👉 hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### The PR Network URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/partners/pr/the-pr-network/ Last updated: 2026-03-06T06:56:15.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2026/03/PRN-Logo-Coral.png) #### The PR Network (PRN) was founded in 2005 with a vision to create the world’s first virtual PR agency. Built by problem solvers, PRN brings together a global network of senior PR experts to match brands with the communications expertise they need, wherever they need it. Today, we are proud to have over 1,350 PR professionals across 60+ countries, delivering flexible, bespoke solutions for clients of all sizes. From media relations and crisis communications to social media strategy and content creation, PRN covers the full spectrum of communications. ****Preferred contact email:** directors@thepr.network ****Social media links:** [https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-pr-network/](https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-pr-network/?viewAsMember=true&ref=foundedbywomen.org) [Visit website](https://www.thepr.network/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ### "I Fell in Love with Life During Revolution and War": Dorna Djenab on a 16-Year-Old Spiritual Awakening in Iran, Co-Founding Pranasana Yoga, and Building a Wellness Business That Goes Beyond "Just Yoga" URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/wellbeing/i-fell-in-love-with-life-during-revolution-and-war-dorna-djenab-on-a-16-year-old-spiritual-awakening-in-iran-founding-pranasana-yoga-from-meditation-and-building-a-wellness-business-tha/ Last updated: 2026-06-15T03:59:25.000Z At 16, standing on a rooftop in Iran during revolution and war, Dorna Djenab fell in love with Life. Not with her life. With Life itself. With creation. With beauty. One spring afternoon while standing by a balcony with her best friend, everything became clear. She saw a cat walking "as if for the first time." That profound spiritual experience lasted a year and sparked a lifelong search for deeper meaning and connection. She could stand on their rooftop for hours, watching the sky, taking in the magnificent shapes of dancing clouds. Yet at the same time, she was witnessing the heart-wrenching suffering of human beings during war. She saw how fear turned kind people violent and aggressive. How anxiety and depression robbed people from their loved ones in so many ways. It was clear that without a practical way to anchor to the present moment, many were getting lost in the whirlpool of their negative thoughts, not knowing how to save themselves. Dorna hated seeing people suffer and couldn't reconcile the love she had for Life with the sadness that engulfed her country. Born in France, raised in Iran during her teenage years immersed in revolution and war, and now residing in the UK, Dorna learned yoga from a book (Richard Hittleman's "Yoga in 28 Days") in the quiet of her room during distressful times. At 19, she was initiated into Transcendental Meditation. In 2007, "Pranasana Yoga" came to her partner Matt Gluck during meditation after they ran their first yoga retreat together. They've been embodying it as a dynamic duo ever since, running regular yoga, Tai Chi, and Mindful Breathing workshops and retreats in the UK and overseas with over 60 years combined teaching experience (45 years teaching) and 60 years of practice combined. Today, Dorna and her partner are the co-founders of [Pranasana Yoga](https://pranasanayoga.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org). Dorna is a British School of Yoga qualified teacher who teaches in English, French, and Persian. She's been teaching for almost 20 years and has practiced for 40 years, 30 of which have been solid practice. She's the author of "[*Who Flapped Their Wings? A Collection of Awe-Inspiring Stories*](https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/106823007X/ref=ewc%5Fpr%5Fimg%5F1?smid=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&psc=1&ref=foundedbywomen.org)" featuring real-life accounts from ordinary people who've experienced inexplicable moments that shook them to their core. She's collaborated with meditation app Calm on two projects and runs corporate wellbeing programs alongside private sessions and international retreats. Beyond traditional yoga, she's studied The Work of Byron Katie (a form of self-inquiry similar to CBT), trained in voice work with Kristin Linklater (using the voice as a mirror to identify and release unconscious blockages), and incorporated principles from Qi Gong, Feldenkrais, Somatic Awareness, and Bioenergetics. She also offers "Jump Start To Wellness" programs for people feeling burnt-out, stressed, anxious, or low. Her path to building a wellness business wasn't deliberate. For many years, even after teaching group classes and charging for it, calling the work "a business" was uncomfortable. She tried to keep her main source of income separate by working part-time in an office-based position because she didn't want the spiritual work contaminated by financial needs. It took many more years before she could completely embrace the meaning of healthy energy exchange. Looking back, doing what she currently does would be the most obvious path: using yogic practices to help people transition from tension (physical, mental, or emotional) towards a more balanced state. Her experience at 16 now feels like an initiation. She had great role models who inspired her, showing her that it was possible to live in those circumstances while still maintaining a sense of calm and quiet joy. She knew that if they could do it, she could too. And in doing so, she could in turn inspire others. Still, she had to follow the path set by her parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents. They were all highly educated and accomplished, so the thought of becoming a yoga or meditation teacher didn't even cross her mind. She got a first-class degree in IT and an HND in French, did her best to live a life she thought she ought to live, studying hard, working in a corporation, and climbing the career ladder. But despite the social and financial rewards, she felt a deep hollow inside her. Her path only unraveled as she gradually learned what she wanted by first discovering what she didn't. As she puts it: "Don't ever lose your integrity, especially as you become more popular and successful. Be yourself and have no fear to share your true human experience. Just because you have a wellness business and have had spiritual experiences, doesn't mean you have it all covered and don't have a lot to learn. Let the heart lead and trust the process." --- ## From Revolution and War in Iran to Founding Pranasana Yoga - Building a Wellness Business from a Teenage Spiritual Awakening **Q:** You were born in France, raised in Iran during your teenage years immersed in revolution and war, and now reside in the UK. At 16, you had a profound spiritual experience that lasted a year - one spring afternoon while standing by a balcony with your best friend, everything became clear and you saw a cat walking "as if for the first time." That experience sparked a lifelong search for deeper meaning and connection. You learned yoga from a book (Richard Hittleman's "Yoga in 28 Days") in the quiet of your room during distressful times and at 19 you were initiated into Transcendental Meditation. In 2007, "Pranasana Yoga" came to you during meditation, and you've been embodying it with your partner Matt Gluck ever since. Walk us through the decision to turn your spiritual practice into a business. What made you realise that teaching yoga and running retreats was your path and what advice would you give women building wellness businesses from deeply personal spiritual experiences? **A:** I must admit that I never ‘intended’ to turn my spiritual practice into a business, it happened organically. For many years, even after teaching my group classes and charging for it, calling the work’ *a business* was still very uncomfortable for me. I tried to keep my main source of income separate by working part-time in an office-based position as I didn’t want the spiritual work be *contaminated* by financial needs. It took many more years before I could completely embrace the meaning of healthy energy exchange allowing me to do what I love full time and provide a service needed more than ever. The name Pranasana Yoga came to my other half, who was already teaching yoga full time, in meditation after running our first yoga retreat together. We embarked as the dynamic duo (as our students call us) running regular Yoga and Tai Chi workshops / retreats together, while still teaching our separate private and group classes. Looking back at the start of my journey, doing what I currently do would be the most obvious path: Using yogic practices to help people transition from tension, be it physical, mental or emotional, towards a more balanced state. Although it took me years to fine-tune my own ability to do this for myself, my experience at the age of 16 now feels like an initiation. You see, I had fallen in love with Life, with creation, with beauty. I could stand on our roof-top in Iran for hours and watch the sky, taking in the magnificent shapes of dancing clouds. Yet, at the same time, I was witnessing the heart-wrenching suffering of human beings during war. I saw how fear turned kind people violent and aggressive. I observed how anxiety and depression robbed people from their loved ones in so many ways. It was clear that without a practical way to anchor to the present moment, many were getting lost in the whirlpool of their negative thoughts, not knowing how to save themselves. I hated seeing people suffer and couldn’t reconcile the love I had for Life - this ever-present creative energy - with the sadness that engulfed my country. I had great role models who inspired me, showing me that it was possible to live in those circumstances while still maintaining a sense of calm and quiet joy. I knew that if they could do it, I could too and in doing so, I could in turn inspire others.That was my deepest desire and as I type these words, I realise that back then I never worded it this way. It was more of an emotional knowing. My heart knew what I needed deeply: to reduce suffering, even in the smallest of ways, so that we could all see the beauty of the stars, the flowers and the butterflies without getting completely lost in drama. Still, I had to follow the path set by my parents, grandparents and great grandparents. They were all highly educated and accomplished, so the thought of becoming a yoga or meditation teacher didn’t even cross my mind. Going to university and possibly earning a Phd like my parents was a more likely scenario. I tried. I did get a first class degree in IT and an HND in French but that was the best I could manage to keep them content without going against and denying myself. I did my best to live a life I thought I ought to live, studying hard, working in a corporation and climbing the career ladder. However, despite the social and financial rewards, I felt a deep hollow inside me. My path only unravelled as I gradually learnt what I wanted by first discovering what I didn’t.So, this is how I arrived at being where I am today. What advice I would give women building wellness businesses from deeply personal spiritual experiences? Don’t ever lose your integrity, especially as you become more popular and successful. Be yourself and have no fear to share your true human experience. Just because you have a wellness business and have had spiritual experiences, doesn’t mean you have it all covered and don’t have a lot to learn. Many might project on you and expect you to be beyond human, so stay true to your path, your spiritual practice and let truth, compassion and care be your guide. Your teachings are expressed through how you turn up in the world, so be your own first and best student. Don’t tell others to do what you haven’t done or don’t truly understand. While finding ways to stay financially independent is important, stay focused on the reason you started doing what you do.Let the heart lead and trust the process. ## "Who Flapped Their Wings?" - Collecting Awe-Inspiring Stories, Running International Retreats and Working with Corporate Clients Across Three Languages **Q:** You're the author of "Who Flapped Their Wings? A Collection of Awe-Inspiring Stories" - real-life accounts from ordinary people who've experienced inexplicable moments that shook them to their core, from impossibly timed meetings to signs from those who have passed. You also run yoga retreats (experience since 2007) in the UK and overseas, teach corporate wellbeing programs in English, French and Persian and have collaborated with meditation app Calm on two projects. For female entrepreneurs building businesses that bridge spirituality and commercial viability, what's your framework for collecting and sharing stories that invite wonder without sounding "woo-woo"? How do you balance running international retreats, teaching corporate clients, working one-on-one, and writing books - and what would you tell women about pricing spiritual work in ways that honour both accessibility and sustainability? Intension is they key. It sounds simple because it is. Strategy, goals and tasks are all part of the game but intension keeps us on track. Strategies can fail, tasks may not give the intended results, goals might send us in the wrong direction but intension guides us through. I wish there was an easy answer about honouring both accessibility and sustainability. On one hand we are continuously recreating ourselves, finding new ways to do the same thing. New ways to spread the message, new ways to attract our audience. This keeps us in tune with our creative fire, which is wonderful. However, we’ve noticed that the fruit of our actions are not always a direct result of what we do. My partner and I have observed that it is often the surrendered heart that opens the gates and welcomes those who benefit from our services. The more relaxed we are in running the business, the smoother it all goes. The more we believe we are the doers, thinking that unless we do a, b and c, nothing will happen, the harder everything becomes. Open doors close and we are left wondering what we are doing wrong. As my daughter once said: “Fix your energy; everything else will take care of itself.”. She had good teachers :) While I have worked with many corporate clients using my language skills, English is the main language I use for all wellbeing related workshops. I talk about my book where and whenever I have the opportunity. There is nothing woo-woo about the stories. They are real stories by real people and the more conversation I have around the subject of meaningful coincidence and synchronicities, the more natural they sound. There is ample evidence suggesting we still have a long way to understand ourselves, the human brain and our relationship with the world. Lisa Miller, a brain scientist, said in a podcast that she believes the brain is both a sender and a receiver. The stories in my book seem to align with this theory. I believe it’s worth mentioning that there isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution for female entrepreneurs. A business venture, like life, acts as a Master or a Guru, giving each individual exactly what they need. What is true for one person may not be true for another. I think what is most important is to find out what the business is asking from you personally. How does it respond to you. Do you need to push harder? Do you need more discipline? Do you need to let go? Do you need to relax deeply? How and when do you get the results you’re after? It’s a listening skill, just like yoga… keep listening and you will be guided in every way. ## The Work of Byron Katie, Voice Work with Kristin Linklater, and Teaching Tension Release - Building a Wellness Practice That Goes Beyond "Just Yoga" **Q:** Beyond traditional yoga, you've studied The Work of Byron Katie (a form of self-inquiry similar to CBT), trained in voice work with Kristin Linklater (using the voice as a mirror to identify and release unconscious blockages), and incorporated principles from Qi Gong, Feldenkrais, Somatic Awareness, and Bioenergetics. You also offer "Jump Start To Wellness" programs for people feeling burnt-out, stressed, anxious or low. For women building wellness or coaching practices, what's your advice about integrating multiple modalities without diluting your message? How do you help clients understand that yoga isn't just about postures but about moving stuck energy to create balance - and what would you tell women about the importance of their own continuous learning and spiritual practice while building a business that serves others? **A:** What all these modalities have in common is the body, which is inseparable from the mind and the breath. It is impossible to affect one without impacting the others. Every-body is different and when I read the room or the person who comes for a specific issue, my main focus is to reconnect them to their body in a way they may not have experienced in a long time - in some cases, ever. If they stay glued to the screen of their mind, it is unlikely that their nervous system would regulate and their breath return to its natural, easy flow. I cannot separate these modalities despite the fact that they approach the body very differently. Ultimately, they all aim for a more relaxed and integrated body that is fully alive - a natural state that allows for healthier relationships with others. Depending on energy levels, mobility and the amount of tension present, I approach the session according to the individual. Sometimes, we must begin the work with the mind, sometimes the body…It really depends on each individual case or group. Yoga is a lot more than moving stuck energy to create balance, but yes, that is the aim of the physical practice. The words we speak carry our understanding and intention to the receiver. The cues used in our sessions therefore convey what yoga is all about. I think your question is an important one. In my opinion, it is impossible to be passionate about the subject you are teaching without continually learning. This kind of teaching is very different from teaching a subject like mathematics or languages. Our practice deepens our understanding and when that happens, our very being and every word we utter, carries greater impact. We cannot pass on this kind of knowledge without embodying it. So I would say, if you’re not genuinely thirsty to deepen your understanding through practice and learning, you are probably in the wrong profession, or in it for the wrong reasons. This is how I knew Information Technology wasn’t for me. I witnessed my friends who had studied the same subject constantly seeking more trainings and qualifications while I could not wait to turn my computer off. Learning new technologies drained me. Yet when it comes to the body, mind and breath, I cannot wait to get my hands on old or new books and learn from more experienced teachers. I am now even fond of using my computer to bring my projects to life. It is no longer a chore but a joy. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you’re breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > **👉 hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### Soul + Strategy: Unfiltered Wisdom from Women Leading with Purpose URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/all/soul-strategy-unfiltered-wisdom-from-women-leading-with-purpose/ Last updated: 2026-05-29T04:03:05.000Z Leadership isn't a choice between heart and hustle. It's the powerful fusion of both. Announcing ***Soul + Strategy***, a new book series that takes you inside the unfiltered stories of the female executives who are rewriting the playbook on modern leadership. # SOUL +STRATEGY Unfiltered Wisdom from Women Leading with Purpose [Pre-order your copy](https://www.paypal.com/ncp/payment/AHW2L6HH8SXG8?ref=foundedbywomen.org) Forget polished corporate biographies. This is a raw, honest look at how today’s most inspiring women lead from a place of deep purpose without sacrificing an ounce of strategic impact. Through intimate interviews and expert Q&As, you'll discover how they harness intuition for innovation, build legacies with empathy, and drive transformative results without losing their soul. ***Soul + Strategy*** is your guide to leading with your whole self. Get ready to be inspired. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2025/06/soul-strategy-on-a-table.png) Following in the spirit of the celebrated [*Founded by Women*](https://www.foundedbywomen.org/book/) series, *Soul + Strategy* takes this exploration of female leadership a step further. We are moving beyond the story of the startup and into the heart of how women lead with purpose at every stage of their careers, from the executive suite to the venture capital boardroom. *Soul + Strategy* is a journey into the minds and hearts of women who are not just succeeding in business but are redefining its very essence. **Scheduled for release in Summer 2026, the book will be available as a *limited-edition* print run, published by** [**Databird Journal**](https://www.databirdjournal.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org)**.** ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2025/06/Table-of-Contents--Right---1--1.png) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2025/06/Contributors--Left---1--2.png) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2025/06/Article-1--Right---1--1.png) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2025/06/Article-1--Left---8-.png) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2025/06/Article-1--Left---9-.png) ## To pre-order your copy, submit the form below and we’ll reserve your copies. Ordering multiple copies? We offer [special bundle pricing](https://www.paypal.com/ncp/payment/5BVNKDQEMFM8E?ref=foundedbywomen.org) for bulk orders - perfect for teams or gifting. [Pre-order your copy](https://www.paypal.com/ncp/payment/AHW2L6HH8SXG8?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ### Concentric Counseling & Consulting URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/partners/wellbeing/concentric-counseling-consulting/ Last updated: 2026-02-27T06:33:22.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2026/02/CCC-Tag-Crop-for-Door--no-background2-.jpg) #### Jennifer Larson, LCPC, NCC is the Founder of Concentric Counseling & Consulting, a Chicago‑based group practice providing comprehensive outpatient mental health therapy for individuals, couples/relationships, tweens, teens, and families. In addition to therapy, Concentric offers select intensives and consulting services. Our clinicians provide specialized, tailored in‑person and virtual support for complex trauma, anxiety, depression, relationship challenges, grief and loss, life transitions, and more. We’re here to help you and your loved ones move toward growth, healing, and meaningful change. Email contact: [info@concentricchicago.com](mailto:info@concentricchicago.com) ****Social Media links:** [https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifer-larson-47a2577/](https://www.linkedin.com/company/concentric-counseling-consulting/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) [https://linkedin.com/company/concentric-counseling-consulting/](https://linkedin.com/company/concentric-counseling-consulting/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) [https://www.instagram.com/concentriccounselingchicago/](https://www.linkedin.com/company/concentric-counseling-consulting/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) [https://x.com/Larson\_CCC](https://x.com/Larson%5FCCC?ref=foundedbywomen.org) [Visit website](http://www.concentricchicago.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ### “We Met at a Bachelorette Party, Set Up PRN, and We’re Still Here 20 Years Later! George Blizzard on Co-Founding the World’s First Virtual PR Agency in 2005, Job-Sharing the CEO Role Through Motherhood, and Building a PRWeek Top 100 Agency.” URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/pr/we-met-at-a-bachelorette-party-set-up-prn-and-were-still-here-20-years-later-george-blizzard-on-co-founding-the-worlds-first-virtual-pr-agency-in-2005-job-sharing-the-ceo-role-through-m/ Last updated: 2026-02-24T04:38:51.000Z When George Blizzard and Nicky Regazzoni launched [The PR Network](https://www.thepr.network/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) in 2005, they didn't set out to become pioneers. They just wanted to solve a problem they saw everywhere: brilliant, senior PR professionals leaving the industry because traditional agencies couldn't accommodate working parents or anyone who didn't want to live in London. George was on maternity leave with her three-month-old daughter Sissy. Nicky was freelancing. They'd both worked at Bite, a tech PR specialist, and watched talented people walk away from careers they loved because the 9-5 office model didn't fit their lives. The freelance community was thriving. There had to be a different way. So they built it. Today, The PR Network is the world's first and largest virtual PR agency, with 1,400+ experts across 60+ countries working with brands like Dropbox, Toyota, Beyond Meat, and Workday. They're a PRWeek Top 100 UK agency, PRWeek Top 200 Global PR Agency, PRWeek Top 10 Tech agency, and achieved B Corp certification in 2023\. The business has doubled in just five years. George and Nicky have job-shared the co-CEO role for nearly 20 years. They were the first job share awarded a place on the FT Power Part Time list in 2013\. They won the inaugural GWPR and ICCO Angela Oakes Award recognizing those who "smashed glass ceilings and changed the game for empowering female leadership." They're Fellows of the Public Relations Communications Association and feature in the PRWeek UK Power Book (2021-2024). George leads culture at The PR Network and pioneered a "Family First" ethos that's resulted in an exceptional average retention rate of 10 years and nine 5-star Glassdoor ratings. The agency won Best Small Agency to Work For (2024) and has become proof that prioritizing flexibility doesn't weaken performance. It strengthens it. Under Nicky's leadership, The PR Network achieved B Corp certification and committed £50,000 of profits to causes including CAMFED (helping 64 girls achieve four years of secondary school education in Sub-Saharan Africa) and Refuge, plus an Employee Giving Fund where all staff give £500 to charities of their choice. They've partnered with environmental consultancy Furthr to measure and offset their carbon footprint and commit financially to ethnic and social mobility initiatives including Socially Mobile. The business model is ruthlessly simple: no office overhead means they can invest the majority of client fees in the best teams while generating high profits. Nine permanent employees manage 1,400+ associates worldwide. Senior experts only. No junior account executives padding billable hours. Their job share works because they have a similar work ethic, a joint vision, and high trust, but they aren't carbon copies. As George puts it: "Our clients and team will say we're interchangeable, but we actually often have different views, which is why our relationship works so well. We have diversity of thought and different perspectives, so every decision is well-considered from all angles." They co-host the "Just Curious..." podcast featuring personalities from broadcasting, media, PR, and sport. George wrote her Leadership Letter to Hillary Rodham Clinton. They've mentored for Women in PR, PRWeek, People Like Us, and Socially Mobile, and volunteered with mental health initiative State of Us. In 20 years, they've never had a client complain about responsiveness despite their flexible working commitment. They've built teams of individuals bound together by a vision for flexible working. Everyone wants it to work. Everyone's working toward the same goal. As George reflects: "We never thought we'd still be working together 20 years later, or that we would be a Top 100 agency. However, we always had a shared vision, ambition, and commitment to do our best. We knew what we didn't want to do, and we created the change we wanted that we couldn't see in our industry. I'm not sure if that's bravery, foresight, or luck—but it's served us very well." ## Pioneering the Virtual Agency Model 15 Years Before COVID - Building The PR Network as a Job Share **Q:** You and co-founder Nicky Regazzoni launched The PR Network in 2005 as the world's first virtual PR agency, operating it via a groundbreaking job share long before remote work became mainstream. Today, you're a PRWeek Top 100 UK agency, PRWeek Top 200 Global PR Agency, and PRWeek Top 10 Tech agency and have 1,400+ experts across 60+ countries working with brands like Dropbox, Toyota, Beyond Meat, and Workday. For female founders building agencies or consulting businesses, what made you confident enough to launch a completely virtual model when the industry standard was London offices? How did you structure the job share co-CEO arrangement to work seamlessly for nearly 20 years? What advice would you give women considering co-founding businesses or pioneering non-traditional business models that others say won't work? **A:** Nicky and I conceived the idea whilst we were both working together at tech specialist Bite (part of Next15 Group). Nicky was freelancing and I was a permanent member of staff. We could see that the traditional model didn’t work for everyone - particularly working parents. We felt there could be a more flexible way of working that would also really benefit clients, in that they could have teams staffed only by senior, experienced people actually doing the account work. We saw so many talented, senior people leaving the profession either because they didn’t want to live in London, or with caring responsibilities that didn’t fit with a 9-5 office-based job. The freelance community was thriving, and we saw an opportunity. We loved Bite and we didn’t want to build a copycat agency, but to find a different way of working that harnessed the talent of brilliant senior freelance consultants. The PR Network was born! We job-shared the CEO role from day one. We launched when I was on maternity leave and my eldest daughter Sissy was three months old. I needed the flexibility to care for her and build our business, so Nicky and I agreed to work three days a week each. Soon after, Nicky had her first son Sam - and before we knew it we had young families and a burgeoning global business! At first our job share was built around our childcare. We had a nanny or a nursery commitment on certain days, so we worked around that with at least one anchor day. That pattern has changed over the years as our children’s needs have changed, but we’ve always kept that anchor day where we could share ideas, problem solve and brainstorm new innovations. Now, as our children are largely independent, we tend to work across the week as required, but we split our business responsibilities. Our job share has worked so well as we both have such a good understanding of how each other works and how we can support each other best. We have a similar work ethic, a joint vision and a high level of trust, but we aren’t carbon copies of each other. Our clients and team will say that we are interchangeable, but we actually often have different views which is why our relationship works so well. We have a diversity of thought and different perspectives, so every decision we make is well-considered from all angles. In terms of advice, we never thought we’d still be working together 20 years later - or that we would be a Top 100 agency! However, we always had a shared vision, ambition and commitment to do our best. We knew what we didn’t want to do, and we created the change we wanted that we couldn’t see in our industry. I’m not sure if that’s bravery, foresight or luck - but it’s served us very well during this long phase of our careers in PR. ## "Family First" Culture and Building for Retention - How The PR Network Keeps Talent for 10+ Years **Q:** You lead culture at The PR Network and pioneered a "Family First" ethos where staff can work flexibly, resulting in an exceptional average retention rate of 10 years and nine 5-star Glassdoor ratings. You've won Best Small Agency to Work For (2024) and championed flexible working to retain incredible talent that typically leaves PR due to lack of flexibility. For female founders building companies while navigating their own work-life challenges, how do you create genuinely flexible cultures that deliver results without burning people out? What's the business case for prioritizing family and flexibility when clients demand responsiveness and the industry glorifies overwork? How should founders structure teams and workflows to make "family first" actually operational rather than just aspirational? **A:** This is something we’re really passionate about. Our model ensures our team and our freelance associates worldwide have the flexibility to have an ambitious career and enjoy family time. It’s not always easy - we’d be lying if we said it is. However, if someone on our team wants to be at school for an important occasion, we’re happy as we trust they’ll make up the time. When a team is happy and fulfilled, they are super motivated, and that underpins our culture. Everything depends on trust and transparency, and as our team is senior-only we are able to have those grown up conversations about how to work flexibly for them, for us and the client. In 20 years we’ve never had a client complain we’re not responsive because of our flexible working commitment. I believe that is because we’ve built teams of individuals who have a similar work ethic, and are bound together by a vision for flexible working. Everyone wants it to work, and we’re all working towards the same goal. We have all the tech available to ensure that we can be transparent so clients are comfortable about what is being delivered and when. ## B Corp, DEI Commitments, and Using Business as a Force for Good - Beyond Profit **Q:** Under Nicky's leadership, The PR Network achieved B Corp certification in 2023 and committed £50,000 of profits to causes including CAMFED and Refuge, plus an Employee Giving Fund where all staff give £500 to charities of their choice. You've also partnered with Furthr to measure and offset your carbon footprint. You're passionate about DEI and commit financially to ethnic and social mobility initiatives including Socially Mobile. For female entrepreneurs building profitable agencies, how do you balance purpose and profit? What's your framework for deciding which social and environmental commitments are authentic versus performative? How do you convince clients and team members that investing in B Corp certification, carbon offsetting, and charitable giving strengthens rather than weakens the business? **A:** This is one of things I’m most proud of and the biggest benefit of setting up your own business: having the ability to support causes you care about. We believe in the importance of giving back and have always tried to give our support in both time and monetary terms to causes that further our industry and our community. We have run the mentoring scheme for Women in PR and PRWeek for three years, mentored for People Like Us and Socially Mobile as well as volunteering with new mental health initiative State of Us. We chose CAMFED, the campaign for female education, as our corporate charity partner, and we’re proud that we’ve helped 64 girls achieve four years of secondary school education in Sub-Saharan Africa. Nicky has been instrumental in driving forward our B Corp certification which as anyone knows is no mean feat. This was the cherry on top for us as it recognised our accomplishments to date, but signposted areas which needed more work. All of these initiatives keep us laser-focused on our vision and building a business with heart. We think this makes us a better partner for our clients and a better employer for our team. It’s not performative. There is a real business benefit for continually assessing how you can innovate and improve, and our clients love to know they’re working with an ethical business. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you’re breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > **👉 hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### "65% of Startups Fail from Cofounder Conflict, Not Market Fit": Jane Hales on the The Stormline Map™, Why Founders Stay in Toxic Partnerships, and Designing Founding Relationships Before Resentment Takes Root URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/women-who-lead/65-of-startups-fail-from-cofounder-conflict-not-market-fit-jane-hales-on-the-the-stormline-map-why-founders-stay-in-toxic-partnerships-and-designing-founding-relationships-before-resent/ Last updated: 2026-02-24T04:04:58.000Z [Jane Hales](https://janehales.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) has spent over 30 years building and exiting businesses, serving as a board director, business accelerator coach and mentoring founders. She co-founded Sapio Research, an award winning market research agency inspired by social enterprise principles, and stepped back from day-to-day operations to become an active shareholder and board director. That transition gave her a front-row seat to a pattern she'd seen play out again and again externally: brilliant, capable founders trapped in partnerships that were quietly destroying them. Not the business. Them. She watched women who used to stride into boardrooms now shrinking in meetings, editing every sentence to keep the peace. Going home exhausted not from the work, but from constantly managing someone else's emotions while quietly abandoning their own. Staying in unhealthy partnerships because leaving felt like losing themselves. Their status, their story, their sense of purpose. The statistics back up what Jane saw. According to Harvard Business School professor Noam Wasserman, 65% of high-potential startups fail as a result of conflict among co-founders. Not market conditions. Not product-market fit. Cofounder conflict. Today, Jane runs Part of the .Team (POTT) and her personal brand, where she's pivoted her focus entirely to relationship design, conflict prevention and resolution, and equity/role structuring for founding teams. She's writing a business fable called *From Dream Team to Divorce?* built around The Stormline Map™*,* which helps founders distinguish between normal, productive tension and the kind of escalating, unresolved conflict that quietly corrodes trust. Her work starts with a simple but powerful question: "If you stripped away the company logo and the job title, who would be left?" When the honest answer is "I'm not sure," that's a signal that identity and partnership have become dangerously fused. Jane helps founders gently separate those strands so they can make clear-headed decisions. She distinguishes between the asset (what you own), the role (what you do), and the relationship (how you treat each other). That simple separation unlocks options: you might step back from the day-to-day role to protect your health while still protecting your equity and influence as an owner. The end goal is shared alignment. The goal isn't to push anyone towards staying or leaving. It's to move them from "I'm trapped" to "I have real choices, and I'm allowed to choose myself." Most founding teams put huge effort into product design and almost none into relationship design. A shareholders' agreement is your legal "prenup" around ownership and voting, but it doesn't tell you how you'll disagree, who has the casting vote on strategy, or what happens when one of you is burning out and too proud to say it. Jane creates space for founding teams to step out of the operational whirlwind and speak as owners, human to human. They map roles and decision rights, but they also name fears, hopes, and red lines. They design regular "relationship check-ins" so issues don't have to wait for a crisis. She uses frameworks like the Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Model to give founders neutral language for saying, "Right now I'm avoiding. I need to move towards a more collaborative stance." The Stormline Map™ breaks down the predictable rise of tension into Base, Mid, and Peak levels, helping women spot the tremors before the quake. The earliest signs of a failing partnership rarely look dramatic. In fact, they often look like "everything's fine." The calendar is full, the Slack channels are busy, the revenue is growing. And yet one founder has a knot in her stomach before every leadership meeting. She starts rehearsing conversations in her head, then decides it's easier not to have them. Jane has worked with women who could see these early tremors long before anything "blew up." One realized her cofounder had slipped into the "nice CEO" trap: always agreeable in public, but avoiding hard calls and leaving her to quietly carry the consequences. Another had to name the dark side of her own servant-leadership style. She was so busy protecting everyone else that real risks were going unspoken. At its heart is a simple belief: you can be ambitious, successful, and well-governed without losing yourself in the process. ## **The Hidden Emotional Toll of Cofounder Conflict - From Identity Crisis to Purpose Void** **Q:** You've identified that 65% of startups fail due to cofounder conflict, but beyond the business failure, you emphasize the massive emotional toll - founders experiencing an "identity void and a long search for purpose" after partnerships collapse. For female founders who've built their entire identity around their startup and their cofounder relationship, what does this emotional devastation actually look like in practice? How do you help founders recognize when they're staying in a toxic partnership because leaving feels like losing themselves, and what's your framework for separating personal identity from business partnership so founders can make clear-headed decisions about their relationships? **A:** When a partnership breaks, it’s not just a business problem – it’s an identity shock. For many women, the company and the cofounder relationship are woven into “who I am”, not just “what I do”. I’ve sat with founders who used to stride into boardrooms and now find themselves shrinking in meetings, editing every sentence to keep the peace. They describe going home exhausted, not from the work, but from constantly managing someone else’s emotions while quietly abandoning their own. Since standing down from the day‑to‑day and moving from founder to active shareholder, I’ve seen this same pattern play out again and again in my external work. Women stay in unhealthy partnerships because leaving feels like losing themselves – their status, their story, their sense of purpose. The question I often ask is: “If you stripped away the company logo and the job title, who would be left?” When the honest answer is “I’m not sure”, that’s a powerful signal that identity and partnership have become dangerously fused. My work now is about helping founders gently separate those strands so they can make clear‑headed decisions. We distinguish between the asset (what you own), the role (what you do) and the relationship (how you treat each other). That simple separation can unlock options: you might choose to step back from the day‑to‑day role to protect your health, while still protecting your equity and influence as an owner. The goal isn’t to push anyone towards staying or leaving, but to help them move from “I’m trapped” to “I have real choices – and I’m allowed to choose myself.” - Things change. People change. That’s ok, but has our understanding of one another kept pace? Without shared alignment, a tremendous amount of energy can be needlessly wasted. ## **Spotting the Tremors Before the Quake - The Aggression Escalation Model in Practice** **Q:** Your upcoming business fable is built around , The Stormline Map™ which breaks down the predictable rise of tension into Base, Mid, and Peak levels. For female founders who might dismiss early warning signs as "normal startup stress" or feel pressured to "keep the peace" rather than address conflict, what are the specific behavioral patterns at each level that signal a partnership is deteriorating? How do frameworks like the Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Model and Partner Hype Cycle help founders intervene early, and what's the difference between productive tension that drives growth versus destructive conflict that leads to collapse? **A:** The earliest signs of a failing partnership rarely look dramatic. In fact, they often look like “everything’s fine”. The calendar is full, the Slack channels are busy, the revenue is growing – and yet one founder has a knot in her stomach before every leadership meeting. She starts rehearsing conversations in her head, then deciding it’s easier not to have them. She stops challenging decisions and assumes the responses she’ll receive. She disagrees with and tells herself, “It’s just a rough patch, we need to get through this quarter.” I’ve worked with women who could see these early tremors long before anything “blew up”. One realised her cofounder had slipped into the “nice CEO” trap – always agreeable in public, but avoiding hard calls and leaving her to quietly carry the consequences. Together, we worked on how she could support her cofounder to lead with soul and still hold the line on performance. Another founder had to name the dark side of her own servant‑leadership style: she was so busy protecting everyone else that real risks were going unspoken. Once she saw that, she could course‑correct before the relationship or the business fractured. Frameworks help make this less personal and more practical. Tools like the Thomas‑Kilmann Conflict Model give founders a neutral language for saying, “Right now I’m avoiding; I need to move towards a more collaborative stance.” My forthcoming business fable introduces The Stormline Map™, which helps women distinguish between normal, productive tension – the kind that comes with ambition and high standards – and the kind of escalating, unresolved conflict that quietly corrodes trust. The earlier you can name which pattern you’re in, the more options you have to repair it. ## **Conflict Prevention Through Relationship Design - Structuring Founding Teams from Day One** **Q:** You're pivoting Part of the .Team to focus on relationship design, conflict prevention/resolution, and equity/role structuring for founding teams. For female entrepreneurs forming new partnerships or early-stage teams, what does "relationship design" actually mean in practice, and how is it different from simply drafting a shareholders' agreement? What are the critical conversations about roles, equity, decision-making authority, and exit scenarios that founding teams need to have upfront but typically avoid, and how do you facilitate these discussions before resentment builds? **A:** Yes, I found that using ProfOps™ to improve Founders' efficiency and profit often overlooked the bigger, silent struggle in the room - misalignment. Most founding teams put huge effort into product design and almost none into relationship design. A shareholders’ (or stockholders’) agreement is your legal “prenup” around ownership and voting – it deals with the equity and control piece. It will tell you who owns what and how votes are counted, but it doesn’t tell you how you’ll disagree, who has the casting vote on strategy, or what happens when one of you is burning out and too proud to say it. That’s the work I’m now focused on: helping women leaders build partnerships that are consciously designed, not accidentally inherited. In practice, that means having the conversations most teams avoid until it’s too late. Are we building primarily for income now, or for equity and a future exit? Who ultimately sets the destination, and who is responsible for navigating the day‑to‑day route? What are each of our non‑negotiables in how we want to be led and how we will lead others? When I transitioned from operator to board director, I saw how often conflict at the top was simply the result of those questions never being answered out loud. With founding teams, I create space for them to step out of the operational whirlwind and speak as owners, human to human. We map roles and decision rights, but we also name fears, hopes and red lines. We design regular “relationship check‑ins” so issues don’t have to wait for a crisis. My forthcoming book, [*From Dream Team to Divorce?*](https://janehales.com/books/?ref=foundedbywomen.org), is built around these moments – showing founders how to spot trouble earlier, reset before resentment takes root, and, where necessary, unwind with dignity. At its heart is a simple belief: you can be ambitious, successful and well‑governed without losing yourself in the process. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you’re breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > **👉 hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### Marie Torossian CPA, PLLC URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/partners/financial/marie-torossian-cpa-pllc/ Last updated: 2026-02-23T05:41:15.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2026/02/Marie-Torossian-CPA-.png) #### Marie Torossian CPA, PLLC is a business advisory and strategy-focused accounting firm serving established service-based businesses with $750K+ in revenue. The firm specializes in financial clarity, strategic insight, and value-driven planning to help growth-minded owners improve profitability, scale with confidence, and build long-term business value. ****Preferred contact email:** [marie@marietorossiancpa.com](mailto:marie@marietorossiancpa.com) ****Social media links:** [https://www.linkedin.com/in/marietorossianyour10xcpa/](https://www.linkedin.com/in/marietorossianyour10xcpa/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) [https://www.instagram.com/marie\_10x\_cpa\_coach/](https://www.instagram.com/marie%5F10x%5Fcpa%5Fcoach/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) [Visit website](http://www.marietorossiancpa.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ### From Single Mom Working Three Jobs to Fortune 500 HR Executive to Founding WeMaax Consulting: Mary Axelsen on Walking Away from Corporate Status, Her CARE™ Framework for Disruption Management, and Why 'Your Energy is Your Most Valuable Currency URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/women-who-lead/from-single-mom-working-three-jobs-to-fortune-250-hr-executive-to-founding-wemaax-consulting-mary-axelsen-on-walking-away-from-corporate-status-her-care-framework-for-disruption-managem/ Last updated: 2026-02-20T04:26:10.000Z Mary Axelsen knows what it means to choose courage over comfort, and she's done it more than once. In her twenties, as a single mother and sole provider, she left corporate America to attend college full-time. She worked three part-time jobs, raised her daughter, volunteered, and graduated debt-free. Years later, after building a successful career as an HR executive at Fortune 500 companies including Unum and LL Bean, working across insurance, healthcare, biotechnology, and retail, and in specific functions such as marketing, sales, IT, finance, and supply chain, she made that choice again. She walked away from senior leadership to found [WeMaax Consulting](http://wemaaxconsulting.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org). It wasn't fear-free. Leaving meant losing the identity and status that came with a corporate title, stepping into financial uncertainty, and wondering whether her experience would translate into an entrepreneurial business model. But Mary treated the transition like any major change initiative: she got clear on who she served and what problems she solved, designed a realistic financial and emotional runway, and surrounded herself with other founders and advisors so she wasn't doing it alone. Today, Mary runs a leadership strategy and organizational transformation firm focused on purpose-driven strategies, preparing organizations for what's next, transformational leadership development and coaching, and elevating women's economic power. With a Master's degree in Organizational Leadership and certifications in DEBI, Change, Hogan, and 360 assessments, she's been featured in Forbes and has developed two proprietary frameworks: CARE™ for disruption management and Dare to Care™ for DEBI strategy. In her consulting firm, she has continued to support insurance, healthcare, biotechnology, and retail industries and functions such as marketing, sales, IT, finance, and supply chain, while also expanding to PE-backed companies, biopharma, and financial services. She works with high-growth companies and women leaders ready to challenge outdated systems and scale. Mary is also an angel investor with How Women Invest, working to "disrupt the balance of economic power and get more wealth in the hands of female business owners with a variety of identities." She serves as a Board Member for ProsperityME and is a Leader Level Member of Women United (United Way of Southern Maine). Alongside psychologist Amy Wood, Psy.D., she co-created Breakout Leaders™, an experiential learning and targeted coaching program to unlock leaders' full potential. Her philosophy centers on what she calls "whole person success": living a life that nurtures, honors, and celebrates all aspects of who you are. She coaches leaders to treat energy as currency. You only have so much each day, and where you spend it determines your impact and well-being. In her own practice, that means pricing to protect her energy, building a holistic calendar that reflects her values (not just her old overachieving habits), and saying no to create space for her true "yes." She made a commitment when launching WeMaax that she would never take an engagement just for the money. Only work she wants to do, with leaders she wants to work with, creating the impact she wants to have. As Mary puts it: "When women leaders treat their energy as their most valuable currency, they make better decisions, build stronger companies, and stay in the work long enough to change the systems they're here to transform." ## From Fortune 500 HR Executive to Founding WeMaax Consulting - Leaving Corporate America to Challenge Outdated Systems **Q:** You're the founder and CEO of WeMaax Consulting, a leadership strategy and organizational transformation firm. But your path to entrepreneurship came after years as an HR executive at Fortune 500 companies including Unum and LL Bean, working across private, public, for-profit, non-profit, and PE-backed companies in insurance, healthcare, biotechnology, retail, biopharma, financial services, and in functions such as marketing, sales, IT, finance, and supply chain. You've been featured in Forbes and have a Master's degree in Organizational Leadership with certifications in DEBI, Change, Hogan, and 360 assessments. For women considering leaving corporate America to start their own businesses, what made you decide to leave senior leadership to build WeMaax Consulting? Walk us through the fears you overcame stepping out of your comfort zone, and what advice would you give women about transitioning from corporate roles to entrepreneurship - especially when they've built successful careers and walking away feels risky? **A:** I launched WeMaax Consulting because I wanted to do deep, honest transformation work, aligned with my values and strengths, that I couldn't fully do inside an organization. I focus my work on women leaders/founders and high-growth companies who are ready to disrupt, challenge outdated systems, and scale. Leaving a senior executive role was not fear-free. I had to hold hands with fear and courage and remind myself of the other times I took risks and succeeded. For example, in my 20s I was a single Mom and sole provider for our family and left corporate america to go to college full-time to obtain my degree. I worked three part-time jobs, took care of my daughter, volunteered, and graduated debt-free. I go back to that moment in times of fear to remind myself of my courage. Leaving corporate and launching a business meant I had to work through losing the identity and status that came with that job, stepping into financial uncertainty, and wondering whether my corporate experience would translate into an entrepreneurial business model. I treated it like any major change initiative: getting clear on who I serve, what problems I solve, and the specific outcomes I deliver, designing a realistic financial and emotional runway, and surrounding myself with other founders and advisors so I wasn't doing it alone. For women who want to make the leap consider this: Don't just quit - plan a transition. Before I left, I met with other founders, tested out small pieces of work, and hired a coach. Getting specific about your offering and desired impact before you resign will assist with a faster launch. Separate your title from your value. Your value is your judgement, experience, and results + you are bringing this with you. Design your runway. Know your numbers, timeline, and support you'll need while your new identity as a founder takes shape. Having my bonus and equity payout gave me stability during a time I felt great uncertainty. Be vulnerable. Let yourself experiment. You won't get everything right and that is okay. It is how we learn, grow, and adjust. Expect to question yourself and your decision. It doesn't mean you made the wrong move or aren't capable. It means you are doing something new and courageous. ## Disrupting Systems to Elevate Women's Economic Power - Your CARE™ Framework for Disruption Management and Dare to Care™ for DEBI Strategy **Q:** At WeMaax, you focus on gender equity, supporting female founders, and elevating women's economic power. You've developed the CARE™ Framework for disruption management and Dare to Care™ for your DEBI (Diversity, Equity, Belonging, and Inclusion) services. You're also an angel investor with How Women Invest, working to "disrupt the balance of economic power and get more wealth in the hands of female business owners with a variety of identities." For female founders building companies or consulting practices focused on organizational transformation and equity, how do you help leaders move beyond performative initiatives to actual transformation? What framework do you use to guide organizations through disruption while maintaining focus on equity and inclusion? What would you tell women about building profitable businesses around transformation work when organizations often resist paying for the deep work that's actually needed? **A:** I help leaders make equity a core business strategy, not a side initiative—and by centering women as the leaders who deliver stronger, more sustainable results. At WeMaax, I use my CARE™ Framework to guide organizations through disruption, distraction, and discomfort. We connect equity to how you design your organization, how decisions get made, how power and information flow, and how you reward and advance people. This means a compelling, equity-centered vision; honestly assessing gaps; building a real roadmap; and sustaining change with accountability. Dare to Care™ brings that same rigor to DEBI, pairing data and strategy with the courage to confront power, bias, and systemic inequity. I am deeply committed to accelerating women's economic power by helping organizations recognize what the research has shown again and again: when women lead, companies are more innovative, more resilient, and more profitable. I am an angel investor and strategic advisor to female founders. I work with them to transition from founder to CEO and build a scalable business. If you are committed to equity, Tie equity work directly to measurable business outcomes. Productize your frameworks so you can charge for the depth of transformation, not just "sessions." Choose clients who are ready for real change. Ask questions to understand their depth of commitment, willingness to be uncomfortable, and openness to accountability. For women founders, your work is not "soft" or optional. The transformation you drive is a competitive advantage—and you deserve to build a profitable business that reflects the real value of the results you deliver. I made a commitment to myself when I launched WeMaax Consulting that I would never take an engagement just for the money. I take the engagement because it is the type of work I want to do, type of impact I want to have, with a leader I want to work with, and.....the money aligns. ## Building a Consulting Practice That Doesn't Lead to Burnout - Your "Whole Person Success" Model and Co-Creating Breakout Leaders™ Q: You coach leaders on "whole person success - living a life that nurtures, honors, and celebrates all aspects of who you are." You've been open about getting caught up in achieving and realizing you hadn't taken a vacation beyond a couple days in almost a year, despite coaching others on work-life integration. You're a Board Member for ProsperityME, Leader Level Member of Women United (United Way of Southern Maine), and an angel investor with How Women Invest. You co-created Breakout Leaders™ with psychologist Amy Wood, Psy.D. For female founders building service-based businesses (coaching, consulting, or professional services), how do you structure your own practice to avoid the trap of overworking that you coach clients to avoid? What does "whole person success" actually look like in practice when you're building a business, and how do you balance consulting work with angel investing, board service, and personal life? What advice would you give women about pricing their services, setting boundaries with clients, and building sustainable consulting practices that don't require sacrificing everything else? A: Whole person success, for me and my clients, means building a business that protects and grows your energy, not just your revenue. I run WeMaax the way I coach leaders to run their lives: design the business around what matters most, instead of squeezing life into the margins. Practically, that looks like prioritizing time off, health, and family on the calendar and setting realistic capacity for client work, thought leadership, and nonprofit work. I limit the number of intensive engagements I take at once, batch similar work, and regularly ask: does my calendar reflect my values - or my old overachieving habits? In my coaching, I treat energy as a currency: you only have so much each day, and where you spend it determines your impact and well-being. I help leaders notice what drains and fuels them, then redesign roles, boundaries, and goals so their energy goes toward work only they can uniquely do and toward the people and causes that matter most. For women building service-based businesses, my advice is: Price to protect your energy: your fees must reflect prep, emotional labor, recovery, business development, and time off—not just hours in session. Build a holistic calendar (business and personal) - not a compartmentalized one: you are a whole person with an integrated life. This approach assists with knowing your true capacity, planning for it, and delegating work. Build offers that honor your bandwidth: use containers (packages, retainers, cohorts) instead of focusing solely on 1:1 work. Set and communicate clear boundaries: Scope creep is common so be clear on the problem you are solving for and your deliverables. Women are often problem solvers for their family. In my marriage, I say when it isn't my problem to solve or don't have the emotional capacity to respond in that moment. Step into your power, own your voice, and be true to you. Saying no means you are creating space for your true "YES!" This is when you experience the most joy, fulfillment, and desired impact. Your business should serve both your mission and your life. When women leaders treat their energy as their most valuable currency, they make better decisions, build stronger companies, and stay in the work long enough to change the systems they're here to transform. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you’re breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > **👉 hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### Simply Mindful LLC URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/partners/wellbeing/simply-mindful-llc/ Last updated: 2026-02-16T07:39:53.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2026/02/Simply-Mindful-Logo_light-green-filled--3-.png) #### Fran Benedict is the founder of Simply Mindful LLC, built on a simple truth: everything you need is already within you. With nearly 20 years in wellbeing, mindfulness, and organizational health, she creates space for individuals and teams to reconnect with what they already know. ****Contact email:** [fran@simplymindful.com](mailto:fran@simplymindful.com) ****Socials:** LinkedIn: [https://www.linkedin.com/in/franbenedict](https://www.linkedin.com/in/franbenedict/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) Instagram: [https://www.instagram.com/simply\_\_mindful](https://www.instagram.com/simply%5F%5Fmindful?ref=foundedbywomen.org) Facebook: [Visit website](https://simplymindful.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ### "Your Body Always Keeps Receipts": From Stage 4 Endometriosis Wake-Up Call to Intuitive Business Coach - Lynita Mitchell-Blackwell on Achievement Addiction, the 12 Spiritual Principles of Money Magic, and Living Life "on FIRE" URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/women-who-lead/your-body-always-keeps-receipts-from-stage-4-endometriosis-wake-up-call-to-intuitive-business-coach-lynita-mitchell-blackwell-on-achievement-addiction-the-12-spiritual-principles-of-mon/ Last updated: 2026-02-13T03:53:49.000Z Before her health collapsed, [Lynita Mitchell-Blackwell](https://lynitamitchellblackwell.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) wore productivity like a badge of honor. She was chronically exhausted but called it "being driven." She ignored pain, inflammation, brain fog, and a nervous system that never powered down. She normalized operating at 120% and spiritualized overworking by calling it purpose. Stage 4 endometriosis didn't arrive out of nowhere. It was the physical manifestation of years of self-betrayal in the name of achievement. At the time, Lynita had built what looked like the perfect empire. She ran an award-winning law firm (recognized as a Top 100 Lawyer in Georgia), an accounting firm, an award-winning media company that published five magazines (two voted as ATL's Hottest), and a publishing house that produced seven bestselling authors. She worked at PwC and Deloitte earlier in her career, earned her CPA license, her law degree from Georgia State University, and served as president of both the Georgia Chapter of the American Academy of Attorney-CPAs and the Georgia Association of Black Women Attorneys Foundation. Then came the surgeries that nearly took her life. Sarcoidosis, endometriosis, and fibroids required radical surgery that left her laid up for months. She couldn't muscle her way through healing. She couldn't outwork her body. She had to listen. Rebuilding her career meant rebuilding her relationship with herself. Intuition stopped being a "nice-to-have" and became her operating system. She began prioritizing nervous system regulation, energy management, and alignment before strategy. She redesigned her work so it supported her life, not consumed it. Today, Lynita Mitchell-Blackwell is the Intuitive Business Coach™ who leads clients to "Live Life on FIRE" (Financially Independent, Resourced, and Energized). She's a #1 Bestselling Author of six books on leadership, career development, and financial literacy, an ordained New Thought Minister, and has been featured in Forbes, NBC, CBS, and Yahoo! Finance. She's co-founder of the Jewell Jackson McCabe Emerging Institute, a leadership training non-profit that has served over 400 women and girls nationally and abroad. Her work now integrates what most women are taught to keep separate: spirituality and wealth, faith and profit, ambition and peace. She's developed the "12 Spiritual Principles of Money Magic" and the "5 Step Formula to the Ultimate Successful Life with Peace, Joy, and Fulfillment" - frameworks that help women understand that money is not moral, it's energetic, and abundance doesn't pull them away from God or spirit, it places them in deeper partnership. Sustainable success, for Lynita, means her body is included in every decision. Her calendar reflects her values. Her businesses grow because she's resourced, rested, and regulated. That's not a step down from ambition. It's a higher octave of it. As she puts it: "Your body always keeps receipts. Listening earlier is the most strategic move you can make." --- ## From Attorney & CPA to Intuitive Business Coach - The Stage 4 Endometriosis Wake-Up Call That Changed Everything **Q:** You built an award-winning law firm, worked at PwC and Deloitte, founded a publishing company that published bestselling authors, and ran award-winning magazines - all while operating under the philosophy of "work hard and rack up as many achievements as possible." Then stage 4 endometriosis and brutal surgeries almost took your life, becoming the catalyst for your rebirth as the Intuitive Business Coach. For female founders who are following the same "achievement at all costs" playbook, what were the warning signs you ignored before your health crashed, and how did you rebuild your career around intuition, self-prioritization, and sustainable success instead of burnout and relentless hustle? **A:** Before my health collapsed, the warning signs were loud. I just treated them like background noise. I was chronically exhausted but called it “being driven.” I ignored pain, inflammation, brain fog, and a nervous system that never powered down. I wore productivity like a badge of honor and told myself rest was something I’d earn later. I normalized operating at 120% and spiritualized overworking by calling it purpose. Stage 4 endometriosis didn’t arrive out of nowhere. It was the physical manifestation of years of self-betrayal in the name of achievement. The surgeries that nearly took my life stripped away every illusion I had about success. I couldn’t muscle my way through healing. I couldn’t outwork my body. I had to listen. Rebuilding my career meant rebuilding my relationship with myself. Intuition stopped being a “nice-to-have” and became my operating system. I began prioritizing nervous system regulation, energy management, and alignment before strategy. I redesigned my work so it supported my life, not consumed it. Today, sustainable success means my body is included in every decision. My calendar reflects my values. My businesses grow because I’m resourced, rested, and regulated. That’s not a step down from ambition. It’s a higher octave of it. For women still living by the “achievement at all costs” playbook, I tell them this: your body always keeps receipts. Listening earlier is the most strategic move you can make. ## "Live Life on FIRE" and the 12 Spiritual Principles of Money Magic - Integrating Faith, Business, and Abundance **Q:** As an attorney, CPA, ordained New Thought minister, and intuitive business coach, you've developed a unique framework combining spiritual principles with business strategy, including your "12 Spiritual Principles of Money Magic." For female entrepreneurs who've been taught that money is "the root of all evil" or who feel guilt about pursuing wealth while also being spiritual or faith-driven, how do you help clients rewrite their money stories? What's your approach to building businesses that are both financially successful and spiritually aligned, without compartmentalizing faith and profit? **A:** One of the biggest lies women are taught is that spirituality and wealth exist on opposite sides of the room. I help clients understand that money is not moral. It’s energetic. It’s responsive. And it amplifies whatever consciousness you bring to it. The guilt many women carry around money usually comes from inherited stories: struggle as virtue, self-sacrifice as holiness, or the belief that wanting more makes you selfish or unspiritual. We don’t argue those stories. We lovingly outgrow them. The *12 Spiritual Principles of Money Magic* are about alignment before accumulation. We look at worthiness, stewardship, circulation, reciprocity, boundaries, and consent. We examine where women are leaking energy financially, underpricing themselves spiritually, or confusing struggle with service. My approach is integration, not compartmentalization. Faith informs how we lead. Intuition informs how we price. Integrity informs how we scale. Profit becomes a tool for impact, rest, generosity, and legacy. When women stop making money the enemy, they stop sabotaging their expansion. They realize abundance doesn’t pull them away from God or spirit. It places them in deeper partnership. Living life “on FIRE” means Financially Independent, Resourced, and Energized. Wealth becomes a support system, not a source of shame. ## From Law Firm to Publishing House to Coaching Empire - Building Multiple Revenue Streams While Maintaining Peace and Joy **Q:** You've successfully run a law firm for 12+ years (including through the 2008 crisis), an accounting firm, a publishing house that produced bestselling authors, award-winning magazines, and now Leading Through Living Community with coaching, speaking, and authorship. For female founders who want to build multiple businesses or revenue streams without recreating the burnout cycle, what's your framework for diversification that actually creates more peace rather than more chaos? How do you decide which opportunities align with living life "on FIRE" versus which ones are just more achievement addiction in disguise? **A:** Diversification doesn’t create burnout. Misalignment does. My framework for building multiple revenue streams starts with one question: *Does this opportunity give me life or does it feed my addiction to proving myself?* Every business I’ve built has gone through three filters: 1. **Capacity** – Do I have the energetic and emotional bandwidth for this now? 2. **Calling** – Does this align with how I’m meant to serve in this season? 3. **Cost** – What will this require from my body, my family, and my peace? If the cost is too high, the opportunity is a no, no matter how impressive it looks. Living life “on FIRE” means designing ecosystems, not hustles. Businesses that share infrastructure, values, and vision. Revenue streams that support each other instead of competing for your attention. Achievement addiction feels urgent, performative, and ego-driven. Aligned expansion feels calm, spacious, and surprisingly efficient. Peace and joy are not rewards for success. They are prerequisites for longevity. My work now is about helping women build legacies without becoming casualties of their own ambition. You can have multiple streams, meaningful impact, and a deeply joyful life. But only if you stop confusing exhaustion with excellence. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you’re breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > **👉 hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### From TV Journalist to Civil Litigator to Founding Framework Legal: Juliet Peters on Building a Client-Centered Business Law Firm, Why "You Rarely Hear 'No' From Me," and Helping Entrepreneurs Build Sellable Businesses URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/law/from-tv-journalist-to-civil-litigator-to-founding-framework-legal-juliet-peters-on-building-a-client-centered-business-law-firm-why-you-rarely-hear-no-from-me-and-helping-entrepreneurs/ Last updated: 2026-02-20T04:17:24.000Z Juliet Peters spent a decade as a television journalist before law school, working in Ohio, Corpus Christi, and Milwaukee. She always wanted to be a lawyer, but her love for journalism put that dream on pause. After graduating from Arizona State University College of Law, she worked as a civil litigator at a large law firm, then supervised more than 380 lawyers and staff as Division Chief Counsel for the Child and Family Protection Division at the Arizona Attorney General's Office. She also spent time at Cold Stone Creamery, which she describes as "fun and chaotic," supplying her with the business chops she needed later in her career. In 2014, Juliet founded [Framework Legal](https://frameworklegal.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) in Scottsdale, Arizona, with the mission of building a client-centered business law firm that works in lockstep with entrepreneurs. The original idea was to work exclusively with women founders. Unfortunately, because only 1.9% of women owned businesses ever make it to 1M in revenue, she often found herself working with male entrepreneurs who were further along in the revenue race and therefore accessing legal services at a higher rate. The good news though is that in the last decade, women have started to open businesses at twice the rate of men. Working with female entrepreneurs and amplifying their success with strategic advice is something Juliet is deeply committed to. Framework Legal focuses on helping entrepreneurs strategize entity formation, de-risk their companies, protect intellectual property, navigate M&A deals, and eventually sell their businesses. The firm offers predictable pricing (often a mix of flat and hourly fees) and takes a holistic approach to advising clients, helping them overcome legal challenges while also achieving business objectives. Juliet describes herself as part of clients' extended C-suite team, really learning their business drivers and helping de-risk the business from an inside perspective. Her approach is shaped by her own experience as a business owner. Because she's both run her own business and worked as a lawyer in a business (as opposed to a firm), she understands that every day business owners have to weigh risks. "You rarely hear 'no' from me," she says, "but you will hear where both the legal and operational impediments might lie." Clients describe her as "steady, thorough, and no-nonsense direct," "the rare attorney who has no ego," and someone who brings "passion, joy, and humor" to her work. One client said working with Juliet taught them that "as you become more successful and your business becomes more complex, all you really have to do is think things through, do what's right, and it will all work out." Her philosophy on dispute resolution is pragmatic: she almost always thinks mediation or alternative dispute resolution is the way to go. She uses mediation in every single agreement (with carve-outs for injunctive relief, intellectual property disputes, or monies owed) because it sets an expectation from the get-go that you are a business that intends to keep relationships intact and wants to solve problems as they arise. But there are exceptions. When a bad actor is using deep pockets to squeeze a client or behaving unethically from the start, she's not afraid to bring in litigation firepower to stop bad behavior in its tracks. On building sellable businesses, Juliet is blunt: only about 20% of businesses will ever sell, and what sets those that succeed apart from those that fail is really solid performance, clean financials, and a professional back end (that means contracts). The other thing that will tank your ability to sell? A business that is dependent only on you. You have to build a team, and sometimes that's a tough sell for women entrepreneurs in particular who are scared to build a team because they've had a bad experience or two with their first or second hire. "Don't be afraid to grow," she says. "You need people and infrastructure to build a scalable business." In this conversation, Juliet shares why the traditional big law firm model wasn't serving entrepreneurs effectively, what "client-centered" actually means in practice when you're structuring complex transactions or resolving disputes, her framework for assessing when to bring in fractional general counsel versus handling legal internally, why she tells clients "get an LLC and some contracts" is at the top of the list (and why you should never operate as a sole proprietor), and her advice on when litigation is worth pursuing versus when mediation makes more sense. For female founders building or scaling businesses, Juliet's insights offer practical, no-nonsense guidance from someone who's lived both sides of the table. --- ## From Litigator to Entrepreneur – Building a Client-Centered Business Law Firm **Q:** You spent a decade as a television journalist before law school, then worked as a civil litigator at a large law firm and supervised 380 lawyers and staff as Division Chief Counsel at the Arizona Attorney General's Office. In 2014, you founded Framework Legal with the mission of building a client-centered business law firm that works in lockstep with entrepreneurs. For female founders launching or scaling businesses, what made you realize the traditional big law firm model wasn't serving entrepreneurs effectively? What does "client-centered" actually mean in practice when you're helping businesses structure complex transactions, resolve disputes, or navigate M&A deals—and how does your own experience as a business owner shape the advice you give? **A:** When I first started by business back in 2014 the idea was to only work with women founders. Unfortunately, I learned quickly that women’s businesses weren’t really at the level I needed them to be to serve them exclusively. Only 1.9% of women business owners ever crack seven figures and so many times they aren’t really huge and repeat consumers of legal services. That’s changed though since women are opening businesses at twice the rate of men. In terms of the model, for most business legal consumers more cost certainty is really critical, so we try and work on managed fees which often looks like part flat and part hourly. We still need to take into account unpredictability on the other side particularly in buying and selling businesses (M & A). Because I’ve both run my own business and worked as a lawyer in a business (as opposed to a firm) client centered means that I’m part of your extended C suite team. I really learn your business drivers and help you de-risk the business from an inside perspective. Every day business owners have to weigh risks and I understand that—you rarely here “no” from me but you will here where both the legal and operational impediments might lie. ## De-Risking Small Businesses – From Entity Formation to Exit Strategy **Q:** Framework Legal focuses on helping entrepreneurs strategize entity formation, de-risk their companies, and eventually sell their businesses. For female founders bootstrapping their ventures, what are the most overlooked legal risks that surface as businesses scale—beyond just "get an LLC and some contracts"? Walk us through your approach to fractional general counsel services: when should a founder bring in outside general counsel versus handling legal internally, and what's your framework for assessing legal risk at different revenue stages? How do you help clients build businesses that are actually sellable when the time comes? **A:** But…“get an LLC and some contracts” is at the top of the list!! It’s the best place to start honestly. Here’s what you need to do out of the gate: (1) find a CPA and ask her what she recommends from a tax perspective for a structure; (2) do the same with a lawyer—don’t operate as a sole proprietor ever; and (3) protect your brand assets immediately or at least make sure your name isn’t going to get you a cease and desist letter from another player in your industry. In terms of when you should use a fractional GC—I’ll give you the old lawyer answer because it really does depend. If you can find a lawyer who can do a fractional start up package which looks like formation, brand, contracts, general employment advice, and online terms that may be a good idea for the first six -9 months but then you likely don’t need to keep a fractional GC until you have 10-20 contracts per month or you're in a highly regulated environment (like for example, health care or ed-tech). Oftentimes start ups that aren’t bootstrapping will access a fractional GC much faster because it helps them land investment. In terms of assessing legal risks for different revenue stages—I don’t really buy into that as a strategy. I think sometimes business owners make real mistakes because they are desperate for revenue and they give away the farm and cut bad deals to get there. Don’t do that. It’s okay to do some beta testing though so that you know what the market will bear. If you alpha or beta test though make sure you have an agreement in place that lets you mine the results from the test. What you need to do to sell your business could take up about five pages but I would say the number one thing is to keep your financials pristine. Only about 20% of businesses will ever sell and what sets those that succeed apart from those that fail is really solid performance, clean financials and a back end that is professional and put together---that means contracts. Really. The other thing that will tank your ability to sell is a business that is dependent only on YOU. You have to build a team and sometimes that is a tough sell for women entrepreneurs in particular who are scared to build a team because they have had a bad experience or two with your first or second hire. Don’t be afraid to grow. You need people and infrastructure to build a scalable business. ## Legal Strategy Sessions vs. "Just Sue Them" – Resolving Disputes Without Burning Cash **Q:** You've said publicly that when a client brings you a lease dispute, you don't immediately tell them to sue—you sit down for a Legal Strategy Session first. For female founders facing contract disputes, bad actors using deep pockets to squeeze them, or commercial conflicts that could drain cash reserves, how do you assess whether litigation is worth pursuing or whether alternative resolution makes more sense? What's your framework for helping clients weigh the costs (financial and emotional) of legal disputes, and when should founders bring in legal counsel early versus trying to resolve issues themselves? **A:** Listen if you talk to five lawyers you may get five answers on this but as someone who used to litigate I almost always think mediation or ADR is the way to go. I use mediation in every single agreement with carve outs for injunctive relief, intellectual property disputes or monies owed—why? Because you are setting an expectation from the get go that you are a business that intends to keep relationships intact and that you want to solve problems as they arise. Are there exceptions? Absolutely. I recently had a situation with a verbal business deal gone awry, it became clear super quickly (like on day 2) that this business was used to getting its way by bullying people. As much as I hated to do it, I sent my client to a litigator who was able to get an emergency order called a TRO to stop the bad behavior in its tracks. That is very rare but I will counsel a business owner that way if the other side is unfairly using leverage or is a real bad actor based on their behavior out of the gate. Sometimes litigation is the cost of doing business—but it’s not usually where I go first. No one likes being sued—and I think women really take it as a personal failure but it isn’t. It’s just how some people operate so put it on the shelf and only take it down to look at when you have to. Also, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention two things here. Please, please get insurance. If you are sued in most cases insurance is going to be your friend. The cost of litigating anything is really high so manage your risk with the right coverage. Also, I’m going to put in another pitch here for contracts. The time for “doing things with a handshake” has really passed. Don’t leave your business open to that level of risk—there is just no need to. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### Building Belle Vitale: Suzanne Haynes on Evolution, Wellness, and Women’s Spaces URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/wellbeing/from-phd-in-biomedical-sciences-to-opening-belle-vitale-wellness-suzanne-haynes-on-building-a-female-only-luxury-studio-in-abergavenny-creating-spaces-where-women-feel-safe-to-begin-aga/ Last updated: 2026-02-11T11:22:57.000Z Suzanne Haynes didn’t leave her structured career because it failed. She left because, quietly and persistently, her life no longer fit the person she was becoming. For years, she built a successful path in the pharmaceutical industry while coaching fitness on the side. From the outside, everything looked right – stability, progression, certainty. But internally, something felt off. She noticed the same feeling in the women around her too: capable, intelligent, often in leadership roles, yet exhausted, stiff, low in energy, and unsure why the life they had worked so hard to build no longer felt fulfilling. It was a disconnect she recognised in herself long before she found the courage to name it. In 2020, Suzanne qualified as a Personal Trainer and opened the doors to Suzanne Haynes Fitness from her garage in South Wales. It was never about rapid growth or scale – it was about meaning. Suzanne wanted to create a space where women could begin again without intimidation or judgement – somewhere they felt safe enough to try, to rebuild, to believe change was still possible. What began as something small grew steadily through word of mouth. Women weren’t just coming for training – they were coming because something shifted. They felt stronger. More energised. More in control of their health – and, often, their lives. As demand grew, it became clear this work could no longer stay contained within a garage. Opening [Belle Vitale Wellness](https://www.bellevitalewellness.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org), a full-time luxury female-only studio in Llanover, South Wales, in 2025, marked a defining turning point. It was a decision to fully back herself and to create a dedicated environment where women could reconnect with their bodies, confidence, and sense of possibility. Today, Belle Vitale Wellness is one of the few female-only personal training studios in the area, offering science-led strength and mobility coaching, lifestyle programmes, and wellness events designed specifically for women’s bodies and lives. With more than 25 years in health and fitness and a PhD in biomedical sciences, Suzanne blends scientific depth with real-world coaching and a deep, personal commitment to women’s wellbeing. Her philosophy is simple: safety first, confidence second, transformation third. Safety means freedom from judgement, comparison, and pressure – created through language, coaching style, and culture long before equipment or aesthetics. Confidence grows slowly and patiently through properly taught strength training. Many women arrive believing they are “too late” or that lifting weights isn’t for them. Watching those beliefs dissolve, and strength take their place, remains one of the most powerful parts of her work. And luxury, in Suzanne’s world, isn’t about exclusivity. It’s about intention – a calm, welcoming space where women are known by name, their time is respected, and their health is treated as something genuinely valuable. Beyond the studio, Suzanne leads *Suzanne Haynes Coaching*, partnering with organisations and corporate teams to address one of modern life’s most overlooked health challenges: prolonged sitting. Her work centres on education-led movement, helping employees understand how posture, alignment, strength, and mobility directly influence energy, performance, and long-term health – not as optional extras, but as essential foundations for sustainable wellbeing. This philosophy is explored more deeply in her forthcoming contribution to *Restoration – A Women’s Guide to Becoming Her Strongest, Healthiest, Happiest Self*, released on 16th February. In her chapter, Suzanne writes about rebuilding the body through alignment, restoring strength in midlife, and helping women reconnect with physical confidence after years of placing themselves last. At the heart of her message is a belief that runs through all of her work: restoration isn’t about returning to who you once were, but about creating a stronger, more supported version of yourself moving forward. Support from Business Monmouthshire and Business Wales became, in her words, “a turning point” – allowing a bigger vision to emerge and helping her move from survival mode into true leadership. As a wife, mum, scientist, and business owner, Suzanne understands how easily women place themselves last. For her, wellness isn’t perfection. It’s sustainability. Some weeks that looks like structured strength training; other weeks it’s gentler movement, mobility, and recovery. The goal is always longevity, never intensity for its own sake. In this conversation, Suzanne shares the journey from part-time side hustle in her garage studio to full-time luxury wellness space, her framework for creating environments that genuinely empower rather than simply claim to, and the message she returns to again and again: *You’re allowed to evolve. You’re allowed to outgrow the life you once built. And you’re allowed to create work that aligns with who you are now – not who you were expected to be.* --- ## Building Belle Vitale Wellness: From a Side Hustle in a Garage Studio to a Luxury Female-Only Wellness Space **Q:** You founded Belle Vitale Wellness (originally Suzanne Haynes Fitness) in 2020 as a part-time venture in your garage in Gilwern, offering science-led personal training for women. With over 25 years in the health and fitness industry and a PhD in biomedical sciences, you blend scientific expertise with real-world coaching and a deep passion for women’s wellness. The business quickly gained traction and outgrew the garage studio, leading you to open a full-time luxury studio in Llanover (Abergavenny) in 2025, expanding services to include strength and mobility coaching, lifestyle programmes, and wellness events. Walk us through the decision to transition from part-time garage-based training to opening a full-time luxury studio. What were the biggest challenges in scaling from a solo operation to building a team (including Kay Worrall as personal trainer, Pilates instructor, and nutrition coach), and what advice would you give women with science or healthcare backgrounds considering transitions into fitness entrepreneurship? **A:** My journey into Belle Vitale Wellness didn’t begin with a business plan – it began with a quiet realisation that my life no longer fit who I was becoming. For many years, I built a successful scientific career alongside working in fitness. From the outside, everything looked right: structure, stability, progression, but internally, I felt increasingly disconnected. I could see the same feeling in the women around me – capable, intelligent, often in leadership roles – doing everything expected of them, yet feeling exhausted, stiff, low in energy, and unsure why the life they had worked so hard to build no longer felt fulfilling. It was a disconnect I recognised in myself too. Movement had always been the place where clarity returned. It’s where science meets real life – where women don’t just change physically, but begin to feel more confident, more capable, and more like themselves again. In 2020, I launched Suzanne Haynes Fitness from my garage in Gilwern as a part-time venture. It was never about scale; it was about meaning. I wanted to create a space where women felt safe to begin again, free from intimidation or judgement. What started small grew quickly through word of mouth, because women weren’t just coming for training – they were coming because something shifted. They felt stronger, more energised, and more in control of their health. As demand grew, it became clear this work could no longer stay contained in a garage. Opening Belle Vitale Wellness as a full-time studio in Llanover in 2025 was a defining moment – a decision to fully back myself and create a dedicated environment where women could reconnect with their bodies, confidence, and sense of possibility. Scaling brought new challenges. Moving from doing everything alone to building a team required trust, leadership, and a shift in identity. Welcoming coaches such as Kay Worrall has allowed Belle Vitale Wellness to grow while staying deeply grounded in its values and personalised approach. At the same time, my work has expanded beyond the studio. In my chapter for *Restoration – A Women’s Guide to Becoming Her Strongest, Healthiest, Happiest Self* (released on 16th February), I explore the role of posture, alignment, strength, and restoration in helping women rebuild energy, confidence, and physical resilience in midlife. The message at the heart of both the book and Belle Vitale Wellness is the same: restoration isn’t about going backwards – it’s about creating a stronger, more supported version of yourself moving forward. What I’ve learned through this transition is simple but powerful: when your life no longer fits, it isn’t failure, it’s evolution. For women in science or healthcare considering a move into fitness or wellbeing, my advice is to trust the value of your depth. Your knowledge, critical thinking, and evidence-based perspective are not limitations – they are your greatest strengths. Build slowly, stay close to purpose, and create something that genuinely reflects the life you want to live. ## “Built for Women, By Women” – Creating a Safe, Empowering Space Where Women Feel Seen, Heard, and Supported **Q:** Belle Vitale Wellness is built on the belief that women deserve more than just another gym – they deserve to be seen, heard, and supported. You’ve created one of the few female-only personal training studios in the area, offering a luxurious, science-led approach that prioritizes strength training, movement, and community. You’ve said you want every client to feel confident walking through your doors, whether it’s their first time working out or their fiftieth. For female founders building wellness or fitness businesses, what’s your framework for creating genuinely empowering spaces versus spaces that just claim to be? How do you balance premium positioning and luxury experience with accessibility and inclusivity, and what would you tell women about the importance of building community alongside building a business? **A:** Belle Vitale Wellness was never intended to be “just another gym.” It was designed around how women actually experience movement, particularly in midlife, when confidence, energy, posture, and even identity are often shifting. There’s a profound difference between spaces that say they’re empowering and spaces that truly are. For me, empowerment begins with how a woman feels when she walks through the door, not how hard she is pushed once she’s inside. My framework is simple: safety first, confidence second, transformation third. Safety means freedom from judgement, comparison, and pressure. It’s created through language, coaching style, and culture long before equipment or aesthetics are considered. When women feel genuinely safe, their bodies respond differently – posture softens, breathing deepens, and movement becomes possible again. Confidence then grows through strength training that is taught properly and patiently. Many women arrive believing they are too late, or that lifting weights isn’t for them. Watching those beliefs dissolve, and strength take their place, remains one of the most powerful parts of my work. Luxury, to me, isn’t exclusivity; it’s intention. It’s a calm, welcoming environment where women are known by name, their time is respected, and their health is treated as something genuinely valuable. Accessibility comes not from lowering standards, but from removing intimidation and increasing support. These same principles are explored in my chapter in *Restoration – A Women’s Guide to Becoming Her Strongest, Healthiest, Happiest Self* (released on 16th February), where I write about alignment, restoration, and rebuilding physical confidence in midlife. Whether in a book or a studio, the goal is the same: to help women feel supported enough to grow stronger in ways that last. Community has naturally become the heartbeat of Belle Vitale Wellness. Women don’t simply train alongside one another – they connect, encourage, and witness each other’s progress. That sense of belonging is often the missing piece that allows real, sustainable change to finally take hold. For female founders in wellness or fitness, my advice is this: build the feeling first, and the business will follow. Spaces that genuinely change lives are never created through aesthetics alone, but through intention, integrity, and care. And when the community grows alongside the business, both become stronger than either could alone. ## The Woman Behind Belle Vitale Wellness – Balancing Family, Purpose, and Personal Evolution **Q:** As a mum, scientist, and coach, you understand firsthand how hard it can be to prioritize yourself and how transformative it is when you finally do. Your mission is to redefine what wellness truly looks and feels like for every woman, at every stage. You’ve also received support from Business Monmouthshire and Business Wales, which you’ve said was “a turning point” in shaping the business. For female founders building wellness businesses while managing family responsibilities, what’s your advice about practicing what you preach? How do you maintain your own training, health, and wellbeing while running a demanding business, and what would you tell women about knowing when to seek external business support versus trying to figure everything out alone? **A:** While Belle Vitale Wellness is rooted locally, my vision has always extended far beyond the studio walls. Through Suzanne Haynes Coaching, I work with organisations and corporate teams to address one of the most significant modern health challenges we face: prolonged sitting. We now understand that sedentary working patterns affect far more than posture – they influence energy, stress, productivity, and long-term health. My corporate work centres on education-led movement, helping employees recognise that strength training, mobility, and regular movement aren’t optional extras, but essential foundations for performance, wellbeing, and longevity. The aim isn’t to turn offices into gyms, but to shift mindsets, build awareness, and create simple, sustainable habits that fit real working lives. This feels like a natural extension of everything Belle Vitale Wellness represents. The studio is where transformation happens at an individual level; Suzanne Haynes Coaching is where that message expands, supporting healthier, more energised, and more resilient teams. At the same time, I’m living the same balance so many women are navigating. As a wife, mum, scientist, and business owner, I understand how easy it is to place yourself last. For me, wellness isn’t perfection – it’s sustainability. Some weeks that looks like structured strength training; other weeks it’s gentler movement, mobility, and recovery. The focus is always longevity, not intensity. Support from Business Monmouthshire and Business Wales became a genuine turning point. It helped me move out of survival mode and into leadership, and, importantly, taught me that seeking guidance is not a weakness but a strength. Too many women try to carry everything alone, when the right support can accelerate both confidence and growth. My message to women building businesses alongside family life is simple: you’re allowed to evolve. You’re allowed to outgrow the life you once built. And you’re allowed to create work that aligns with who you are now – not who you were expected to be. Belle Vitale Wellness may be local, but the movement behind it is far bigger. It’s about redefining wellness, leadership, and possibility for women at every stage of life. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you’re breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > **👉 hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### From 25+ Years in Corporate EHS to Founding BioScience & Soul Wellness: Natalie Pryde on Bridging Ancient Healing with Functional Medicine, Why "Healing Isn't Linear," and Helping Women Reclaim Their Health Agency URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/wellbeing/from-25-years-in-corporate-ehs-to-founding-bioscience-soul-wellness-natalie-pryde-on-bridging-ancient-healing-with-functional-medicine-why-healing-isnt-linear-and-helping-women-reclaim/ Last updated: 2026-02-10T06:49:12.000Z Natalie Pryde spent over 25 years in executive-level Environment, Health, Safety, and Sustainability roles, leading diverse teams globally across automotive, commercial real estate, oil and gas, and life sciences. She held leadership positions at major corporations, served on the MDEQ Green Chemistry and Engineering Steering Committee, and was a member of SASB Industry Working Groups developing sustainability accounting standards. With a Doctorate in Naturopathy from Clayton College of Natural Health, a Bachelor of Science in Management Systems from Kettering University, and a Wellness Counseling Certificate from Cornell University, she built a successful corporate career protecting the environment and people. But something was missing. While organizations focused on preventing workplace incidents, far less attention was given to foundational health. She could see the gap clearly: during investigations, no one asked deeper human questions. Was the person under chronic stress? Sleep-deprived? Operating in a supportive environment? Carrying a high toxic load or the effects of long-term lifestyle strain? Instead, the focus was on retraining or discipline, without addressing the underlying human factors that directly impact decision-making, coordination, and mental clarity. At the same time, Natalie and her family were living the benefits of a healthy lifestyle: clean, whole food, reduced toxic exposure, movement, sleep, and stress management. They experienced firsthand how intentional living and herbal supplements could support healing, restore energy and clarity, and enhance overall quality of life. That contrast between what she was seeing personally and what was missing professionally stayed with her. She wanted to address the problem upstream by helping people take ownership of their health so they could be more resilient at work and more present in their lives. The timing felt right. She had reached a point where she felt she had learned what she needed to learn from her corporate roles and had contributed what she was meant to contribute. A close friend reached out and named what she hadn't yet fully acknowledged: that she was being called toward health and healing. Another friend connected her with a business coach. Her husband and son encouraged her to formalize her path by becoming certified as an Integrative Health Practitioner through the Integrative Health Practitioners Institute (IHPI), founded by Dr. Cabral. In many ways, her entire career had been preparing her for this next chapter. She founded [BioScience & Soul Wellness](https://bioscienceandsoul.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) in Charlotte, a virtual integrative health practice that bridges seven disciplines (Ayurvedic Medicine, Bioregulatory Medicine, Herbalism/TCM, Traditional Naturopathy, Eastern Philosophy, Orthomolecular Medicine, and Functional Medicine) to help clients uncover root causes through advanced at-home functional lab testing and personalized wellness protocols. She works with driven professionals (particularly women) who are tired of the conventional system that doesn't listen to them and are looking for natural solutions to chronic gut issues, hormonal imbalances, fatigue, and toxic overload. Her approach focuses on "removing what's harmful, restoring what's missing, and reconnecting you with the biological rhythms that create lasting wellbeing." She emphasizes that integrative health isn't a replacement for conventional medicine; it's an expansion of it. Traditional healthcare excels at diagnosis and life-saving intervention. Integrative and functional medicine focuses on how the body functions, adapts, and heals over time by honoring the interconnected systems that make us whole. Although she works with both men and women, supporting women has always been central to her work. She came from the corporate world and lived it. She knows what it's like to juggle demanding leadership roles and family responsibilities, and she knows who usually falls last on the priority list. That was her. Despite her education and experience, she wasn't always taking care of herself, and when she did, it wasn't always consistent. She experienced burnout three times. Each time, rest and reset were the only ways she could continue. It wasn't until she stepped away from executive roles that she had the space to truly understand how to live and work in alignment with her natural rhythms. From a medical and systems perspective, women are still underserved. Much of modern work is structured around a 24-hour cycle, one that aligns well with men and post-menopausal women. But women of reproductive age operate on a 28-day hormonal cycle. This misalignment has profound implications for stress response, hormonal balance, gut health, energy, mental clarity, and emotional resilience. Too often, women are made to feel as though they are the problem (overly emotional, inconsistent, unable to manage stress) when in reality, the system itself works against their biology. Natalie's work is about helping women understand their physiology and learn to align their energy, focus, and recovery accordingly, empowering them to embrace their strength and flow with their hormonal cycle before burnout forces the pause. In this conversation, Natalie shares her journey from corporate EHS leadership to integrative health practitioner, her biggest challenges in bridging ancient healing wisdom with modern functional medicine, why she tells clients "healing isn't linear," her framework for building a sustainable virtual wellness practice that prioritizes "lasting results, not quick fixes," and what she wishes she'd known when she started (including why hiring a business coach matters almost as much as integrative health education). --- ## From 25+ Years in Corporate EHS to Integrative Health Practitioner - When Personal Healing Led You to Build BioScience & Soul Wellness **Q: What inspired you to transition from corporate EHS leadership to founding an integrative health practice?** The inspiration came from several places, beginning with what drew me to EHS in the first place: my belief in the intelligence and value of nature. Throughout my corporate career, I was deeply motivated to protect our living environment and people. From childhood through adulthood, my life has been shaped by a respect for the natural rhythm of life, the body’s innate ability to heal, and the ongoing effort required to stay in balance. Seen through that lens, my transition into integrative health was less a departure and more of a continuation. The timing also felt right. More people are beginning to trust natural health not as an alternative, but as an essential path to living well. Professionally, I reached a point where I felt I had learned what I needed to learn from my corporate roles and had contributed what I was meant to contribute. It felt like the moment to give back in a different way. My experience in health and safety made a gap increasingly clear: while organizations focus on preventing incidents, far less attention is given to foundational health — something that was missing with many of the people I worked with. At the same time, my family and I were living the benefits of a healthy lifestyle: clean, whole food, reduced toxic exposure, movement, sleep, and stress management. We experienced firsthand how intentional living and herbal supplements could support healing, restore energy and clarity, and enhance overall quality of life. That contrast between what I was seeing personally and what was missing professionally stayed with me. A pivotal realization came while I was leading an HSE team in a large corporation. Although health and safety were the stated priorities, most efforts centered on safety alone. Rarely, during investigations, did anyone ask deeper human questions: *Was the person under chronic stress? Sleep-deprived? Operating in a supportive environment? Carrying a high toxic load or the effects of long-term lifestyle strain?* Instead, we focused on retraining or discipline, without addressing the underlying human factors. While leadership often lacked awareness of how health directly impacts decision-making, coordination, and mental clarity, I could see the connection clearly. I wanted to address the problem upstream — by helping people take ownership of their health so they could be more resilient at work and more present in their lives. **Q: Walk us through that journey from managing global teams to becoming a health coach helping women heal chronic gut issues, hormonal imbalances, and fatigue.** Although I work with both men and women, supporting women has always been central to my work. I came from the corporate world — I lived it. I know what it’s like to juggle demanding leadership roles and family responsibilities, and I know who usually falls last on the priority list. That was me. Despite my education and experience, I wasn’t always taking care of myself — and when I did, it wasn’t always consistent. I often think about how different my experience might have been if I’d had a coach to help me navigate those years with more awareness and support. Today, I can be that person for other women. From a medical and systems perspective, women are still underserved. Much of modern work is structured around a 24-hour cycle — one that aligns well with men and post-menopausal women. But women of reproductive age operate on a 28-day hormonal cycle. This misalignment has profound implications for stress response, hormonal balance, gut health, energy, mental clarity, and emotional resilience. Compounded by the fact that medical research for women lags behind science focused on men. Too often, women are made to feel as though they are the problem — overly emotional, inconsistent, or unable to manage stress — when in reality, the system itself works against their biology. Add this to the fact that the medical world chooses to manage symptoms rather than providing women the education, awareness, and tools to support their health on a 28-day cycle. Integrative health allows us to acknowledge these differences and support women in working *with* their natural rhythms instead of fighting them. I want to empower the women I work with to embrace their strength and learn to flow with their hormonal cycle. What continues to inspire me is the leadership and resilience women demonstrate despite this mismatch. Imagine what becomes possible when women understand their physiology and learn to align their energy, focus, and recovery accordingly. I didn’t have that understanding for most of my career. I powered through when my body was asking for a different approach. I didn’t understand how birth control pills affected my hormones, how chronic stress drove estrogen dominance, or how mineral depletion compromised my energy and recovery. It felt like being on a roller coaster with no off-ramp. I experienced burnout three times. Each time, rest and reset were the only ways I could continue. It wasn’t until I stepped away from executive roles that I had the space to truly understand how to live and work in alignment with my natural rhythms. Now, my work is about helping women find that rhythm *before* burnout forces the pause and allow them to flourish in their career. **Q: What was the pivotal moment that made you decide to leave corporate and build BioScience & Soul Wellness?** There wasn’t a single defining moment, but rather a series of quiet signals that began in my thirties and grew louder over time. The clearest came during my final corporate role, when I was serving as a regional director across much of North and South America. I loved the work. Yet one day, sitting at my desk, I felt an unmistakable sense of completion — that I had done what I was meant to do in that role. Shortly afterward, the company reorganized, and I no longer fit into the new structure. Initially, the loss was painful. Then support began to appear. A close friend reached out and named what I hadn’t yet fully acknowledged — that I was being called toward health and healing. Another friend connected me with a business coach who specialized in entrepreneurs, eventually leading me to the coach I work with today. My husband and son encouraged me to formalize my path by becoming certified as an Integrative Health Practitioner through the Integrative Health Practitioners Institute. Those moments — and those people — set everything in motion. What I value most about this journey is how many individuals, often without realizing it, played a role in helping me step into this work. BioScience & Soul Wellness was built not from a sudden leap, but from years of lived experience, quiet conviction, and a deep trust in the intelligence of the body — and the life it supports. In many ways, I feel that my entire career was preparing me for this adventure. ## Building a Root-Cause Healing Practice - Integrating Seven Disciplines and Advanced At-Home Lab Testing to Help Women Stop "Chasing Symptoms" **Q: What have been your biggest challenges in building a practice that bridges ancient healing wisdom with modern functional medicine?** Integrative health isn’t a replacement for conventional medicine — it’s an expansion of it. Traditional healthcare excels at diagnosis and life-saving intervention. Integrative and functional medicine focuses on how the body functions, adapts, and heals over time by honoring the interconnected systems that make us whole. That distinction alone can be challenging. This philosophy isn’t for everyone, and it doesn’t need to be. But for those who are ready to stop chasing symptoms, the biggest hurdle is education. Most people were never taught how their bodies actually work — how systems communicate, compensate, and eventually fall out of balance. We’ve also been taught that healing means stopping symptoms. In reality, symptoms are signals and healing is a process — and processes take time. For many clients, understanding that true healing may take weeks or months, rather than days, requires a meaningful shift in perspective. My role is to guide that shift without overwhelming them. There’s also fear. Many people hesitate to step outside the conventional system, even when they aren’t getting better. At the same time, much of what we use in integrative health is grounded in thousands of years of observed outcomes. Somewhere along the way, people were taught to hand over agency for their health. I work to give it back and help them see progress in healing naturally. This is where ancient healing wisdom meets modern functional medicine. My role is to translate these traditions into language people understand today. Traditional Chinese Medicine becomes herbal support. Yoga becomes movement, breath, and nervous system regulation. Naturopathy becomes health hygiene — diet, sleep, sunlight, and time in nature. Orthomolecular and functional medicine provide a scientific framework, helping us understand what’s happening down to the molecular level and protocols to support healing. In my practice, I use advanced at-home functional lab testing to bring clarity and confidence to the process through science. The data helps uncover what’s happening beneath the surface so we can address root causes directly. Healing protocols may include targeted supplementation, but they always include the ways of living our ancestors relied on for generations. My job is to make this approach understandable, approachable, and effective. **Q: How did you establish credibility in the integrative health space, especially coming from a corporate background?** I think my corporate background didn’t hinder my credibility — it strengthened it. The skills I developed over decades translate directly into this work: researching and analyzing complex information, applying it strategically, building trust, listening deeply, and helping people move toward meaningful outcomes. The more challenging piece was establishing credibility specifically as a practitioner. That’s why I pursued certification through the Integrative Health Practitioner Institute, founded by Dr. Cabral. What distinguishes IHPI is that its curriculum is grounded in proven outcomes, supported by data from hundreds of thousands of clients over more than a decade. We know what we’re learning works. IHPI also remains closely aligned with emerging research and provides continuous education — essential in a field that continues to evolve. They are also unique in maintaining an active peer network, ensuring practitioners are never isolated when complex cases arise. Combined with my doctorate in Naturopathy and additional certifications — three of which are through IHPI — I bring both education and confidence to this work. But credibility ultimately comes from lived experience. I practice these philosophies, raised my family this way, and have helped many people heal. When you live what you teach, credibility follows. **Q: What strategies have worked for you in educating clients about root-cause healing when many are accustomed to symptom-based care?** Most people come to me out of frustration. Conventional medicine hasn’t helped them feel better, and they’re open to a different approach. I leave space for curiosity and meet them where they are. Some clients want to understand the science — how systems connect and why certain protocols work. Others want clarity around the process and reassurance about what to expect. I tailor education to the individual rather than forcing a one-size-fits-all explanation. One concept I always introduce early is the difference between disease diagnosis and what I call the health-and-energy spectrum. In conventional medicine, a diagnosis is made once a threshold is crossed. In integrative health, we pay attention much earlier — to how someone feels, functions, and recovers — whether or not a diagnosis exists. Not feeling well is still not feeling well, even if lab values fall within a “normal” range. I also prepare clients for the reality that healing isn’t linear. Anyone who tells you otherwise hasn’t done this work long enough. Healing often follows a winding path, especially for people who have been unwell for years. We set clear expectations, define meaningful metrics, and track progress over time. Throughout the process, I remain available — through scheduled calls and ongoing communication — so clients feel supported, informed, and empowered as their body does what it’s designed to do. ## Growing a Virtual Wellness Practice - Your Framework for Personalized Healing and Advice for Women Building Health Coaching Businesses **Q: What's been your framework for making key decisions about which services to offer, how to structure your coaching programs, pricing your expertise, balancing educational content with client work, and building a sustainable business model that prioritizes "lasting results, not quick fixes"?** I rely on two primary frameworks. The first is alignment with my practitioner training through the Integrative Health Practitioner Institute. The lab testing and healing protocols I use are proven, structured, and grounded in outcomes. While I make thoughtful adjustments based on each client, the core framework provides consistency, integrity, and confidence — for both me and the people I serve. The second framework is business mentorship. I work closely with a business coach who helps me understand what phase my business is in and how to grow it sustainably. That includes knowing which systems are required at each stage and, just as importantly, when *not* to expand too quickly. Interestingly, her philosophy of building strong business foundations mirrors my approach to health: you don’t rush the process, and you don’t skip the fundamentals. We spend a lot of time evaluating what’s working, what isn’t, and how the business can continue to serve clients without overextending me. Sustainability — for the client and the practitioner — is non-negotiable. Pricing is always the hardest part. Programs and services naturally evolve as you learn, but pricing your expertise is often uncomfortable, especially early on. What most people don’t see are the hundreds of hours behind the scenes — education, research, analysis, customization, and ongoing support throughout an engagement. I stay grounded by remembering that this work can be life changing. When you hold that responsibility with integrity, pricing becomes clearer. My business model is rooted in lived experience. I work with clients one-on-one in 12-week or 6-month programs because meaningful healing takes time. Twelve weeks is the minimum required to create real change; longer engagements consistently produce deeper, more sustainable outcomes. I’m also developing a membership program for clients who have completed a one-on-one program. This will offer a more accessible way to receive continued guidance over time — because health isn’t static, and life doesn’t stop changing once a program ends. **Q: What practical advice would you give to other women building integrative health or wellness coaching practices?** Education matters. A doctorate, like the one I earned, isn’t required — and it may not be realistic for many — but solid, tested education is non-negotiable. Certification programs can be an excellent path if they are credible and evidence informed. Do your homework. Quality education is the first requirement. The second is ongoing support. Health coaches and integrative practitioner’s client work can have a significant impact on people’s lives. While it may not be life-or-death, clients are trusting you to help them make meaningful change. You should never feel isolated from that responsibility. That’s one of the reasons I chose IHPI — they provide continuous education and a lifetime peer network. This work is too important to do alone. My next piece of advice is to hire a business coach. This matters almost as much as the integrative health education. Transitioning from the corporate world into entrepreneurship was one of my steepest learning curves. My coach stripped away the noise and replaced it with practical, actionable guidance. That clarity was invaluable. Don’t hesitate to hire expertise. I hired a bookkeeper early on — one of the best decisions I made. I won’t hesitate to hire again when I need help crossing a finish line that would slow me down or distract me from client work. Finally, be thoughtful about investments. Building a business costs both money and time — and time is often the more limited resource. Before purchasing anything, I ask myself three questions: 1. **Financial:** Can I afford this? 2. **Learning and implementation:** Do I actually have the time? (I recently started a certification I had been waiting on for 18 months!) 3. **Run or Tending Costs:** Is this sustainable? If the answer isn’t clear, I wait. **Q: What do you wish you’d known when you started, and what would you do differently?** Sometimes I wish I had started BioScience & Soul Wellness sooner. Walking away from a career that brought growth, success, and fulfillment was incredibly hard. Sometimes it’s difficult to see that another chapter can shine just as brightly. That said, I wouldn’t change anything. Every success and every misstep taught me something I needed to know. Each experience shaped who I am today and brought me here doing work I care deeply about and supporting others in a way that feels honest and aligned with my values. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### From Dual Bladder Cancer Diagnosis to Patient Advocate and Author: Margo Wickersham on Why Self-Advocacy Saved Her Life, Balancing Revenue Growth Consulting with Cancer Advocacy, and What "Self-Care Isn't Selfish" Really Means URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/women-who-lead/from-dual-bladder-cancer-diagnosis-to-patient-advocate-and-author-margo-wickersham-on-why-self-advocacy-saved-her-life-balancing-revenue-growth-consulting-with-cancer-advocacy-and-what/ Last updated: 2026-02-10T06:33:49.000Z In November 2019, [Margo Wickersham](http://margowickersham.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) noticed blood in her urine. She thought she had a urinary tract infection. Three months later, she was diagnosed with bladder cancer. Her first doctor diagnosed her with Stage 1 High Grade Urethral Carcinoma and prescribed BCG therapy. But something didn't feel right, and Margo trusted her instincts. A second opinion at MD Anderson saved her life. When Dr. Ashish Kamat's team reviewed the same slides her previous doctors had examined, MD Anderson pathologists found a second, usually fatal form of bladder cancer that the first doctor missed: plasmacytoid bladder cancer, which occurs in only about 1% of bladder cancer cases and almost always comes back. Her MD Anderson doctor told her she'd be gone in a year if she'd followed the first doctor's recommended treatment. The diagnosis came during COVID. Margo endured eight weeks of aggressive chemotherapy, followed by a radical cystectomy and hysterectomy in June 2020\. Her bladder, uterus, cervix, and all adjacent lymph nodes were removed. Despite crippling loneliness and despair from enduring many days and nights alone in the hospital due to quarantine, she survived. Six weeks after her surgery, while waiting to find out if she was cancer-free, her mother died. She never saw her again after December 2019 because of COVID restrictions. Margo didn't set out to become a bladder cancer influencer. She set out to not die. But when she learned how common bladder cancer is (20-30% of bladder cancer diagnoses are underdiagnosed or incomplete) and how often it's misdiagnosed in women, leading to worse survival rates, she knew she would use her voice to raise awareness and help save lives. She wrote *Gratitude in the Storm: When Not Dying Is Enough to Keep Fighting*, sharing how fierce self-advocacy and gratitude saved her life. Beyond her patient advocacy work, Margo is a revenue growth expert, keynote speaker, and fractional Chief Revenue Officer helping organizations transform how their teams work, connect, and thrive. She's led revenue growth for major companies (including managing Dell.com's redesign, increasing daily revenue by 500% from $1M to $5M) and held executive roles at Clearwater, Healthcare2U, and Blue Goji. She's a high-energy speaker who delivers clear, actionable techniques from a genuine desire to serve, and she's been praised for sharing her cancer journey with "raw vulnerability, humor, and gratitude." Margo helps organize BCAN's Walk to End Bladder Cancer in Austin and participates in cancer advocacy work, but she's learned to set boundaries because "I need to take care of me so that I can also be there for other people." She lives with the reality that plasmacytoid bladder cancer has a very high recurrence rate. She puts her worries in a "Tupperware container" on a shelf, acknowledging them without letting them consume her. She's been cancer-free since her surgery, though she undergoes annual monitoring at MD Anderson with CT scans and blood work. In this conversation, Margo shares the moment she realized she needed to get a second opinion and what fierce self-advocacy looked like during COVID, how she balances revenue-focused consulting with patient advocacy without burning out, and what sustainable self-care actually looks like when you're living with the reality that cancer might come back. For women facing serious health challenges, building businesses that blend professional expertise with personal mission, or managing demanding careers alongside personal crises, Margo's story offers practical, raw, and honest guidance about trusting your instincts, setting boundaries, and creating a life that's worth fighting for—not just surviving, but truly thriving. --- ## "Did You Set Out to Become a Bladder Cancer Influencer?" - From Life-Threatening Diagnosis During COVID to Patient Advocate and Author **Q:** You didn't set out to become a bladder cancer influencer—you set out to not die. Bladder cancer came for you during COVID, and your first doctor diagnosed you with Stage 1 High Grade Urethral Carcinoma and prescribed BCG therapy. A second opinion at MD Anderson saved your life when doctors found a second, usually fatal form of bladder cancer (plasmacytoid) that the first doctor missed. Your MD Anderson doctor said you'd be gone in a year if you followed the first doctor's recommended treatment. After enduring treatment in isolation due to hospital quarantine, you survived and wrote *Gratitude in the Storm: When Not Dying Is Enough to Keep Fighting*. When you learned how often bladder cancer is misdiagnosed in women, you knew you would use your voice to raise awareness and help save lives. Walk us through the moment you realized you needed to get a second opinion, and what fierce self-advocacy looked like during COVID. For women facing serious health challenges or advocating for themselves in any high-stakes situation, what advice would you give about trusting your instincts and demanding better answers—even when it feels uncomfortable? **A:** I’ll share 3 important pieces of advice for advocating for yourself. 1\. **Get a second or third opinion.** A surprising percentage of diagnoses are incomplete or incorrect - up to 24%. I learned that 20% - 30% of bladder cancer diagnoses are underdiagnosed. That doesn't sound like a huge risk. But, the stage and type of cancer determines which treatment will be most effective. What would have worked for Stage 1 High Grade bladder cancer would have had no impact on the second form of bladder cancer my MD Anderson doctors found. It matters, so get another diagnosis or two. 2\. **Trust your instincts.** Your mind and body are designed to quickly assess your environment to keep you safe. Your systems are collecting and processing massive amounts of information you're unaware of and at speeds that might surprise you. Tune and listen to those instincts. Trust your gut. I can't emphasize this enough because society has conditioned women to be nice girls and complying has often come at the high price of disregarding our instincts. Scientists have observed this in women across education levels and age. I mention this because I want to encourage women to respect our own instincts without criticizing themselves for not doing so sooner. Those unintended traps don't serve us. We are hard enough on ourselves! Rather than getting the "how or why of how we got here", I encourage focusing on the "what now" perspective, instead. We can acknowledge our concern that seeking a second opinion might hurt the doctor's feelings by without allowing it to hinder our self advocacy. We can push through the discomfort and prioritize our own health first. We are worth it! 3\. **Become informed.** Use Dr. Google sparingly, since it can be helpful but also misleading. When we begin a journey down a new health journey like cancer, we don't know what we don't know. I knew that blood in my urine was probably a urology problem, so I made an appointment with a local urologist. After I received the first cancer diagnosis, what I didn't know, that I didn't know, was that there are oncologist urologist specialists who have much deeper expertise in bladder cancer. When our lives are on the line, we owe it to ourselves - and those who love us - to find the best specialist we can to diagnose and treat us. Self care isn’t selfish. Non-profit organizations that focused on specific conditions are fantastic sources of information. They provide valuable and verified resources to patients and caregivers. I encourage women to take advantage of the work that others have done to help educate you about treatment options, trials and support. I felt grateful to have access to the Bladder Cancer Advocacy Network (BCAN.org). The organization and its site offered so many valuable resources, especially since so many programs were suspended during COVID. BCAN provided me with invaluable data, patient support and comfort during my lonely journey through bladder cancer. A search for patient support organizations is an excellent use of Google and a great way to educate yourself. ## From Revenue Growth Expert to Patient Advocate - Building a Speaking and Consulting Career That Bridges Business Strategy, Gratitude, and Cancer Advocacy **Q:** Beyond your patient advocacy work, you're a revenue growth expert and keynote speaker helping organizations transform how their teams work, connect, and thrive through gratitude and resilience. You've led revenue growth for major companies (including managing Dell.com's redesign, increasing daily revenue by 500% from $1M to $5M) and worked in executive roles at Clearwater, Healthcare2U, and Blue Goji. For female founders building businesses that blend professional expertise with personal mission (like cancer advocacy, resilience training, or other purpose-driven work), how do you balance revenue-focused consulting with patient advocacy? What advice would you give women about monetizing their expertise while staying true to mission-driven work that might not immediately generate income? **A:** That is a great question. It's easy to overcommit and feel overwhelmed. What's worked well for me is to look at my time and energy as fixed resources. A pie chart works great to visualize this. The optimal amount of time devoted to philanthropy vs revenue generating work is personal. I like the 5% of a 40 hour week, about 2 hours per week for charity or volunteer work. Make it yours. This strategy is manageable and helps with consistency. The standard range for percentage of time spent on revenue generating activities is 30 - 35%, which allows for 60% to 65% of work time allocated for doing your work. Then track you time. I find this helpful for keeping activities aligned with intentions. Make it your own, but the approach is a good framework and provides helpful guard rails for your time. Self-care includes self compassion. I love the trending support for leaders to say “No” to more inbound requests of their time and resources. Women can feel torn between doing what’s expected of us and stretching ourselves too thin. Raise you hand if you’ve ever overcommitted and stressed about it. Reprising the self compassion mantras that encourage women to be kind to ourselves as we navigate conflicting demands for our time and energy. It’s ok that we experience some struggle to strike the balance. It’s ok when our best efforts for balance come up short. Balance isn’t static—it requires flexibility. It’s organic and fluid. Re-evaluate and adjust as necessary. I find it helpful to have a go-to response for requests of my resources. Try this and tweak it to match your voice. “I’m honored by the request, but my philanthropic commitments are currently full.” ## "Self-Care Isn't Selfish" - Practicing Gratitude, Managing Cancer Recurrence Risk, and Building a Life Worth Fighting For **Q:** You've been candid about living with the reality that plasmacytoid bladder cancer always comes back. You've said you put worries in a "Tupperware container" on a shelf—acknowledging them without letting them consume you. You participate in cancer advocacy work and help organize BCAN's Walk to End Cancer in Austin, but you also protect yourself by setting boundaries because "I need to take care of me so that I can also be there for other people." For women building businesses, managing health challenges, or balancing demanding careers with personal crises, what does sustainable self-care actually look like? How do you set boundaries around advocacy work, decide what's "enough" in terms of giving back, and create a life that's worth fighting for—not just surviving but truly thriving? **A:** For me, sustainable self-care begins with telling the truth. Plasmacytoid bladder cancer doesn’t come with a neat “happily ever after.” It has a very high recurrence rate. I live with that reality. I just don’t allow it to occupy every minute of every day. There’s an important distinction there. That’s where my “Tupperware container” comes in. The worries are real. I don’t deny them or pretend they don’t exist. Instead, I consciously place them in a container, put the lid on, and set it on a shelf. I can take it down when I need to—scan time, a new symptom, a hard conversation—but it doesn’t get to spill into my daily life or rob me of my peace. That isn’t denial. It’s intentional survival. Gratitude plays a big role in this, but not the glossy, inspirational-quote version. The gritty kind. Some days gratitude is simply, “I’m still here.” Other days it’s coffee on the porch, laughing with my husband, or walking our dogs. Gratitude keeps me rooted in the present instead of constantly borrowing fear from the future. And like everything else in this life, it requires intention. Advocacy has been deeply meaningful to me, especially my work with BCAN and helping organize the Walk to End Bladder Cancer in Austin. But I’ve also learned—sometimes the hard way—that I can’t say yes to everything just because it matters. If I burn myself out advocating, I’m no good to anyone, including myself. So I’ve gotten very clear about my boundaries, including the amount of resources I am willing to commit to advocacy work. 1. I give in ways that align with my energy and this season of life. 2. I take breaks when cancer-related content starts to feel heavy. 3. I remind myself that rest isn’t quitting—it’s refueling. People often ask, *How do you know what’s enough?* Enough is when my giving doesn’t come at the expense of my health, my marriage, my joy, or my peace. Enough is when I can show up fully without resentment. Enough is when I still have something left for myself at the end of the day. Tuning in to my emotions and my body, so I can adjust as necessary to stay healthy. And creating a life worth fighting for—that’s really the heart of it. I stopped postponing joy for “someday.” I prioritize connection. I do work that feels purposeful. I protect my time and energy fiercely now because I understand how precious they are. I don’t just want to survive cancer. I want a life that feels rich, meaningful, and truly mine. I want to thrive. For women building businesses, managing health challenges, or carrying invisible loads: self-care isn’t selfish. It’s strategic. It’s what allows you to keep going without losing yourself. You are not required to earn rest by suffering enough. You are allowed to build a life that feels good now—because that life is exactly what makes the fight worth it. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### From P&G and Big Pharma to Founding iWisdom: Ishil K. Ozturk on Building a Biopharma Consultancy That Advocates Instead of Advises, Navigating Male-Dominated Markets, and Why Business Development Takes Longer Than You Think URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/women-who-lead/from-p-g-and-big-pharma-to-founding-iwisdom-ishil-k-ozturk-on-building-a-biopharma-consultancy-that-advocates-instead-of-advises-navigating-male-dominated-markets-and-why-business-devel/ Last updated: 2026-02-09T11:34:18.000Z Ishil K. Ozturk knows what most consultancies get wrong: they deliver brilliant strategy, present polished slides, and disappear just as assets hit their most vulnerable phase (commercialization, governance battles, and investor scrutiny). After building her career at the intersection of management consultancy and operating roles at Procter & Gamble and Big Pharma, where she led global commercial operations, Ishil founded [iWisdom](https://www.iwisdom.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) to close that gap. iWisdom isn't a traditional consultancy. It's a biopharma growth accelerator that doesn't just advise; it advocates, staying with clients through the messy, high-stakes work of actually executing strategy. Based in London with offices in Boston and Riyadh, iWisdom operates at the intersection of science, commercialization, governance, and capital. The firm works with biotechs, early-stage assets, and Big Pharma clients navigating complex portfolio decisions, regulatory advocacy, investor narratives, and commercial launches. Ishil's approach is built on hard-earned lessons: waiting outside SVP offices for hours to earn trust, rebuilding her consultancy from scratch after relocating and becoming a mother, and learning to navigate deeply male-dominated business cultures, from Big Pharma boardrooms to Middle Eastern markets, without fighting systems but by understanding and strategically working within them. Her philosophy is pragmatic and unflinching. She doesn't work with average performers ("they will drain time, energy, and reputation"). She believes social development must come before business development when building senior relationships. She's unapologetic about the fact that "there is no perfect work-life balance," even when you try desperately. And she's learned the hard way that business development in biopharma takes 18 to 24 months, that budgets always cost double what you expect, and that "you will be hit many, many times" along the way. For female founders building specialized consultancies, navigating male-dominated industries, or trying to monetize deep expertise without corporate infrastructure, Ishil's story offers rare honesty about what actually works when you're bootstrapping, outgunned, and operating in spaces where credibility isn't given. It's earned one relationship, one hard conversation, and one executed strategy at a time. In this conversation, Ishil shares how she left Big Pharma to bet on herself, why iWisdom brought in a male regional partner to crack the Middle Eastern market (and why that was smart governance, not compromise), her framework for deciding which clients to take on, and the lessons she wishes she'd known earlier about building a purpose-driven consultancy that doesn't just survive but thrives. --- ## Founding iWisdom - Building a BioPharma Growth Accelerator That Bridges Innovation and Commercialization **Q:** You're the Founder and Head of US for iWisdom, a life sciences and biopharma consultancy based in London that operates across 85 countries with over 120 years of combined team expertise. iWisdom works at the intersection of commercialization, strategic advisory, and investment, helping biotech and pharma companies extract maximum value from their portfolios through governance, launch optimization, geographic expansion, and investor readiness. Your team has worked on over 50 assets with a combined $10 billion valuation and facilitated $2 billion in transactions. What inspired you to launch iWisdom, and what specific gap did you see in the biopharma consultancy landscape? How did you build a consultancy model that goes beyond traditional advisory work to actually advocate for clients within the industry? Walk us through your early days from concept to establishing credibility with major biopharma players, and share pivotal moments or lessons learned that shaped how you built the business. ### Founding iWisdom: Building a Consultancy That Actually Stays With the Work **Seeing the Gap Up Close** I built my career at the intersection of management consultancy and operating roles, starting at Procter & Gamble and then spending many years working with and inside GSK. That dual exposure showed me something early on: Great strategy doesn't fail because it's wrong; it fails because no one stays to fight for it. Traditional consultancies are excellent at analysis and frameworks, but often step away just as assets enter their most fragile phase: commercialization, internal governance, and investor scrutiny. **Why I Built iWisdom** I founded iWisdom to close that gap. The idea was simple but unconventional: Don't just advise. Advocate. That meant standing behind assets, defending strategy in executive rooms, shaping investor narratives, and staying involved through execution, not just presenting slides and leaving. **The Early Days: Betting on Myself Before Anyone Else Did** One of the most defining moments was leaving traditional consulting to become independent. I was young enough to take the risk, and I worked relentlessly: long days, weekends, constant travel, showing up early, staying late, waiting outside VP and SVP offices for hours just to have a conversation. Trust didn't come from a title. It came from consistency, judgment, and delivering quality work over time. When the President of Europe became Global CEO, leadership around him evolved, and so did the scope of my work. I began leading more global, higher-stakes programs, which forced me to shift my mindset from executing tasks to owning outcomes. That period taught me something important: credibility compounds, quietly. **Motherhood, Relocation, and Reinvention** A second pivotal moment came when I gave birth and relocated back to my home country. Overnight, I left behind certainty, systems, and familiar networks. It was a cultural shock but also a powerful lesson in resilience. I rebuilt from scratch: established a local consultancy, worked with high-net-worth pharma entrepreneurs, and learned how value creation looks outside Western pharma structures. Those four years fundamentally shaped how iWisdom operates globally today—adaptable, context-aware, and culturally fluent. **iWisdom Today: Purpose Meets Execution** After the pandemic, we returned to London, and a leadership shift at GSK opened the door to a new kind of collaboration around early commercialization and pipeline strategy. That's when iWisdom fully took shape as a biopharma growth accelerator sitting between science, commercialization, governance, and capital. We don't just advise on what should happen; we help make sure it does. **What I Learned Along the Way** In biopharma, credibility isn't built through branding or bravado. It's built by showing up repeatedly, staying when things get uncomfortable, and being willing to stand behind your point of view in rooms where it's not always welcome. iWisdom wasn't built overnight. It was built one relationship, one asset, and one hard conversation at a time. --- ## As a Female Founder in BioPharma Consulting - Navigating a Male-Dominated Industry, Building a Global Network, and Establishing Thought Leadership **Q:** As a female founder leading a specialized biopharma consultancy, you're operating in an industry where women remain significantly underrepresented in leadership positions, particularly in life sciences commercialization and investment advisory. iWisdom has built partnerships with major players like Greffex (advising on vaccine and gene therapy commercialization pathways), operates across multiple geographies (UK, US, MENA), and provides C-suite governance and investor-ready services. What have been your biggest challenges in scaling iWisdom? This could include establishing credibility with male-dominated pharma executives, fundraising or bootstrapping the consultancy, building a global team and network, or competing against larger established consulting firms. How did you overcome these obstacles? Specifically as a woman entrepreneur in biopharma, what strategies have worked for you in building trust with C-suite executives, investors, and pharmaceutical companies? What gender-specific challenges (if any) have you encountered, and how did you address them? ### **Scaling iWisdom as a Woman in Biopharma: Power, Trust, and Playing the Long Game** **Acknowledging the Reality—Without Fighting the Wrong Battle** Yes, biopharma is still male dominated, and the "big boys' club" absolutely exists. Early on, I made a conscious decision not to fight the system, but to understand it. My strategy was pragmatic: acknowledge the power dynamics, map them carefully, and work with them rather than burning energy resisting them. **How I Built Credibility With Senior, Male-Dominated Leadership** I created a stakeholder map of key decision-makers across pharma, biotech, and investment. I cross-referenced that list with people who knew me from work, school and academic networks, and personal introductions. This allowed for high-trust, 1:1 entry points rather than cold institutional interactions. I intentionally avoided starting relationships with "work." I almost never led with Zoom meetings. When meeting senior leaders, we talked first about life, curiosity, passion, and shared interests. Business always came later, and more naturally. I strongly believe social development before business development is one of the most effective ways to build real trust with senior stakeholders. **Navigating Regional and Cultural Differences** Expanding into the Middle East was one of the toughest challenges I've faced. It is the most clearly male-led business culture I've experienced. Initially, I lost time trying to understand and adapt on my own. The solution was partnership, not persistence alone. We brought in a regional leader with deep credibility and trust: a strong, experienced male executive who already had long-standing relationships. This wasn't a compromise of leadership; it was smart governance. It allowed iWisdom to move faster, with cultural fluency and mutual respect. When things are going well, male-female dynamics often fade into the background. When conflict arises, they can resurface quickly. My approach has always been: build strong, mixed-gender executive teams, ensure legal and contractual rigor early, and never rely on goodwill alone. Structure protects credibility. **Competing Without Competing** We don't compete with large consulting firms in the traditional sense. Our value proposition is different: tailored programs, asset-level execution, and deep commercialization experience. We focus where large firms don't: biotechs, early commercialization, and situations requiring advocacy, not analysis. In Big Pharma, we only engage through trusted networks where our work is already understood. The biggest differentiator for iWisdom has been real execution experience. Our teams are deliberately mixed: operators who have launched and commercialized, and consultants who can structure, position, and value. Knowing how and where to sell assets in the real world consistently wins trust. **Bootstrapping Lessons I Learned the Hard Way** Bootstrapping is especially difficult when you're heavily reliant on one large client. The income feels safe until it isn't. My biggest lesson: never stop business development. Even when workload is overwhelming, force yourself to spend at least 10% of your time networking, attending key events, and building future pipelines. Business development in biopharma is slow: 18 months is optimistic, 2 years is normal. The key is not to give up too early. Relationships compound, but only if you keep showing up. **What Ultimately Worked** Respecting power structures without being defined by them, building trust socially before commercially, partnering intelligently where culture matters, and staying focused on execution, not optics. --- ## Building a Purpose-Driven BioPharma Consultancy - Your Framework for Impact and Practical Advice for Women Entrepreneurs in Life Sciences **Q:** iWisdom operates on a philosophy that "uncertainty has an upside," focusing on commercialization (scrutinizing every stage to extract maximum portfolio value), advisory (board-level guidance, lobbying, regulatory advocacy), and investment (crafting optimal investor narratives, JVs, and valuations). Your team doesn't just make recommendations but walks with clients along the way and leverages your network of partners and alliances. What's been your framework for making key decisions about which clients to take on, how to price services, building a multi-disciplinary team (medical, marketing, commercialization experts), and balancing purpose-driven work with financial sustainability? How do you think about building a consultancy that creates meaningful impact in bringing essential breakthroughs to market while remaining commercially viable? What practical, actionable advice would you give to other women entrepreneurs looking to build consultancies or service businesses in highly specialized, technical industries like biopharma or life sciences? What do you wish you'd known when you started, and what would you do differently knowing what you know now? ### Building a Purpose-Driven Consultancy: How I Think About Impact, Discipline, and Sustainability **Why "Uncertainty Has an Upside"** iWisdom was built on the belief that uncertainty is where value is created, not avoided. That's why our work spans commercialization (scrutinizing every stage to extract maximum portfolio value), advisory (board-level guidance, regulatory advocacy, and strategic positioning), and investment (shaping investor narratives, JVs, and valuations). We don't just make recommendations; we walk with clients, advocate for them, and stand behind decisions when it matters. **How I Decide Which Clients to Take On** There is no single framework that fits all, and that's the real differentiation. What matters is the lens you bring, and how that lens evolves with experience. I'm very selective: I don't work with average performers; they will drain time, energy, and reputation. Time is limited, and impact requires excellence on both sides. Clients are long-term relationships. You advocate for them, they advocate for you. You are only as strong as the weakest link in the chain, especially in small teams. **Pricing, Sustainability, and the Reality of Monetizing Networks** Monetizing your network outside a corporate setting is harder than it looks. One key lesson: start thinking about this much earlier than you think you need to. That means being present at key events and finding creative ways to connect. You don't need to attend every conference, but being in the same city matters. Relationships compound over time, but only if you show up consistently. **Building the Right Team** Our teams are intentionally multi-disciplinary: medical, marketing, and commercialization. I am very strict on performance. One underperformer in a small team can weaken the entire chain. Do not underestimate how damaging this can be. Excellence is not optional in this kind of work. Having young people and younger minds around has kept us fresh and deeply in tune with reality. Acknowledging and embracing generational differences has been a pure joy and one of the most meaningful parts of building iWisdom. Putting the young together with the mature has been a fantastic combination. We cherish the energy, curiosity, and new perspectives younger colleagues bring. At the same time, we work with experts who may have formally retired but are very much full of life, insight, and value. That mix has created depth, balance, and better decision-making across the firm. **A Hard Truth About the Future of Consulting** Consultancies will not survive without AI. This is not plug-and-play: it takes years to build properly and requires serious investment. My advice: do not underestimate the time, cost, or strategic importance of this shift. Start much earlier than feels necessary. **What I Wish I'd Known Earlier** There is no perfect work-life balance, even when you try desperately. The only way it works at all is through constant, honest conversations with your children and your partner. These relationships need to be nurtured continuously. My biggest source of strength through this journey has been my family. Without that support, none of this would be possible. **What No One Tells You at the Start** It will take longer than you think to get to where you want to get to. It will cost double what your original budget is. You will be tested many, many times along the way. You will be hit many, many times because you are in the middle of all these assignments. In big corporate cultures, have the right advocates who have your back. In smaller companies, go with the flow and trust that the tide will eventually turn in your favor. Your advocates will be a great source of energy, resilience, and faith. Never underestimate how much they matter. When choosing partners, ambition match and shared drive are the number one factors, and the right due diligence often happens through your social and professional network. I strongly believe in dinners as one of the best ways to truly get to know your partners. **Practical Advice for Women Building Specialized Consultancies** Start monetizing your network earlier than feels comfortable. Invest in partnerships and collaborations before you "need" them. Avoid average in clients, partners, and hires. Accept that frameworks must evolve. And build a support system outside your business with the same care you build inside it. Exercise more, breathe more, and build a steel-like nervous system. Keep going. "You can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backward." (Steve Jobs) So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### Upcoming book: The Wellbeing Atlas – Founders Shaping the Future of Wellness in 2026 URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/books/upcoming-book-the-wellbeing-atlas-founders-shaping-the-future-of-mental-health-in-2025/ Last updated: 2026-03-20T06:19:14.000Z We are living in an era where wellbeing is no longer a luxury—it’s a necessity. Across industries, geographies, and generations, the conversation has shifted from surviving to thriving. From mental health apps to mindfulness at work, from the science of sleep to the resurgence of ancient healing practices, wellbeing has become a defining force of our time. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2025/05/The-Wellbeing-Atlas---on-the-table-1.png) But what does “wellbeing” truly mean in the 21st century? Is it access to therapy? A wearable that tracks your stress? A workplace culture that values rest? Or is it something deeper—a societal shift toward redefining success itself? In this book, we explore the expanding universe of wellness and mental health, not just through data and trends, but through the voices of those shaping the future. Researchers, founders, practitioners, and advocates open up about what’s working, what’s missing, and where we go from here. > This is the age of wellbeing. And this is your invitation to be part of it. The upcoming book series will showcase insights from leading voices in wellbeing and mental health. It will include expert Q&As and highlight key trends shaping the space in 2026. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2025/05/Contributors--Left-.png) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2025/05/Table-of-Contents--Right-.png) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2025/05/Article-1--Right-.png) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2025/05/Article-1--Left---2--1.png) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2025/05/Article-1--Left---3--1.png) Inspired by the previously published [*Founded by Women*](https://www.foundedbywomen.org/book/), this edition shifts focus to wellbeing and celebrates women leading the way in this field. **Scheduled for release in Q2 2026, the book will be available as a *limited-edition* print run, published by** [**Databird Journal**](https://www.databirdjournal.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org)**.** ## To pre-order your copy, simply submit the form below and we’ll reserve your copies. Ordering multiple copies? We offer [special bundle pricing](https://www.paypal.com/ncp/payment/WXD5Q7V4VWHNL?ref=foundedbywomen.org) for bulk orders - perfect for teams or gifting. [Pre-order your copy](https://www.paypal.com/ncp/payment/33JU8K6ZS3SUG?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ### From Entertainment Consultant to Dog Therapy Pioneer: Aneka Johnson on Founding The Cuddle Club After Illness, Scaling to 40+ Therapy Dogs, and Why "Let Your Purpose Be Louder Than Fear" URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/women-who-lead/from-entertainment-consultant-to-dog-therapy-pioneer-aneka-johnson-on-founding-the-cuddle-club-after-illness-becoming-the-first-black-female-founder-in-the-uk-pets-space-and-building-a/ Last updated: 2026-02-06T11:34:41.000Z Aneka Johnson didn't plan to become a dog therapy entrepreneur. The idea came to her in the shower. Literally. She had been informally bringing Chubbs, her French Bulldog, into friends' corporate workplaces and suddenly realized she'd "created this cuddle club." That moment of clarity in 2018 transformed an organic act of sharing comfort into [The Cuddle Club](http://thecuddleclubuk.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org), one of the UK's leading dog therapy companies and the first dog therapy franchise in the country. But the story begins earlier, and much darker. When Aneka was working as an entertainment consultant in the United States, she became seriously ill. After returning to the UK in 2016, she faced a series of health issues: severe anemia, anxiety, depression, and taking eight tablets a day just to function. She was signed off work by her doctor and ended up taking two years out. The day she returned to the UK, she picked up Chubbs at eight weeks old. Though she had wanted a dog her whole life, it simply didn't work out with her hectic lifestyle. But Chubbs came into her life at exactly the right moment. His unconditional love grounded her, regulated her, and quite honestly helped her survive. She sincerely believes that throughout her illness, Chubbs literally saved her life and gave her the energy and motivation to get better. That experience of healing through the human-animal bond became the foundation for everything that followed. What started with just Aneka and Chubbs has grown into a company with more than 40 "Heroes" (therapy dogs) visiting workplaces, schools, universities, and communities across the UK. The Cuddle Club has worked with over 1,000 HR professionals equally passionate about implementing workplace wellbeing strategies, and partnered with major organizations including L'Oréal, King's College Hospital, Virgin Limited Edition, The Guardian, and London City Airport. The company launched the UK's first dog therapy franchise in 2021, co-founded London Dog Week, commissioned research on dogs in the workplace with Perkbox, and opened (and later closed) a bricks-and-mortar studio at Wembley Park offering holistic grooming, dog daycare, and retail. As a dark-skinned Black woman wearing her afro, Aneka became the first Black female founder in the UK pets space. She quickly became aware that the pet industry was a predominantly white, middle-class space where she wasn't always welcomed or fully understood. There was often an unspoken question: "What does she know about dogs?" Navigating the corporate wellness world was also completely new to her. But rather than letting those barriers stop her, they sharpened her purpose. She refused to let ignorance, fear, or exclusion dilute her vision. The early days were messy. She didn't have a business plan or any funding. She had very limited resources after being out of work for two years due to illness and even had to borrow money from her mum just to trademark the name. But she believed in the idea so deeply that she knew she'd pay her back, and she did. She followed the flow of energy and let things unfold naturally, building a community of dog parents who've been through their own journeys of healing, with their dogs serving as their lifelines. Many Hero parents join The Cuddle Club not just for business, but because their dogs are their lifelines too. That mission-led energy creates an extended family where everyone feels supported, seen, and connected. In October 2025, Chubbs crossed the rainbow bridge. Aneka's heart is still broken, but The Cuddle Club continues to grow as his legacy. He inspired it all, and his love and spirit live on in everything they do. In this conversation, Aneka shares how she turned personal pain into entrepreneurial purpose, her biggest lessons in scaling from one dog to 40+ Heroes while maintaining holistic health for both pups and people, why she closed the physical studio when it no longer aligned with the mission, and her framework for building a purpose-driven business where financial growth is achieved not by compromising principles but by diversifying offerings while keeping mission at the heart of every decision. --- ## From Entertainment Consultant to Dog Therapy Pioneer - Turning Personal Pain into Purpose and Becoming the First Black Female Founder in the UK Pets Space **Q:** You're the Founder of The Cuddle Club, one of the UK's leading dog therapy companies, founded in 2018\. Your story began when you were working as an entertainment consultant in the United States and became seriously ill. After returning to the UK, you picked up Chubbs (your French Bulldog) at eight weeks old, and he supported you through two years in and out of hospital, taking eight tablets a day just to function. The idea for The Cuddle Club came to you in the shower one day as you realized you'd "created this cuddle club" with Chubbs. You started bringing him to friends' corporate workplaces, and the business was born. You became the first black female founder in the pets space. Walk us through that journey from personal health struggles to launching The Cuddle Club. What made you realize this could become a business rather than just informal visits with friends? What were the biggest challenges you faced in those early days, and what advice would you give women about turning personal pain into entrepreneurial purpose? **A:** My journey from entertainment consulting to founding The Cuddle Club was deeply personal and completely unplanned. During a period of serious illness and recovery, Chubbs, my French Bulldog, became my lifeline. His unconditional love grounded me, regulated me, and quite honestly helped me survive. That kind of support changes you forever. Without really thinking about it, I started sharing that feeling with friends by bringing Chubbs into their workplaces. Then came the “aha” moment, literally in the shower, when I realised I’d unintentionally created something. I’d built a space of comfort, connection, and calm. That was the moment The Cuddle Club shifted from something organic into something intentional. It became a mission: to make wellbeing feel human, joyful, and accessible through the power of dogs. The early days were messy. I didn’t have a business plan, or one at all! I followed the flow of energy and let things unfold naturally. That came with pros and cons, but great growth. I hadn’t worked for some time (about two years) due to illness and had very limited funds; I even had to borrow money from my mum just to trademark the name. But I believed in the idea so deeply that I knew I’d pay her back and I did. Very quickly, I became aware that the pet industry was a predominantly white, middle-class space. As a dark-skinned Black woman wearing my afro, I wasn’t always welcomed or fully understood, there was often an unspoken question of *“what does she know about dogs?”* Navigating the corporate wellness world was also completely new to me. But rather than letting those barriers stop me, they sharpened my purpose. I have always been a very determination person who trusts my intuition, I took this to another level I refused to let ignorance, fear, or exclusion dilute my vision. The mission was always bigger than me and still is. Making impact, creating healing spaces, and using purpose as a driver, that’s what matters. My advice for women turning personal pain into entrepreneurial purpose: Trust the thing that helped you heal, it may be exactly what the world needs. You don’t need a perfect plan; you need belief, integrity, and momentum. Expect resistance when you disrupt traditional spaces and don’t take it personally. Let your purpose be louder than fear. Impact follows clarity. ## Scaling from One Dog to 40+ Heroes - Building London's Leading Dog Therapy Company with Franchises, a Bricks-and-Mortar Studio, and London Dog Week **Q:** What began with you and Chubbs has grown into one of the UK's biggest dog therapy companies with more than 40 "Heroes" (therapy dogs) visiting workplaces, schools, universities, and communities. You've launched the UK's first dog therapy franchise, opened your first bricks-and-mortar store at Wembley Park (offering holistic grooming, dog daycare, walking services, and retail), co-founded London Dog Week, and created an "ecosystem of love" with a community of dog parents who've been through their own struggles. You also offer workplace wellness programs, commissioned research on dogs in the workplace with Perkbox, and speak on emotional wellbeing, resilience, and building purpose-driven communities. What have been your biggest challenges in scaling The Cuddle Club from you and Chubbs to a multi-service business with franchises and physical locations? How did you approach expanding while maintaining the holistic health focus for both pups and people that's at the foundation of everything you do? What strategies worked for you in establishing credibility in the corporate wellness space? **A:** Starting with just Chubbs and me, The Cuddle Club has grown to include over 40 therapy dogs and national corporate partnerships. For me, expansion has never been about scale for scale’s sake, it’s always been about protecting the holistic health and wellbeing of both pups and people. Growth only works for me when the emotional impact and integrity of the work remain intact. One of the biggest lessons in scaling has been around community and culture. Every Hero dog and their parent is chosen carefully, not just for availability, but for alignment with our values. Many Hero parents have their own journeys of healing, with their dogs serving as their lifelines. Ensuring they join The Cuddle Club for the right reasons has built a culture of love, care, and authenticity that shines through in every event and interaction. This is what truly sets us apart. The mission led energy everyone has is what makes The Cuddle Club more than attending a dog therapy event, for many, it’s an extended family, a space where they feel supported, seen, and connected for them and their hero dogs. When we expanded into a physical space(which we closed in June 2025), it became clear that growth can sometimes unintentionally pull energy away from a mission. While there were many special moments, the structure started to feel disconnected from our core values. That experience reinforced a vital lesson: staying true to the mission sometimes means walking away from opportunities, no matter how attractive they appear on paper. Prioritising purpose over expansion has always been non-negotiable for me, this an example of this. Maintaining high standards of care has also been central to everything we do. The dogs are living beings, not entertainment. Every interaction is guided by science-backed practices, transparent boundaries, and professional standards, all reflected in our event terms and conditions. Their welfare always comes first, and this ethic underpins every decision, big or small. Another key element of our work has been creativity and collaboration with partners. By listening carefully to our clients’ needs, we design experiences that don’t just deliver dog therapy, but also support them in improving their own company culture, team wellbeing, and workplace connection. This collaborative approach ensures our work is meaningful, tailored, and impactful for everyone involved. Scaling The Cuddle Club has taught me that expansion, culture, and mission are inseparable. When growth aligns with our values, the impact is transformative. When it doesn’t, integrity demands the courage to step back. That clarity ensures we continue creating safe, wholesome, and joyful spaces for both humans and pups, the true heart of The Cuddle Club. Some strategies that helped us succeed: - **Building credibility in corporate wellness:** leveraging research partnerships and sharing case studies to show measurable wellbeing outcomes. - **Community-first approach:** cultivating strong relationships with dog parents and clients, advocacy, and a shared sense of purpose. - **Creativity and client collaboration:** listening to client needs and designing experiences that help improve company culture, team wellbeing, and engagement. Expanding has taught me that mission and growth are inseparable, they must be deeply intertwined. Staying true to our mission means prioritising wellbeing at every level: for the people and pup in our team, the people who come to our events and for myself. Everything needs to be aligned. ## Building a Mission-Based Business - Your Framework for Growth and Advice for Women Entrepreneurs Creating Purpose-Driven Ventures **Q:** You've described The Cuddle Club as a mission-based initiative focused on advocating mental health awareness through the "power of pups" and the scientifically proven benefits of human-animal bonds. You created this while you were "still healing" yourself, not separating finding your own joy from helping others find joy. You're passionate about holistic health, redefining wellness through the human-animal bond, and creating joyful spaces that heal, connect, and inspire. What's been your framework for making key decisions about which services to offer (corporate events, public activations, franchises, grooming studio), how to price your services, building your team of Heroes and their owners, and balancing your mission-driven work with financial sustainability? What practical advice would you give to other women entrepreneurs looking to build purpose-driven businesses in wellness, animal care, or other mission-based industries? What do you wish you'd known when you started, and what would you do differently? **A:** The Cuddle Club has always been a mission-first venture, blending mental health advocacy with the scientifically proven benefits of dog therapy. Every business decision , whether expanding into public activations, or launching a physical building, starts with asking: *Does this align with our mission of holistic wellbeing and joy?* Only after that comes the financial and operational layer. It's emotional value-based, reflecting the real outcomes and impact we deliver, not just the service itself. I focus on alignment with our values, commitment to animal and human welfare, and a shared belief in our mission. Financial business growth is achieved not by compromising our principles, but by diversifying offerings while keeping mission at the heart of every decision. I also make a point of staying connected with the team, I attend at least one event every month to feel the energy, hear their experiences firsthand, and make sure everyone knows they are seen, supported, and valued. ### Practical Advice for Women Entrepreneurs in Purpose-Driven Industries - Start with your “why” and let it guide every decision. When your purpose is clear, it becomes a compass for every opportunity and challenge. - Prioritise your own wellbeing. Don’t neglect yourself while trying to make a difference in the world. Carve out caring moments for yourself, especially in the busiest times, this is not optional, it’s essential. Have supportive people around you. - Perseverance is key. Things don’t happen overnight. Keep pushing ahead, dream wildly, and then work steadily toward those dreams. Remember not everyone has to understand the dream! - Seek courageous advice. Surround yourself with people whose bravery and vision you admire. Safe answers rarely spark real impact, sometimes you need bold, practical thinking mixed with wildness to bring heart-led dreams to life. - Create systems without diluting your mission and taking the soul out of it. Mission-driven businesses are very heart-led, so when the heart feels disconnected, it’s not just a KPI you adjust, you feel it. Aligning systems and values is essential to sustaining that energy. - Invest in community, mentorship, and support. Don’t underestimate the value of guidance from those who have walked similar paths. - Stay connected with your team. Regularly showing up and being present, even in small ways, helps keep culture, morale, and shared purpose alive. - Trust your personal story. Your experiences, struggles, and breakthroughs are your superpower, they make your mission authentic and relatable. I want to dedicate this to Chubbs, who crossed the rainbow bridge in October 2025\. My heart is still broken, but The Cuddle Club continues to grow, it’s his legacy. He inspired it all, and his love and spirit live on in everything we do. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### From $127M Verdicts to Strategic Co-Founding: Tedra Cannella on Products Liability, Partnership Architecture, and Beating Fortune 500s at Their Own Game URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/law/from-127m-verdicts-to-strategic-co-founding-tedra-cannella-on-products-liability-partnership-architecture-and-beating-fortune-500s-at-their-own-game/ Last updated: 2026-02-03T08:34:55.000Z In litigation, most lawyers talk about winning. Tedra Cannella actually does it—and she does it against opponents with unlimited resources, elite legal teams, and every structural advantage money can buy. As co-founding partner of [Cannella Snyder](https://cannellasnyder.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) LLC, Tedra has built a litigation practice that defies conventional wisdom about how small firms compete. Since launching in 2021 with her law school classmate and former partnership colleague Rob Snyder, the firm has recovered over $300 million for clients by doing what most boutique litigation shops can't: taking on Fortune 500 companies and major insurance carriers in high-stakes products liability, breach of fiduciary duty, wrongful death, and trucking cases—and winning. Her track record speaks for itself. A $127 million verdict in a seatbelt products liability case. Multimillion-dollar recoveries in cases where corporate defendants arrived with unlimited budgets and armies of BigLaw associates. Victories that didn't come from outspending opponents, but from outthinking, outworking, and outpreparing them at every turn. But what makes Tedra's approach particularly valuable for female founders isn't just her courtroom success—it's her strategic framework for building a business that can compete against Goliath from day one. Cannella Snyder operates on a simple but ruthless principle: intentionally limit caseloads, choose the right battles, and maintain relentless focus on execution. No churning files to pad billable hours. No taking cases just because the retainer checks clear. Just disciplined case selection, brutal preparation, and the willingness to tell clients hard truths even when it's uncomfortable. For founders navigating products liability exposure, partnership structures, or David-versus-Goliath legal battles in any industry, Tedra's insights cut through the theoretical advice and get to what actually works when you're outgunned, outspent, and facing opponents who think they can wait you out or bury you in paperwork. In this conversation, she breaks down the critical liability protections product-based businesses miss, the non-negotiable legal structures co-founders need before launching, and the strategic framework for taking on powerful opponents when you're operating with a fraction of their resources. --- ## Products Liability and Breach of Fiduciary Duty – What Founders Need to Know About Third-Party Liability **Q:** You focus on products liability, breach of fiduciary duty, wrongful death, and trucking/automobile cases, successfully representing people against Fortune 500 companies and large insurance companies (including a $127M verdict in a seatbelt products liability case). For female founders building product-based businesses, what are the most critical liability protections they're missing? When should founders worry about products liability insurance, and what's your framework for understanding when third-party liability claims could come back to haunt them - especially for founders who manufacture, distribute, or sell physical products? **A:** Prioritizing safety must be embedded in a company’s culture from the start. If leadership is unwilling to invest the necessary time, money, and attention into safety, that message inevitably filters down to employees and it shows in the product. Designing safe products with the guidance of qualified experts is essential, yet I am often surprised by how many companies design, manufacture, and sell products without conducting rigorous safety analysis or testing. Equally concerning is how some companies respond once injuries are reported. Failing to investigate or address the root causes of injuries is a significant red flag. Another serious mistake is choosing not to inform consumers about a known danger. Consumers have the right to make informed decisions about whether a product’s benefits outweigh its risks, and clear, accurate warnings are a critical part of that process. When companies cut corners on safety or transparency, liability exposure can escalate quickly. ## Co-Founding a Law Firm - "Plan as Much as You Can, But Don't Over-Plan" **Q:** You co-founded Cannella Snyder with Rob Snyder in 2021, and in less than two years you'd recovered over $100 million for clients (collectively over $300 million). You've shared advice about founding a firm: "Plan as much as you can, but don't over-plan... there's only so much you can know before you begin." For female entrepreneurs considering partnerships or co-founding businesses, what are the non-negotiable legal and business structures you need in place before launching (accounting, insurance, operating agreements)? What surprised you most about co-founding a firm, and what legal protections should co-founders establish upfront to prevent partnership disputes down the road? **A:** When my partner Rob and I started Cannella Snyder, we had not planned. That said, we were both partners at our prior firm and had attended law school together, so we had the benefit of a long-standing, trust-based relationship, an advantage most founders don’t share. For that reason, finding a partner you truly trust, who contributes equal value to the business (even if in very different ways), and who shares similar views on money, work ethic, and long-term vision is very important. Once that foundation is in place, clear structure matters. Set expectations early and reduce subjective interpretation as much as possible. A well-drafted partnership or operating agreement is essential, particularly one that addresses what happens if a partner leaves or the relationship changes. No one has a crystal ball, and planning for those scenarios upfront can prevent significant disputes later. Co-founding a firm has been incredibly rewarding. The strength of our partnership is greater than the sum of its parts. The idea generation, shared responsibility, and camaraderie make the work more enjoyable and, ultimately, allow us to serve our clients better. ## Fighting Fortune 500 Companies as a Small Firm – David vs. Goliath Strategy for Female Founders **Q:** Cannella Snyder intentionally limits the number of cases you take to maintain relentless focus on clients, yet you're winning multimillion-dollar verdicts against some of the biggest corporations and law firms. For female founders in any industry facing legal disputes with much larger, better-resourced opponents (whether it's contract disputes, IP infringement, or regulatory battles), what's your strategic framework for taking on Goliath when you're David? How do you advise clients to evaluate when to fight versus when to settle, and what should founders look for when hiring legal counsel to go up against powerful defendants? **A:** The first and most important step is choosing the right cases. When you’re up against large corporations with unlimited resources, the only way to win is to be right on the facts and the law. But being right is just the beginning. Success also requires relentless preparation and execution. You must outwork and outthink the opposition by anticipating their moves, staying disciplined, and committing fully to the fight. For founders, that means surrounding yourself with counsel who are willing to dig deep, stay focused, and pursue the case with intensity and resolve, rather than being intimidated by the size or resources of the other side. Founders also need lawyers who will level with them and deliver the truth, even when it is hard to hear. For lawyers who bill by the hour, there is an incentive to churn the file instead of resolving the case. Create an environment that encourages frank communication and practical resolutions. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### Diverse Minds URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/partners/wellbeing/diverse-minds/ Last updated: 2026-01-30T05:50:13.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2026/01/DiverseMinds_RGB_Slogan-High-Res-Large---Copy--1-.jpg) #### Diverse Minds helps create equal, happy,mentally healthy and productive workplaces through coaching, consultancy,speaking and training. Wellbeing, mental health and equity are the backbone of any workplace. By upskilling staff, managers and senior leaders systemic changes can be made that benefit everyone. [Visit website](https://diverseminds.co.uk/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ### NimmiLife URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/partners/wellbeing/nimmilife/ Last updated: 2026-01-30T05:42:00.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2026/01/NIMMILIFE-LOGO-.png) #### NimmiLife is a holistic wellness and leadership company founded by Ayurvedic doctor, award-winning author, and global speaker [Sweta Vikram](https://www.swetavikram.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org). We blend ancient Ayurvedic wisdom with modern science to help high-achieving professionals navigate stress and grief, build emotional resilience, and lead with clarity and purpose. [Visit website](https://www.swetavikram.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ### From 15 Years in Corporate to Building The Positive Mindset Company: Mandeep Kaur on Teaching Manifestation Without the "Woo Woo," Why "You Can't Pour From an Empty Cup," and Supporting Female Entrepreneurs Over Seeing Them as Competition URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/women-who-lead/from-15-years-in-corporate-to-building-the-positive-mindset-company-mandeep-kaur-on-teaching-manifestation-without-the-woo-woo-why-you-cant-pour-from-an-empty-cup-and-supporting-female/ Last updated: 2026-01-30T05:20:13.000Z **Mandeep Kaur knows what it's like to juggle corporate demands, business ownership, motherhood, and personal wellbeing because she's lived it for over 15 years.** As founder of [The Positive Mindset Company](https://www.thepositivemindsetcompany.co.uk/?ref=foundedbywomen.org), she supports overwhelmed professionals and busy business owners to build happier, more balanced lives through positive mindset practices, clarity, and intentional time use. With over 15 years of corporate experience and five years in the wellbeing industry, Mandeep brings that real-life experience into her coaching and workshops, offering a grounded, practical approach to wellbeing that fits into even the busiest lifestyles. Mandeep believes mindset is the foundation for lasting change and manifestation, and that self-care is not a luxury but a vital part of success. Known as "The Master Manifestor" for using Law of Attraction principles to reach her goals, she's helped numerous clients transform their lives by prioritizing themselves and their needs. Her clients have achieved goals ranging from starting successful businesses to attracting amazing opportunities through leading more positive lifestyles. Even her name carries meaning: "Mandeep" means "light of the mind." Through The Positive Mindset Company, Mandeep works with professionals on an individual coaching basis and provides workplace wellness initiatives and workshops. She's been described as having "this amazing aura that beams positivity" and has consistently supported women in business, not only showcasing her own products but actively attending events as a customer and supporter. Her approach is intentional and protective of energy. She doesn't believe in going all-in overnight or sacrificing wellbeing for business growth. Instead, she helps clients add positive mindset habits in practical ways that fit even the busiest lifestyle, whether it's a five-minute morning reset, a short breathing practice, or something you can do while driving. In this interview, Mandeep shares her advice for women in corporate roles considering building businesses around their passion for helping others, her framework for helping clients move from burnout to balanced lives while building credibility for concepts like manifesting in corporate spaces, and her approach to deciding which opportunities to pursue versus which to say no to. For women building businesses in the corporate wellness space or considering entrepreneurship while managing demanding careers and family responsibilities, Mandeep's journey offers both practical insights and honest reflection on why passion should feel aligned and energizing, not like another obligation. --- ### What advice would you give women in corporate roles who are considering building businesses around their passion for helping others? I would absolutely encourage them to explore it, but with intention, not pressure. So many women feel a pull to help others and immediately think they need to build a business on top of an already demanding corporate role. That's where burnout creeps in. My advice is to start by getting clear on why you want to do it and what you actually have the capacity for right now. Passion can sometimes mean excitement takes over and you want to do everything right now. Just remember you don't have to go all-in overnight. Test ideas gently, protect your energy and allow the business to grow at a pace that supports your life, rather than consumes it. A passion-led business should feel aligned and energising, not like another obligation. I would recommend starting small, with a side project or a pilot programme, so you can learn what you enjoy, what your audience responds to and what fits with your lifestyle. The goal is to create a business that enhances your life, not replaces it. If helping others is something you're drawn to, listen to that and remember to make sure you're not sacrificing your own wellbeing in the process. I always say "you can't pour from an empty cup", so make sure your own cup is full, so that you can then help others from a place of strength. ### How do you help clients move from feeling stressed and burnt out to leading "happily balanced lives"? And what would you tell women about building credibility in the corporate wellness space when you're teaching concepts like manifesting and Law of Attraction that some executives might initially dismiss? My work always starts with mindset, because everything flows from there. When someone is stressed or burnt out, their thoughts are often on autopilot – they might feel rushed, self-critical and future-focused. I help clients slow that down, reconnect with themselves and build more intentional, positive ways of thinking alongside practical tools for boundaries, time use, and clarity. I understand, particularly as women, we run busy lives and can struggle to take time out for ourselves or to practice positive mindset techniques. That's why I help clients add in positive mindset habits in a practical way that fits even the busiest lifestyle. Whether it's a five-minute morning reset, a short breathing practice, or something you can do while driving, small shifts consistently lead to big change. When it comes to manifesting and the Law of Attraction, I'm very grounded in how I approach it, especially in corporate spaces. At its core, it's about cultivating a positive mindset. When you think more positively, you behave differently. You start to notice more opportunities because you're showing up with more confidence and clarity. That naturally leads to better outcomes. In that sense, people often find they're manifesting without trying because they're aligned, focused, happier and open, rather than stressed and reactive. Framing it this way helps build credibility and shows that these concepts are not fluffy or "woo woo", but practical and powerful when applied intentionally. The aim isn't to manifest - the aim is to live a life that feels balanced, happy and aligned. The side-effect of that is often manifesting without even trying! --- ### What's your advice about deciding which opportunities to pursue versus which to say no to? How do you maintain your own positive mindset and energy while being the person teaching others about avoiding burnout? And what would you tell women about the importance of supporting other female entrepreneurs rather than seeing them as competition? I always come back to alignment. Just because an opportunity looks good on paper doesn't mean it's right for you. I ask myself: Does this support the life I want to lead? Does it energise me or drain me? Saying no and setting that boundary is a skill and it's one that protects both your wellbeing and the quality of the work you do say yes to. Maintaining my own energy means practising what I teach. I'm very honest about my limits - I build in rest and I regularly check in with myself rather than pushing through for the sake of appearances. I practise positive mindset techniques regularly, often involving my six year old son too – not only does that ensure I am doing it, it helps him as well. Carving out time to sit and journal isn't always practical as a working mother who runs a business and also works in the corporate field. So I'm always looking for practical ways to incorporate positivity into daily life in a simpler, more realistic way. When it comes to supporting other female entrepreneurs, I truly believe in collaboration and community over competition. Authentic support matters. It's easy to say the right things publicly, but what happens behind the scenes is what really counts. Energy, intentions and actions always come back around - you get what you put out there. When women genuinely support one another, everyone rises. There is space for all of us and success doesn't need to come at the expense of someone else. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### The 28-Year Journey to Simply Mindful: Fran Benedict on Building Wellness Programs Through Reconnection Rather Than Rules, Part of the Dreamforce Plum Village Center Production Team, and Why "Your Body Already Knows" URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/wellbeing/the-28-year-journey-to-simply-mindful-fran-benedict-on-building-wellness-programs-through-reconnection-rather-than-rules-creating-the-plum-village-center-at-dreamforce-and-why-your-body/ Last updated: 2026-02-03T08:24:54.000Z Fran Benedict's path to founding [Simply Mindful](https://simplymindful.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) took 28 years of exploration, and she's sharing it because "the polished success stories don't help. The real journey does." After graduating from the University of Georgia in 1998 with a focus on corporate wellness, Fran launched Simply Mindful in 2012 as "Mindful Meals Gourmet," preparing and delivering meals. She loved it, but felt isolated. That feeling of "this isn't it" was information she needed to listen to, even when it meant starting over. What followed was years of experimentation. Some things fed her soul, others didn't. Fran learned the most from what didn't work. After significant life changes, she felt a visceral need to nourish the roots of her own life and realized that learning to feel "rooted" despite chaos was the only way to achieve true well-being. As founder of Simply Mindful, Fran is a Certified Health and Integrative Nutrition Counselor with nearly 20 years exploring wellbeing across body, mind, heart, and spirit. She's worked with Pinterest, Stanford University, Feeding America, and global gatherings like Wisdom 2.0 and Dreamforce, where she was part of the production team creating the Plum Village Center and served as direct liaison between 26 monastics and the Salesforce team, delivering 51 mindfulness sessions over 4 days. She's managed volunteer programs for conferences bringing together 3,000 people, led gut-brain connection workshops at Pinterest and Stanford, and piloted a corporate program that achieved 40% voluntary participation with measurable health improvements. Fran's work is built on a radical premise: "Your body knows when it's truly hungry. Your heart recognizes nourishing relationships. Your gut speaks about what feels right. Modern life fragments this knowing, but it never disappears." Her role isn't to fix what's wrong with people because nothing's fundamentally broken. Instead, she creates safe spaces where people reconnect with what's already right within them. She introduces frameworks that point inward rather than imposing external rules, starting with practices so simple they're almost too simple: Week 1, notice thirst before drinking. That's it. This rebuilds trust and partnership with the body instead of management of it. In this interview, Fran shares her 28-year journey from Health Promotion and Behavior graduate (corporate wellness track) to founder, her framework for bridging ancient contemplative wisdom with modern workplace needs, the biggest mistakes organizations make implementing wellness programs, and her approach to creating programs that honor what people already know rather than teaching them what they should do. For women building businesses focused on helping others reconnect with themselves (whether through nutrition, mindfulness, coaching, or other modalities), Fran's journey offers both practical insights and honest reflection on why the long game matters and why your timeline doesn't have to match anyone else's. --- ## From Life Changes to Building Simply Mindful - When You Realized "Learning How to Be True to Myself" Was the Only Path to True Well-Being **Q:** You're a Certified Health and Integrative Nutrition Counselor with nearly 20 years exploring wellbeing across body, mind, heart, and spirit. After significant life changes, you felt a visceral need to nourish the roots of your own life and realized that learning to feel "rooted" despite chaos was the only way to achieve true well-being. That realization led you to pursue a functional understanding of the mind-body connection and eventually founded Simply Mindful. Walk us through the decision to build Simply Mindful after those life changes. What did you discover about yourself during that period that convinced you this needed to be your work, and what advice would you give women about turning personal transformation into businesses that help others? **A:** What I'm about to share is a winding, 28-year journey that's still unfolding. I'm sharing it because the polished success stories don't help. The real journey does. I graduated from UGA in 1998 focused on corporate wellness, but I had no idea what that would actually look like. It took nearly 30 years to come full circle. In 2012, I launched Simply Mindful as "Mindful Meals Gourmet" - preparing and delivering meals. I loved it, but I was isolated. That feeling of "this isn't it" was information I needed to listen to, even when it meant starting over. I kept experimenting. Some things fed my soul, others didn't. I learned the most from what didn't work. Two years in, I wrote: "CONNECTION is key for me. This version of wellbeing - connection to self, others, planet - becomes a true anchor when life gets chaotic." What convinced me this needed to be my work? I felt something missing - a visceral need to nourish the roots of my own life when everything felt chaotic. What I discovered through that process was reconnection - to who I was, what I wanted, what felt true to me. That became the foundation of my work - my role isn't to fix what's wrong with people - because nothing's fundamentally broken. We're all imperfect humans who've learned to override our own wisdom. Our hearts recognize nourishing relationships. Modern life fragments this knowing, but it never disappears. Whether creating wellness programs, managing mindfulness programming, or now running corporate programs - the "how" kept evolving, but the "why" stayed consistent: helping people reconnect. **What I've learned that might help:** The long game matters. It's been 14 years since I launched Simply Mindful. I'm doing the work I originally trained for - enriched by 28 years of exploration. Your timeline doesn't have to match anyone else's. When something feels misaligned, that's information worth listening to. Even when it means starting over. Your values will guide you when the business model changes. Connection has been my North Star. When you know your core values, you can experiment without losing yourself. ## Bringing Mindfulness to Fortune 500 Companies - Part of the Dreamforce Plum Village Center Production Team Supporting Delivery of 51 Mindfulness Sessions Over 4 Days **Q:** You've worked with Pinterest, Stanford University, Feeding America, and global gatherings like Wisdom 2.0 and Dreamforce, where you helped create the Plum Village Center and delivered 51 mindfulness sessions over 4 days alongside 26 monastics. You've also managed volunteer programs for conferences bringing together 3,000 people exploring mindfulness in the technology age. For female founders building wellness businesses or trying to bring mindfulness and contemplative practices into corporate environments, what's your framework for bridging ancient wisdom with modern workplace needs? What are the biggest mistakes you see organizations make when trying to implement wellness programs, and how can founders position their work to be taken seriously in fast-paced corporate settings? **A:** In my work with corporations, I piloted a program that achieved 40% voluntary participation and measurable health improvements. I'm currently running this refined program with a Bay Area law firm. This work requires bridging science, contemplative wisdom, and real organizational systems. My background spans health promotion, integrative nutrition, mindfulness study at UCLA, and years of practice. At Dreamforce, I was part of the production team for the Plum Village Center, serving as direct liaison between 26 monastics and the Salesforce team for programming over four days. I've managed volunteer programs at Wisdom 2.0 for conferences bringing together 3,000 people, and led gut-brain connection workshops at Pinterest and Stanford. **My Framework: Multiple Entry Points** Here's what corporations need to understand: chronic stress keeps employees constantly activated - always "on," always scanning. Add to that the world's chaos - our bodies are taking all of this in, plus whatever people carry from home. Some override body signals. Others become hypervigilant. Most don't notice until it's stored as chronic tension or sickness. This isn't new information - the question is what we do about it. I introduce different entry points depending on what the group needs. For some, research-based definitions work. For others, guided meditation. Here's an example. In Week 1, we practice hydration. Sounds simple? But we're teaching nervous system regulation. Participants pause and notice: am I actually thirsty or going through the motions? This rebuilds their capacity to hear body signals. When you can hear "I need water," you're building capacity to hear more complex signals: "I need rest," "This meeting is draining me." **Common Mistakes Organizations Make** Treating wellness as a checkbox rather than building actual skills. Imposing one-size-fits-all practices. Launching programs without the structure to sustain them. You need both contemplative depth AND operational systems that create real engagement. **How to Position Your Work** You can't have sustainable performance without people who feel valued. Supporting people and supporting the organization aren't separate things. But our systems have it backwards. They're designed to extract value from people rather than support them as whole humans. Wellbeing programs get cut first when budgets tighten. That thinking makes wellbeing extra, when it's foundational. You can't build anything sustainable on disconnected and struggling people. Talk to corporate leaders in business terms they understand - ROI, research, outcomes. But remember: trust is built by being present. Stay connected to what genuinely interests you. My opportunities came through authentic relationships - sharing excitement, connections emerging naturally. Pursue opportunities that stretch you. Each taught me something unexpected about organizing, scale, holding space. And what not to do. ## "Your Body Knows When It's Truly Hungry" - Teaching Reconnection with Inner Wisdom Rather Than Following External Rules **Q:** You've said "Your body knows when it's truly hungry. Your heart recognizes nourishing relationships. Your gut speaks about what feels right. Modern life fragments this knowing, but it never disappears." Through Simply Mindful, your role isn't to fix what's wrong but to create safe spaces where people reconnect with what's already right within them. For women building businesses focused on helping others reconnect with themselves (whether through nutrition, mindfulness, coaching, or other modalities), what's your advice about creating programs that honor what people already know rather than imposing external rules? How do you help clients move from seeking answers outside themselves to trusting their own inner wisdom? **A:** We're constantly told: Drink 8 glasses of water. Eat every 3 hours. Get 10,000 steps. These train us to look outside ourselves for answers rather than tuning into what our bodies are telling us. My work provides frameworks that point inward. **How I help people trust inner wisdom:** I begin by understanding where people are. What language do they use? This tells me what entry point will resonate. Then I create practices that are almost too simple. Week 1: notice thirst before drinking. That's it. Pause, notice, am I actually thirsty? This rebuilds trust. You're practicing partnership with your body instead of management of it. When you can hear simple signals, you're building capacity to hear complex ones: "I'm full," "I need to move," "This relationship doesn't feel nourishing." **Creating programs that honor what people already know:** I don't come in as the expert. I help people remember what they already know but have learned to ignore. We've been taught to override our signals in the name of productivity. I introduce multiple entry points. What matters is creating space to pause and reconnect. Permission to slow down. I never mandate practices. I invite exploration. When people feel safe, they open. My job is to create the container where reconnection becomes possible. **What I've learned:** The wellness industry loves rules. That might help temporarily, but it's not the long game. My job is to hold steady in the invitation to listen inward. Start with the simplest possible practice. If someone can't notice their body's signals, jumping to advanced meditation won't help. I learn from my clients. When someone uses "hypervigilant," that teaches me about their nervous system. When someone shares they're migraine-free after journaling, that shows me what's possible. This work requires me to practice what I teach. I'm constantly overriding my own signals too (I'm human). The practice isn't something I finished - it's something I'm doing right now, today. In a world of constant chaos, creating space where reconnection becomes possible - this is radical work. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### From Federal Auditor to "Accidental Entrepreneur": Keila Hill-Trawick, CPA on Building Little Fish Accounting from a Side Hustle, Defining "Building to Enough," and Why the Best Technicians Don't Always Make the Best Business Owners URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/finance/from-federal-auditor-to-accidental-entrepreneur-keila-hill-trawick-cpa-on-building-little-fish-accounting-from-a-side-hustle-defining-building-to-enough-and-why-the-best-technicians-don/ Last updated: 2026-01-30T04:45:01.000Z Keila Hill-Trawick expected to work for the federal government until she retired. From 2010 to 2018, she moved between agencies as an auditor—from the Defense Contract Audit Agency and U.S. Attorney's Office to the Government Accountability Office and U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. She'd also held senior accounting roles at CNN, Comcast, and Home Depot. But after nearly a decade in government and corporate work, she found herself bored in her role yet energized by something else: helping friends who were launching businesses manage their books and taxes as a side hustle. [Little Fish Accounting](https://www.littlefishaccounting.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) was born in 2018 almost by accident—when Keila realized she needed a business email address to manage her growing roster of side clients. Today, as founder and CEO of Little Fish Accounting, a boutique CPA firm based in Washington, D.C., Keila leads a small team specializing in advisory accounting, tax, and fractional CFO services for service providers and small online business owners—consulting firms, creative agencies, and established entrepreneurs ready to invest in financial management for sustainable growth. The firm has become known for its comprehensive service packages (rather than à la carte services), personalized client experience, and commitment to making accounting information accessible and understandable. But what truly sets Keila apart is her philosophy: "Building to Enough." She defines a healthy business as one that is sustainable and aligns with the lifestyle of the owner. Featured on the cover of the AICPA Journal of Accountancy in December 2023 (a rare honor—she shares it with only one other accountant that year), Keila is a vocal advocate for intentional business growth that rejects "grow by any means" advice. Sometimes that means staying small on purpose. This approach is deeply personal. Keila didn't come from public accounting, so she had no mentors or traditional playbook to follow. Instead, she designed Little Fish to operate like a marketing or design firm with a focus on the client experience. "I ran a business that I would want to work at," she explains. "Accounting just happened to be the vehicle we were using to help small businesses." Beyond Little Fish, Keila is co-founder of **Accountants of Color**, a community for BIPOC accountants to engage, grow, and build their firms. She serves on the Gusto Partner Advisory Council and Maryland Society of Accounting & Tax Professionals. She was named in the inaugural Forbes top 200 Accountants in the US and hosts the Build to Enough podcast. Equipped with a BBA from Georgia State University and an MBA from Mercer University, Keila brings both corporate rigor and entrepreneurial empathy to everything she does. Her story challenges the conventional wisdom that stable government jobs and entrepreneurship are mutually exclusive paths—and proves that sometimes the best businesses are the ones you build by accident, then scale with intention. --- ## From Federal Government to Accidental Entrepreneur - When to Make the Leap from Stable Job to Side Hustle to Full-Time Business **Q:** You started Little Fish Accounting in 2018 almost by accident - while working at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, you began helping friends manage their books and taxes as a side hustle. You'd worked as a federal auditor for nearly a decade and expected to work for the government until retirement. But after helping several friends launch their businesses, you realized you needed a business email address - and Little Fish Accounting was born. For women in stable corporate or government jobs who are testing business ideas on the side, how do you know when a side hustle is ready to become your full-time business? What financial or practical milestones should you hit before leaving stable employment, and what advice would you give about making that transition without burning bridges or taking unnecessary risks? ***A:*** For me, the “sign” was not a single moment, it was a pattern. I was bored in my government role, but energized by the side work because it was useful, relationship-driven, and made a tangible impact. That said, I did not leave on inspiration alone. I planned. If you are in a stable corporate or government job and testing an idea on the side, here are the milestones I would look for before going full-time. ### **Financial milestones to hit before you quit** - **Reliable demand and repeatability -** Not just one big client or a viral moment. And a repeatable way to get clients (referrals, content, partnerships, pipeline) - **Minimum income consistency -** Your side hustle consistently covers a meaningful portion of your lifestyle. - **Savings runway -** A cash cushion to sustain you as you ramp up or have slow months. Ideally you’d have multiple months of living expenses, plus a separate buffer for business costs. - **Taxes are already being funded -** If you are not already setting aside money for taxes while side hustling, full-time will feel like a shock. - **You know your basic numbers -** Monthly revenue, monthly expenses, how much you keep, and your cash flow rhythm. You need to be able to answer “How much do I need to bring in each month to fund my life, business expenses and taxes?” ### **Practical milestones to hit before you quit** - **Your offer is clear -** You can explain who you serve, what you do, and what results you help create - **Your pricing is sustainable -** You are charging real rates, not “I’m still figuring it out” or discounted rates - **Your work can scale without burning you out -** If it only works because you are working nights and weekends, you have a capacity problem and may need to reassess - **You have your “adult business” basics started -** A business email, logo, domain and basic website. If you want people to take you seriously you need to be professional and buttoned up. You should also have basic processes for onboarding, contracts, invoicing, and boundaries. ### **How to transition without burning bridges or taking unnecessary risks** - **Treat your exit like a reputation investment -** Give clean notice, document your work, leave relationships intact - **Do not wait until you are emotionally done -** It is easier to leave well when you are not already resentful or exhausted - **Keep the bridge even if you do not plan to go back -** Former colleagues become referral sources, collaborators, and clients - **Reduce risk before you jump -** Save money, forecast conservative income, plan for taxes, and understand your benefits replacement Be honest about the potential of the business and what it needs to fund your lifestyle. Not just revenue, but healthcare, taxes, retirement, time off, and rest. A business can be small and still be successful, but it has to be capable of supporting the life you want, not just the idea of freedom. ## "Building to Enough" - How to Decide What Size Business is Right for You and Reject "Grow by Any Means" Advice **Q:** You're passionate about "building to enough" - staying small on purpose and rejecting pressure to scale at all costs. You were featured on the cover of AICPA Journal of Accountancy discussing this philosophy. Little Fish has five full-time employees, and you've been intentional about growth decisions - switching from contractors to employees, offering holistic packages instead of à la carte services, and prioritizing client experience over rapid expansion. For female founders feeling pressure to scale quickly or "10X their business," how do you actually figure out what "enough" looks like for you? What questions should founders ask themselves to determine the right size for their business, and how do you build a firm that's both profitable and sustainable without sacrificing your quality of life? **A:** To figure out what “enough” looks like, start with life first, then build the business to match. ### **Questions to define “enough”** - How many hours do I want to work per week, realistically? - What do I want my role to be: delivery, leadership, sales, strategy, or a mix? - What kinds of clients do I enjoy serving, and which ones consistently drain me? - What income supports my life with stability, including taxes and savings? - What do I want to protect: time, health, family, flexibility, creativity? ### **How to build a firm that is profitable and sustainable** - **Design your services for consistency -** Packaging and standardized delivery reduces chaos and improves margins - **Price for the capacity you actually have -** Not for the fantasy version of your schedule - **Choose team growth intentionally -** Hire when it improves quality, stability, and client experience, not just because demand exists - **Measure success beyond revenue -** Profit margin, stress level, team sustainability, client retention, and time freedom all count A healthy business is one you can run for years. Not one that looks impressive for a quarter. ## Finding the Right Accountant - What Founders Should Look for Beyond Tax Prep and How to Know When You Need Strategic Financial Support **Q:** Little Fish Accounting specializes in service providers and small business owners, and you're passionate about making accounting accessible. Your Discovery Calls aren't designed to "close a sale" but to determine fit - asking "What kind of help have you gotten before?", "What would success look like?", and being honest when you're not the right match. For female entrepreneurs trying to figure out when and how to hire accounting support, what's the difference between needing a bookkeeper, an accountant, and fractional CFO services? What questions should founders ask during discovery calls to make sure they're getting strategic support (not just compliance/tax prep), and what are the warning signs that your current accounting support isn't actually helping you grow your business? **A:** Entrepreneurs often hire accounting help too late because they think it is only about tax filing. The real value is when accounting becomes a year-round partnership that helps you make decisions. ### **Bookkeeper vs accountant vs tax preparer vs fractional CFO** - **Bookkeeper** - Keeps transactions categorized, reconciled, and accurateGives you clean data - **Tax preparer** - Files returns and keeps you compliant - May help with estimated taxes, but is often seasonal - **Accountant** - Interprets the books, supports compliance, and often helps with tax planning - Can help you understand what the numbers mean - **Fractional CFO or strategic finance support** - Helps you use numbers to make decisions - Cash flow planning, forecasting, pricing strategy, hiring timing, profit planning If you are asking questions like “Can I hire?”, “Can I pay myself more?”, “Why do I have revenue but no cash?”, or “What should I do next?”, you are moving into strategic support territory. ### **What to look for, beyond tax prep** Choosing an accounting and tax partner should include: - **Industry experience** - Someone who understands how your business model works and what metrics matter - **Processes and procedures** - How they collect info, deliver reports, and communicate with you matters as much as the work itself. Strong accounting support sets expectations clearly so you are not left wondering when you will get answers or whether something is falling through the cracks. - **A relationship, not a handoff** - You should understand what you are getting and what it means, not just receive reports - **Pricing transparency and fit** - Price should not be the only factor, but you should understand what is included and why > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### Against the Grain: Naomi Granger on Entering Cannabis Accounting in 2017 When Others Hesitated, Growing to $3M in Two Years, Training 700+ CPAs Through NACAT Pros, and Why Underserved High-Barrier Markets Are Where Expertise Becomes Leverage URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/accounting/against-the-grain-naomi-granger-on-entering-cannabis-accounting-in-2017-when-others-hesitated-growing-to-3m-in-two-years-training-700-cpas-through-nacat-pros-and-why-underserved-high-ba/ Last updated: 2026-01-30T04:33:55.000Z In 2017, Naomi Granger moved back home to Las Vegas just as adult-use cannabis sales went live, and she saw something most CPAs wouldn't touch: a massively underserved industry desperately needing professional accounting services in a federally restricted, cash-heavy, compliance-intensive environment. While traditional financial institutions and accounting professionals avoided the cannabis industry due to federal illegality and social stigma, Naomi (a CPA with over 18 years of experience) went against the grain. She entered the industry when it was still highly stigmatized, grew her practice from startup to exceeding $3 million in revenue in just over two years, and became the only CPA to be featured in The Wall Street Journal for her unique approach to helping accounting professionals expand into cannabis. As founder of the [National Association of Cannabis Accounting and Tax Professionals](https://nacatpros.org/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) (NACAT Pros), Naomi has trained over 700 accounting professionals across the United States through her certification program "Calculating Cannabis," which covers 280E tax compliance, seed-to-sale tracking systems, cash management, banking challenges, state and local regulations, and audit-ready record-keeping. She's been recognized as MJ Biz Women to Watch and Marijuana Ventures Women to Watch, served as Treasurer of the National Cannabis Industry Association, and has been featured on Cheddar TV and the cover of the Las Vegas Sun. She speaks on stages across the country addressing operators on tax regulations, budgets, forecasting, and what to look for when hiring an accountant. Cannabis businesses face unique challenges that most industries don't encounter: federal illegality despite state legality, limited banking access forcing cash-heavy operations, Section 280E tax restrictions preventing normal business deductions, constantly changing state regulations, and compliance requirements like seed-to-sale tracking where one mistake can result in license revocation. Naomi built her practice and NACAT Pros by treating risk management as a core service, creating standardized systems and workflows, staying current on evolving regulations across multiple states, and positioning herself as a trusted advisor in an industry where competent professionals were (and still are) in desperately short supply. In this interview, Naomi shares her framework for entering stigmatized industries when others hesitate, how she rapidly scaled her practice to $3M by serving an underserved market, her approach to creating training programs that actually prepare professionals to serve clients competently in highly regulated spaces, and practical advice for women building businesses where compliance mistakes carry severe consequences. For female founders considering specialization in underserved, high-barrier markets—whether cannabis, crypto, adult entertainment, or other politically contentious industries—Naomi's journey offers both strategic insights and honest reflection on why going where others won't can become your greatest competitive advantage. --- ## From Traditional Accounting to Cannabis Industry Pioneer - Founding NACAT Pros After Growing Your Practice from Startup to $3M in Two Years **Q:** You're a CPA with over 18 years of experience who entered the cannabis industry in 2017 and grew your practice from startup to exceeding $3 million in revenue in just over two years. You're the only CPA to have been featured in The Wall Street Journal for your unique approach to helping accounting professionals expand into cannabis, and you've been recognized as MJ Biz Women to Watch and Marijuana Ventures Women to Watch. You founded the National Association of Cannabis Accounting and Tax Professionals (NACAT Pros) to provide support, resources, and advocacy for accounting professionals serving this highly regulated industry. Walk us through your decision to enter the cannabis industry in 2017 when it was still highly stigmatized and federally restricted. What made you realize this was an opportunity rather than a risk? How did you grow your practice so rapidly to $3M, and what were the biggest challenges you faced building credibility in an industry where traditional financial institutions and many professionals were still hesitant to participate? **A:** In 2017, I moved back home to Las Vegas right as adult-use sales went live and cannabis was suddenly everywhere. There were new businesses, new clients, and a new regulated market forming in real time not just in Vegas, but all over the country. I could also see a major gap: operators urgently needed professional service providers, but most CPAs and advisors were afraid to touch the industry. Even today, many still won't. I've always loved a challenge and I naturally gravitate toward opportunities where others hesitate. Going against the grain has never scared me. What made it feel like an opportunity rather than a risk was how underserved the industry was. The demand for competent accounting, tax, and compliance support was obvious, and I was confident that if I did the work correctly and documented my decisions, I'd be fine. I'm from Las Vegas, so the social stigma didn't bother me. I've always been more liberal and non-judgmental, and I've been able to separate the headlines from the actual business need. As for gaining credibility in the industry, it was easier than people assume; there was no one here doing it well. When you're one of the only professionals willing to show up, do clean work, and speak the language, you stand out quickly. The bigger challenge was setting the standard and building trust in an industry that had been overlooked for so long. --- ## Training Over 700 Accounting Professionals and Building a Professional Association - Your Framework for Education, Certification, and Industry Advocacy **Q:** You've provided training to over 700 accounting professionals across the United States eager to expand their knowledge and skills in servicing cannabis clients. You created "Calculating Cannabis," a certification program that trains accountants on 280E tax compliance, seed-to-sale tracking systems, cash management, banking challenges, state and local regulations, and audit-ready record-keeping. You've spoken on stages across the country addressing operators on tax regulations, budgets, forecasting, and hiring accountants. For female entrepreneurs building professional associations or education businesses in highly regulated or stigmatized industries, what's your framework for creating training programs that actually prepare professionals to serve clients competently? How do you balance providing education, maintaining professional standards through certification, advocating for industry best practices, and building a sustainable business model? What would you tell women about positioning themselves as thought leaders in industries where credibility and compliance are paramount? **A:** My framework for creating training that truly prepares professionals is built around three things. First, do your research. I require professionals to get comfortable reading state rules and regulations and staying current as they evolve. Second, talk to experts across the industry. Accountants cannot operate in a bubble. I build programs with input from operators, attorneys, regulators, auditors, payroll, and other specialists so the training reflects how the business actually runs. Third, advocate and stay aware of industry politics. Policy drives reality in cannabis. If you are not following what is happening at the state and federal level, you will miss what matters and your clients will pay for it. Balancing education, certification standards, advocacy, and a sustainable business model comes down to staying mission-driven and operationally disciplined. I advocate through efforts like NCIA annual lobby days, and I speak around the country about cannabis policy so the profession stays informed and engaged. On the education side, I teach both technical competency and practice management because serving cannabis clients requires strong systems, boundaries, pricing, and delivery. I also constantly revise the practice management side as the market shifts so professionals can build sustainable firms, not just earn knowledge. For women positioning themselves as thought leaders in credibility and compliance-driven industries, my advice is simple. Get visible and get specific. Speak on stages, podcasts, webinars. Publish educational content, and lead trainings for operators. When you consistently teach what you know and help businesses get compliant and operational, your authority grows quickly. In regulated industries, thought leadership comes from being the person who can explain the rules clearly and help people execute them with confidence. --- ## Navigating Federal-State Legal Conflicts, Banking Restrictions, and Building a Business in a "Highly Federally Restrictive" Industry - Practical Advice for Women Entrepreneurs in Regulated Spaces **Q:** Cannabis businesses face unique challenges that most industries don't - federal illegality despite state legality, limited banking access forcing cash-heavy operations, Section 280E tax restrictions preventing normal business deductions, constantly changing state regulations, and compliance requirements like seed-to-sale tracking. You've built NACAT Pros, served as Treasurer of the National Cannabis Industry Association, been featured on Cheddar TV and the cover of the Las Vegas Sun, and positioned yourself as a trusted advisor in an industry where one compliance mistake can result in license revocation. For women building businesses in highly regulated, politically contentious, or stigmatized industries, what's your advice about managing risk, building systems that ensure compliance, working with clients who face unique legal and financial constraints, and maintaining your own business sustainability when the regulatory landscape keeps shifting? What do you wish you'd known when you started, and what would you tell women about the importance of specialization in underserved, high-barrier markets? **A:** For women building businesses in highly regulated, politically contentious, or stigmatized industries, my advice is to treat risk management as a core service, not an afterthought. Start with systems. Build standardized workflows, checklists, and documentation protocols from day one. If you cannot explain how you got to a number or a position, it does not exist. In cannabis and similar industries, compliance is not just filing returns. It is cash controls, inventory controls, audit trails, and clear separation of duties. Your systems should make the right behavior the default. Know the rules, then translate them into practical steps. Read the regulations, monitor updates, and keep a running "change log" of what shifted, when, and how you adjusted. I also recommend building relationships with experts across the ecosystem, including attorneys, compliance specialists, regulators, payroll, and banking partners. Your client's constraints are usually legal, banking, and cash-flow related, so your guidance has to reflect operational reality, not just accounting theory. Set boundaries that protect your firm. Be clear about what you will and will not do, how quickly you will respond, and what documentation you require. Price for complexity and risk, and use engagement letters that reflect the environment. Your sustainability depends on saying no to clients who resist controls, resist documentation, or want you to "make it work" without support. What I wish I had known when I started is how often the goalposts move. The regulatory landscape will shift. Your business model has to assume ongoing change, which means ongoing training, periodic process updates, and proactive client communication. If you design your firm like it will stay the same, you will always feel behind. On specialization, I would tell women this. Underserved, high-barrier markets are where expertise becomes leverage. When others avoid a space because it is complicated or controversial, the professionals who invest in true specialization become indispensable. You can charge appropriately, retain clients longer, and build a reputation faster because the value is clear and the alternatives are limited. Specialization is not about narrowing your options. It is about becoming the obvious choice in a market that desperately needs competent leaders. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### TrialX URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/partners/health/trialx/ Last updated: 2026-01-29T05:33:38.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2026/01/LOGO_BLUE.png) #### TrialX is a clinical research and space health informatics company headquartered in New York City. From launching the first clinical trials app on Google Health in 2008, to powering online patient recruitment and research data collection for space missions, TrialX is empowering clinical research here on earth and beyond. ****Website URL:** [https://www.trialx.com](https://www.trialx.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ****Preferred contact email:** [priya@trialx.com](mailto:priya@trialx.com) ### Building Virtual Wellness Ahead of the Curve: Tiffany Lord on Launching Love + Asana in 2016, the "Information + Integration" Methodology, and Choosing Holistic Impact Over Venture-Backed Scaling URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/wellbeing/building-virtual-wellness-ahead-of-the-curve-tiffany-lord-on-launching-love-asana-in-2016-the-information-integration-methodology-and-choosing-holistic-impact-over-venture-backed-scalin/ Last updated: 2026-01-28T03:48:13.000Z In 2016, Tiffany Lord saw something most people didn't: remote employees were already used to engaging through screens, and they needed quick wellness breaks during the workday—no traffic, no setup time, no waiting. Just open another tab, move your body, reset your mind, and go back to work feeling more focused and relaxed. While most corporate wellness programs still required in-person attendance, Tiffany founded [Love + Asana](https://www.loveandasana.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) as a virtual wellness studio, offering sessions and workshops for employee wellness that specialized in movement and mindfulness for stress management. She was building ahead of the curve, years before virtual wellness would become mainstream. As founder of Love + Asana, Tiffany helps busy professionals feel more resilient and empowered in their wellness using simple movement and mindfulness techniques to manage stress. Every session and workshop is based on her "Information + Integration" methodology, where employees learn about wellness, test out techniques, feel the effects, and are encouraged to use them in daily life for lasting impact. This all-levels, accessible approach to physical and mental health at work allows employees to easily learn and implement healthy habits during their workday—and feel the benefits ripple out into all areas of life. Since 2016, Tiffany has coached thousands of employees through virtual sessions and workshops focused on relaxation techniques, mindset, and mobility. Her wellness articles have been featured in fyi50+, CO Yoga + Life, and she's the author of three "Get With Gratitude" journals based on her online workshop series for resiliency through a grateful mindset. She offers everything from desk stretches and guided relaxation to workshops on sleep hygiene, burnout prevention, and managing persistent pain and Migraine. But Tiffany's vision for Love + Asana extends beyond what companies typically pay for in benefits packages. She's launching specialized programs like her Cancer Wellness Community (starting February 2026), Healthy Longevity Programs, and "Resilient with Migraine" (her "love letter" to others living with Migraine)—offerings that support employee wellness holistically but fall outside traditional corporate wellness models. She's intentionally kept the business focused on the holistic support she can offer clients rather than scaling with a large team or seeking investors. Working in high-stress industries like service, event management, and government contracting before founding Love + Asana, Tiffany heard the same refrain over and over: "I don't have time" to prioritize wellness. Her solution was simple but revolutionary for its time: eliminate every barrier between wanting to feel better and actually doing something about it. No commute. No setup. Just consistent, accessible, virtual wellness that meets employees exactly where they are. Her goal in everything she does is to help people improve their quality of life—and that's what drives her. For Tiffany, success isn't measured by team size or venture capital raised; it's measured by sustainable, meaningful impact for clients who integrate wellness into their daily lives, one minute at a time. --- ## Launching Love + Asana in 2016 - Building a Virtual Wellness Studio Before the Pandemic Made Virtual Wellness Essential **Q:** You founded Love + Asana in 2016 as a virtual wellness studio offering sessions and workshops for employee wellness, specializing in movement and mindfulness for stress management. Since then, you've coached thousands of employees through virtual sessions focused on relaxation techniques, mindset, and mobility. Your wellness articles have been featured in fyi50+, CO Yoga + Life, and you're the author of three "Get With Gratitude" journals based on your online workshop series for resiliency. Walk us through the decision to launch a virtual wellness studio in 2016, well before COVID made virtual wellness mainstream. What did you see in the market that convinced you virtual corporate wellness would work, and what advice would you give women about building businesses ahead of the curve rather than waiting for a trend to be validated? **A:** Before I founded my own company, I worked in several high-stress industries such as service, event management and government contracting. Many of my colleagues (and myself in certain seasons of life) were not prioritizing their wellness with the reason being “I don’t have time”. In 2016, there were already an abundance of employees working from home even though it wasn’t as widely embraced as it is now – so I knew that there were teams out there who were already used to engaging through a screen and could benefit from quick wellness breaks during the work day without taking time away from their to-do list. No traffic issues. No setup time. No waiting for me to travel to them. Literally, open another tab, move your body and reset your mind, go back to work – feeling more focused and relaxed than before! As with many businesses that are built ahead of the curve, there’s a phase in the beginning that requires patience as you share your new concept with clients – so my advice would be to have a strong vision, be willing to iterate the way you explain your business to see what resonates with potential clients the most and embrace your capacity to do hard things. Also, if you’re building this business on your own without a team or investors as I did, it can feel like a slow build and you’ll have many ups and downs. Surround yourself with a good support system for the days you want to celebrate and the days you need a shoulder to lean on. Most importantly, keep going! ## "Information + Integration" Methodology - Teaching Employees Wellness Techniques They Actually Use in Daily Life **Q:** Every Love + Asana session and workshop is based on your "Information + Integration" methodology where employees learn about wellness, test out techniques, feel the effects, and are encouraged to use them in daily life for lasting impact. You offer everything from desk stretches and guided relaxation to workshops on sleep hygiene, burnout prevention, and managing persistent pain and Migraine. For female founders building corporate wellness or coaching businesses, what's your framework for creating programs that employees actually integrate into their lives rather than just attending once and forgetting? How do you help organizations move from wellness as a "check the box" benefit to wellness as a cultural practice? And what's been the biggest challenge in getting buy-in from leadership for proactive wellness rather than reactive programs? **A:** I’ve seen this happen over and over again, where people attend an inspirational workshop that truly impacted them in the moment – then never take action to implement anything they learned for the change they wanted to feel. One of my goals is to reduce barriers between feeling amazing in our session and actually using the practice on your own in your daily routine. Let’s face it, our brains are wired to keep us safe and they like the known result – even if that keeps us stuck in our habits. Also, not everyone wants to start using these techniques on their own. Some people only practice when guided, which is completely fine. However, for those clients who want to integrate the tools that I share, they are always encouraged to start small with one technique, 1 minute a day, every single day for one week. It’s a building block that not only feels helpful in the moment of practice, but starts to shift their mindset around making choices throughout the day that move you towards wellness versus illness or overwhelm. When organizations work with me, we become partners in their employee wellness program. The more they share with me about their culture, organizational changes, wellness challenges and workload fluctuations – the better I can tailor our programming for the year. With relevant topics and acknowledgement of the employee experience, our wellness breaks can feel like an extension of the organization instead of just another vendor coming in. Along with this, consistent offerings such as weekly meditations or a monthly wellness workshop can be part of a culture shift because it shows a dedication of time for employee self-care during work hours. Many times, I’m speaking to a new client after something has happened – massive layoffs, multiple reorganizations – but I’m always trying to frame wellness in a proactive way to support teams before they are overwhelmed, apathetic and checked out. Reminding leaders that it is always better to integrate wellness support into your culture and the daily lives of your employees when everyone seems happy and healthy. Starting to build trust with wellness providers when employees are in crisis is not ideal. When employees already have trusted wellness providers through their benefits or employee wellness program, they feel more confident asking for support and receiving the help they need – which improves their mental health, resilience and overall wellbeing. ## Building Holistic Wellness Beyond Corporate Benefits - Launching Cancer Wellness Community and Healthy Longevity Programs **Q:** You launched Love + Asana solo and have intentionally kept it focused on the holistic support you can offer clients rather than scaling with a large team. Beyond your corporate wellness work, you're expanding into programs like your Cancer Wellness Community (starting February 2026) and Healthy Longevity Programs - offerings that support employee wellness holistically but fall outside what companies typically pay for in benefits packages. You've also developed specialized programs like "Resilient with Migraine" (your "love letter" to others living with Migraine). For women building wellness businesses, what's your advice about staying true to your vision of holistic support rather than scaling for the sake of growth? How do you think about expanding into programs like Cancer Wellness Community that serve your clients' real needs even when they don't fit traditional corporate wellness models? And what would you tell female founders about building businesses around deep expertise and meaningful impact rather than chasing team growth or venture-backed scaling? **A:** My goal in everything that I do is to help people improve their quality of life and that is what drives me. I love being able to offer services that holistically support the wellness challenges that I hear about in real time. For me to be successful in these areas, my focus is on aligning my expertise with services that offer sustainable and meaningful impact for clients. Growing a large team and working with investors is not part of that focus currently, but I’m always open to exploring options to better serve my clients. Organizations may not feel comfortable offering classes that support employees in cancer treatment or help their team members manage Migraine symptoms, but I see those offerings as part of a whole person approach that is valued by employees, whether or not the company pays for it. Having a team and investors supporting your business growth is valuable, but it’s not for everyone. The most important advice I can give in this area is be honest with yourself about what you want and the trade-offs involved. Then embrace what you learn from your decisions and keep growing your business with all of that new wisdom! > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### From the Only Woman in the Room to Leading a Movement: Drenusha Salihu on Building Women4Cyber Kosovo and Redefining Cyber Security URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/women-who-lead/from-the-only-woman-in-the-room-to-leading-a-movement-drenusha-salihu-on-building-women4cyber-kosovo-and-redefining-cyber-security/ Last updated: 2026-02-03T09:11:37.000Z For years, Drenusha Salihu adapted to being the only woman in technical IT environments—accepting it as simply "part of the territory" in a male-dominated field. But when she began actively pursuing a career in cybersecurity, the pattern became impossible to ignore. At nearly every training, she was one of maybe two women in the room. More troubling than the numbers was the silence around it: no one questioned the imbalance. It was just accepted as normal. That moment of insight, disturbing yet pivotal, served as the trigger for Drenusha's subsequent action. In 2020, she established [Women4Cyber Kosovo](https://women4cyberkosovo.org/?ref=foundedbywomen.org), making her the youngest leader to create a national chapter in the European Women4Cyber Foundation network. What started as a challenge against the hidden structures driving women away from advanced tech positions has now transformed into a flourishing community of over 500 women, providing practical education in ethical hacking, penetration testing, governance, risk and compliance (GRC), and leading-edge cybersecurity fields. Through her work as a cybersecurity specialist and across multiple technical roles, Drenusha saw the problem up close. Cybersecurity was never "too complex" for women but access was uneven, confidence was eroded early, and opportunities were rarely distributed equally. Women4Cyber Kosovo emerged from that insight, taking shape during her cybersecurity training at Cyber Academy, where the idea was sharpened with the support of a mentor who recognized not only her technical ability, but her capacity to lead and build something larger. The journey from isolation to community-building came with challenges beyond limited resources. There was widespread skepticism—both about the need for such an initiative and about Drenusha's credibility as a young woman leading it. In an industry where authority is often tied to age and gender, earning trust required consistently demonstrating both technical expertise and strategic vision. But Women4Cyber Kosovo focused on substance over symbolism, centering its work on skills development, mentorship, and partnerships with industry and institutions. The goal was never to create separate spaces between genders—it was to ensure women could enter cybersecurity, thrive within it, and lead it. Today, as Europe's youngest country, Kosovo stands recognized alongside well-established European nations in the Women4Cyber Foundation network. The organization has become more than a platform—it's a spark igniting curiosity, confidence, and the belief that cybersecurity's future is inclusive, diverse, and shaped by anyone willing to step forward. Women in Kosovo are entering the field through unconventional routes (private universities, certifications, self-directed learning), emerging early as visible leaders and pioneers despite the lack of specialized bachelor's programs in cybersecurity at state universities. --- ## From "Only Woman in the Room" to Building Kosovo's First Women in Cybersecurity Organization **You founded Women4Cyber Kosovo in 2020 after frequently finding yourself as the only woman in rooms full of technical men and experiencing challenges from being underestimated to navigating gender biases. What was the specific moment or experience that made you realize you needed to create this platform? How did you go from feeling isolated to building a community of 500+ women, and what were the biggest obstacles in establishing Kosovo's first organization dedicated to women in cybersecurity?** Before cybersecurity, I had already spent few years working in IT. Being one of the only women in those technical environments felt pretty normal for me. I adapted, found my voice, and worked hard to show what I could do. At first, I didn't really think of it as an issue, it was just part of the territory in a male-dominated field. That perspective changed when I began actively pursuing a career in cybersecurity. At nearly every training I attended, I once again found myself as the only woman in the room, occasionally there were two. What stood out was not just the numbers, but the silence around it. No one questioned the imbalance, it was simply accepted as normal. Over time, the repetition became impossible to ignore. What I had once dismissed as coincidence revealed itself as a structural pattern. One that quietly filtered out women long before they reached advanced technical spaces. The realization was uncomfortable, but it was also clarifying. Once I started to do more research on this topic I began to notice how many capable women never entered cybersecurity at all, and how many left early, not because they lacked skill, but because they lacked support, visibility, and a sense of belonging. Women4Cyber Kosovo was born from that understanding. The idea took shape during my cybersecurity training in Cyber Academy where with the guidance of a mentor who believed in both the technical and leadership potential behind the idea, I chose to turn a personal challenge into a platform for change. Moving from isolation to building a community of more than 500 women started with small, intentional steps like friendly conversations, informal meetups, and creating safe spaces where women could ask questions, share experiences, and envision themselves in cybersecurity roles. What I realized was a powerful truth: the talent was always there, but the pathways were not. Establishing Kosovo's first organization dedicated to women in cybersecurity of course came with challenges. Beyond limited resources, there was widespread skepticism, both about the need for such an initiative and about my credibility as a young woman leading it. In an industry where authority is often tied to age and gender, earning trust required consistently demonstrating both technical expertise and strategic vision. What allowed us to grow was the focus on substance over symbolism. We centered our work on skills development, mentorship, and partnerships with industry and institutions. This was never about creating separate spaces or walls between genders, it was and is about ensuring women could enter the field, thrive within it, and lead it. Today, it's inspiring to see young girls, women, and even older women taking their first steps into cybersecurity. Women4Cyber Kosovo has become more than an organization. It's a spark, igniting curiosity, confidence, and the belief that the future of cybersecurity is inclusive, diverse, and shaped by anyone willing to step forward. --- ## Scaling Impact Across Europe and Beyond **Women4Cyber Kosovo is now part of the broader European Women4Cyber Foundation network, working alongside established chapters across Europe. How did you connect with the international Women4Cyber movement, and what unique challenges do women face in Kosovo's cybersecurity sector compared to other European countries? How do you balance addressing local needs while participating in pan-European initiatives and conferences?** Prior to engaging with Women4Cyber, I was already operating at a global level as a technical content writer for a U.S.-based international organization dedicated to women in cybersecurity. At that time, the European ecosystem was still fragmented, there was no consolidated EU-wide platform exclusively focused on advancing women in cybersecurity. Women4Cyber itself was only just beginning to take shape under the umbrella of the European Cyber Security Organisation (ECSO). When I found out about the formation, I immediately reached out to the Women4Cyber leadership to see what it would take to get a national chapter going. For me, it wasn't just about making our voices heard, it was really important that we were included in the conversation from the get-go. As Europe's youngest country, Kosovo needed a seat at the table right from the start. Now, seeing Kosovo recognized alongside those well-established European nations in the Women4Cyber Foundation network makes me incredibly proud, both for my career and for my country. Women in Kosovo's cybersecurity sector face many of the same challenges encountered by women globally, including underrepresentation, limited visibility, and uneven access to leadership opportunities. However, these challenges intersect in Kosovo with a unique combination of structural, cultural, and economic factors. Here, numerous women pursue careers in cybersecurity via unconventional routes, as state universities have yet to launch specialized bachelor's degree programs in cybersecurity. Consequently, women frequently depend on private universities, trainings, self-paid certifications, or informal learning paths. All of these are methods that demand significant personal initiative and determination. As the local market is relatively small, the number of senior female role models is still growing. At the same time, this created meaningful opportunities for women to emerge early as visible leaders, mentors, and pioneers within the sector. People still tend to see STEM and cybersecurity as fields dominated by men, and that's a tough hurdle to overcome. But in Kosovo, things are starting to change. We're seeing more and more women joining the IT sector, which is pretty encouraging. It's becoming a lot more common to spot women in different IT and security roles. However, there's still a noticeable gap when it comes to technical jobs and leadership positions, women are still not represented enough in those areas. On the bright side, their presence is definitely shaking things up in the cybersecurity world. More women are stepping up with solid technical skills, taking charge in leadership roles, and really making a mark on how this field develops. Achieving equilibrium between local requirements and participation in the wider European landscape is akin to constructing a bridge between two distinct realms. On one side, there's Kosovo, a dynamic, emerging center for IT and cybersecurity focused on fostering talent, offering mentorship programs, and dismantling obstacles for women in STEM areas. Conversely, there exists a vast European network brimming with proven best practices, cross-border cooperation, and a wealth of strategic knowledge. What we are doing is truly about linking the dots. We gather lessons and resources from multiple European initiatives and modify them to fit Kosovo's context. Simultaneously, we share our experiences on the European stage, demonstrating how a motivated yet small ecosystem can foster innovation and empower women in cybersecurity starting from the grassroots level. This fosters an engaging interaction in which local initiatives contribute to wider European cooperation. --- ## Building Technical Skills and Breaking Barriers **Your programs include hands-on training in ethical hacking, penetration testing, and emerging technologies - highly technical fields where women are significantly underrepresented. What strategies do you use to make these technical subjects accessible and welcoming to women who might be intimidated by the male-dominated nature of cybersecurity? How do you measure success beyond just participation numbers, and what changes are you seeing in Kosovo's cybersecurity landscape as more women enter the field?** As a founder, my viewpoint has shifted from specific programs to the broader scope of systemic change. The issue isn't that cybersecurity is overly complicated for women. Rather, it's that access, confidence, and chances have traditionally been imbalanced. Our efforts are founded on collaborations. We partner with organizations, training institutions, and industry players to create opportunities that have historically been locked or hard to reach. These collaborations enable us to directly enroll women in technical training like offensive security, GRC training, soft skills development trainings, and new technologies, while we concentrate on eliminating the hidden obstacles that frequently prevent women from fully participating. Accessibility is not about reducing criteria, it's about transforming the learning process. We accompany technical training with mentoring and well-defined learning paths, enabling participants to advance without feeling alone or out of context. Through normalizing experimentation, setbacks, and ongoing learning, we substitute fear with inquisitiveness. Women are urged to view cybersecurity not as an unwelcoming space, but as a domain where their analytical skills and resilience are true assets. We gauge success by change, not numbers. Changes in confidence are significant. Choices in one's career are significant. When a participant transitions from uncertain self-perception to seeking advanced certifications, applying for technical positions, or leading security projects in her organization, that signifies impact. We likewise monitor the number of women who stay in the industry, advance to leadership positions, and start influencing the ecosystem themselves. In Kosovo, the impacts are becoming apparent. A new wave of women is entering the field of cybersecurity, bringing credibility and ambition, backed by organizations that are becoming more receptive to diverse talent. This is gradually transforming workplace culture, fortifying teams, and questioning outdated beliefs about who fits into technical security positions. What drives us the most is the enduring change: cybersecurity in Kosovo is starting to appear less exclusive and more inclusive. Once that occurs, the whole digital ecosystem grows stronger. To me the true indicator of success lies not in figures or initiatives, but in attitude. "Is cybersecurity the right path for me?" and starts considering, "Which field of cybersecurity should I focus on?" > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### From "Something Was Missing" to Building the UK's Fastest-Growing Health Benefit: Steph Hind on Leaving Corporate Life, Co-Founding Heka with 3,000+ Wellbeing Experiences, and Proving That Employee Health Isn't a Checkbox Exercise URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/wellbeing/from-something-was-missing-to-building-the-uks-fastest-growing-health-benefit-steph-hind-on-leaving-corporate-life-co-founding-heka-with-3-000-wellbeing-experiences-and-proving-that-emp/ Last updated: 2026-01-27T11:37:41.000Z Steph Hind spent years in corporate environments with good pay and prestigious titles, but she couldn't shake the feeling that something fundamental was missing. As Co-Founder and Consultant Director of [Heka](https://www.hekahappy.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) (formerly GoSweat), she turned that disillusionment into the UK's fastest-growing health-led employee benefits platform, now serving companies with over 3,000 carefully curated wellbeing experiences spanning mental health, physical fitness, lifestyle support, and on-demand services. Founded in 2016 alongside her co-founder and husband Alex Hind, Heka was born from Steph's realization that the generic benefits packages employers offered weren't addressing the real human need for wellbeing, they were just ticking boxes. With a degree in Human Geography from Newcastle University and a lifelong fascination with what makes people happy (and why they don't prioritize it), Steph initially built GoSweat around physical wellness experiences at gyms, studios, and spas. When the pandemic forced a complete business model pivot, Steph and Alex rebranded to Heka, raised £1 million in pre-seed funding led by Playfair Capital (exceeding their £750,000 target in just two months), and expanded from purely physical locations to a holistic platform covering mental health, virtual experiences, and lifestyle products. They got engaged during lockdown, sold their office, went fully remote, and grew the team from 8 to 18 people while managing every booking and schedule manually in the early days. Today, Heka reports a 94% engagement rate, with 99% of customers reporting positive impact on team health and wellbeing, and holds a Net Promoter Score of 67\. The platform has grown to include partnerships with providers like Barry's Bootcamp and HelloFresh, offering everything from therapy and breathwork to fertility benefits and neurodiversity support. Steph has also navigated the complexities of building a company with her partner while becoming a mother to two children, learning firsthand about the challenges of balancing founder life with postpartum anxiety and the importance of building a team she trusts. In this interview, Steph shares critical insights for women considering the leap from corporate life to entrepreneurship, the strategies that helped Heka grow rapidly in a challenging business environment, and the framework she uses to decide which benefits to include on a mission-driven platform while building a financially sustainable business. For women building purpose-led companies in wellness, HR tech, or employee benefits, Steph's journey offers both practical lessons and honest reflection on what it takes to turn dissatisfaction into impact, and why feeling like "something is missing" might be the most important signal you can pay attention to. --- ## From Corporate Life to Co-Founding GoSweat/Heka - When "Something Was Missing" Led to Building the UK's Fastest-Growing Health-Led Employee Benefit **Q:** You're the Co-Founder and Consultant Director of Heka (previously GoSweat), which you founded alongside your co-founder and husband, Alex Hind. Before founding Heka, you worked in corporate environments and realized that "regardless of the good pay and prestigious life," something was missing. You studied Human Geography at university, driven by a lifelong interest in understanding what makes people happy and why people don't spend more time doing things that make them happy. You've always loved trying new experiences (ice climbing, gong baths, spas) and never imagined you'd become an entrepreneur. The idea for GoSweat came from experiencing generic corporate benefits that the vast majority of people didn't use. Walk us through the journey from that corporate realization to launching GoSweat. What was the turning point that made you decide to build a solution rather than just accept the status quo? What were the biggest challenges in those early days when you were managing every booking and schedule manually? What advice would you give women in corporate roles who feel like "something is missing" and are considering entrepreneurship? **A:** For me, the journey really started with a quiet but persistent feeling that something just wasn’t adding up. On paper, corporate life looked great. Good salary, impressive job title, all the things you’re told you should want. But day to day, I felt quite disconnected. I wasn’t unhappy exactly, just underwhelmed. I’d always been fascinated by what makes people happy, which is why I studied Human Geography. I was interested in how people live, how they feel, and why there’s often such a big gap between what we *know* is good for us and how we actually behave. In corporate roles, that gap was everywhere. I’d sit in offices with generous benefits packages (gym discounts, wellness portals, perks) and hardly anyone used them. The intention was good, but the reality was box-ticking. Benefits felt generic, impersonal, and completely disconnected from real human motivation. People were stressed, burnt out, and disengaged, yet surrounded by “benefits” that didn’t change how they felt day to day. The turning point came when Alex and I started talking seriously about that disconnect. I’ve always loved trying new experiences (I’m a sucker for fitness challenges like Hyrox and marathons, but also meditation and mindfulness, ice baths, learning - basically things that make me feel alive and present) and I realised how powerful those experiences were for my own wellbeing. Yet none of that showed up in the corporate world in a meaningful way. We kept asking: *why is work still designed as if humans are robots?* And eventually that question became harder to ignore than the comfort of staying put. We didn’t set out to be entrepreneurs. Honestly, I never imagined I would be one. But once we saw the problem clearly, that wellbeing at work was being treated as a perk rather than a human need, it felt irresponsible not to try to build something better. GoSweat started rapidly and scrappily. In the early days, I was managing everything manually: bookings, timetables, partner relationships. There were spreadsheets everywhere. If someone booked a class, I was probably the one confirming it, chasing it, fixing it when it went wrong. It was chaotic and exhausting, but also very grounding. It forced us to stay close to our users and really understand what worked and what didn’t. The biggest challenge wasn’t the workload; it was the constant doubt. Are we solving a real problem? Will companies care? Will employees actually engage? What kept us going was seeing people genuinely use and love the product. When someone tried something new because of GoSweat and told us it made them feel better that was everything. It validated that this wasn’t just “nice to have,” it mattered. If I could give advice to women in corporate roles who feel like something is missing, it would be this: don’t ignore that feeling, but don’t romanticise entrepreneurship either. You don’t have to quit overnight. Curiosity is a powerful starting point. Start exploring the questions that won’t leave you alone. Talk to people. Test ideas. Build confidence through small steps. And importantly, feeling unfulfilled doesn’t mean you’re ungrateful or failing. Often it means you’re paying attention. For me, listening to that discomfort led to building something that aligns much more closely with my values. It’s been harder than I ever expected, but also far more meaningful than staying comfortable ever could have been. ## Navigating COVID-19 and the Rebrand to Heka - Pivoting from Physical Locations to a Holistic Platform While Raising £1M and Scaling to 3,000+ Experiences **Q:** In 2020, during the pandemic, you rebranded from GoSweat to Heka, raised £1 million in pre-seed funding (exceeding your £750,000 target in just two months), and pivoted from a portfolio almost entirely focused on physical wellness locations to offering virtual experiences and a more holistic platform covering mental health, lifestyle products, and on-demand services. The round was led by Playfair Capital. You also got engaged to Alex during lockdown, sold your office, switched to permanent remote work, and grew your team from 8 to 18 people. You've described this as the biggest challenge you'd faced and being "honestly so scared of what would happen." How did you navigate that period of simultaneously rebranding, fundraising, and completely pivoting your business model during a global crisis? What strategies worked for you in convincing investors during such uncertainty? As a female founder working alongside your partner as co-founder, how do you navigate the dynamics of building a company together while maintaining your personal relationship? **A:** That period was, without question, the hardest and most intense chapter of our journey so far. When COVID hit, GoSweat’s entire model was built around physical, in-person experiences: gyms, studios, spas, wellness venues. Overnight, that world just stopped. I remember sitting there thinking, this could genuinely be the end. We’d spent years building relationships, supply, trust, and suddenly none of it was usable. I was so scared of what would happen, both to the business and to the people who worked with us. But once the initial shock passed, we had a very stark choice: freeze and hope things returned to normal, or completely rethink what wellbeing at work actually meant. And COVID made one thing painfully clear: wellbeing isn’t about just one thing (in our case, fitness). Health is actually about how you feel, how you cope, and how supported you are when life is hard. The Heka rebrand came from that realisation. GoSweat had been about movement and physical experiences; Heka needed to represent something broader and more human. We wanted to build a platform that reflected the full spectrum of wellbeing (mental health, physical health, lifestyle, rest, connection) not just workouts. That meant virtual experiences, on-demand support, products people could use at home, and services that worked whether you were in an office or alone in your bedroom during lockdown. Trying to do all of that while fundraising was terrifying. We were rebranding, pivoting our entire business model, selling our office, going fully remote, doubling the team, and yes, Alex and I also got engaged in the middle of it all. There was no separation between life and work. Everything was happening at once. What helped with investors was honesty and clarity. We didn’t pretend things were fine. We were very open about how brutal the situation was, but also very clear about what we’d learned. Engagement with virtual experiences was high. Employers were suddenly desperate for better ways to support their people. The problem we were solving hadn’t disappeared; if anything, it had become more urgent. We framed Heka not as a COVID workaround, but as a long-term evolution of employee wellbeing that COVID had accelerated. Our investors backed us because they believed in that bigger vision and in our ability to execute. We knew our users deeply, we moved quickly, and we had evidence that companies were willing to change. Raising £1 million in two months wasn’t because the market was easy; it was because the story was real, timely, and rooted in genuine human need. Building a company with your partner adds another layer entirely. Alex and I are very different, which actually helps. We’re clear on our roles and where decision-making sits. We’ve also had to be incredibly intentional about boundaries - admittedly not always getting it right, but learning quickly. During that period especially, we had to give each other a lot of grace. You’re not just co-founders, you’re two humans going through a global crisis together. Communication is everything. Saying when it’s too much. Knowing when to step back. And reminding ourselves why we’re doing it in the first place. The business matters deeply to us, but so does our relationship. Protecting both has required maturity, honesty, and a willingness to keep learning. Looking back, I wouldn’t wish that period on anyone, but it fundamentally shaped Heka. It forced us to build something more resilient, more inclusive, and more human. And it proved to me that fear doesn’t mean you’re on the wrong path: often it means you’re right at the edge of something transformational. ## Building a Mission-Driven Health Platform - Your Framework for Measuring Success Through Healthier Teams and Advice for Women Building Purpose-Led Businesses **Q:** Heka's mission is to "make companies more successful by providing personalised, health-led benefits that actually benefit every employee. By promoting individual health, we make companies more profitable, reduce employee turnover, and minimise absences." **A:** For Heka, health is integral to building high-performing teams, and you recognise that health looks different to everybody. What's been your framework for making key decisions about which experiences and benefits to include on the platform (now 3,000+ options), how to price your services for companies, building partnerships with providers like Barry's Bootcamp and HelloFresh, and balancing your mission-driven approach with building a financially sustainable business? What practical advice would you give to other women entrepreneurs building mission-led or purpose-driven businesses in the wellness, HR tech, or employee benefits space?Q3 answers: At Heka, we’ve always measured success by impact, not just output. Revenue matters, but it’s not the point - healthier people are. We see a 94% engagement rate (people using their Heka allowance on experiences and products to make them healthier) and 99% of customers report positive impact on team's health and wellbeing. Data like this is crucial; it keeps us anchored to why we exist. When deciding what to include on the platform, our filter is simple: does this make somebody healthier? Is it human-first, accessible, and something someone would actually choose on a bad day as well as a good one? Does it move the needle and add value (like introducing fertility benefits and neurodiversity support)? Health and wellbeing aren’t one-size-fits-all, so choice is critical. That’s how we’ve grown to 3,000+ experiences, from Barry’s Bootcamp to breathwork, therapy, recovery, and rest. Pricing and partnerships follow the same principle: keep it simple, fair, and aligned with engagement. We want companies to succeed and for their people to genuinely use the platform. Sustainability is part of the mission; without a strong business, you can’t create long-term impact. For women building mission-led businesses: be specific about the problem you’re solving, don’t undervalue your work because you care, and build metrics that reflect your purpose. You don’t need to build like everyone else — thoughtful, human-focused growth is a strength, not a weakness. The Body Coach App offers a simple, approachable way to move your body and build healthier habits. With guided workouts and clear plans you can follow at home, it removes the pressure of complicated routines or gym schedules, just press play and get started. It’s designed to fit naturally into busy days, making regular movement feel achievable. The app includes workouts and guidance focused on strength, fitness, nutrition and energy, so it’s easy to find what works for you and your lifestyle. For anyone looking to bring more structure and consistency to their routine, The Body Coach provides an encouraging, low-stress way to feel stronger and more active each day. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### From 13 Months of Relentless Promotion to Award-Winning Virtual CFO: Tiffany Watson, MBA on Pivoting All Aboard Financial During COVID, Why Tax Planning Beats Tax Prep, and Giving Back Through Microgrants Instead of Titles URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/finance/from-13-months-of-relentless-promotion-to-award-winning-virtual-cfo-tiffany-watson-mba-on-pivoting-all-aboard-financial-during-covid-why-tax-planning-beats-tax-prep-and-giving-back-thro/ Last updated: 2026-01-27T06:13:17.000Z **After a near-death experience with severe preeclampsia following the birth of her third child, Tiffany Watson knew her body couldn't handle a traditional job anymore—but she also knew she wasn't done building. What started in 2018 as an insurance agency rooted in helping others avoid the financial vulnerabilities she'd witnessed growing up with a single mother became something far more comprehensive when COVID-19 hit and clients started calling not just about policies, but about survival.** As the founder and CEO of [All Aboard Financial](https://www.allaboardfinancial.net/?ref=foundedbywomen.org), a BBB-accredited, award-winning virtual CFO, tax, and insurance agency based in Tampa, Florida, Tiffany serves aspiring, new, and small business owners (solopreneurs to companies with revenues under $5 million) with a full suite of financial services: tax preparation and planning, bookkeeping, credit restoration, life and disability insurance, and business funding. She's appeared on local news as a tax expert, authored articles featured in major publications, and earned recognition from Brainz Magazine's CREA Global Awards for her creative and innovative approach to small business finance. But the journey wasn't overnight. Tiffany spent 13 arduous months of relentless promotion before seeing tangible results, supported only by a handful of family and friends in those early days. When the pandemic brought insurance claims to a standstill and small business owners were drowning in cash flow crises, she made the pivotal decision to pivot—adding accounting and CFO-level services to become the holistic financial partner her clients desperately needed. What sets All Aboard Financial apart isn't just the comprehensive service offering—it's Tiffany's approach. Clients describe her as "personable and thoughtful," noting she sends gift cards "just to be kind." She emphasizes proactive tax planning over reactive tax preparation, staying in touch throughout the year to manage tax burdens and update financial plans based on life changes. Her philosophy is simple but powerful: help clients keep more of what they earn while building businesses that support their lifestyles. Beyond running her firm, Tiffany has shifted her community leadership approach. Rather than holding formal organizational titles, she now focuses on direct impact through microgrants and individual support to business owners who need it most—covering filing fees, software subscriptions, or critical business expenses. Her commitment to giving back is grounded in sustainability: you can build a profitable business and lead with generosity, but only if you're not pouring from an empty cup. Equipped with a Bachelor of Science in Human Services and an MBA from Springfield College, Tiffany brings both technical expertise and hard-won entrepreneurial wisdom to every client relationship. Her story is proof that motherhood doesn't diminish ambition, that pivots can save businesses, and that consistency—like compound interest—eventually pays off. --- ## From Insurance Sales to Virtual CFO During COVID - Starting All Aboard Financial After Having a Baby and "13 Arduous Months of Relentless Promotion" **Q:** You founded All Aboard Financial in 2018 as an insurance agency after being raised by a single mother who struggled financially and realizing you wanted to help others secure their financial futures. When COVID-19 hit in 2020, you pivoted to incorporate accounting services, transforming the business into a virtual CFO, tax, and insurance agency. You've been candid about the early challenges: support was limited to a handful of family members and friends, and you spent 13 arduous months relentlessly promoting before seeing tangible results. You also started All Aboard because after having a baby, you knew you couldn't hold a regular job and wanted the flexibility of entrepreneurship. Walk us through the decision to pivot during the pandemic and add accounting services. What made you realize the insurance-only model wasn't sustainable, and what advice would you give women about building businesses while managing motherhood and the reality that success doesn't happen overnight? **A:** When I started All Aboard Financial in 2018, it was rooted in insurance and in my upbringing. I was raised by a single mother who worked hard but still struggled financially, and I saw firsthand how a lack of protection and planning can ripple through a family. After having my third child and dealing with severe preeclampsia, my body simply couldn't handle the demands of a traditional job anymore. I needed flexibility, but I also needed purpose. Entrepreneurship gave me both. By the time COVID hit in 2020, I was already seeing cracks in the insurance only model. Claims were delayed for months, carriers were overwhelmed, underwriting slowed to a crawl, and clients were anxious and confused. At the same time, small business owners and families were calling me not just about insurance, but about cash flow, payroll, taxes, and survival. They didn't need a policy; they needed guidance. I realized insurance alone wasn't sustainable, but becoming a more holistic financial partner was. So I pivoted; adding accounting, tax support, and CFO-level guidance and built a fully virtual model that met clients where they were. The early years were humbling. Support was limited, and it took over 13 long months of consistent actions showing up before results followed. My advice to women is this: build with patience, protect your health, and don't let motherhood make you doubt your ambition. Success rarely happens overnight but consistency compounds, just like finances do. --- ## "Smart Strategies That Save You Thousands in Taxes Every Year" - Virtual CFO Services, Tax Planning, and Helping Small Businesses Navigate Financial Complexity **Q:** All Aboard Financial serves aspiring, new, and small business owners (solopreneurs to businesses with revenues under $5 million) with services including tax preparation, tax planning and advisory, bookkeeping, credit restoration, life and disability insurance, and business funding. You've appeared on local news as a tax expert and written articles featured in major publications. You emphasize proactive tax burden management and staying in touch throughout the year to update financial plans based on life changes. For female founders navigating tax planning and financial strategy, what are the most critical tax mistakes you see entrepreneurs make? How should founders think about the difference between tax preparation (filing returns) versus tax planning (proactive strategy), and at what revenue stage should a business actually invest in virtual CFO services versus just hiring a bookkeeper or accountant? **A:** One of the biggest tax mistakes I see entrepreneurs make, especially women founders, is treating taxes as a once a year event instead of an ongoing strategy. Many business owners come to me after the year is over hoping there's a magic fix, when in reality most tax savings happen months before a return is ever filed. Another common issue is not separating personal and business finances early enough, which creates messy books, missed deductions, and unnecessary stress when it's time to file. I also see founders underpaying or ignoring quarterly estimates, then being shocked by a tax bill they didn't plan for. That's where the difference between tax preparation and tax planning really matters. Tax preparation is backward looking; it's about accurately reporting what already happened. Tax planning is forward looking. It's about making intentional decisions throughout the year: how you pay yourself, when you invest, how you structure the business, and how life changes like having a baby, buying a home, or scaling a team affect your tax picture. Planning gives you control; preparation just gives you compliance. As for when to invest in higher-level support, a bookkeeper is essential once you have consistent income and transactions to track. But when revenue starts approaching the mid-six figures, or when cash flow decisions start feeling overwhelming, that's usually the sign it's time for virtual CFO support. A CFO helps you think strategically; not just "What did I earn?" but "Where is my money going, what should I keep, and how do I grow sustainably?" The goal isn't just to make more money; it's to keep more of it and build a business that supports your lifestyle. --- ## From Organizational Leadership to Direct Impact - Building All Aboard Financial While Leading Through Microgrants and Individual Support **Q:** You've been candid about your evolution in community leadership—moving away from formal organizational titles to focus on direct impact through microgrants and individual support to business owners who need it most. All Aboard Financial is BBB-accredited and award-winning, known for being "personable and thoughtful" (clients mention you sending gift cards "just to be kind"). For women building businesses while being active in community leadership, how do you balance running All Aboard Financial with your commitment to giving back? What's your philosophy about supporting your community while growing your own business, and what advice would you give women—especially women of color—about building businesses that serve their communities while remaining financially sustainable? **A:** Community has always mattered deeply to me, but my approach to giving back has evolved over time. Earlier in my career, I served in leadership roles within organizations because I believed that was the most effective way to create impact. What I learned, though, is that meaningful change doesn't always require a title or affiliation. Today, I'm no longer affiliated with any organization. I've chosen to focus on making a difference individually, primarily through microgrants and direct support to business owners who need it most. Balancing a growing firm with volunteer leadership taught me an important lesson: impact has to be sustainable. I now give in ways that align with the season I'm in as a business owner, mother, and woman protecting her health and time. Whether it's a microgrant to help a woman cover a filing fee, bookkeeping software, or a critical business expense, I've found that direct support often creates faster, more tangible results than traditional structures. My philosophy is simple: you don't have to wait until you "arrive" to give back, but you also shouldn't pour from an empty cup. A business that isn't financially healthy can't serve anyone well, including the community it wants to uplift. For women, especially women of color, my advice is to build with intention. Price your services properly, don't undervalue your expertise, and create boundaries around your time and energy. You can build a profitable business and still lead with generosity. In fact, sustainability is what allows generosity to last. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### From 15 Years in NHS Perinatal Mental Health and Academia to Founding The Yoga Psychology Centre: Dr. Jill Domoney on Integrating Clinical Psychology and Yoga, Translating Research into Practice, and Creating Space in the Transition to Motherhood URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/wellbeing/from-15-years-in-nhs-perinatal-mental-health-and-academia-to-founding-the-yoga-psychology-centre-dr-jill-domoney-on-integrating-clinical-psychology-and-yoga-translating-research-into-pr/ Last updated: 2026-01-27T05:37:50.000Z **After 15 years of working across academic institutions and NHS services to support pregnant and postnatal people, Dr. Jill Domoney had a realization: the integrated, mind-body approach she knew could help women during the perinatal period simply didn't have space to exist fully within traditional healthcare settings. So in 2021, while still maintaining her research position at King's College London, she founded** [The Yoga Psychology Centre](https://theyogapsychologycentre.co.uk/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) **to create exactly that space.** As a clinical psychologist, postdoctoral researcher, yoga teacher, and Churchill Fellow specializing in perinatal mental health, Jill bridges two worlds that Western healthcare has kept stubbornly separate: the physical and the mental. Her work challenges the embedded idea that emotions and thoughts belong in the mind while the body is something separate or secondary. Through The Yoga Psychology Centre, she offers talking therapy, private pregnancy yoga sessions, and group programmes for first-time pregnant women—all grounded in the understanding that becoming a mother is profoundly physical, and therapeutic spaces must honor that. Jill's research has focused on developing interventions for antenatal depression, creating NHS guidance for involving partners in perinatal mental health services, and evaluating support for pregnant couples experiencing domestic violence. She's published extensively in the field and is a member of the British Psychological Society's Faculty of Perinatal Psychology. As a Churchill Fellow, she explored how perinatal and infant mental health services are delivered and evaluated in Australia, bringing those insights back to inform developments in England's rapidly expanding perinatal mental health services. But her path to founding The Yoga Psychology Centre wasn't purely professional—it was deeply personal. She'd practiced yoga for years for the physical benefits: strength, flexibility, balance. But when she trained as a yoga teacher, she discovered something else unfolding: greater emotional steadiness, psychological flexibility, and resilience. As a clinical psychologist and researcher, she found that fascinating. The therapeutic potential of yoga, particularly during major life transitions like pregnancy and early motherhood, became impossible to ignore. The decision to launch her own centre while trying to get pregnant felt risky. It meant reducing her hours and maternity pay. She didn't know many people running their own businesses and had no blueprint to follow. But once the idea took shape, she couldn't let it go. After becoming a mother 18 months ago, she stepped away from her academic role (while remaining connected through ongoing publications) to focus entirely on The Yoga Psychology Centre. She's now building a group programme for first-time pregnant women who are finding pregnancy more emotionally challenging than expected—shaped by both her professional background and her own lived experience. Equipped with a Doctorate in Clinical Psychology from University College London, a PhD in Psychology from King's College London, 200-hour yoga teacher training, and specialized training in pregnancy yoga and yoga therapy skills for psychologists, Jill brings both scientific rigor and embodied wisdom to her work. She's registered with the Health Care Professions Council (HCPC) and continues to contribute to the research base while building a practice that makes space for what she calls "the interplay between science, clinical judgement and lived experience." For Jill, the real skill isn't just understanding the research—it's translating that evidence into something that fits the person sitting in front of you, responding to what's actually unfolding in the room, in their body, in their life. You can follow her work on Instagram at [@drjilldomoney](https://www.instagram.com/drjilldomoney/?ref=foundedbywomen.org). --- ## From Clinical Psychologist and Researcher at King's College London to Founding The Yoga Psychology Centre in 2021 - Integrating Psychology and Yoga for Perinatal Wellbeing **Q:** You're a clinical psychologist, postdoctoral researcher and yoga teacher, specializing in perinatal mental health. After 15 years of working across academic institutions and NHS services to support pregnant and postnatal people, you founded The Yoga Psychology Centre in 2021 to create therapeutic spaces integrating both disciplines. Walk us through the decision to launch your own center while maintaining your research position. **A:** The decision grew from several strands coming together over time. One was a deepening understanding of the impact of yoga, shaped by my own experience. I’d practised yoga for many years, but it was only later, when I trained as a yoga teacher, that I fully appreciated its therapeutic potential. Like many people, I initially came for the physical benefits: strength, flexibility and balance. But with regular practice, I noticed something else unfolding alongside that - greater emotional steadiness, psychological flexibility and resilience. As a clinical psychologist and researcher, I found that fascinating. I became increasingly interested in how yoga was supporting mental health, and how it might complement psychological approaches, particularly during periods of major life transition such as pregnancy and early motherhood. I wanted to offer this integrated way of working, but there simply wasn’t space to do that fully within the settings I was working in at the time. Another strand was about balance. I was working with a brilliant, values-led team at King’s College London, in what was then the Section of Women’s Mental Health, on work I really cared about. But academic life is demanding, and much of the day-to-day involves screens, systems and bureaucracy. I found myself wanting to return more directly to what first drew me to this field: working relationally with women in the perinatal period, and doing so in a way that honoured both mind and body. And then there was a spark. Have you felt that? That moment when an idea arrives and you just know it matters. Once the concept of The Yoga Psychology Centre took shape, I couldn’t let it go. I reduced my hours, built a website, and began sharing the idea - tentatively at first - and it grew from there. To be honest, at the time, it felt like a risky decision. I was trying to get pregnant, which meant cutting my hours would reduce my maternity pay. I didn’t know many people running their own businesses, and I had no blueprint to follow. But something in me knew I needed a change, and once the seed was planted, I trusted it. After becoming a mum, 18 months ago, I made the decision to step away from my academic role (although I remain connected through ongoing publications) and focus fully on developing the Yoga Psychology Centre. I’m now building a group programme for first-time pregnant women who are finding pregnancy more emotionally challenging than they expected, shaped by both my professional background and my own lived experience. In many ways, it feels like the natural integration of everything I’ve been working towards. ### What were the biggest challenges in building a practice that bridges psychology and yoga? ***A:*** One of the biggest challenges has been working across a divide that’s deeply embedded in Western healthcare i.e. the separation between physical and mental health. Many of us have internalised the idea that emotions and thoughts belong in the mind, while the body is something separate or secondary. In practice, this often shows up in subtle ways. For example, when a client describes a difficult experience or a troubling thought, I might ask where they feel that in their body. At first, many people find this surprisingly hard to answer - not because nothing is happening, but because they’ve never been invited to notice it. Over time, as awareness grows, people often discover clear bodily patterns linked to their emotional world. Similarly, suggesting movement as a response to difficult thoughts or feelings can initially feel unfamiliar. Many people expect that psychological distress should be met with more thinking, analysing or reframing. The idea that the body might lead the way - through breath, posture or movement - can feel novel, even strange, until it’s experienced directly. So part of the work is gently expanding what people understand as a legitimate therapeutic intervention. Another challenge is how yoga itself is commonly perceived in the West, often reduced to a physical practice focused on flexibility or fitness. While those elements are valuable, yoga is also a powerful way of working with the nervous system, supporting attention, regulation and a felt sense of safety. When understood this way, it aligns naturally with psychology: psychological approaches help make sense of thoughts, beliefs and identity shifts, while yoga supports how those changes are experienced and embodied. There’s also the question of evidence. Psychological interventions benefit from a long-established research base, whereas the scientific literature on yoga, while growing rapidly, is still developing in comparison. Building an integrated practice means holding that carefully - being grounded in research, transparent about what we know and what we’re still learning, and committed to developing approaches that are both evidence-based and experientially meaningful. ### What advice would you give women considering launching private practices alongside academic careers? ***A:*** My main advice is that these two worlds can sit together very well, but only if you’re intentional about boundaries. An academic career offers far more transferable skills than people often realise: project management, writing, budgeting, systems thinking, administration and long-term planning are all directly relevant to running a private practice. And combining the two can be deeply enriching - working at that higher level in research or service development, while also staying closely connected to people’s lived experience through clinical work. At the same time, both academia and private practice have a tendency to expand beyond the hours you intend to give them. Without clear limits, it’s easy to overwork and edge towards burnout. Learning to protect your time, say no, and set realistic deadlines is essential. I also had to soften my own perfectionism. Letting go of the idea that everything has to be done impeccably, and trusting that “good enough” is often more than enough, was key to creating a sense of balance and sustainability. If you can hold that mindset, the combination can be not only possible, but genuinely fulfilling. ## Churchill Fellow, Researching Perinatal Mental Health - Developing Interventions for Antenatal Depression, Involving Partners in perinatal services, and supporting survivors of domestic violence. **Q:** Your research includes developing interventions for antenatal depression, creating NHS guidance for involving partners in perinatal mental health services, and evaluating support for pregnant couples experiencing domestic violence. For women building research-informed clinical practices, what's your framework for translating academic research into practical therapeutic interventions? **A:** This has always been at the heart of my work. I’ve spent my career moving between research settings and clinical practice, and much of my academic work has focused on developing and evaluating interventions for healthcare services using the best available evidence. Psychological work sits in an interesting space, because we know that people are not interchangeable and therapy works best when it’s tailored to the individual - their history, context, nervous system and current challenges. At the same time, it’s essential that our work is grounded in theory and evidence. For me, the bridge between those two is a strong understanding of the models you’re drawing on, the mechanisms they target, and the tools that are supported by research. The real skill comes in translating that evidence into something that fits the person sitting in front of you. That means staying engaged with the research - continuing to read, learn and reflect - while also being deeply present in the clinical space, listening carefully to the client’s story and responding to what’s actually unfolding in the room. In practice, it’s a dynamic process. I’m always learning from new research, but I’m also learning from the women I work with - about how these theories show up in real lives, in real bodies, and under real pressures. That interplay between science, clinical judgement and lived experience is one of the most creative and rewarding parts of this work, and I draw on both psychology and yoga research to keep that integration alive. ## Talking Therapy, Private Pregnancy Yoga, and Group Programmes - Creating Space for Growth and Balance in the Transition to Parenthood **Q:** Through The Yoga Psychology Centre, you offer talking therapy for people who are pregnant or in the postnatal period, private pregnancy yoga tailored to individual goals, and online courses for first-time pregnant women. For female founders building businesses around maternal mental health, what's your advice about creating truly therapeutic spaces that integrate different modalities? **A:** I think one of the biggest challenges in maternal mental health right now is noise. Women are exposed to an overwhelming amount of information about pregnancy, birth and motherhood, from social media, podcasts, books, well-meaning professionals, and now AI. Much of it is well intentioned, but it’s often conflicting, and trying to filter it all can leave women feeling more anxious, not less. Add to that a culture that values productivity, optimisation and “doing it right,” and it’s easy for women to feel they need to keep doing more - more practices, more preparation, more self-improvement - at a time when they actually need support to slow down, tune in, and trust themselves. For me, creating a truly therapeutic space starts with helping women turn down that external noise and come back to their own centre. That means supporting both mind and body, and yoga is great for that. Becoming a mother is profoundly physical - pregnancy, birth and early motherhood are lived through the body, so therapeutic spaces must honour that, rather than focusing only on thoughts or behaviour. Integrating mind-body practices, including breathing and movement, allows women to notice what’s happening in their nervous system, their sensations, and their emotional world, while also making sense of the psychological and identity shifts they’re going through. This is where nervous system-informed work is so powerful: it bridges the gap between body and mind, offering interventions that are not just talked about, but felt. Yoga very much works at the level of the nervous system, and so it’s an ideal practice to support women through this period. Finally, motherhood is a major life transition. It often calls for new ways of understanding ourselves, our relationships, and our place in the world. Therapeutic spaces need to hold that complexity - offering containment, curiosity, and compassion, so women feel supported not just to cope, but to integrate this profound change in a way that feels grounded and authentic. ### What would you tell women about maintaining their own wellbeing while supporting others through trauma and difficult transitions? **A:** This is such an important question, and one that’s often overlooked. Many women working in maternal mental health are supporting others through pregnancy, birth and early motherhood at the very same time as navigating those transitions themselves. That was certainly true for me. Personal experience can be a real strength in this work. Going through my own pregnancy deepened my understanding of the pressures, expectations and emotional complexity of becoming a mother. It also showed me how many women feel stressed, overwhelmed or anxious during pregnancy - not necessarily needing therapy, but quietly not enjoying what is meant to be a significant life chapter. That insight directly inspired me to create a group programme for mums-to-be, offering support before things reach crisis point. At the same time, when something is close to our own experience, it can be harder to maintain therapeutic distance. We can develop blind spots, or find ourselves unconsciously avoiding certain stories because they touch something tender or unresolved in us. That’s why ongoing clinical supervision is essential. It helps us separate what belongs to us from what belongs to our clients, and keeps the work safe for everyone involved. It’s also vital to give ourselves permission to step back when needed. Supporting others through trauma is demanding, and there are times in our own lives when the work may simply be too close to home. Taking care of ourselves isn’t a luxury in this field; it’s part of ethical practice. Ultimately, the same principles we encourage in the women we support apply to us too: listening to our bodies, respecting our limits, and using the practices we know are regulating and restorative. There’s no real divide between practitioner and client - we’re all human, all shaped by our own vulnerabilities and strengths. Holding that with compassion is what allows this work to remain sustainable and meaningful. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### From Pluralistic India to Global Stages: Smita Tharoor on Building a Cross-Cultural Unconscious Bias Practice, Choosing Dialogue Over Hierarchy, and Leading Without Burning Out URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/women-who-lead/from-pluralistic-india-to-global-stages-smita-tharoor-on-building-a-cross-cultural-unconscious-bias-practice-choosing-dialogue-over-hierarchy-and-leading-without-burning-out/ Last updated: 2026-01-26T05:00:48.000Z When Smita Tharoor arrived in London in the 1980s with a degree in English Literature and fluent English, she expected her confidence to translate. It didn't. The assumptions she encountered about her intelligence, her accent, and her right to belong planted seeds that would eventually grow into [Tharoor Associates](https://www.tharoorassociates.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org)—a global unconscious bias training firm working with organizations from the European Bank of Reconstruction and Development to BNP Paribas Bank across multiple continents. Growing up in pluralistic India taught Smita the value of tolerance and accepting differences, but it was her experience navigating racism in the UK—and witnessing how differently members of the South Asian diaspora carried their histories—that sparked her passion for understanding how inherited narratives shape behavior, opportunity, and decision-making. After 35 years in corporate, nonprofit, and government sectors, she made a pivotal choice in 2008: when offered a clear path to her boss's role, she realized she cared more about changing mindsets through dialogue and storytelling than climbing a traditional hierarchy. Today, Smita is the founding CEO of Tharoor Associates, co-founder of Culturelytics (using AI to understand organizational culture), host of the podcast "Stories Seldom Told," TEDx speaker, and recipient of the Global Diversity Leadership Award from the World HRD Congress. She divides her time between London and India, serves as Associate Lecturer at University of Arts London and O.P. Jindal Global University, and is currently working on her book. In this conversation, Smita shares why she left stable employment during an economic downturn to start her own firm, how she balances delivering difficult messages about bias while creating psychologically safe environments, and her systems for managing multiple ventures across countries and cultures without burning out. --- ## From Growing Up in Pluralistic India to Founding Tharoor Associates - Building a Global Unconscious Bias Training Firm After 35 Years in Corporate, Nonprofit, and Government Sectors **Q:** You're the founding CEO of Tharoor Associates, co-founder of Culturelytics (using AI to understand organizational culture), host of the podcast "Stories Seldom Told," TEDx speaker, and acclaimed motivational keynote speaker. You have over 35 years of experience in corporate, nonprofit, and governmental sectors across the UK, India, Europe, Asia, and the USA. You're an Associate of the Chartered Institute of Personnel & Development, NLP Practitioner, Coach, Mentor, Mindfulness Practitioner, and Associate Lecturer at University of Arts London and O.P. Jindal Global University near New Delhi. You received the Global Diversity Leadership Award from the World HRD Congress in 2017\. Growing up in pluralistic India taught you "the value of tolerance and the appreciation of accepting differences," which sparked your passion for addressing unconscious bias. For women building consulting or training businesses (especially those focused on diversity, leadership, or organizational development), walk us through your decision to found Tharoor Associates after decades in traditional roles. What made you realize you wanted to specialize in unconscious bias training, and what advice would you give women about transitioning from employee to founder while building a business that operates across multiple countries? **A:** Truth is often simpler than it seems. My journey into unconscious bias work began long before the term existed. I grew up in pluralistic India, where difference was normal and confidence was unexamined. When I arrived in London in my 20s in the 1980’s, with a degree in English Literature and fluent in English, I expected that confidence to translate. It didn’t. In the UK, I encountered assumptions about my intelligence, my accent, and my right to belong. For the South Asian diaspora already in Britain, the past years had been brutal. Enoch Powell’s “Rivers of Blood” speech in 1968 had licensed open racism. I also witnessed how differently members of the South Asian diaspora carried their histories—some with pride, others shaped by racism, caution, or silence. Through friendships with women from Pakistani, Caribbean, Irish, and other backgrounds, I began to see how inherited narratives shape behaviour, opportunity, and decision-making. That, I later understood, was behavioural neuroscience or understanding our unconscious bias. This realisation seeded a deeper empathy in me. In my own life, I chose a different rewriting. I chose dialogue. When faced with racism, I sought to engage rather than retreat, to ask questions, to hold up a mirror to the assumptions in front of me. It was not always easy — dialogue rarely is — but it felt authentic to my inheritance of curiosity and resilience. Throughout my 35-year career across corporate, nonprofit, and government sectors, I kept returning to this insight. I began designing and delivering learning programmes focused on how personal and collective stories influence leadership and culture. In 2008, when I was offered a clear path to my boss’s role, I had an epiphany: I cared more about changing mindsets through dialogue and storytelling than climbing a traditional hierarchy. I left during an economic downturn and founded Tharoor Associates—one of the best decisions I’ve made. My advice to women transitioning from employee to founder is simple but honest: only take the leap if you are deeply committed to your subject. Entrepreneurship replaces salary security with uncertainty, but purpose makes the risk worthwhile. My business became global organically through relationships in the UK, India, and the US. Today, geography is no longer a barrier—clarity of purpose, credibility, and communication matter far more. Build from what you believe in. The rest can be learned. ## "We Are Defined by Our Narrative" - Your Work on Unconscious Bias, Speaking from Philadelphia to Penang, and Using NLP to Transform Organizations Q: You're a thought leader on unconscious bias and how it influences leadership development and organizational culture. You've delivered training for organizations including the European Bank of Reconstruction and Development, Cisco, BNP Paribas Bank, NHS, AXA Investment, Society of Women Engineers, and Lambeth Council, and spoken at conferences globally from Berlin to Philadelphia, Bangalore to Penang. You've said "we are defined by our narrative, our personal story, our experiences. These have an impact on how we make judgements and form opinions." You specialize in embedding coaching cultures within organizations and providing turnaround solutions. Clients have praised your ability to create "a trusting environment where managers felt comfortable to share their experiences" and deliver training in "a dynamic, accessible way with great anecdotes." For female founders building businesses in diversity, inclusion, or leadership development, what's your framework for helping organizations recognize and address unconscious bias? How do you balance delivering difficult messages about bias with creating psychologically safe environments, and what advice would you give women about building credibility as consultants in the DEI space? **A:** As a woman founder, my approach to addressing unconscious bias is deeply personal. I’ve experienced firsthand how bias often shows up subtly—in whose voices are heard, whose leadership potential is assumed, and whose mistakes are remembered. That lived experience shapes the work we do at **Tharoor Associates**. Our framework begins by reframing unconscious bias as a systemic issue, not an individual flaw. When people don’t feel blamed, they’re far more open to reflection and change. From there, we focus on three key areas: 1. **Awareness through reflection and real stories**We create safe, facilitated spaces where leaders can connect research with lived experiences—especially those of women and underrepresented groups. This helps move the conversation from theory to empathy and understanding. 2. **Practical tools at moments that matter**Bias most often influences outcomes at critical decision points like hiring, promotions, and performance feedback. We equip leaders with simple, actionable tools to recognise bias in the moment and choose more inclusive behaviours. 3. **Embedding inclusion into leadership systems**As a woman entrepreneur, I know that intention isn’t enough—systems drive outcomes. We work with organisations to embed inclusive leadership expectations into processes, metrics, and accountability so change is sustained, not symbolic. For me, this work is about more than organisational performance. It’s about helping build workplaces where women don’t have to work twice as hard to be seen as capable, and where leadership potential isn’t limited by outdated assumptions. Balancing honesty with psychological safety is at the heart of our work at **Tharoor Associates**, and it’s something I’ve learned firsthand as a woman founder. I know how easily difficult conversations can shut people down—especially when they feel accused, exposed, or misunderstood. We start by grounding honest conversations in a **shared purpose**. Bias is framed as a human and systemic reality, not a moral failing. There is no blame game. That distinction creates safety and allows people to stay engaged rather than defensive. At the same time, psychological safety does not mean avoiding discomfort. We’re very clear that growth requires courage. We set clear norms for dialogue—respect, curiosity, and accountability—so people know they can speak honestly while also being challenged. I also believe in **meeting people where they are.** We help leaders understand that acknowledging impact is not about blame; it’s about responsibility and growth. Finally, as a woman leader, I model vulnerability myself. This is crucial. When leaders are willing to reflect openly on their own blind spots, it signals that learning is expected at every level. That combination—clarity, compassion, and accountability—is what allows difficult truths to be heard in psychologically safe environments. My biggest advice to women building credibility in the DEI space is this: **anchor your work in both expertise and outcomes—not just passion.** Lived experience matters deeply, but credibility is strengthened when it’s paired with rigor and results. But do remember that what I do is not just DEI related. Unconscious Bias is about the culture of an organisation as much as it is about DEI First, **be clear about your point of view**. The DEI field is crowded, and trying to appeal to everyone can dilute your impact. Define what you stand for, what you challenge, and the specific problems you solve. Credibility grows when people can articulate *why* they come to you. Second, **speak the language of business as fluently as the language of equity**. Senior leaders are more likely to trust and invest in your work when you can connect inclusion to leadership effectiveness, decision-making, risk, retention, and performance. This doesn’t mean compromising values—it means translating them. Third, **don’t over-sell yourself to earn their respect**. Many women feel pressure to prove they are “expert enough” before speaking boldly. You don’t need to know everything to lead the conversation—you need to know enough, stay curious, and be honest about what you’re still learning. Finally, **set boundaries around the work you will and won’t do**. Saying no to performative or superficial engagements is hard, especially early on, but long-term credibility is built by integrity. Clients trust consultants who are willing to challenge them, not just agree with them. As women in this space, our credibility doesn’t come from being palatable —it comes from being clear, grounded, and courageous.Top of Form ## Dividing Time Between London and India, Co-Founding Culturelytics, and Working on Her Book - Building Multiple Ventures While Maintaining Cross-Cultural Expertise **Q:** You divide your time between London and India, bringing unique cross-cultural perspectives to your work. You co-founded Culturelytics (using artificial intelligence to understand workplace culture) alongside Tharoor Associates. You're currently working on a book "Stepping Up to Lead - a practical guide to your first people management role" (due March 2026) focused on personal development, clarity around vision, courage to lead, capability, and character. You also host the podcast "Stories Seldom Told" and established The Chandran Tharoor Foundation (in your father's name) to help vulnerable groups through educational and healthcare assistance. For female entrepreneurs building multiple ventures while maintaining international presence, what's your advice about managing businesses across different countries and cultures? How do you balance running Tharoor Associates, co-founding Culturelytics, teaching, speaking, podcasting, and writing while avoiding burnout, and what systems have helped you scale your impact globally? **A:** For women entrepreneurs managing multiple ventures across countries and cultures, my biggest advice is to lead with **cultural humility, not assumptions**. We are the same the world over but we are also different. International presence isn’t just about scale—it’s about context. First, invest time in understanding **how power, communication, and decision-making show up differently** across cultures. What signals confidence in one country may be perceived as aggression or detachment in another. Strong global leadership requires listening before leading. Second, **build local trust rather than trying to control everything centrally**. That means empowering local partners, advisors, or teams who understand the nuances you can’t always see from the outside. As a woman founder, this also helps counter the pressure to “prove” yourself everywhere at once. Third, create **clear, non-negotiable values—and flexible practices**. Your principles around integrity, inclusion, and leadership should be consistent globally, but how they’re expressed must adapt to local realities. Consistency of values with flexibility of execution is what allows businesses to scale sustainably. Finally, protect your own capacity. Managing across time zones, cultures, and ventures can easily lead to burnout—especially for women who already carry invisible labour. Build real systems, not hollow structures, and give yourself permission to pace growth intentionally. Global leadership isn’t about being everywhere—it’s about being thoughtful, credible, and trusted wherever you show up. The writing is currently paused, with plans to resume in 2026; the book will distil key insights from my podcast *Stories Seldom Told*, exploring how listeners can apply these lived experiences to their own lives, even when their circumstances differ from those of the speakers. Balancing Tharoor Associates, co-founding Culturelytics, teaching, speaking, podcasting has only been possible because I stopped thinking in terms of *doing more* and started thinking in terms of *designing better systems*. The first shift was clarity of purpose. Every role I build more inclusive, effective leadership across cultures and organisations. Second, I separate **visibility work from deep work**. Speaking and podcasting, are intentionally scheduled and batched so they don’t compete with strategic thinking or recovery time. Teaching and client work are anchored to clear rhythms, not constant availability. Third, I build **scalable intellectual capital**. Instead of reinventing content for every audience, I develop frameworks, language, and tools that can travel across geographies and platforms. This allows impact to grow globally without requiring my constant presence everywhere. Equally important, I’ve learned that avoiding burnout isn’t about resilience—it’s about boundaries and support. I’ve invested in strong collaborators, clear decision-making processes, and technology that reduces friction. I no longer equate exhaustion with effectiveness. As a woman founder, especially one working across cultures and time zones, I see rest and sustainability as crucial essential choices. Me, myself and I time. Growing a successful business globally requires designing a business—and a life—that can actually sustain over time. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### From "Cases" to People: Sinead Tingley on Leaving NHS Social Care to Build Serendipity Counselling York, Training Over 50 Counsellors, and Why Therapy Shouldn't Mean Burnout URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/women-who-lead/from-cases-to-people-sinead-tingley-on-leaving-nhs-social-care-to-build-serendipity-counselling-york-training-over-50-counsellors-and-why-therapy-shouldnt-mean-burnout/ Last updated: 2026-01-23T12:30:26.000Z After over 15 years in social care, including experience with the NHS Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS), [Sinead Tingley](http://serendipityyork.co.uk/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) made a decision that wasn't about walking away from meaningful work—it was about wanting to practice in a way that felt more ethical, relational and sustainable. She wanted to offer therapy that wasn't rushed, where people could be met as individuals rather than cases, and where clinicians were supported rather than stretched to breaking point. In 2017, she founded Serendipity Counselling York. What began as a solo practice has grown organically into a team of five qualified Associate Counsellors and seven trainee counsellors from local universities. The growth wasn't driven by a grand business plan—it came from noticing unmet needs locally and responding with intention rather than speed. To date, over 50 counsellors have completed placements at Serendipity, with some going on to work in schools, colleges, drug and alcohol agencies, and even the NHS. Her first trainee from 2018 is now a doctor. "We made a doctor!" Sinead says with pride. Beyond private practice, Sinead has developed partnerships providing affordable and funded counselling, including hundreds of hours through Menfulness (a men's mental health charity) with over 95% of participants reporting meaningful positive change. She also delivers workshops for charities, local authorities, and SMEs on workplace wellbeing, stress management, anger, and suicide prevention. As a BACP-registered counsellor with an integrative humanistic approach, she provides clinical supervision to qualified counsellors and has developed specialized training on working with adult adoptees and trauma-informed sport and exercise coaching. In this conversation, Sinead shares the biggest challenges in scaling from solo practitioner to a team of twelve, her framework for creating community partnerships that make therapy accessible, and why she believes sustainable therapeutic careers require challenging the narrative that caring work must be underpaid, overstretched, or self-sacrificial. --- ## From Social Care and CAMHS to Founding Serendipity Counselling York in 2017 - Growing from Solo Practitioner to a Team of Twelve **You founded Serendipity Counselling York in 2017 after over 15 years in social care, including experience with Children and Adolescent Mental Health Services. You've grown the practice to five qualified Associate Counsellors and seven trainee counsellors from local universities. Walk us through the decision to leave social care and launch your own practice. What were the biggest challenges in scaling from solo practitioner to a team of twelve, and what advice would you give women in therapy or social care who are considering starting their own counselling practice?** I spent over 15 years working in social care, including within the National Health Service (NHS) Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS), and that experience shaped both my clinical identity and my values. I worked with children, young people and families who were navigating complex systems at times of real vulnerability. While the work was meaningful, it was also emotionally demanding and increasingly constrained by time pressures, targets and limited resources. The decision to leave social care wasn't about walking away from that work — it was about wanting to practice in a way that felt more ethical, relational and sustainable. I wanted to offer therapy that wasn't rushed, where people could be met as individuals rather than cases, and where clinicians were supported rather than stretched to breaking point. I didn't want to train in the medical model of CAMHS so decided to take the PG (Dip) in Counselling, a social model of talking therapy, at York St John University. Once qualified, founding Serendipity Counselling York in 2017 felt like a natural extension of that intention. Initially, I was a solo practitioner. Growth wasn't part of a grand business plan — it came from noticing unmet needs locally. A colleague from social care had begun a doctorate in Counselling Psychology and needed a placement. That is why I began to take trainee counsellors onboard. I became a placement provider for several local universities and colleges. There was a clear gap for accessible counselling, and later for high-quality trainee placements that felt supportive and ethically sound. As demand increased, I began bringing in more trainee counsellors, always with a strong emphasis on supervision, safeguarding and clinical governance. In time these trusted colleagues in turn qualified as counsellors and psychotherapists and this is when I began offering Associate positions. The intention was to support them as they learned the 'business' side of setting up their own private practices. To date there have been over 50 counsellors on placement with me at serendipity, some of whom have gone on to work in schools and colleges and also drug and alcohol agencies. My first trainee from back in 2018 is now a doctor working within the NHS. We made a doctor! The biggest challenge in scaling from one practitioner to a team of twelve was learning to shift identity — from doing the work to holding the work. Letting go of control, trusting others, and building systems that protected both clients and clinicians took time. There were also very practical challenges: managing risk, ensuring ethical consistency, navigating contracts, and learning the financial realities of running a practice — all while still holding a strong therapeutic ethos. Another challenge, particularly as a woman founder in the therapy and social care space, was giving myself permission to take up space as a leader. Many of us are trained to prioritise care, collaboration and humility — which are strengths — but leadership also requires confidence, boundaries and visibility. That was a learning curve. My advice to women in therapy or social care considering starting their own practice would be: Start from your values, not a business model. Let ethics and care lead, and build systems around that. Don't do it alone. Seek supervision, mentoring and peer support early — clinical and business. Expect your role to change. Growth requires different skills, and it's okay to learn them gradually. Trust your experience. Years in social care build resilience, judgement and relational depth — those are leadership qualities. Grow slowly and intentionally. Sustainable practice matters more than rapid expansion. Serendipity has grown into something I'm deeply proud of — not just in size, but in culture. It remains rooted in care, accessibility and professional integrity, and that comes directly from the years I spent in social care and CAMHS. --- ## Partnerships with Menfulness, Sport Against Suicide, and Local Charities - Making Counselling Accessible Beyond Traditional Private Practice **Beyond private practice, you've developed partnerships providing affordable and funded counselling, including hundreds of hours through Menfulness with over 95% reporting meaningful positive change. You also deliver workshops for charities, local authorities, and SMEs on workplace wellbeing, stress, anger management, and suicide prevention. For female therapists building practices, what's your framework for creating community partnerships that make therapy accessible? How do you balance private client work, charity partnerships, corporate training, and supervision?** From the beginning, I never saw private practice as the only way to deliver meaningful therapeutic work. My background in social care made me very aware that cost, stigma and access are significant barriers to counselling. Partnerships became a way to bridge that gap without burning out clinicians or compromising ethical standards. Working with organisations such as Menfulness, a men's mental health charity based in North Yorkshire, has been a particularly powerful example. Through that partnership, we've delivered hundreds of hours of funded counselling to men who may not otherwise have accessed therapy, with over 95% reporting meaningful positive change. What matters to me is that these outcomes aren't just numbers — they represent people being met at a point of real need, in a way that feels respectful and relational rather than clinical or intimidating. My framework for creating community partnerships is built on four principles: 1. Shared values come first I only partner with organisations whose values align with mine — around dignity, accessibility, safeguarding and ethical practice. If an organisation sees counselling as a "quick fix" or a tick-box exercise, it's not the right fit. Sustainable partnerships are built on mutual respect for the therapeutic process. 2. Clear boundaries and expectations Accessibility doesn't mean vagueness. From the outset, I'm clear about referral pathways, confidentiality, safeguarding responsibilities, outcomes reporting, and what we can and can't offer. That clarity protects clients, therapists and the partnership itself. 3. Start small and build trust I rarely begin with large-scale delivery. Piloting work allows relationships to develop organically, demonstrates impact, and creates space for learning on both sides. Many of our strongest partnerships grew because we took time rather than rushed expansion. 4. Protect the therapists delivering the work Community work can be deeply meaningful, but it can also carry complex presentations. I ensure appropriate supervision, realistic caseloads and emotional containment for those delivering funded or partnership work. Accessibility should never come at the cost of practitioner wellbeing. Balancing multiple strands of work Balancing private clients, charity partnerships, corporate training and supervision is less about doing everything at once and more about intentional structuring. Private client work provides stability and depth. Charity partnerships align strongly with our social values. Corporate and SME training allows us to work preventatively — supporting wellbeing before crisis point — and also helps financially sustain the wider practice. Supervision sits at the centre of it all, ensuring ethical oversight and reflective practice across every strand. I'm very deliberate about: Ring-fencing time for each role Not over-delivering out of a sense of responsibility Reviewing capacity regularly — personally and as a team Being willing to say no when something no longer fits For female therapists in particular, I think it's important to challenge the idea that caring work must be underpaid, overstretched or self-sacrificial. You can build a practice that is commercially viable, ethically grounded and socially responsible — but it requires boundaries, clarity and confidence in your value. Ultimately, partnerships work best when they're not about visibility or volume, but about impact. When therapy is taken into communities, workplaces and organisations thoughtfully, it becomes something people can access before things fall apart — and that's where I believe the most meaningful change happens. --- ## Integrative Practice, Specialist Expertise, and Sustainability in Therapeutic Careers **You're a BACP-registered counsellor with an integrative humanistic approach and provide clinical supervision to qualified counsellors. You've developed specialized workshops on working with Adult Adoptees. For women building therapeutic careers, what's your advice about developing specialized expertise while maintaining a general practice? How do you maintain your own wellbeing while providing therapy, supervising other counsellors, and supporting trainee placements?** My clinical foundation is integrative and humanistic, which means relationship, attunement and ethical presence sit at the heart of everything I do. That framework has allowed me to work across a wide range of client presentations while also developing areas of more specialised expertise over time — including work with adult adoptees, relationship work that includes couples, marriage, family and co-parenting, and clinical supervision. For me, specialism didn't come from trying to "brand" myself early on. It emerged naturally from the work I was already doing and the questions clients were bringing into the room. My work with relationships — including couples, marriage, family dynamics and co-parenting — developed very naturally from my background in social care and CAMHS. Much of my early professional experience was grounded in working not just with individuals, but with systems: families under pressure, parents navigating separation, and children whose emotional worlds were deeply shaped by the relationships around them. Adult adoptee work, for example, grew from noticing recurring themes around identity, attachment, loss and belonging that weren't always well understood in more general therapeutic spaces. In social care and CAMHS, it quickly became clear that distress rarely sits in isolation. Children and young people often presented with anxiety, behavioural difficulties or emotional dysregulation, but the underlying dynamics were frequently relational — shaped by attachment histories, communication patterns, unresolved conflict or changes within the family system. That experience taught me to listen beyond the individual story and to hold multiple perspectives at once. As I moved into private practice, that systemic awareness stayed with me. Clients would often begin individual therapy and then bring questions about their intimate relationships, parenting or co-parenting arrangements following separation. Rather than seeing this as a separate strand of work, it felt like a continuation of what I had always done — supporting people to understand themselves in relationship to others. My integrative humanistic approach supports this way of working. It allows space for emotional depth, personal meaning and accountability, while also acknowledging the wider relational context. In couples and co-parenting work especially, I draw on my experience of safeguarding, conflict resolution and child-centred practice, helping adults move from blame and reactivity towards understanding, boundaries and collaboration. Working with co-parents has been a particularly meaningful extension of this. My background in child-focused services means I'm always mindful of how adult conflict is experienced by children, even when those children aren't in the room. Supporting parents to communicate more effectively, reduce conflict and hold the child's needs at the centre often has a lasting impact far beyond the immediate therapeutic work. Ultimately, my relationship work grew not from a decision to specialise, but from a consistent professional thread: a belief that wellbeing is shaped in relationship, and that healing often happens there too. Whether I'm working with an individual, a couple or a family, the focus remains the same — creating a safe, reflective space where patterns can be understood, choices can be made more consciously, and relationships can move towards greater honesty, respect and care. My advice to women developing therapeutic careers is this: 1. Let specialisms emerge, don't force them Early in your career, depth comes from breadth. A strong general practice builds clinical judgement, confidence and flexibility. Specialisms tend to form when you follow your curiosity, reflect on the patterns you're seeing, and invest in further learning where your interest and client need overlap. 2. Keep your humanistic core visible Specialist knowledge should deepen the work, not override the relationship. An integrative humanistic approach provides a steady anchor, ensuring that technique never replaces presence. Whatever additional training you pursue, keep asking how it serves the client in front of you. 3. Invest in training that changes how you think, not just what you offer The most valuable training I've undertaken has challenged my assumptions, expanded my cultural and ethical awareness, and sharpened my reflective capacity. Choose learning that stretches you clinically rather than simply adding credentials. 4. Allow your roles to evolve over time Supervision, specialist workshops and supporting trainee placements came later in my career, once I had the experience and emotional capacity to hold others' work as well as my own. There's no rush — sustainability matters more than speed. Maintaining wellbeing while holding multiple roles Supporting clients, supervising other counsellors and holding responsibility for trainee placements requires conscious self-management. I don't believe in the idea that resilience is about pushing through; I believe it's about containment and choice. I maintain my own wellbeing by: Keeping my caseload intentional rather than full Maintaining my own supervision and reflective spaces Being clear about emotional and time boundaries Building variety into my week so no single role becomes overwhelming Regularly reviewing whether my work still feels aligned with my values Perhaps most importantly, I've learned to model the practices I encourage in others — rest, reflection, ethical pacing and compassion towards oneself. As women in caring professions, we're often socialised to over-give. Sustainable therapeutic careers require us to challenge that narrative. Ultimately, developing clinical expertise isn't about becoming narrower — it's about becoming deeper. When specialism, supervision and general practice are held within a strong ethical and humanistic framework, they don't compete with each other; they strengthen the whole. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### From Lebanon to Miami: How Marie Torossian Built Two Businesses and Helps Entrepreneurs Break Through $2 Million with Her Proprietary Financial Framework URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/finance/from-lebanon-to-miami-how-marie-torossian-built-two-businesses-and-helps-entrepreneurs-break-through-2-million-with-her-proprietary-financial-framework/ Last updated: 2026-01-20T12:26:00.000Z **From Lebanon to Miami: How Marie Torossian Built Two Businesses and Helps Entrepreneurs Break Through $2 Million with Her Proprietary Financial Framework** At age 11 in Lebanon, [Marie Torossian](https://marietorossiancpa.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) was already helping her father run his business. While other kids were focused on school and friends, she was learning the language of numbers, discovering she had a natural talent for understanding how businesses actually worked. That early exposure planted a seed that would shape everything that came after. Marie's career followed what looked like a traditional path at first: auditor, then climbing the corporate ladder from accounting manager to controller, eventually landing CFO roles. She gained experience across operations, finance, HR, and IT, building the kind of holistic business understanding that most accountants never develop. But somewhere along the way, she started seeing the ceiling. Limited growth opportunities. A baby on the way. The realization that financial freedom and time freedom mattered more than a stable paycheck. In 2016, Marie started consulting on the side. No clear plan, just a dream of owning her own business and the skills to make it happen. By 2020, she'd launched Marie Torossian CPA. Two years later, The Profit Lab followed, intentionally designed to complement her accounting firm by addressing the marketing, sales, operations, and mindset gaps her clients were struggling with beyond just their books. Today, Marie is a CPA, CGMA, 10X Certified Coach, author, and podcast host who's developed the proprietary VALUEATION-MT methodology to help service-based business owners ($750K-$15M) break through revenue plateaus and build companies that actually run without them. Her approach is built on a philosophy that sounds simple but challenges conventional wisdom: grow revenue, don't just cut costs. Stop trading time for money. Think about your exit from day one, not when it's too late. With a mission to transform one million businesses to their 10X levels, Marie has shifted from hourly billing to value-based pricing, hosts The Profit Lab Podcast, speaks at CPA conferences, and teaches Grant Cardone-licensed sales training. All while running two businesses and staying true to her core values: put God first, family second, and make honorable dealings in business. --- ## From Auditor to Controller to CFO to Founding Two Businesses - Building Marie Torossian CPA and The Profit Lab **Q:** Your entrepreneurial journey started at age 11 helping your father with his business in Lebanon. You began your career as an auditor, moved into corporate accounting positions rising to CFO, started consulting as a side hustle in 2016, launched Marie Torossian CPA firm in 2020, and founded The Profit Lab in April 2022\. Walk us through the decision to leave stable corporate positions to start consulting, then building two separate but complementary businesses. What made you realize you needed to build your own platform, and what advice would you give women about transitioning from employee to entrepreneur while building credibility? **A:** I started my career as an auditor because it was my preference over tax. Auditing gave me the opportunity to understand corporate accounting at a deeper level, as well as the importance of assurance services. From there, I transitioned into the private sector, where I spent about six years moving up from accounting manager to controller, and eventually to chief administrative officer and chief financial officer. I enjoyed the corporate accounting side much more, particularly the holistic understanding I gained across operations, finance, HR, and IT. That cross-functional exposure shaped how I think about businesses today. I decided to start consulting for several reasons. First, I always had a dream of owning my own business. Second, I began to see a ceiling in my career, with limited opportunities to continue growing or moving up. Third, I was preparing to give birth to my second child, and both financial freedom and time freedom became more important than ever. A fourth reason was culture — I wanted to build an environment where I could operate at my best. I began consulting on the side in 2016, without a complete plan of attack — something I would definitely do differently now. Since then, I've invested significant time and money into learning the skills needed not only to build a business, but to think in terms of multiple revenue streams. When I started my second company, The Profit Lab, I intentionally designed it to be complementary to my accounting firm. I knew that business owners struggling with their accounting, books, or financial insights often needed support in other areas — marketing, sales, operations, or even mindset. The Profit Lab allows me to meet those needs without blurring the lines of traditional accounting services. The advice I would give women transitioning from employee to entrepreneur is the following: Create a clear problem-and-solution list: - What problem do you want to solve? - Who is your target audience or ideal client persona? - How do you solve that problem for them? Create a second list focused on skills and roles: - What are you good at and enjoy doing? - What are you good at but do not enjoy doing? - What tasks are required to run the business that should be delegated because you don't know how to do them? - What skill gaps do you need to learn and will coach you through them? I recommend these lists because they are things I did not fully think through before starting. I knew I wanted to help business owners with financial insights and bring a CFO-level mindset into their businesses, but I hadn't clearly defined a client persona or the language clients use to describe their problems. That was something I had to learn the hard way. I also quickly realized that while I loved financial analysis and building policies and procedures, there were tasks I was very good at — like bookkeeping — that I did not want to do. I hired and trained someone to handle that work so I could stay focused on what I do best. At the same time, I had major skill gaps in marketing, business development, selling, and closing, so I invested heavily in learning those areas. --- ## The VALUEATION-MT Methodology - Your Proprietary Framework for Helping Businesses Break Through $2 Million and Build Sellable Companies **Q:** You created the VALUEATION-MT® methodology that combines business valuation, financial analysis, processes and procedures, and growth roadmaps. You specialize in supporting business owners ready to break through the $2 million barrier and recommend CFO advisory starting around $750K in revenue. Your philosophy is "Growing revenues should always be the main focus" rather than cutting costs. For female founders trying to scale past revenue plateaus, what's your framework for understanding true business value? When should founders invest in financial advisory services versus DIY, and how should they think about building sellable businesses from the beginning? **A:** The VALUEATION-MT® methodology is the result of my years of experience as an auditor, controller, and CFO. I've seen firsthand that when businesses don't focus on revenue growth, there's only so much they can do by cutting expenses. If your focus is only on cost-cutting, you're never truly growing. My methodology uses business valuation as a starting point. Most people only think about valuation at the point of sale, which is often too late. If you don't know the value of your business today, how can you ensure you're getting top dollar if an investor becomes interested? I saw this clearly in a consulting project I worked on in 2019\. The company had been growing revenues and closing on long-term contracts, yet they remained unprofitable for seven years. A private equity firm showed strong interest but ultimately passed because the financials didn't support the story. I helped the company clean up its books and build financial forecasts. While the private equity deal didn't happen, the financial clarity allowed the business to expand into multiple locations and warehouses. I believe all business owners should think about their end goal from the beginning. When I first started consulting, I wasn't thinking about an exit or long-term value — and that's exactly why I talk about it so much now. Without an end goal, you won't think strategically about future revenue, valuation, or what needs to be done today to maximize value later. Whether voluntarily or involuntarily, we all exit our businesses at some point — so why not build one that's sellable? My advice to women business owners — and business owners in general — is to never DIY something you don't know how to do. Go back to your skills-gap list. If you don't have expertise in an area, hire someone who does. That allows you to spend your time on the things you're good at and enjoy. That said, CFO advisory isn't for very early-stage businesses. At a minimum, every business should have a strong bookkeeper — and I say that intentionally, because not every bookkeeper is a good one. Get referrals, check reviews, and assess whether they're proactive or reactive. I generally recommend starting some level of financial advisory or strategic guidance around $750,000 in revenue, when growth accelerates and mistakes become more costly. Between $1 million and $3 million, systems and automation become critical, and CFO advisory delivers even greater value by helping businesses build repeatable, scalable processes. --- ## Value-Based Pricing, Speaking, Podcasting, and Balancing Profit with Purpose - Building The Profit Lab While Running a CPA Practice **Q:** Through The Profit Lab, your mission is to "help entrepreneurs grow and scale with top-notch sales, marketing, operations & financial strategies" with a vision to "transform one million businesses to their 10X levels." You've shifted from hourly billing to value-based pricing packages, you host The Profit Lab Podcast, you're a 10X Certified Coach teaching Grant Cardone-licensed sales training, and your personal values are "put God first, family second" with "honorable dealings" in business. For female founders building coaching or professional services businesses, what's your advice about structuring pricing that reflects value rather than time? How do you balance building a personal brand with delivering client services? **A:** This is a great question, and my advice on pricing models is to stay away from hourly billing. In the accounting and CPA world, hourly billing has traditionally been the norm, but even that is changing. When I first launched as a consultant, I charged hourly, and one of my biggest challenges was explaining why my rate was higher than someone with significantly less experience. That led me to research alternative billing structures, and I ultimately adopted value-based pricing. Today, I use value pricing across both businesses — whether it's bookkeeping, financial insights, CFO advisory, or coaching. Everything is packaged into three clear options, which makes it easier for clients to choose based on their needs and budget, while also protecting my time and preventing scope creep. Balancing personal branding — speaking, podcasting, writing books — with service delivery comes down to understanding multiple revenue streams. Speaking and podcasting are part of my marketing strategy. I'm the face of the company and the thought leader, so those activities generate attention and demand. As a 10X Certified Coach, one principle I've adopted is that marketing precedes sales. If we want to grow revenue, we need attention. I spend about 80% of my time on revenue-generating activities, which for me means speaking, guest podcast appearances, hosting my own podcast, writing, and showing up on strategic platforms. I also speak regularly at CPA conferences and maintain a strong social media presence. I couldn't do all of this alone. I have a team that handles accounting delivery, which allows me to focus on visibility, coaching, and high-level advisory work. Protecting your time and being intentional about where you invest it is critical. Not all networking events produce results — some are great, others aren't — and business owners need to test, evaluate, and commit to what actually works. When it comes to building a business with both profit goals and purpose alignment, I encourage women to clearly define their vision, mission, and core values. These become the drivers behind every decision. Your "why" goes beyond business — it connects to your story and personal brand. People don't do business with companies; they do business with people they like and trust. In coaching, accountability is everything. When clients get distracted, overwhelmed, or caught in shiny-object syndrome, I always bring them back to their "why." That's why I recommend defining it from the very beginning — before business grows, before the pressure increases, and before decisions get harder. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### From First Hire at Precursor Ventures to Founding Symphonic Capital: Sydney Thomas on Raising $13.5M to Back the 99%, Creating the Black Women in VC List, and Why Early-Stage Founders Need to Get Real About Expectations URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/women-in-vc/from-first-hire-at-precursor-ventures-to-founding-symphonic-capital-sydney-thomas-on-raising-13-5m-to-back-the-99-creating-the-black-women-in-vc-list-and-why-early-stage-founders-need-t/ Last updated: 2026-01-14T10:58:49.000Z **Sydney Thomas is the Founding General Partner of** [**Symphonic Capital**](https://www.symphoniccapital.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org)**, a San Diego-based venture capital firm that raised $13.5 million for its debut fund to invest in pre-seed and seed-stage companies "making life better for the 99%." But her path to launching her own fund came after seven years of intentional learning, ecosystem building, and what she calls "sprinting" to close her knowledge gap.** Coming from the nonprofit sector (she spent 13 years in government, including serving in the Bloomberg Administration in NYC where she drafted federal legislation and negotiated multi-million dollar contracts), Sydney knew she had significant learning ahead of her before launching Symphonic. So in 2016, she joined Precursor Ventures as its first hire and spent seven years helping scale the firm from a solo operating GP with 10 investments to a 3-person team with 400+ investments and $200M+ in assets under management. During those years, Sydney volunteered with organizations focused on ecosystem building in VC, took countless meetings with founders, launched a podcast, and completed the prestigious Kauffman Fellows Program. She also created the Black Women in VC List after realizing she was often the only Black woman in venture spaces. The list became a historical accounting of all the Black women who had blazed a trail before her, sparking change in the VC ecosystem and helping her build the community she needed. In 2022, Sydney launched Symphonic Capital with a radical vision: to return to the original mission of the VC industry, which is to support and empower founders. The firm focuses on digital health and fintech startups solving problems for overlooked and underserved communities, particularly outside traditional coastal tech hubs. Early investments include Starlight (helping families navigate government benefits) and Flourish Care (providing doulas, wellness programs, and community care for pregnant women). What makes Symphonic different is its rejection of Silicon Valley groupthink. While the prevailing notion in VC is that "the best founders don't need help," Sydney calls this "full stop, not true." Symphonic was intentionally designed to provide pre-seed founders with clear metrics for success and the capital and operational support to achieve them. The firm doesn't reserve its support only for companies showing early growth signals. Instead, it works to give founders optionality so outcomes aren't purely binary (zero or ten), but include pathways for value creation at multiple stages. Sydney's approach is shaped by her thirteen years in government and her understanding of how critical relationships across public and private sectors are to making impact. She serves on the Board of Trustees at Oakland Museum of California, is a Venture Partner at The House Fund (a $100M+ fund investing in UC Berkeley-backed startups), and was awarded Black VC's Making an Impact designation and featured in Marie Claire for her work increasing diversity in tech. In this Q&A, Sydney shares her lessons from launching Symphonic Capital Fund 1, why female founders and underrepresented founders should have very low expectations of early-stage investors, and how she's working to ensure the VC industry moves beyond performative metrics for diversity and inclusion by building community rather than trying to transform an entire industry alone. --- ## Founding Symphonic Capital - Building a $13.5M Fund to Back "Companies Making Life Better for the 99%" **Q:** You founded Symphonic Capital in 2022 and closed your debut $13.5M fund in 2025, investing in pre-seed and seed-stage startups closing access gaps in healthcare and financial services. Before founding Symphonic, you were the first hire at Precursor Ventures and scaled it from a solo GP with 10 investments to a 3-person team with 400+ investments and $200M+ in AUM. You've also created a distributed network through your podcast, newsletter, and events focused on this thesis. For female founders considering starting their own VC funds, what made you decide to leave Precursor and build your own firm? How did you raise your first fund, especially given that you've been public about not having access to family wealth to put down the typical $80K+ for programs like Kauffman Fellows? What's your advice for women VCs who want to raise capital but don't come from the traditional wealth networks that most fund managers tap into? **A:** I decided to leave when I was done learning—or at least when I'd learned enough to take the leap. I'm an insatiable learner, and early in my VC career, I knew I wanted to launch my own fund. But I also knew I had a significant knowledge gap. Coming from the nonprofit industry, I needed exposure to as much as possible to be truly prepared for launching Symphonic.So I spent close to seven years sprinting. I volunteered with organizations focused on ecosystem building in VC, took countless meetings with founders, launched a podcast, and built a track record. I also supported the fundraise and growth of a firm during that time, which was an incredible learning experience.Toward the end of my tenure, I completed the Kauffman Fellows Program. That exposed me to other people launching VC firms and taught me something crucial: there are a million different ways to launch a fund—and just as many ways to get it wrong. I realized I was never going to learn everything I needed to know, but it was time to take the leap anyway. I had finally built the self-confidence required to do it.One piece of advice I'd offer to others from non-traditional backgrounds: invest in ecosystem building years before you need to make any requests. The relationships and trust I built over those years gave me something invaluable when I launched Symphonic—when you inevitably mess up (and you will), people extend you grace and support you in continuing forward. That foundation made all the difference. ## "The Best Founders Don't Need Help" Is Full Stop Not True - Building Radically Different Early-Stage Support **Q:** Symphonic Capital's approach is radically different from most early-stage VC funds. You work closely with founders to develop shared KPIs tracked quarterly, dive deep into business nuances, and counsel them toward profitability as quickly as possible. You're also seeing the rise of "seedstrapping" (raising initial capital but building toward profitability without large institutional rounds). For female founders raising pre-seed or seed capital, what should they actually expect from early-stage investors? How do you advise founders to distinguish between VCs who will genuinely support them versus those who subscribe to the "sink or swim" mentality? What does founder-investor partnership actually look like when it's done right, and how should founders structure their asks for help without being penalized for needing support? **A:** Honestly? Their expectations should be very low.Most early-stage investors don't have a strategy beyond making that initial investment. They understand that when they invest in extremely early-stage companies, the majority are going to fail. So they focus their support on the ones showing early signals of growth and outperformance. This approach is embedded in their follow-on capital strategy—or lack thereof. Most early-stage firms don't reserve capital to continue supporting companies, so they're simply not set up to provide ongoing capital or operational support beyond that first check and initial round.Given those realities, I think what founders need to do early on is define success for themselves. What type of company do you want to build? Who do you need around you to build it? That might be a specific advisor, a certain type of operator—people beyond those early investors.Once you've defined your success metrics and developed proof points toward them, that's where Symphonic comes in. We help you operationalize your vision and put gasoline on the fire to accelerate growth. Our goal is to give you optionality—so even if you don't hit a really specific metric, you've proven your company's ability to create value in other ways. Maybe you're able to sell parts of the company, or scale within another organization. There's meat on the bone. It's not a fully binary outcome of zero or ten—there's a two, a three, a four, five, six in there. That's how we think about the world. ## Diversity in VC Beyond Performative Gestures - From the Black Women in VC List to Building Symphonic **Q:** You founded the Black Women in VC List after realizing you were often the only Black woman in venture spaces. You've been recognized with Black VC's Making an Impact designation, featured in Marie Claire, and named to the DEIC Power100 list. You serve on the Board of Trustees at Oakland Museum of California, completed Kauffman Fellows, and serve as Venture Partner at The House Fund. For women of color building careers in venture capital or adjacent spaces, what changed after you created the Black Women in VC List? How do you advise women navigating predominantly white, male spaces to build credibility and authority without code-switching or diluting their perspective? What's the difference between diversity efforts that actually create systemic change versus those that are just performative gestures to check boxes? **A:** This is an incredibly difficult question to answer—and honestly, I don't think it's important, or even realistic, for one person to be responsible for transforming an entire industry. I might have had those expectations of myself earlier in my career, but I've shed them.My focus now is much more personal and community-driven. The main reason I created the Black Women in VC list was to build community among Black women in venture capital—so we could share our stories, be more transparent about how to navigate and advance in this industry, and truly support each other. Be each other's keepers.That intention has guided me every step of the way. I've been very deliberate about making sure that when I "make it," I'm not the only Black woman in the room. I want to be surrounded by peers—other Black women who are incredibly brilliant and inspiring.For me, it's been about building my own community so that I'm seen and so that I can learn from others who came before me. That was one of the big unlocks when I was building that list: I realized I was not at all the first Black woman in venture, even though people seemed to think I was. The list was really a historical accounting of all these other Black women who had blazed a trail for me, whether or not they were visible at the time. I'm so grateful to be able to call some of those women mentors today. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### From Three Heart Attacks at 29 to Founding Prosperity First: Shaneh Woods on Bridging the Soul & Science of Money, Transforming 528 Businesses, and Why "Money Loves Joy" URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/women-who-lead/from-three-heart-attacks-at-29-to-founding-prosperity-first-shaneh-woods-on-bridging-the-soul-science-of-money-transforming-528-businesses-and-why-money-loves-joy/ Last updated: 2026-01-13T09:10:53.000Z **Shaneh F. Woods** is the founder and CEO of [Prosperity First](https://prosperityfirst.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org), a bookkeeping and accounting firm she founded over 28 years ago. While Prosperity First began early in her career, it wasn’t until years later that the business transformed into the energetically aligned firm it is today. By age 29, after running the firm in the traditional, high-stress accounting model she had inherited, Shaneh suffered three stress-related heart attacks and was told she wouldn’t survive to see her next birthday. That health crisis — followed by another decade of running the firm “the responsible way,” just with fewer hours — ultimately led to a profound awakening and a complete redesign of how she works with money, business, and the nervous system. From North Pole, Alaska, Shaneh started her career as a minimum-wage data entry clerk fresh out of college, told explicitly on her first day: “I don’t want you to think. I don’t want you to ask questions. Just hit the keys I tell you to hit.” At just 19, she went on to buy the bookkeeping firm she worked for — inheriting not only a business, but an industry model built on stress, suppression, and endurance. For years, she ran Prosperity First the way she was taught, long before she had the language or tools to challenge the system she was operating inside. Today, Shaneh is a Profit Engineer, Infinite Money Mindset Coach, Certified Profit First Professional, Human Design Expert, and Breathwork Facilitator who has transformed 528 businesses by combining rigorous financial strategy with mindset work. She's managed over a billion dollars in client profits and helps "rebel business owners" decode their numbers, trust their decisions, and design businesses spacious enough to hold their full bigness. Her mission: to help clients become "unreasonably resourced, deeply supported, and so well-held that the money becomes the easy part." What makes Shaneh's work unique is her refusal to separate financial strategy from nervous system regulation, Human Design from balance sheets, or precision from presence. She celebrates every single payment she receives by hitting shuffle on a massive playlist and dancing "with every fiber of my being" because she knows "Money Loves Joy." She's also a self-described "bookwyrm," music lover who travels the United States in search of awe-inspiring music, and candy maker who sees beauty in numbers. At Prosperity First, her team of bookkeepers are "thoughtful, conscious, and aware"—not just data entry clerks. She despised telling clients "Congratulations, you made a profit, and now you owe a ton in taxes" and watching their faces drop. Her work begins where traditional accounting stops, helping clients eliminate "entrepreneurial poverty" and achieve what she calls "Profit is Protest™"—a reclamation of financial agency and capacity. In this Q&A, Shaneh shares her journey from burnout and health crisis to founding Prosperity First, the difference between working with traditional accountants versus her approach, and her advice for building businesses that support you rather than the other way around. --- ## From Three Heart Attacks at 29 to Building Prosperity First - Surviving Burnout, Leaving the Traditional Accounting Path, and "Bridging the Soul & Science of Money" **Q:** You had three stress-related heart attacks by the time you turned 29, and you were told you wouldn't survive to see your next birthday. You've said "that's what happens when you do everything the hard way" and "I realized I was forcing myself into a mold that didn't fit." After starting as a minimum wage data entry clerk fresh out of college (told "don't think, don't ask questions, just hit the keys"), you spent 20 years in traditional accounting before hitting a wall with severe burnout. Through a spiritual awakening, you discovered your gift lies in bridging what you call "the soul and science of money" - you're a Profit Engineer, Infinite Money Mindset Coach, Human Design Expert, and Breathwork Facilitator from North Pole, Alaska. For female founders who feel like they're forcing themselves into molds that don't fit (whether in corporate careers or even in their own businesses), walk us through your journey from burnout and health crisis to transforming Prosperity First into the energetically aligned firm you lead today. What made you realize traditional accounting wasn't serving you or your clients, and what advice would you give women about recognizing when they need to completely rebuild their approach to work before it costs them their health? **A:** By the time I was 29, my body had staged an intervention. Three stress-related heart attacks will do that. I had done everything "right." I worked hard. I pushed through. I followed the rules of an industry that rewarded endurance and self-erasure. I started as a minimum-wage data entry clerk, told explicitly, don't think, don't ask questions, just hit the keys. And for years, I obeyed that instruction in every area of my life. Traditional accounting taught me discipline, precision, and systems. What it never taught me was how to listen to my body or trust my intuition. I was succeeding on paper while quietly unraveling. The moment everything changed wasn't when I left accounting. It was when I stopped forcing myself into environments that required me to override my own design. Through a spiritual awakening that followed my health crisis, I realized my true work was translation. Helping people understand what their numbers were saying beneath the surface. Bridging strategy with nervous system regulation. Precision with presence. Soul with science. Prosperity First emerged from that clarity. For women who feel like they're forcing themselves into molds that don't fit, here's what I want them to know concretely: **Burnout announces itself long before collapse.** Pay attention to chronic exhaustion, resentment toward work you once loved, a constant sense of urgency, or the feeling that rest has to be "earned." It's all data. **If your success requires self-abandonment, it's already costing you too much.** When your work asks you to silence your intuition, ignore your body, or numb your emotions, the bill will eventually come due. Health is often the first place it shows up. **Rebuilding isn't starting over. It's reclaiming what works.** I didn't throw away my expertise. I redesigned how it was used. Women don't need to burn everything down. They need permission to redesign work so it actually fits who they are now. **Your body is the first system that tells the truth.** If your body is screaming, it's because something in your work is misaligned. Listen early. It's far less costly than waiting for a crisis to force the conversation. --- ## "Most Bookkeepers Are Just Data Entry Clerks" - Transforming 528 Businesses with Money Design, Human Design, and Eliminating "Entrepreneurial Poverty" **Q:** You've said "I despised telling clients, 'Congratulations, you made a profit, and now you owe a ton in taxes.' Their faces would drop." You founded Prosperity First over 28 years ago to help businesses eliminate "entrepreneurial poverty," and you've transformed 528 businesses by combining financial strategy with money mindset coaching. You use Human Design, breathwork, and what you call "Money Design" sessions to help clients "4-5X their business profits." You've said traditional accountants "have failed to encourage you to live up to your highest self" and "have let the scarcity inherent in their training color their advice." For female founders managing their finances and trying to decide when to hire accounting support, what's the difference between working with a traditional bookkeeper/accountant versus working with someone who takes your approach? How should founders think about the relationship between money mindset and financial strategy, and what are the warning signs that their current financial advisor is operating from scarcity rather than abundance? **A:** I used to hate telling clients, "Congratulations, you made a profit," and then watching their faces fall when they realized how much they owed in taxes. That moment exposed a deep flaw in traditional accounting. Profit, in most cases, is just a line on a tax return and not cash in the bank. A traditional bookkeeper records what already happened. A traditional accountant often focuses on compliance and risk avoidance. Both are important, but neither is sufficient for building a business that actually supports a human life. My work begins where traditional accounting stops. At Prosperity First, we combine rigorous financial strategy with Profit First style cash flow management, Human Design, and mindset work because money behavior is inseparable from the person managing it. Numbers don't exist in a vacuum. They reflect boundaries, capacity, confidence, and belief. For founders deciding when and how to hire financial support, here's the practical distinction: **A traditional bookkeeper tells you what the numbers say.** We help you decide what to do next and who you need to become to do it sustainably. **Mindset without strategy leads to wishful thinking.** Strategy without mindset leads to burnout and fear-based decisions. You need both. Founders should be wary of advisors who lead exclusively with limitation: "You can't afford that," "That's too risky," "You should wait." Prudence matters, but when advice consistently contracts possibility, it often reveals the advisor's own scarcity lens. Warning signs your financial advisor is operating from scarcity include: - Advice rooted primarily in fear or worst-case scenarios - No conversation about capacity, lifestyle, or long-term vision - A lack of curiosity about who you are and how you operate best - Treating growth as dangerous rather than designable A true financial partner helps you expand intelligently. They help you understand your numbers in a way that builds confidence, agency, and choice. --- ## "Money Loves Joy" - Celebrating Every Payment, Building a Team That's "Thoughtful, Conscious, and Aware," and Creating Work-Life Balance After Decades of Burnout **Q:** You celebrate every single payment you receive by hitting shuffle on a massive playlist and dancing "with every fiber of my being" because you know "Money Loves Joy." You're also a music lover who travels the United States in search of awe-inspiring music, a candy maker, and a "bookwyrm" who sees beauty in numbers. You've built Prosperity First with a team of bookkeepers who are "thoughtful, conscious, and aware" - not just data entry clerks. You're passionate about helping clients achieve financial success AND a healthier work-life balance. For female entrepreneurs building service-based businesses (especially in fields like accounting, finance, or consulting that can lead to burnout), what's your advice about building a business that supports you rather than the other way around? How do you balance running a financial services firm with your own wellness and joy, and what systems or mindset shifts have allowed you to create sustainability after nearly losing your life to overwork? **A:** Yes, I celebrate every payment. I hit shuffle on a massive playlist and dance because joy is how I keep my relationship with money clean. Celebration interrupts urgency. It reminds the nervous system that receiving is safe. For decades, I believed seriousness equaled professionalism. Burnout taught me that joy is actually a sustainability strategy. For women building service-based businesses, here's the specific guidance I wish I'd had sooner: **Design your business around capacity, not just revenue.** More clients or more income won't fix a system that's already overextended. Capacity must be designed intentionally through pricing, boundaries, and team structure. **Build systems that honor completion and receipt.** Most burnout comes from never finishing anything. Clear workflows, clean handoffs, and rituals that mark "done" matter more than most people realize. **Hire for consciousness, not just competence.** At Prosperity First, my team understands that numbers carry emotional weight. Thoughtful, aware professionals create safer containers for clients and better outcomes for the business. **Separate joy from monetization.** I travel for music. I make candy. I read obsessively. None of these need to be profitable to be essential. Creativity that exists outside commerce restores the nervous system and keeps work from becoming extractive. After nearly losing my life to overwork, I learned this: a business should hold you. It should support your health, your curiosity, and your joy. If it doesn't, the answer isn't to work harder. It's to redesign. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### From Environmental Engineer to Founding Bick Law LLP: Kimberly Bick on Building a Women-Owned "Big Law Alternative," Navigating Post-Chevron Environmental Regulation, and Why She Became an "Accidental Entrepreneur" URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/law/from-environmental-engineer-to-founding-bick-law-llp-kimberly-bick-on-building-a-women-owned-big-law-alternative-navigating-post-chevron-environmental-regulation-and-why-she-became-an-a/ Last updated: 2026-01-13T05:25:05.000Z **Kimberly Bick** is the founding and co-managing partner of [Bick Law](https://www.bicklawllp.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) LLP, a Women-Owned Business Enterprise providing Fortune 500 clients with "Big Law" environmental expertise using flexible billing structures. But her path to founding Bick Law wasn't the result of careful planning. She describes herself as an "accidental entrepreneur" who started her firm purely out of necessity in 2015 when clients were moving from big law to boutique firms for environmental matters. With degrees from Stanford (B.S. Environmental Earth Sciences, M.S. Civil Engineering, J.D. with distinction), Kimberly began her career as an environmental engineer at McDonnell Douglas (now Boeing), implementing compliance programs and serving on Superfund steering committees. After earning her law degree, she clerked for Chief Judge Patricia M. Wald on the D.C. Circuit before practicing environmental law at major firms like Morrison & Foerster. She's practiced environmental law for over 35 years, with a short hiatus to raise her two children. The catalyst for founding Bick Law came when she was given the opportunity to pitch a company seeking new outside counsel for significant environmental matters. To land the business, she needed autonomy to set reasonable billing rates, which necessitated leaving big law and starting her own firm. Ten years later, that company remains an important client, and Bick Law's roster has grown as the trend of companies seeking boutique firms for environmental law matters continues. Bick Law's team comprises top environmental lawyers in California with decades of big law experience before joining the firm, allowing them to provide the same or better quality legal service with more flexibility in rates and lean but collaborative staffing using only the most experienced counsel. The firm represents aerospace, manufacturing, biotech, real estate, and technology companies in environmental litigation, regulatory compliance (CERCLA, RCRA, Clean Water Act, Clean Air Act), enforcement defense, and corporate transactions involving environmental issues. As former Chair of the California Lawyers Association Environmental Law Section, Kimberly has written extensively about the Supreme Court's decision overruling Chevron deference and its impact on environmental regulation. Her unique combination of engineering training and legal expertise allows her to work at the intersection where science and law meet, providing clients with both technical understanding and strategic counsel. In this Q&A, Kimberly shares how she became an accidental entrepreneur when the economics of big law no longer aligned with client needs, the most critical environmental compliance mistakes she sees startups make, and how the post-Chevron legal landscape has changed regulatory risk assessment for companies in highly regulated industries. --- ## From Environmental Engineer to Environmental Attorney – Building Bick Law LLP as a Women-Owned “Big Law Alternative” **Q: After earning degrees from Stanford (B.S. Environmental Earth Sciences, M.S. Civil Engineering), you started your career as an environmental engineer at McDonnell Douglas (now Boeing), implementing compliance programs and serving on Superfund steering committees, before returning to Stanford to earn your J.D. (with distinction) and clerking for Chief Judge Patricia M. Wald on the D.C. Circuit. In 2015, you founded Bick Law LLP as a Women-Owned Business Enterprise to provide Fortune 500 clients with “Big Law” expertise using flexible billing structures. For female attorneys considering leaving established firms to start their own practices, what prompted your decision to launch Bick Law after decades practicing environmental law at major firms like Morrison & Foerster, and how did you build credibility and a client base as a boutique firm competing against Am Law 200 practices? What’s your advice for women lawyers who want the autonomy of running their own firms while maintaining the sophisticated client work they handled at larger practices?** A: I have to adjust the premise of your first question because it suggests I made a plan to start Bick Law and then implemented that plan. That certainly is what many lawyers (and entrepreneurs) do, and I, myself, am an “extreme planner” by nature, so that would have been my preference. However, in this case, I would describe myself as more of an accidental entrepreneur or an entrepreneur-by-necessity. The fact is, I never planned to start a firm – I did so purely out of necessity following the evolution of environmental law at big firms, which was in the midst of a sea-change. Clients were moving from big law to boutique law firms for specialty practices like environmental law due to lower billing rates and the ability to staff matters lean with experienced lawyers, something that was challenging in big law due to the economics of that platform. It was at this time, and in this environment, that I was gifted the opportunity to pitch a company seeking new outside counsel for a number of significant environmental matters. To land the business, however, I needed autonomy to set reasonable billing rates, which necessitated starting Bick Law. Ten years hence, this company remains an important and valuable client and I am personally grateful for their support and trust. And, over the past ten years, our client list has grown, due to the continuing trend of companies seeking boutique firms for environmental law matters. Our team is comprised of top environmental lawyers in California, with subject matter expertise in nuanced areas of practice, and decades of experience in big law before coming to Bick Law. This allows us to provide the same (or better) quality legal service as big law firms, with more flexibility in our rates and with lean but collaborative staffing using only the most experienced counsel. My advice, in summary, is to know and offer what your clients need, and offer it at a better rate or better method than big law. Additionally, stay open to opportunities so that you see them when they come along. Finally, take risks and don’t be afraid of the path less traveled. ## Environmental Law for Growing Companies – When Founders Need Compliance Counsel Before Problems Arise **Q: You represent aerospace, manufacturing, biotech, real estate, and technology companies in environmental litigation, regulatory compliance (CERCLA, RCRA, Clean Water Act, Clean Air Act), enforcement defense, and corporate transactions involving environmental issues. For female founders building companies in manufacturing, cleantech, biotech, or real estate, what are the most critical environmental compliance mistakes you see startups and growth-stage companies make? Walk us through when founders should actually engage environmental counsel (beyond just “when we get sued”), what environmental due diligence looks like in fundraising rounds or M&A transactions, and how to structure compliance programs that scale with the business without spending hundreds of thousands on legal fees upfront.** A: The most critical environmental compliance mistakes that lead to liability are almost always preventable through advance planning. In real estate, for example, conducting “all appropriate inquiry” (through due diligence) is required to understanding if property is contaminated. A big mistake is to assume lack of knowledge means lack of liability—it doesn’t. I also support large mergers and acquisitions and private equity deals and the same general rule applies – ignorance is not bliss – environmental liabilities can hold things up if they are not fully assessed and mitigated, but even worse, the cost of those liabilities can be material and if not understood in advance, can result in a bad investment. That is all on the transactional side, which lends itself to being proactive. From the enforcement or litigation angle, the best way to avoid issues, again, is to understand what your company is doing and make sure it is in full compliance with the law. This may mean self-auditing, developing and implementing procedures so that employees are knowledgeable, and ensuring sufficient resources are devoted to maintaining compliance. As a compliance lawyer with engineering experience, I love to roll up my sleeves and look at a company’s compliance status and help keep the company apprised of the latest changes in the laws. An ounce of prevention (and an investment in compliance) is worth a pound of cure (and the high cost of an enforcement action, including penalties, damages, and litigation costs). When to engage environmental counsel? As soon as you begin negotiating a deal, or before you begin operating your business, and periodically thereafter. The sooner the better so that the lawyer is part of the team and can identify material liability early. ## Navigating Post-Chevron Environmental Regulation – Former CLA Environmental Law Section Chair on the Changing Regulatory Landscape **Q: You served as Chair of the California Lawyers Association Environmental Law Section and have written extensively about the Supreme Court’s decision overruling Chevron deference and its impact on environmental regulation. For female entrepreneurs building businesses subject to environmental regulation (water quality, air emissions, hazardous waste, PFAS chemicals, climate disclosure), how has the post-Chevron legal landscape changed what companies need to do to stay compliant? What’s your framework for helping clients assess regulatory risk in an environment where agency interpretations no longer receive automatic deference, and what should founders building in highly regulated industries understand about the intersection of compliance, enforcement, and business operations?** A: The Supreme Court’s opinion in Loper Bright provided a light at the end of a dark tunnel for many industries that assumed they could never win a challenge of an EPA or other agency decision. Now, under Loper Bright, depending on the facts, there may be hope. That said, the ability to challenge EPA, or any other agency, should not change a business’s compliance practices. To stay compliant going forward, companies need to do the same as they have in the past – understand their business operations and understand the regulations that govern them. If the regulations are unclear, and noncompliance arises out of a reasonable interpretation, then there may be an opportunity to challenge an agency enforcement action now under Loper Bright. Or, if the regulations are arguably inconsistent with the governing statute or the constitution, then there may be a case for a challenge. While we all expect there will be more litigation challenging agency decisions and regulations post-Loper Bright, I don’t think we expect day-to-day compliance operations to be affected. From a risk management standpoint, a founder may want to consider the worst case scenario for the agency interpretation of the regulation, or enforcement action. Before deciding to risk noncompliance in the hopes of challenging an agency order, a founder should consider the cost of such challenge and the likelihood of success, which may depend on the jurisdiction, as well as the facts. In this current paradigm, the fact that a founder can even consider challenging an agency action is significantly different than in the past when it was virtually guaranteed they would lose. However, there is still no guarantee the founder will win such a challenge. For that reason, I would still advise full compliance to avoid enforcement if possible. Where the laws are uncertain, a lawyer can assist with interpretation, and the founder can decide if a conservative interpretation is appropriate or if they are willing to take the risk of enforcement and then challenge it in the hopes of a Loper Bright win. That is a business decision. Remember, Loper Bright does not apply to state law, so depending on where the business is located, there may be state agencies that are regulating the operations and some states are still deferential to their regulators. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### From Winning a Horse to 30+ Years Telling Agriculture's Story: Kenda Resler Friend on Founding KRF PR After Dow AgroSciences, Why "Everyone with a Smartphone Is a Reporter," and Building Her Third Storytelling Decade URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/women-who-lead/from-winning-a-horse-to-30-years-telling-agricultures-story-kenda-resler-friend-on-founding-krf-pr-after-dow-agrosciences-why-everyone-with-a-smartphone-is-a-reporter-and-building-her-t/ Last updated: 2026-01-12T14:40:12.000Z **Kenda Resler Friend is the President and Founder of** [**KRF Public Relations**](https://krfpr.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org)**, an Indianapolis-based agency helping agricultural organizations, nonprofits, and businesses tell their stories. But her path to founding KRF PR in 2019 started with something unexpected: winning a free Quarter Horse named “Squirt” from Bob Evans Restaurants in 1984.** As Indiana’s outstanding 4-H Saddle Club member, Kenda enjoyed an all-expenses-paid weekend on Bob Evans’ farm (yes, the actual farm featured on their restaurant menus). During that weekend, she met Mary Cusick, the PR director, who was orchestrating seminars, talking to reporters, and speaking to the group. Kenda asked, “Do you get PAID to do all these great things like organizing, writing and public speaking?” Coming from a family of teachers and farmers in rural Indiana, she didn’t know PR was a career option. That conversation changed everything. Kenda earned her bachelor’s degree in Public Relations and her master’s degree in Agricultural Communications from two different schools at Purdue University and is nearly four decades in on building her career across three distinct chapters. Her first decade was spent working for PR agencies around the U.S. Her second decade (actually 20+ years) was dedicated to leading corporate communications and media relations at Dow AgroSciences/Corteva, a major global agribusiness navigating massive corporate mergers and industry transformation. In 2019, as the merger between The Dow Chemical Company and DuPont was finalizing, Kenda made a decision about her “third storytelling decade.” She retired from the corporate world with a safety net (guaranteed insurance and a pension—she jokes her husband “married for love but is staying for these benefits”) and founded KRF PR to work with people she likes on efforts she believes in. A Purdue College of Agriculture Distinguished Alumni honoree and recipient of CropLife America’s highest honor (the Lea Hitchner Achievement Award), Kenda has spent her career working on fundamental questions: How are we telling the story of agriculture? Of women in leadership? Of nonprofits and the great work they do? She served as Board Chair of AgrIInstitute and has been passionate about helping organizations navigate a world where “everyone with a smartphone is a reporter.” Her advice to agricultural businesses facing scrutiny? Stop spouting “science and facts” at consumers and expecting them to say “OK, you’re right.” Instead, lean into personal stories, look for shared values, and be good listeners. Nobody wants to be preached at. She’s created a training called “I’m Glad You Asked…Building Bridges with Communication” that helps people become more effective communicators, especially when dealing with critics. In this Q&A, Kenda shares her journey from winning a horse to founding her own agency, her framework for helping agriculture tell its story authentically in an era of misinformation, and her advice for women leveraging decades of corporate expertise into entrepreneurial success. ## From Winning a Horse to 30+ Years Telling Agriculture's Story - How a Free Quarter Horse Named "Squirt" Launched Your Career in Agricultural PR **A:** Your career began when you won a horse from Bob Evans Restaurants as Indiana's outstanding 4-H Saddle Club member in 1984\. During that weekend on the farm, you met Mary Cusick, the PR director, and asked "Do you get PAID to do all these great things like organizing, writing and public speaking?" Coming from a family of teachers and farmers in rural Indiana, you didn't know PR was a career option. That encounter led you to Purdue for both bachelor's and master's degrees in agricultural communications, then nearly four decades building your career - from PR agencies to 20+ years leading corporate communications and media relations at Dow AgroSciences/Corteva, to founding KRF PR in 2019 after retiring from corporate. Walk us through the decision to leave the security of corporate leadership to start your own agency. What did you see in two decades at a major agribusiness that made you realize you wanted to work differently? And for women in corporate agriculture or rural industries considering entrepreneurship later in their careers, what advice would you give about making that transition? **A:** I feel blessed to have experienced the ag PR world through the different lenses of agency, corporate and business owner. Each transition in my career was driven by the “gut feel” it was time for something new. Sometimes that feeling was helped by external circumstances – like a massive corporate merger. My corporate years exposed me to projects, people, leadership styles and global travel which are all experiences that helped equip me for my current chapter. I was in corporate America during a “golden age” in that when the merger happened I had the option to “retire” because I was over 50 with more than 10 years of service. This means I have a guaranteed insurance and a pension – I joke my husband married for love but is staying for these benefits. This safety net made the decision to move on an easy one. I was ready to be my own boss, not have to worry about “turf wars” and 2019 was my moment. I would encourage women of all ages to consider what your next chapter may be and realize you are never too old to try something new. You may have to “wait it out” until circumstances allow (e.g., insurance and family life considerations) but keep your eye on the prize of the freedom to do the work you want to do when you want to do it. ## Helping Agriculture Tell Its Story in a World Where "Everyone with a Smartphone Is a Reporter" - Media Training, Crisis Communication, and Advocacy for an Industry Under Scrutiny **Q:** You've spent your career working on the fundamental question: "How are we telling the story of agriculture?" You've led communications through major industry changes, received CropLife America's highest honor (the Lea Hitchner Achievement Award), served as Board Chair of AgrIInstitute, and now help agricultural organizations navigate a world where everyone with a smartphone is a reporter. For female founders in agriculture, food, or rural industries - sectors often facing public scrutiny, misinformation, or misunderstanding - what's your framework for telling your story authentically? How do you train organizations and leaders to communicate about controversial topics (pesticides, GMOs, livestock practices) in ways that build trust rather than defensiveness? And what are the biggest communication mistakes you see agricultural businesses make when facing criticism or media attention? **A**: Authenticity starts with storytelling. For too long in agriculture, we would spout “science and facts” at consumers and expect them to say “OK, you are right.” Not effective! I work with a variety of farmers and allied industry members to lean into their personal stories about the food system and look for shared values with their audiences. We all care about the food we eat and feed to our families. It is important to be good listeners – and seek to understand the perspective of the 98 percent of people who don’t live on farms. We don’t have to agree, and need to gently correct myths, but nobody wants to be preached at. I have a training I offer “I’m Glad You Asked...Building Bridges with Communication” that helps people be more effective communicators. Perhaps the biggest mistake I have seen over the years are leaders who think they can “wing it” for a speech or media interview. Preparation is the key to success and I reinforce that time and again to help my clients internalize that they need to build “muscle memory” when it comes to communicating in various situations, especially with critics. ## Building KRF PR Around "Working with People You Like on Efforts You Believe In" - Creating a Small Business That Reflects Your Values After Decades in Corporate **Q:** When you founded KRF PR in 2019, you made a conscious decision about your "third story-telling decade" - working with people you like on efforts you believe in, with clients big and small who want help telling their stories. You offer media training, copywriting, event planning, meeting facilitation, and communication strategy. For women leaving corporate careers to build consulting or service businesses, especially in specialized industries like agriculture, what's your advice about positioning yourself, attracting the right clients, and building a sustainable business that doesn't replicate the corporate structures you left behind? How do you balance the flexibility and purpose you sought with the realities of running a small business? And what would you tell women about leveraging decades of corporate expertise and relationships into entrepreneurial success? **A:** Build your network! By having strong relationships in my industry of expertise, I was able to seek out the type of work that brings me joy. Being a trusted friend and partner doesn’t happen overnight and relationships take nurturing, so be intentional about how you spend time in the earlier chapters of your career. That means being involved in industry associations, taking on volunteer roles, and putting yourself out there beyond your company walls. It is never too late to make connections. I always encourage women to “stay in the game,” even if you need to step away from a job for personal responsibilities, so you can keep connecting and stay up to date on your industry. Another key to success is simplicity. Having a great timesheet pivot table (developed by my husband who is a CFO) allows me to track billable time simply. I always do billing on the last day of the month (even if it is a weekend day – or New Year’s Eve). This type of basic operating discipline helps me spend the bulk of my time doing the work I love. Balance takes on new meaning when you get to choose how to spend your days. I see time more like a pie – you divide it up depending on that day’s priorities. That could mean shopping at Costco during the day when it is less busy or proofing a client program on a Sunday afternoon. I was very blessed to be available during my kids’ high school years to be super involved in their school as PTO president and in other roles during COVID when strong volunteer leadership was needed so those “pie slices” were big at that moment in time. That said, I would caution fellow business owners to be very intentional about volunteer work. People think “oh she doesn’t go to an office, she has time,” so only say yes to areas of passion, or your days can fill up. Above all, believe in yourself and your experience. When you have several decades of experience, you’ve learned and done so much, you need to be confident in what you have to offer. Being an entrepreneur means leaning into what you do best and enjoy – and leave the rest behind! > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### Two Daughters Take Over Their Fathers' IP Firm: Maja Modigh on the Generational Transition at Hansson Thyresson, Leading as an Engineer in IP Law, and Preserving Culture While Modernizing URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/law/two-daughters-take-over-their-fathers-ip-firm-maja-modigh-on-the-generational-transition-at-hansson-thyresson-leading-as-an-engineer-in-ip-law-and-preserving-culture-while-modernizing/ Last updated: 2026-01-12T11:13:38.000Z **Maja Modigh** is the CEO of [Hansson Thyresson](https://hanssonthyresson.se/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) AB, a full-service intellectual property law firm founded 30 years ago in Malmö, Sweden, by her father Anders Hansson (electronics engineer and patent attorney) and Lars Thyresson (attorney at law). About a year ago, Maja and Elsa Thyresson took over the firm from their fathers in a generational transition that mirrors the founding partnership: an engineer (Maja following Anders) and a lawyer (Elsa following Lars). Maja is a civil engineer (M.Sc. Environmental) who became CEO in September 2022 after working at the firm since 2018 in HR and Finance and as Vice President. She works with strategy, HR, finance, and all internal projects at Hansson Thyresson, which specializes in patents, trademarks, and design protection across mechanics, electrical engineering, IT, telecom, and medical technology. The firm handles patent and trademark prosecution, litigation, licensing agreements, competition law, and advises clients on optimal IP protection strategies for both Swedish and international matters. Before joining Hansson Thyresson, Maja worked as a management consultant, project manager, and development engineer. She served as chairman of Samhällsbyggarna and on the national board of Lean Forum Bygg. She's known for being "very extroverted, fairly fearless, and wanting things to move fast," qualities she says balance perfectly with Elsa's meticulous, wise, structured, and calm approach. "I often joke that Elsa is much better than me at thinking before she speaks... All qualities I completely lack," Maja laughs. When announcing her appointment as CEO, Maja emphasized preserving Hansson Thyresson's history as "a good employer with happy employees, low staff rotation and much generosity" while also modernizing the firm. "It is obvious to me that everything starts there," she said. "Passionate and engaged colleagues who deliver high-level services ensures that our customers remain satisfied." Her vision is to ensure that every company understands and secures their intellectual properties. Hansson Thyresson was founded with a focus on replacing the traditional approach in IP law with one that creates room for personal meetings and genuine commitment to clients throughout the entire process. The firm is a member of the Association of Patent Law Firms in Sweden and serves clients ranging from innovative startups to established companies like Hörby Bruk, who praise the firm's "proactive approach" and "open dialogue that gives a secure feeling." Elsa Thyresson, Maja's co-owner and partner in the generational transition, is an attorney at law. The decision for both daughters to take over together was "very natural," according to Maja. "Our fathers built the company in a way that reflected their vision – combining their expertise with a strong sense of care for the client – and we saw the strength in preserving that balance. If only one of us had led or taken over, we would have lost part of the dynamic that made the firm successful." The ownership transfer was structured with help from skilled advisors including accountants and lawyers, particularly important since both Maja and Elsa have siblings not involved in the family business. Their fathers had considered external management and even a sale, but realized that a generational shift would best preserve the understanding of culture, values, and long-term perspective. "They both seemed genuinely happy when we announced that we wanted to take on the responsibility," Maja shares. In her free time, Maja enjoys working out, spending time with family and friends, and taking her SUP board out on the sea with a glass of white wine during quiet sunsets. In this Q&A, Maja shares her journey taking over a 30-year-old IP law firm with her co-owner Elsa, why she sees it as a strength to lead a patent firm as an engineer rather than an attorney, and her advice for women stepping into family businesses about when to honor legacy versus when to disrupt it ("Sons and daughters don't go through a generational shift just to maintain the status quo"). --- ## Taking Over Hansson Thyresson from Your Fathers - Two Daughters, Two Founders, One Generational Transition *About a year ago, you and Elsa Thyresson took over Hansson Thyresson AB from your fathers - Anders Hansson (electronics engineer and patent attorney) and Lars Thyresson (attorney at law) - who founded the firm 30 years ago in Malmö. Maja, you're a civil engineer (M.Sc. Environmental) who became CEO in September 2022 after working at the firm since 2018 in HR and Finance and as Vice President. You previously worked as a management consultant, project manager, and development engineer, and served as chairman of Samhällsbyggarna and on the national board of Lean Forum Bygg. Elsa is an attorney at law and acting Head of Legal at the firm. The generational transition mirrors your fathers' founding partnership - an engineer (Maja following Anders) and a lawyer (Elsa following Lars). For female founders navigating succession planning or considering family business transitions, what prompted the decision for both daughters to take over rather than one of you leading alone or bringing in outside leadership? How did you and Elsa structure the ownership and decision-making to avoid the typical family business conflicts, and what advice would you give women about co-owning businesses with family members - especially when you're stepping into roles your parents built?* It was actually a very natural decision for both of us to take over together. Our fathers built the company in a way that reflected their vision – combining their expertise with a strong sense of care for the client – and we saw the strength in preserving that balance. If only one of us had led or taken over, we would have lost part of the dynamic that made the firm successful. Our fathers considered external management and even a sale, but realized that a generational shift would best preserve the understanding of culture, values, and long-term perspective. And, not least, it would be appreciated by the employees. They both seemed genuinely happy when we announced that we wanted to take on the responsibility. When it comes to ownership and decision-making, I would love to say that the key was structuring everything clearly from the start… setting up defined roles, responsibilities, and documenting how major decisions would be made. But… that’s not quite how it happened. The truth is that I, Maja, quickly moved closer to management issues based on the role I took in the company and worked closely with Elsa’s father Lars, who was then CEO. I also brought more work experience and am a more extroverted person. Meanwhile, Elsa focused on deepening her legal expertise and becoming a senior advisor and specialist – which naturally meant less involvement in management and strategic decisions for the company at that time. We are very different as individuals, and it was quite clear to us how the roles should look. But transparency and communication have been crucial – we have regular check-ins where we are equally involved. Today, Elsa is on the board and actively engaged in strategic decisions, and that has evolved naturally over time. **Maja:** I often joke that Elsa is much better than me at thinking before she speaks – she’s meticulous, truly wise, structured, and calm. All qualities I completely lack 😊 On the other hand, I’m very extroverted, fairly fearless, and want things to move fast. I think we complement each other really well! As for the actual ownership transfer, it was done with the help of skilled advisors such as our accountant and lawyer. It was important that everything was correct and fair, especially since both Elsa and I have siblings who are not involved in the family business. **My advice to women stepping into family businesses:** - If you can, set the structure early – ownership agreements, decision-making processes, and exit scenarios – and use external advisors with experience! - Don’t have unnecessary respect for what other employees might think of you. But work hard! You should absolutely show why you’ve been given the opportunity and what your strengths are. You need to earn the respect of the employees, which is essential for being a valued leader. - See the strength in differences – diverse skills are an asset, not a threat. - And finally: dare to take space. Sons and daughters don’t go through a generational shift just to maintain the status quo, but to preserve what’s good while focusing on developing and building version 2.0 of the business. ## Leading as an Engineer in an IP Law Firm - Strategy, HR, Finance, and Internal Projects Without a Legal Background *As CEO, you work with strategy, HR, finance, and all internal projects at Hansson Thyresson - a full-service IP firm specializing in patents, trademarks, design protection across mechanics, electrical engineering, IT, telecom, and medical technology. The firm handles patent and trademark prosecution, litigation, licensing agreements, competition law, and advises clients on optimal IP protection strategies. Your vision is to ensure every company understands and secures their intellectual properties. For female founders building professional services firms or taking leadership roles in technical fields outside their direct expertise, how do you lead a law firm as an engineer rather than an attorney? What challenges did you face establishing credibility with IP attorneys, patent consultants, and legal clients when you don't have a legal background, and how did your engineering training actually give you advantages in running an IP firm that focuses on patents and technical innovation? What's your advice for women stepping into CEO roles in industries where they're not the typical profile?* A patent firm is often run by both engineers and lawyers, so it’s not unusual that I’m an engineer. I’m also not a trained patent engineer, but a different kind of engineer — and that’s exactly what allows me to thrive in this role. My focus is on finance, strategy, and sales: setting the direction, building sustainable teams, and making it easy for our specialists to excel in their roles. As CEO, I see it as a strength not to be a specialist myself; it means I have to trust my colleagues’ expertise and give them significant responsibility. That’s something our team truly appreciates — clear goals, accountability, and the freedom to deliver quality together. ## Should women think or act differently as leaders? I don’t believe women should spend excessive energy on the fact that they are women or on trying to act differently from men. What truly matters – regardless of gender – is being confident in yourself, delivering results, and providing clear direction. Personally, I rarely reflect on being a woman in a leadership position. My experience is that if you **just get on with it**, focusing on the task and quality, people adapt and start relating to you based on your competence and leadership, not your gender. As a CEO, I also see value in not being a specialist in every area. It means I consciously rely on my team’s expertise, give them significant responsibility, and build trust. That combination – **self-confidence, clarity, and trust in the team** – creates respect and results. For me, leadership is about setting a clear direction, ensuring resources, and then letting the specialists shine. When people have responsibility and freedom within clear frameworks, the best happens: they deliver at a high level, feel good, and drive the business forward. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### From 2 AM Talk Shows to VP of Operations at TrialX: Priya Menon on Producing 300+ CureTalks Episodes, Leading Global Operations at TrialX from India, and Why Patient Empowerment Drives Better Research URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/women-who-lead/from-2-am-talk-shows-to-vp-of-operations-at-trialx-priya-menon-on-producing-300-curetalks-episodes-leading-global-operations-at-trialx-from-india-and-why-patient-empowerment-drives-bett/ Last updated: 2026-01-12T02:36:36.000Z Priya Menon is Vice President of Operations at [TrialX](https://www.trialx.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org), a clinical research and space health informatics company, and Producer and Host of [CureTalks](https://www.trialx.com/curetalks?ref=foundedbywomen.org), an online healthcare talk show platform where she's produced and hosted over 300 episodes on cancer research and medical breakthroughs for US audiences. But her path to building a global healthcare career from India has meant waking up at 2 AM IST to host live sessions at 4 PM EST, consistently, for over a decade. With a background in life sciences and certifications from the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore, Priya serves as VP of Operations at TrialX, where she focuses on human resources, compliance, and company operational leadership for a company that works on patient recruitment for clinical trials. Her operational work is informed by something many healthcare technology leaders lack: years of direct engagement with patient communities through [CureTalks](https://www.youtube.com/@CureTalks/videos?ref=foundedbywomen.org). CureTalks is a natural extension of TrialX's patient-centric mission. While TrialX builds technology that connects patients to clinical trials "on earth and beyond," and CureTalks empowers patients with the knowledge they need to engage meaningfully in their own care and treatment decisions. Over more than a decade, Priya has interviewed leading researchers, clinicians, and patient advocates on topics ranging from reversing blindness with FDA-approved retinal gene therapy to CAR-T treatments, HIV cure research, space health and precision medicine in cancer. The CureTalks community has become more than an audience. It's become a family, with many patient advocates, listeners, and experts participating for years, some from the very beginning. What makes Priya's work unique is how she bridges the creative side of producing healthcare talk shows with the operational rigor of running compliance and operations for a clinical trials technology company. Her belief is simple but powerful: when patients are informed, systems work better. Conversations around consent become clearer, engagement becomes more genuine, and participation in trials becomes more confident and collaborative. The insights gained from interacting with patient communities feed directly into how TrialX thinks about operational design. For Priya, building a global career from India while serving US audiences has reinforced a core truth: meaningful healthcare work transcends borders. When you stay committed to purpose, even at 2 AM, distance becomes secondary to impact. In this Q&A, Priya shares her journey from life sciences to operations leadership, what it takes to build a career across countries and time zones, and why she views operations not as a support function but as a strategic driver of impact. ## From Launching CureTalks to VP Operations at TrialX - Building a Healthcare Media Platform That's Produced Over 300 Online Talk Shows **Q: You are VP of Operations at TrialX (a clinical research technology company in New York) and Host & Producer at CureTalks, where you've produced and hosted over 300 online talk shows for US audiences on cancer research and medical breakthroughs. CureTalks brings together doctors from institutions like Harvard Medical School and Mayo Clinic, researchers, patients, and advocates to discuss healthcare topics in plain language. For female executives building media platforms or content businesses in healthcare, what inspired you to launch CureTalks and how did you attract world-class medical experts to participate? Walk us through your journey from launching the first talk shows to producing 300+ episodes, and what advice would you give women about creating healthcare content that makes complex medical topics accessible to everyday people?** CureTalks emerged during brainstorming conversations at TrialX, at a time when we were thinking deeply about patient engagement and access to clinical research information. What became immediately clear was the growing disconnect between what was happening inside research labs and what patients and caregivers actually understood or could act on. Scientific progress was accelerating, but the information reaching people was fragmented, technical, and often inaccessible. That insight led to what would eventually become CureTalks — initially as a blog focused on clinical trials. The intent was simple but urgent: to bridge the gap between research and real-world understanding. As conversations around the blog grew, it became clear that written content alone wasn’t enough. People wanted to hear directly from researchers, ask questions, and engage in real time. CureTalks gradually evolved into interviews with Principal Investigators and researchers over Skype, and in 2012, into live, on-air discussions via BlogTalkRadio. At the time, using live online radio for healthcare conversations was still a new and largely unexplored medium. What set CureTalks apart was its patient-driven format. Each session featured an invited panel of patient advocates who engaged directly with the medical or research expert, while a live audience listened in. There were no intermediaries or scripted filters — patients asked their questions themselves. Anyone could dial in live and speak to the expert. For 2012, this level of direct access was rare. The very first CureTalks session focused on Multiple Myeloma, a cancer affecting plasma cells. To assemble a patient advocate panel, I reached out through ACOR and Facebook. The response was overwhelming. Complete strangers offered guidance, encouragement, and support — many of whom became long-standing panelists and contributors to CureTalks over the years. It highlighted just how deeply patients wanted clarity around emerging drugs, ongoing trials, and the right questions to ask their physicians. CureTalks became a platform with no middlemen. Patients heard directly from the researchers and doctors working on the science. Over time, we hosted leaders such as Carl June, widely known for his work in immunotherapy, to discuss CART cell therapies and Nobel Laureate Drew Weissman, who spoke about mRNA vaccines. During the pandemic, we launched a dedicated COVID series to help people understand vaccines and evolving symptoms at a time when accurate information was critical. What stood out consistently was the willingness of medical experts to participate. Clinicians and researchers from across the world — from Australia and India to Europe and the United States — generously shared their time and knowledge because they believed in the mission. They recognized the value of informed patients. Medical science is inherently complex. When people are healthy, they may not engage deeply with details like drug mechanisms, safety, efficacy, or side effects. But when illness enters the picture, the lack of accessible, trustworthy information becomes stark. CureTalks helped break down that complexity without diluting the science, making research understandable and actionable. Over time, CureTalks evolved from online radio to video-based conversations, but its core remained unchanged: community and trust. The reach extended far beyond live audiences. Panelists downloaded episodes and shared them within support groups; blogs were written by listeners; people wrote in seeking guidance. The platform earned credibility through consistency. We were also intentional about spotlighting under-discussed areas. Dedicated series on women’s health addressed topics like endometriosis, fertility, egg freezing, cervical cancer, and breast cancer — areas where information gaps are particularly pronounced. We talked about rare diseases, gene editing, microgravity and more. Alongside this work, my role as VP of Operations at TrialX gave me a systems-level understanding of how clinical trials operate reinforcing my belief that communication is not ancillary in healthcare; it is foundational. For women looking to build healthcare media or content platforms, my advice is to lead with empathy, build credibility through consistency, and embrace the role of translator. Making complex science accessible isn’t about simplifying it — it’s about respecting people enough to invite them into the conversation. ## Making Medical Research Understandable - How You Help Patients Navigate Cancer Treatment, Clinical Trials, and Medical Breakthroughs **Q: Through CureTalks, you've covered topics from new cancer treatments and clinical trial opportunities to helping patients understand their diagnosis and treatment options. Your mission is to "heal the world through information, discussion and sharing of knowledge." For female executives creating healthcare education content or working in patient advocacy, how do you take complicated medical research and turn it into content that patients and families can actually understand and use? What's your process for choosing topics that matter most to patients, and how do you find the right medical experts who can explain things clearly? What are the biggest misconceptions you've encountered about clinical trials, and how do you help patients feel more confident about participating in medical research?** At CureTalks, our guiding belief has always been that information itself can be healing — if it is accessible, timely, and trustworthy. Medical research is complex by nature, but patients and families don’t need less information; they need better translation. Our work has always focused on turning cutting-edge science into conversations people can understand and use in real life. The process of doing this well is detailed and intentional. We stay closely attuned to what’s happening in the medical ecosystem — from FDA approvals and emerging therapies to major research breakthroughs. At the same time, we remain deeply embedded in patient communities. By actively engaging in patient forums, advocacy groups, and online discussions, we listen carefully to what patients are asking, what they are confused about, and where clear information is missing. That combination — science on one side and lived patient experience on the other — helps us identify topics that truly matter. Once a topic is identified, we brainstorm internally to define the right focus. Often, the question isn’t what to cover, but how to frame it so it’s meaningful to someone navigating a diagnosis, a treatment decision, or a clinical trial conversation with their physician. Finding the right expert is just as critical as choosing the right topic. We deliberately seek out clinicians and researchers who are directly involved in the work — people who have authored the studies, led the trials, or treated patients with the therapy being discussed. Many of the experts we invite — including those from institutions like UPenn, UCSF, Harvard Medical School and Mayo Clinic — are not only leaders in their field, but also educators at heart. Their willingness to explain, clarify, and stay engaged with patient questions is what makes the conversation effective. Equally important is the role of patient advocates. We actively search social media, blogs, and community forums to identify advocates who are deeply engaged in a specific disease area and can add value to the discussion. These advocates are not passive participants — they help shape the conversation. Before each session, we collate questions from all panel members to ensure that the discussion addresses the widest possible range of patient concerns. The live Q&A, however, is always impromptu — allowing real-time fears, doubts, and clarifications to surface organically. My background in life sciences gave me a strong foundation to understand the healthcare domain — from clinical research and drug development to medical terminology — which made it possible to translate complex research accurately while keeping patient realities front and center. One of the biggest areas where this approach has made a difference is in conversations around clinical trials. A common misconception we encounter is that clinical trials are a “last resort,” unsafe, or that participants are treated like test subjects without agency. Many patients also believe trials are only for those who have exhausted all options, or that they will receive a placebo instead of care. Through CureTalks, we address these fears directly by bringing in the people who design and run the trials. We explain trial phases, safety protocols, informed consent, and how standard-of-care treatments are often part of trial design. By hearing directly from researchers and clinicians — without intermediaries — patients begin to understand that clinical trials are not experiments done to them, but research conducted with them, under strict ethical and safety oversight. What consistently helps patients feel more confident is transparency. When they understand why a trial exists, what question it is trying to answer, what protections are in place, and what participation truly involves, fear gives way to informed choice. CureTalks creates a space where those conversations can happen openly. For women creating healthcare education content or working in patient advocacy, my advice is this: listen before you speak, collaborate before you explain, and never underestimate the intelligence of your audience. Patients don’t need simplification — they need clarity, context, and respect. When you center their questions and invite experts who are willing to meet them where they are, meaningful understanding follows. At its core, CureTalks is about empowering people with knowledge — because when patients are informed, they are better equipped to advocate for themselves, participate in research, and make decisions with confidence. ## Leading Operations at a Clinical Trial Recruitment Technology Company: Building a Global Career from India While Serving US Audiences **Q: As VP of Operations at TrialX, you oversee company operations, HR, talent management and compliance for a company that helps connect patients with clinical trials and supports medical research. You have a background in life sciences and certifications from IIM, Bangalore and you're based in India while producing content for US audiences. For female executives building international businesses or working in operations roles, what's your advice about building a healthcare career across different countries and time zones? How do you balance the creative side (producing talk shows) with the business side (running operations), and what would you tell women about creating healthcare solutions that serve both patients and the medical community?** Building a global healthcare career while being based in India has meant learning how to operate a mission-driven technology company across borders, time zones, and cultures. As VP of Operations at **TrialX**, I oversee company operations, HR, talent management, and compliance for a platform that helps connect patients with appropriate clinical trials, primarily in the US but across multiple geographies. My background in life sciences has helped me understand the broader healthcare and clinical research landscape, but my role at TrialX is firmly focused on **building strong internal systems** — ensuring that teams are supported, processes are scalable, and compliance is embedded into how the company operates. In a patient-facing technology business, trust is built not only through the product, but through how responsibly the organization functions behind the scenes. Working across time zones is one of the everyday challenges of this role. Producing CureTalks sessions for US audiences often meant waking up at **2 a.m. IST to go live at 4 p.m. EST**, and doing that consistently for over a decade. That level of commitment is only possible when the work feels deeply purposeful. Over time, the CureTalks community — including hosts, patient advocates, experts, and listeners — has become a family united by a shared belief in patient empowerment. CureTalks is not a creative endeavor separate from my operational role; it reflects **TrialX’s ethos that informed patients make better decisions**. By helping patients understand their conditions, treatment options, and the role of clinical trials, CureTalks supports TrialX’s broader mission of improving trial awareness and participation. Patient education and recruitment are closely connected — when people understand their choices, engagement becomes more meaningful. For women building international careers or stepping into operations and leadership roles, my advice is to appreciate the power of operational excellence. Operations is not just about keeping the lights on — it shapes culture, enables scale, and protects trust. Managing people, compliance, and processes across geographies requires empathy, clarity, and consistency. I would also encourage women to see healthcare technology as a space where business discipline and human impact coexist. When company operations are strong and aligned with a patient-first philosophy, technology can serve both the medical community and the people it ultimately exists to help. Building a global healthcare career from India has reinforced my belief that meaningful impact often happens quietly — through systems that work, teams that feel supported, and patients who feel empowered to participate in their own care. ### A Closing Note Finally, it’s important to say that CureTalks has been a collective effort. Every conversation is the result of collaboration between the internal team, hosts, patient advocates, researchers, clinicians, and an engaged global audience, all working toward a shared goal: empowering patients with knowledge so they can play an active role in their own health and treatment decisions. The strength of CureTalks lies in this ecosystem — where experts are generous with their time, advocates bring lived experience to the table, and patients feel heard rather than spoken to. That spirit of partnership is what has sustained the platform over the years, and what continues to make meaningful, patient-centered conversations possible. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### From Camden Council to MBE: Dr Shabnam Ahmed on Building School of Shabs, Pioneering Anti-Racism in Social Work, and Why Safety Isn't Universal URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/women-who-lead/from-camden-council-to-mbe-dr-shabnam-ahmed-on-building-school-of-shabs-pioneering-anti-racism-in-social-work-and-why-safety-isnt-universal/ Last updated: 2026-01-08T03:50:29.000Z **After 26 years** **shaping social work practice at Camden Council, Dr Shabnam Ahmed didn't just leave to start a business. She crystallized decades of frontline expertise, doctoral research, and anti-racist advocacy into School of Shabs, a training company reshaping how practitioners across England approach supervision, equity, and professional development.** Dr Ahmed's journey defies the traditional entrepreneurial narrative. She didn't quit her day job to chase a startup dream. Instead, she spent years deliberately integrating her roles: team manager, doctoral researcher, YouTube educator, and national anti-racism framework architect. Each role informed and amplified the others. The result? A professional doctorate completed without corrections (a rarity in academia), an MBE for services to social care and anti-racism, and the co-creation of the BASW's endorsed Anti-Racism Supervision Template now being implemented across Social Work employers throughout England. Her research reveals what many South Asian women in professional spaces already know but rarely see validated: that safety, courage, and vulnerability aren't universal concepts. What looks like confident self-advocacy to one person can feel culturally or professionally perilous to another. This insight, grounded in rigorous academic inquiry and lived experience, now shapes everything from her supervision frameworks to the workshops she delivers internationally. In this conversation, Dr Ahmed walks us through the practical mechanics of building a business without abandoning frontline work, the process of creating systemic change in established institutions, and why she believes the intersectional perspective of minoritized women isn't a limitation to overcome but the innovation our systems desperately need. ## From 26 Years at Camden Council to Founding School of Shabs - Building a Social Work Training Company While Leading Practice Within Adult Safeguarding and Earning an MBE *You were part of the leadership team in adult safeguarding at Camden London Borough Council, where you've worked for 26 years (the last four in management roles). You're also a registered social worker, practice educator, best interest assessor, and were a team manager. Alongside your full-time role at Camden Council, you founded School of Shabs, a training company and YouTube channel where you share creative ideas for social work supervision, wellbeing, stress management, and anti-racist practice. In 2024, you were awarded an MBE in the New Year Honours for services to social care. For female founders building training businesses or consulting practices while working full-time in demanding leadership roles, what inspired you to launch School of Shabs alongside your Camden Council position? Walk us through how you balanced building a training company with while contributing to leadership in adult safeguarding for a major London borough, and what advice would you give women about turning their professional expertise into entrepreneurial ventures without leaving their day jobs?* School of Shabs, which is my official business name, was initially launched as a YouTube channel in 2019\. At the time, I was working as a team manager for Camden Council’s largest locality adult social work team. I had also started my professional Doctorate in Social Work. Alongside these roles, I was actively leading race equality education within Camden and became a member of the [Black and Ethnic Minority Professional Symposium (BPS)](https://basw.co.uk/support/groups-and-networks/thematic-groups-england/black-ethnic-minority-professionals-symposium?ref=foundedbywomen.org), a group within the British Association of Social Workers, which is a safe online space for Black and Ethnic Minority social workers to educate, empower and equip themselves to navigate the various institutional and structural obstacles they face as professionals. The BPS is a necessary opportunity to role-model Black and ethnic minority excellence, professionalism and unity. My core drive has always been to seek knowledge and apply it critically and creatively to improve practice. I embodied this throughout my time in Camden, translating insights into action through direct work, creating an e-learning module for Awareness around Modern Slavery, team leadership, service-wide training, and published writing. School of Shabs then, emerged as a creative platform to fuse these passions, allowing me to share decades of practice, supervision expertise, and leadership insight, particularly around wellbeing and anti-racist practice, at scale. Through YouTube, it allowed me to teach, inspire, and empower practitioners globally, while remaining engaged and committed in supporting the frontline work as a team manager and later as a safeguarding lead. My first career after my undergraduate degree in Psychology was actually in higher education: I was approached by a professor to join a teaching team for a module called Entrepreneurship and Innovation to combine insights from psychology to the world of business. I was nervous but accepted, and those two years teaching were some of the most formative and rewarding of my life. I loved supporting students, sharing ideas, and creating a space for learning and innovation. I left academia after two years because my father was unexpectedly diagnosed with a terminal illness, and I chose to care for him full-time. That period of my life taught me about priorities, resilience, and the good power in health and social care services. These are lessons that have shaped everything I do professionally and personally. This position of lived experience, of what it feels like to become a carer, was like no other. I am a firm believer that there is no substitute for how one’s lived experiences shape our world, practice and at the strategic level how these insights can help shape decisions and policy which resonate with people’s experiences and expectations. The You Tube Chanel which currently houses 18 educational videos quickly garnered the attention of senior leaders in social care, universities, learning academies and training departments, who then approached me to deliver key notes and deliver workshops. Initially I balanced this with my leadership role in Camden and what enabled this was, structure, discipline, boundaries and integration rather than separation. My years of working in a leading outstanding council informed the education I offered, and the creative, reflective practice I developed through School of Shabs enriched my leadership at Camden. After a year I was a recipient of an award (National Institute Health Research) and a fellowship with Kings, which enabled me to reduce my hours at the council and devote more time to my doctoral study. Alongside this, I was able to manage the demand for teaching opportunities, which included attending and speaking at conferences internationally. Eventually in December 2024 after 26 years of service to the London Borough of Camden, I made the decision to part ways to fully concentrate on my consulting practice and research. For women considering building a business or consulting practice while maintaining other demanding roles my advice is: 1. If this is your calling, your passion, please do not ignore it, explore these feelings. 2. Start small, leverage your expertise: Focus on areas where your experience can make the most impact. 3. Integrate rather than separate: Let your professional role and entrepreneurial work inform each other. 4. Set boundaries which allow you to do both without compromising the other. 5. Create a third space to ground, build and nourish your thoughts: I utilise the concept of third space in multiple ways through my work, for the purpose of what we are talking about here, I am referring to a space where you connect with those that hold you, lift you, provide you with good challenge, those that inspire you and those you might collaborate with. School of Shabs has allowed me to come full circle really, returning to teaching, coaching, mentoring, and sharing knowledge, while continuing to influence and shape the practices in health and social care, something that I remain deeply committed to. Receiving an MBE in 2024 was an honour, but the real reward is seeing practitioners grow, reflect, and deliver better outcomes for the people who access health and social care. ## Creating the Anti-Racism Supervision Framework - How Your Work with BASW's Black and Ethnic Minority Professionals Symposium (BPS) Influenced Social Work Practice Across England *In 2022, motivated by the tragic murder of George Floyd and the Black Lives Matter movement, you co-created the Anti-Racism Supervision Template and guidance with BASW's Black and Ethnic Minority Professionals' Symposium (BPS). The template was designed to "integrate anti-racism into the supervisory space" and has been shaped by practitioners, social work students, managers, and practice educators across England. You also recently helped develop the* [*"Shades of Bias" toolkit*](https://basw.co.uk/shades-bias-sob?ref=foundedbywomen.org) *to help social workers process and respond to discrimination, oppression and racism in their workplaces. Your research for your doctorate (which you completed without corrections) focuses on South Asian women's experience of supervision in adult social work, and you've said "safety, courage and vulnerability is not a universal concept." For female founders creating frameworks, tools, or resources that address systemic issues in their industries, how did you identify the gap in social work supervision around anti-racism, and what was your process for developing a framework that would be adopted nationally? What challenges did you face getting buy-in from social work organizations, and what advice would you give women about creating change in large, established systems? How does your research on South Asian women inform your approach to anti-racist practice?* The gap in social work and supervision on anti-racism came into sharp focus after the murder of George Floyd and the global Black Lives Matter reckoning. In my practice and research, I saw that while the profession champions social justice, its supervisory spaces often sidelined conversations about race and culture. Practitioners, particularly those from Black and minoritised backgrounds, were navigating racism in isolation, without a structured, safe space to process these experiences, a fundamental contradiction to the values of social work. The need wasn't for more passive "cultural competence," but for proactive embodied practice of anti-racism: to challenge bias, support staff, ensure equitable decisions for those the professional professed to support, and to hold a mirror up to the systems that reproduced and sustained racism. This conviction led me to leverage my networks and my "Third Space" with BASW’s Black and Ethnic Minority Professionals Symposium (BPS) to co-create what is nationally recognised as the Anti-Racism Supervision Template in social work. From the outset, this was a collaborative, practitioner-led endeavour. We held consultations across England with social workers, students, managers, practice educators, principal social workers, and academics. The template was built from the ground up, shaped by those most impacted by racism, ensuring it was a useable practical tool, not just passive theoretical guidance. The template’s true power lies in its translation from a document into transformational practice. I believe it is structurally changing supervision by supporting and guiding reflective spaces and social work supervision, to explicitly name and address racism. Supervisors and practitioners now have a concrete framework to: - Proactively discuss racial identity and its impact on the relationship with those they entered the profession to support. - Critically analyse decisions through an anti-racist lens, disrupting bias in risk assessment and resource allocation. - Process workplace racism with support, reducing the emotional labour and isolation borne by minoritised staff. - Set anti-racist objectives as a core part of professional development, moving from passive awareness to accountable action. I recognised early that a template alone isn't enough. The key has been breathing life into it through exploratory workshops, so I have designed and tailored training and workshops, which I have been facilitating with local authorities and other social work organisations for over 3 years now. In these sessions, we move from theory to practice, embedding the framework into real life supervision policies. This active implementation is why the template has been widely adopted; some organisations have invited me back multiple times. It's not an add-on, but a vital enhancement that strengthens the core function of supervision improving practice for the people we serve. Its principles also provide a parallel impact for equity across all protected characteristics. The main challenge is moving beyond institutional inertia and defensiveness. Gaining buy-in requires shifting the perception of anti-racism from a "special interest" to a fundamental standard of professional excellence. My advice for women driving this kind of change in established systems is: 1\. Build Coalitions from Your ‘Third Space’: Do not work in isolation. Forge alliances both within and outside the system. My most powerful space was the collaborative, trust-based "Third Space" with the BPS, rooted in shared purpose. 2\. Anchor Everything in Lived Experience: The standpoint must always be the lived reality of the issue. It provides an undeniable evidence base and moral authority. 3\. Frame Change as Essential Improvement: Present your framework as strengthening and enhancing existing good practice, not attacking it. We positioned the template as the how to achieve the profession's own stated commitments to justice equality and equity. 4\. Cultivate Courageous Steadfastness: Prepare for resistance. As I often say, "safety, courage and vulnerability are not universally the same for everyone." Navigate differing perceptions of risk with empathy, but remain steadfast. Your resilience and robustness will model the change you seek. 5\. Pilot and Adapt: Test your framework in real settings, listen to feedback, and refine it. Practical utility drives adoption. We are set to review the document this year. ## Completing Your Doctorate on South Asian Women and Intersectional Disadvantages - Balancing Research, Leadership, Entrepreneurship, and Advocacy *You recently completed your doctorate without corrections on a topic addressing South Asian women and the intersectional disadvantages to their career progression. You've been vocal about how "safety, courage and vulnerability is not a universal concept" and how your research confirms the unique challenges faced by South Asian women in professional spaces. Throughout this journey, you've balanced doctoral research while leading practice within an adult safeguarding team at Camden Council, running School of Shabs, delivering training through your YouTube channel, and serving as a member of BASW's Black and Ethnic Minority Professionals' Symposium. For female founders juggling multiple roles while pursuing advanced education and building businesses, how did you manage completing a doctorate while maintaining your leadership position and growing your training company? What did your research reveal about the specific barriers South Asian women face in career progression, and how has this research influenced the work you do through School of Shabs and your anti-racism advocacy? What would you tell other South Asian women (or women from minority backgrounds) about building careers and businesses in spaces where they may not see themselves represented?* Starting the doctorate while working in local government, running School of Shabs, and engaging in advocacy wasn't about perfect balance, it was about purposeful integration. I refused to silo these parts of my life; instead, I allowed them to inform and fuel one another. My day job in Camden, provided the real-world context that grounded my academic research. School of Shabs and the training work became the translational engine with the aspiration that my research which considered intersectionality and anti-racism would become accessible and actionable for practitioners and leaders. The key was seeing this not as separate workloads, but as one interconnected mission viewed through particular lenses, for the roles to feed each other, turning a potential burden into a source of unique insight. There did, however come a point, when I had to make a decision about how realistic it was to be able to continue to do all of this with equal rigour and passion, given the deadline for my doctorate was also fast approaching. The final decision to bet on myself and grow my work through School of Shabs was deeply connected to my sense of ikigai: the intersection between what I love, what I’m good at, what the world needs, and what I can be paid for. I recently passed my Doctorate without corrections, which I am told is extremely rare in academia, something I am extremely proud of. My research has illuminated that for South Asian women, career progression in social work is hindered not by a single barrier, but through intersectional disadvantages. As mentioned previously, what safety, courage and vulnerability look and feel like is not the same for everyone. My study demonstrates that experiences of racism and sexism are frequently minimised in society and at work, actions that are deemed professionally courageous (e.g., self-promotion, challenging authority) can feel culturally or personally risky, carrying fears of being negatively labelled for South Asian women in social work. Another key theme is that of Representation, there is good power in seeing people who look like you in leadership positions, it matters not only in who leads, but in whose knowledge is valued. My research and it’s recommendations are a call to open up space for South Asian social workers to be heard, supported, be visible, and to ensure that the next generation does not have to work harder simply to belong. My role as an educator will continue to evolve and I will now be broadening my services because the insights on power, silence, and intersectional disadvantage from social care are critically relevant to every field where people lead, collaborate, and innovate. I will remain committed to ensuring that my workshops are ethically informed, grounded in lived experience, and shaped by what this research has taught me about power, identity, and leadership. To South Asian women and women from minority backgrounds building careers and businesses where representation is scarce, I would offer this: 1. Reconnect with your purpose: Your ikigai will sustain you through long hours and competing priorities. 2. Redefine Your Credentials: Your lived experience at the intersection of cultures is not a deficit; it is a unique form of expertise. It grants you dual vision, an ability to see gaps in the system and innovate solutions that others might miss. This is your entrepreneurial and leadership superpower. 3. Curate Your "Third Space" Intentionally: You cannot thrive in isolation. Consciously build your own "Third Space”, a trusted coalition of mentors, coaches, sponsors, and peers (both within and outside your community) who understand your specific context. This network isn't just for support; it's your strategic advisory board. 4. Lead with Your Inquiry, Not Just Your Advocacy: When entering spaces where you aren't represented, lead with the powerful questions your perspective allows you to ask. "How might this policy impact women, women who are marginalised in leadership”, "What barriers exist here that we are not seeing?" This positions you as a crucial problem-solver, not just a voice for a minority. 5. Whether formal or lived, ground your actions in evidence: When you can articulate the "why" behind a barrier or a solution, as my doctorate allowed me to do, it becomes harder for your insights to be dismissed. Data as in lived experiences and testimony can help disarm bias. Your unique perspective is not the obstacle; it is the very innovation our systems desperately need. The path from my desk in Camden, to the pages of my doctorate, to the helm of my own enterprise reveals a core truth: our most critical expertise is rarely found in a single role. It is forged at the demanding, fertile intersections where our professional duties, our intellectual inquiry, and our personal purpose collide and combine. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### From São Paulo to Tampa to Founding Controller Works: Mariana Alvarez on Growing Up in a Family Business, Healing from Divorce While Building a Virtual Accounting Firm, and Why "I Understand When They Say 'I Barely Have Money to Make Payroll This Week'" URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/accounting/from-sao-paulo-to-tampa-to-founding-controller-works-mariana-alvarez-on-growing-up-in-a-family-business-healing-from-divorce-while-building-a-virtual-accounting-firm-and-why-i-understan/ Last updated: 2026-01-07T02:37:40.000Z **Mariana Alvarez, MSA, EA is the founder and CEO of** [**Controller Works**](https://controllerworks.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org)**, a virtual outsourced accounting firm serving small to mid-size family-owned businesses in Tampa and beyond. But her path to building Controller Works came after enduring a challenging divorce that dismantled her family and forced her to rebuild her life while protecting her children.** Born and raised in a small town in São Paulo, Brazil, Mariana grew up in a household where entrepreneurship was woven into everyday life. Her parents were business owners, and dinner conversations revolved around responsibility, resilience, and the reality that owning a business means carrying the weight of other people's livelihoods. Mariana's first job in high school was working for her father's company, an experience that planted the entrepreneurial seed early. After moving to the United States and earning her Master of Accounting from Liberty University, Mariana invested early in her career, building experience with firms including Ignite Spot Accounting Services. She had also co-built a brick-and-mortar accounting firm with her former husband, which she lost in the divorce. During one of the most difficult personal chapters of her life, Mariana found that corporate work gave her structure and safety, helping her regain her footing. "For a period of time, corporate work gave me structure and safety... But as I healed, something became very clear: safety alone was not fulfillment. I realized I was surviving, not living." The decision to found Controller Works wasn't a bold leap fueled by confidence. It was "a quiet, honest decision rooted in alignment." Mariana made a vow: "I need to be true to myself and do what I always dreamt of doing." She founded Controller Works to support family-owned businesses, drawing from her roots and deep understanding of their unique struggles. "I understand when they say, well, I barely have money to make payroll this week, and I don't know what to do," she explains. "I know exactly what they're talking about because I've been there." An Enrolled Agent (EA) certified in QuickBooks Online, Xero, Fathom Financial Reporting, Bill.com, and Gusto, Mariana emphasizes automating data entry and creating rules correctly so "it pretty much does itself," freeing time for financial analysis and strategic guidance. She's developed Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) that streamline accounting processes, and Controller Works has built a team with over 30 years of collective experience. Mariana was featured in WomLEAD Magazine for "overcoming adversity and paying it forward." Clients describe her as "absolutely fantastic," "extremely organized, professional, and most importantly, reliable," and "an absolute lifesaver." One client notes: "The best accountant I've ever had the pleasure to work with. Customer service is unbeatable along with the quality of the work." Controller Works' mission is built on transparency, kindness, integrity, and gratitude. The firm provides personalized financial guidance customized to each client's situation so they can achieve financial security and build legacies. Mariana's approach blends technical expertise with empathy, offering not just accounting services but a judgment-free sounding board for business owners navigating their own obstacles. During her free time, Mariana enjoys spending time with her children working on puzzles, reading, and exploring the world through traveling. She finds purpose in empowering other business owners, especially women, to thrive by using her difficult experiences to better serve and support her clients. In this Q&A, Mariana shares her journey from growing up watching her parents' entrepreneurial journey in Brazil to enduring divorce and rebuilding her life in Tampa, why she left corporate safety to return to entrepreneurship even during personal hardship, and her advice for women about building businesses while healing from trauma and protecting what matters most. --- ## From São Paulo to Tampa to Building Controller Works - Growing Up Watching Your Parents' Entrepreneurial Journey, Enduring a Challenging Divorce, and Founding a Virtual Accounting Firm Dedicated to Family-Owned Businesses *You were born and raised in São Paulo, Brazil, in a household where entrepreneurship and education were constant conversations. Your parents were business owners, and your first job in high school was working for your father's company. After earning your Bachelor's in Business Administration and Master of Science in Accounting from Liberty University, you worked in corporate accounting (including Ignite Spot Accounting Services and SOV). You endured a challenging divorce but found the strength to protect your children and rebuild your life. After two years reestablishing yourself in the corporate world, you realized it wasn't your true passion and founded Controller Works, a virtual outsourced accounting firm serving small to mid-size family-owned businesses. You've said "I need to be true to myself and do what I always dreamt of doing." Walk us through the decision to leave corporate accounting to start Controller Works during a personally difficult time. What made you realize you needed to return to entrepreneurship despite the challenges you were facing, and what advice would you give women about pursuing their business dreams while rebuilding their lives after major setbacks?* Growing up in a small town in the state of São Paulo, entrepreneurship was never an abstract concept for me. It was part of everyday life. My parents were business owners, and dinner conversations often revolved around responsibility, resilience, and the reality that owning a business means carrying the weight of other people’s livelihoods. My first job was in my father’s company while I was still in high school, and that experience planted a seed early on. I didn’t just learn how businesses operate. I learned what it feels like to care deeply about something you build. After moving to the United States and earning my Masters in Accounting I invested early in my career. I had also co-built a brick-and-mortar accounting firm with my former husband, which gave me firsthand experience of entrepreneurship from the inside. On paper, everything made sense. But internally, I was navigating one of the most difficult personal chapters of my life. I went through a challenging divorce, and my priority became protecting my children and rebuilding stability for all of us. For a period of time, corporate work gave me structure and safety.I built a solid corporate accounting career and worked with well-established firms which helped me regain my footing. But as I healed, something became very clear: safety alone was not fulfillment. I realized I was surviving, not living. The more grounded I became, the louder that inner voice grew. I kept coming back to the same truth: I needed to be true to myself and do what I had always dreamed of doing. Starting Controller Works wasn’t a bold leap fueled by confidence. It was a quiet, honest decision rooted in alignment. Entrepreneurship had always been part of who I was. Building something meaningful, values-driven, and human-centered felt like coming home to myself. I didn’t wait until everything felt perfect. I started while still rebuilding, trusting that clarity would come through action. For women rebuilding their lives after major setbacks, my advice is this: you don’t need to have it all figured out to begin. Healing and building can happen at the same time. Listen closely to what feels true for you, not what looks safe or expected. When your work is aligned with who you are becoming, it becomes a source of strength rather than another burden. ## "I Understand When They Say 'I Barely Have Money to Make Payroll This Week'" - Building Controller Works with Empathy and Technology to Support Family Business Owners Through Financial Challenges *Controller Works provides full-service virtual outsourced accounting and advisory solutions, and you've built your business on understanding the unique struggles of family business owners. You've said "I understand when they say, well, I barely have money to make payroll this week, and I don't know what to do" - drawing from your roots watching your parents' business journey. You're an Enrolled Agent (EA) and certified in QuickBooks Online, Xero, Fathom Financial Reporting, Bill.com, and Gusto. You emphasize automating data entry and creating rules correctly so "it pretty much does itself," freeing up time to focus on financial analysis and strategic guidance. You've also developed Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) that streamline accounting processes for clients. For female founders managing bookkeeping, cash flow, and financial strategy as they grow, what's your approach to helping business owners move from "just keeping books" to actually understanding their numbers and making strategic decisions? What advice would you give women about when to outsource accounting versus trying to do it themselves, and what are the most common financial mistakes you see entrepreneurs make?* I understand family business owners on a very personal level. I grew up watching my parents navigate uncertainty, cash flow stress, and the emotional weight of running a business that supports a family. That perspective never left me. When a client tells me they are worried about making payroll, I don’t hear numbers first. I hear responsibility, fear, and care. At Controller Works, my approach has always been about moving business owners beyond “just keeping the books.” Clean data is only the foundation. The real value comes when business owners understand what their numbers are telling them and feel confident making decisions from them. That’s where systems, automation, and thoughtful processes matter. We focus heavily on setting up accounting systems correctly from the start. Automating data entry, building rules properly, and using technology intentionally frees time and mental energy. That space allows us to shift the conversation from transactions to strategy. Financial reports should not feel intimidating. They should feel supportive and empowering. For women founders especially, my advice is to stop viewing outsourcing as a failure or something you earn later. If bookkeeping and financial management are consuming your time, creating stress, or keeping you from focusing on growth, it’s time to get support. Your energy is one of your most valuable assets. The most common mistakes I see entrepreneurs make are waiting too long to ask for help, mixing personal and business finances, and making decisions without real-time financial clarity. Numbers don’t have to be scary, but they do need attention. When business owners understand their cash flow, margins, and trends, they stop reacting and start leading. ## Building Controller Works While Healing and Growing - Balancing Entrepreneurship with Motherhood, Self-Care, and Creating a Team That Empowers Other Women Business Owners *Starting Controller Works hasn't been easy - you had to rapidly work on sales, marketing, and business development, working weekends and late hours to grow the company from the ground up. You've been open about how "it's not easy when you just dismantle a family for whatever reason" and initially diving into work was a coping mechanism. Over time, you've made space for processing your feelings, self-care, and giving back. You enjoy spending time with your daughter working on puzzles, reading, and exploring the world through traveling. You've built a dedicated team at Controller Works, and you find purpose in empowering other business owners (especially women) to thrive. You've been featured in WomLEAD Magazine for "overcoming adversity and paying it forward." For female entrepreneurs balancing business building with personal healing and motherhood, what's your advice about setting boundaries and avoiding burnout while growing a company? How do you create space for both professional growth and personal wellbeing, and what would you tell women about using their own difficult experiences to better serve and empower their clients?* In the early stages of building Controller Works, I worked relentlessly. I had to learn sales, marketing, and business development quickly, often working nights and weekends. At that time, work also became a coping mechanism. When you dismantle a family, even for the right reasons, there is grief involved. Staying busy felt easier than sitting with those emotions. Over time, I learned that success without wellbeing is not sustainable. Healing requires space, honesty, and boundaries. I began allowing myself to slow down, to process, and to care for myself with the same intention I brought to my work. Motherhood played a big role in that shift. Time spent with my kids, whether doing puzzles, reading, or traveling together, reminded me of what truly matters. Building a team was another turning point. I stopped trying to do everything myself and focused on creating an environment where others could grow. Today, Controller Works is built around empowerment, trust, and purpose. Supporting other business owners, especially women, is deeply personal to me because I know how transformative the right support can be. My advice to women building businesses while healing is to release the idea that you must choose one or the other. Forgiveness creates the internal space required to grow without carrying the past into every decision. You are allowed to grow professionally and tend to your personal wellbeing at the same time. Set boundaries early. Ask for help. And don’t underestimate the power of your lived experience. Our hardest chapters often give us the deepest empathy. When we heal, we don’t just move forward. We become better leaders, better partners, and better supporters of others. Your story doesn’t disqualify you. It strengthens you. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### From Condé Nast to LoveReading and brave&bold: Deborah Maclaren on Building Two Purpose-Driven Businesses, Donating £100K+ in Books to UK Schools, and Why Purpose Is Your Competitive Advantage URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/women-who-lead/from-conde-nast-to-lovereading-and-brave-bold-deborah-maclaren-on-building-two-purpose-driven-businesses-donating-100k-in-books-to-uk-schools-and-why-purpose-is-your-competitive-advanta/ Last updated: 2026-01-06T12:46:54.000Z Deborah Maclaren is Chief Executive of [LoveReading](http://www.lovereading.co.uk/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) and [LoveReading4Kids](http://www.lovereading4kids.co.uk/?ref=foundedbywomen.org), and Co-Founder of [brave&bold](http://www.braveandbold.co.uk/?ref=foundedbywomen.org), a female-focused consultancy providing fractional expertise to organizations. But her path to building two purpose-driven businesses came after nearly three decades in media and publishing, where she started at Condé Nast, and climbed the corporate ladder becoming Head of Sales at Future Publishing, and serving as Commercial Director at Highbury House Communications overseeing 45+ magazines. On paper, her career was flourishing but alongside that corporate success, Deborah was volunteering and those roles were motivating her in a completely different way. They showed her what was missing and she realized she didn't want purpose to sit on the edges of her life anymore. She wanted it embedded in what she did every day. Nominated for Northern Power Women Awards 2024 as "A Person With Purpose," a Fellow of the RSA since 2020, trustee of two children-focused charities, and judge for The Week Junior Book Awards, Coram Voices, and The Shine Media Awards, Deborah has built a career that proves purpose isn't just about sleeping well at night. When done properly, it becomes your strongest competitive advantage. In this Q&A, Deborah shares how volunteering revealed what was missing from her corporate career, her framework for balancing mission with margins across two very different business models (social enterprise vs. consultancy), and her strategy for growing purpose-driven businesses with small teams and limited budgets when you're competing against well-funded competitors and giving away 25% of your profits. --- ## From Condé Nast to Building Two Purpose-Driven Businesses - Why Volunteering Showed You What Your Career Was Missing **Q: You're Chief Executive of LoveReading and Co-Founder of brave&bold, after spending nearly three decades in media and publishing (Condé Nast, Future Publishing as Head of Sales, Highbury House Communications as Commercial Director overseeing 45+ magazines). You've also spent 8 years as a trustee of your local scout group, 10+ years as a school governor, and 1.5 years as a charity trustee - roles you say "make my heart sing." Walk us through the realization that your volunteering was showing you what was missing from your career, and what made you decide you had to build businesses that gave you purpose. For women in senior corporate roles who feel something's missing but aren't sure how to transition, what advice would you give about identifying what truly matters to you and building a career around it?** A: For a long time, I didn’t consciously frame it as “something is missing.” On paper, my career was flourishing. My first job after University was at Condé Nast based in Vogue House in London, by 25 I was running a multi-million sales department in a big publishing company. Senior roles. Big brands. Responsibility. Momentum. But alongside that, I was volunteering. What started as fundraising for my local church developed into a role as a school governor, and I later added charity trustee roles into the mix. Saying no isn’t my strong suit! But I realised that those unpaid, community-focused roles were lighting me up in a completely different way. What struck me was the contrast. In my day job, I was driving commercial success; in my volunteering, I was seeing the real-world consequences of my time, my energy, my skills and my experience. The outcomes from a lack of people stepping forward, from systems not working, and of children having experiences that they wouldn’t ordinarily have had. Seeing the inside of a broken system. Schools with declining budgets. Institutions struggling to make ends meet. Having to make incredibly tough decisions. Children without books. Families falling through gaps. And I realised that the work that made my heart sing wasn’t the work I was being paid for. That’s when it clicked: my volunteering wasn’t “extra”. It was pointing very clearly to what mattered most to me. Contribution. Fairness. Education. Literacy. Impact. And it was highlighting the absence of those things in my career. I didn’t wake up one morning and quit everything. It was gradual. But once I saw the pattern, I couldn’t unsee it. I realised I didn’t want “purpose” to sit on the edges of my life anymore, I wanted it embedded in what I did every day. For women in senior corporate roles who feel that quiet discomfort, my advice is to pay attention to where your energy goes *outside* work. What matters to you? What do you make time for when no one is paying you? What problems make you angry enough to act? Volunteering is an incredibly honest mirror - it shows you what you value without the noise of salary, status or expectation. You don’t have to leap straight into entrepreneurship. Launch a brand new business. But start by naming what matters. Purpose doesn’t arrive fully formed. I feel incredibly privileged to have found mine, developed mine - partly through serendipity, partly through searching for meaning. And I’m thankful for that every day. ## Building LoveReading and brave&bold - Two Different Models, Same Purpose-Driven Foundation **Q: LoveReading is an online bookstore (donating 25% of cover price to schools with £100K+ donated since launch); tackling the school funding crisis you've witnessed firsthand as a governor where teachers choose between "heating or library books." brave&bold is your female-focussed consultancy helping businesses by providing fractional expertise. How do you think about building multiple purpose-driven businesses with different models (social enterprise vs. consultancy)? What's your framework for balancing mission with margins across different ventures, and what advice would you give women about when to bootstrap, when to give away profits, and how to structure businesses for both impact and sustainability?** A: LoveReading and brave&bold look very different on the surface. One is a social-purpose online bookstore, the other a consultancy - but they’re built on the same foundation: using experience, influence and commercial skill to create positive change. The development of LoveReading into an online bookstore with social purpose came directly from what I’d seen as a school governor. When teachers are choosing between heating and books, something is broken. The idea that we could build a business where every purchase funds reading for pleasure felt like a practical, scalable response. A community-driven engine where every booklover can help build the next generation of readers. Giving 10% off RRPs and donating 25% to schools is a bold choice. But it’s the point, not the afterthought. brave&bold came from a different but equally familiar problem. It was created to make space for women who wanted - and deserved - to work differently. A community. A collective of highly experienced midlife women who don’t want to step back, opt out, burn out, or squeeze themselves into roles that aren’t fit for purpose. Women who want flexibility without compromise. Peer support rather than competition. And the chance to do meaningful work with organisations that genuinely value what women bring to leadership and organisations. It’s about who we work with, how we work, and why. brave&bold exists to help organisations build braver, more human brands - and to create meaningful, flexible work for experienced midlife women who’ve often been sidelined by traditional consulting models. By traditional organisations. My framework is simple: - Mission first. But not mission-only - Margins that sustain the mission For women building impact-led ventures, the key questions are: - Where do I need to be generous? - Where do I need to be disciplined? - What *must* this business fund in order to survive and grow? Bootstrap when you need control and clarity. Give away profits when it’s core to your impact model. Structure your business so purpose is built in - not bolted on - and so sustainability isn’t treated as a betrayal of values. brave&bold exists to place brilliant women in environments where they are respected, trusted and listened to - and to support mission-led, purpose-driven organisations that understand the value of diverse thinking, lived experience and grown-up leadership. It’s as much about how we work with each other as who we work for. Collaboration over hierarchy. Confidence without ego. So while LoveReading is about redistributing value through a social enterprise model, brave&bold is about redistributing power, opportunity and visibility - particularly for midlife women whose expertise is too often overlooked. ## **Growing Purpose-Driven Businesses With Small Teams and Limited Budgets - Partnerships, Community, and Why Purpose Is Your Competitive Advantage** **Q: LoveReading runs on a small, passionate team with limited PR or marketing resources ("you don't have any money, especially when you're giving away 25% of your profits"). You've built growth through partnerships,, won a Small Business x Sage pop-up shop on Oxford Street, and been nominated for countless awards. For female founders building purpose-driven businesses competing against well-funded competitors, what's your strategy for growth when traditional marketing isn't an option? How do you leverage partnerships, community, and mission-aligned collaborations to scale impact without scaling costs, and how do you communicate that your differentiation is purpose - not just price or convenience?** A: The honest truth is when you’re giving away 25% of your income, there isn’t much left for glossy marketing or PR. So we’ve had to grow differently. And intentionally. For LoveReading, partnerships have been everything. We’ve worked with organisations who genuinely share our values - The Week Junior, the National Literacy Trust - not because they had the biggest numbers, or biggest budgets, but because our missions aligned. When purpose overlaps, amplification becomes mutual rather than transactional. You’re not renting attention; you’re building trust together. Supporting eachother. Community is the other engine. Schools, teachers, parents, authors and illustrators don’t just buy from LoveReading, or recommend LoveReading4Kids, or visit LoveReading4Schools - they believe in it. Wholeheartedly. That belief travels further than any paid campaign. None of this journey has been about spend. It’s been about crafting our story, building our relevance and creating momentum. And about people wanting to be part of something that matters. That makes a difference. We take exactly the same approach at LoveReading through our affiliate programme. Rather than spending on advertising, we work with literacy charities, authors, illustrators, educators and mission-aligned media brands - giving them tools to recommend books their audiences already care about, and to generate income or funding for schools at the same time. It’s ethical, transparent and mutually beneficial. Everyone wins. Especially readers. Ultimately our schools. Every shopper, supporter, affiliate is helping create the next generation of readers. That same philosophy sits at the heart of brave&bold. brave&bold was built as a community, not a traditional consultancy. A collective of experienced women working collaboratively. Supporting one another. Sharing opportunities, and doing better work together than any of us could alone. We’re stronger together. Greater than the sum of our parts. That collective strength is what clients feel, and it’s what allows us to punch above our weight without scaling costs or compromising values. For female founders competing with well-funded players, my advice is simple: stop trying to outspend. And start out-meaning. Purpose isn’t a slogan. Or a strapline. Or a soundbite. It’s a growth strategy. Especially when it’s tangible, measurable and visible in every decision you make. Be explicit about why you exist. Show your impact clearly. Invite others in. Build community, not just customers. When people understand that choosing you means contributing to something bigger, price and convenience become part of the equation, not the whole story. Purpose doesn’t just help you sleep at night. When done properly, it becomes your strongest competitive advantage. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### From International Student to Award-Winning Immigration Attorney: Fiona McEntee on Founding McEntee Law Group and Visa Pathways for Female Entrepreneurs URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/law/from-international-student-to-award-winning-immigration-attorney-fiona-mcentee-on-founding-mcentee-law-group-and-visa-pathways-for-female-entrepreneurs/ Last updated: 2026-01-08T04:08:02.000Z **Fiona McEntee** came to the United States as an international student from Ireland. Today, she’s the Founding Partner of McEntee Law Group, a nationally recognized immigration law firm based in Chicago that has advised thousands of startup founders, artists, athletes, and entrepreneurs on their paths to building businesses and lives in America. She’s also the author of three books: *U.S. Immigration Options for Startups: Accelerate Your American Dream*, *O-1 Guide for Content Creators & Influencers*, and the award-winning children’s book *Our American Dream*. Her books are available via her online store: https://www.fionamcentee.com/shop. With over 18 years practicing immigration law exclusively, Fiona has become a leading lawyer on O-1 visas for extraordinary ability, EB-1A green cards, and immigration pathways for international entrepreneurs. She’s regularly featured in national and international media including MSNBC, BBC, CNN, The New York Times, and Politico. She’s the former Chair of the Media and Advocacy Committee for the American Immigration Lawyers Association and has been named to Illinois Super Lawyers for seven consecutive years, including recognition on the Top 50 Women and Top 100 attorneys lists. Fiona has recently launched a new venture outside of the firm. She is the Co-Founder & COO of Nouvie, an award-winning non-alcoholic wine brand designed to celebrate meaningful – and everyday – moments without alcohol. What sets Fiona apart is her personal understanding of the immigration journey. She founded McEntee Law Group in 2009 from her Lakeview apartment with zero clients but a clear vision: to help immigrants navigate an outdated, complex system. Today, her firm represents everyone from leading musicians and innovative startup founders to families seeking reunification, and her team speaks Spanish, Russian, Polish, Tagalog, Irish, Assyrian Aramaic, Korean, and Gujarati. For female entrepreneurs around the world looking to launch businesses in the United States, the immigration landscape can feel overwhelming. From understanding whether an E-2 investor visa, O-1 extraordinary ability visa, or L-1A visa is the right fit, to knowing what activities are permitted while on student or work visas, to navigating the compliance requirements of hiring international talent as companies scale, the rules are complex and the stakes are high. In this Q&A, Fiona breaks down the most viable immigration pathways for international women looking to launch startups in America, what growing businesses need to know about sponsoring international employees, and how female entrepreneurs can legally build their businesses while maintaining current immigration status. Her advice is grounded in both legal expertise and lived experience as an immigrant who built her own successful firm while navigating the very system she now helps others master. --- ## Visa Pathways for International Female Entrepreneurs *Many talented female entrepreneurs from other countries want to start businesses in the U.S. but are confused about which visa options are available to them. What are the most viable immigration pathways for international women looking to launch startups in America? How do the requirements differ between options like the E-2 investor visa or the O-1 extraordinary ability visa? What are the most common mistakes you see female founders make when applying for entrepreneur visas?* **A**: For women around the world looking to launch a company in the U.S., the immigration landscape can understandably feel overwhelming. With thoughtful, tailored guidance from an experienced immigration attorney, however, there is often a viable path forward. Throughout my career, the [McEntee Law Group](https://www.mcenteelaw.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) team has had the privilege of advising thousands of clients navigating this uncertainty - many of whom, like I once was, began their journeys as international students. We regularly work with founders who start in the U.S. on F-1 student visas and go on to build successful companies. With careful planning, their immigration paths often include Optional Practical Training, followed by an O-1 visa, and ultimately an EB-1A green card as an extraordinary startup founder. We’ve also helped founders based outside the U.S. expand here through strategies that include the L-1A visa and, later, an EB-1C green card as the CEO or founder. Of course, every case is different, and past results do not guarantee future outcomes. There is no one-size-fits-all solution for founders. The best visa option depends on an individualized analysis of a founder’s background, funding model, and long-term business plans. Common pathways for entrepreneurs include the E-2, O-1, and L-1A visas. The **E-2 treaty investor visa** allows entrepreneurs from qualifying treaty countries to live and work in the U.S. based on a substantial investment in a U.S. business. While there is no fixed dollar minimum, the investment must be sufficient to launch and operate the company and requires majority ownership by treaty-country nationals. A key limitation is nationality - countries like India and China are not eligible, despite being home to many immigrant founders. The **O-1 visa** is often an excellent option for startup founders with demonstrated expertise in business. Many founders qualify based on traction such as press, venture funding, awards, patents, or leadership roles, though they frequently underestimate the strength of their profiles. With the right strategy and framing, the O-1 can be far more attainable than founders expect. For founders expanding an existing non-U.S. company into the U.S., the **L-1A visa** is another strong option. While commonly associated with large multinationals, it can also work well for startups, provided the U.S. and foreign entities are properly structured, and the founder has at least one year of qualifying employment abroad. Across all visa categories, the most common mistake we see founders make is undervaluing their own accomplishment and waiting too long to plan. Early immigration strategy, particularly around corporate formation and investment structure, can make a significant difference. Speaking with experienced immigration counsel before key business decisions are made can save time, stress, and unnecessary expense down the road. ## Hiring International Talent for Growing Startups *As female-founded companies scale, many want to hire the best talent regardless of nationality but are overwhelmed by the immigration compliance requirements. What do growing businesses need to know about sponsoring international employees for work visas like H-1B, L-1, or O-1? How can startups structure their hiring processes to be immigration-compliant from the start? What are the key legal obligations and timelines founders should understand before making job offers to international candidates?* A: As companies scale, access to global talent often becomes a key part of growth. The good news is that with the right processes in place, sponsoring international employees can be more manageable than many founders expect. For employer-sponsored visas such as the H-1B, L-1, and O-1, companies need a clear understanding of key timelines and compliance obligations. For example, the H-1B cap lottery for new H-1B visas runs only once a year - often a surprise for early-stage companies accustomed to moving quickly. The L-1 can be a strong option for businesses with overseas operations, while the O-1 offers flexibility for highly accomplished hires in fields such as engineering, design, or research. One of the most important steps startups can take is to build immigration awareness into the hiring process from day one. This includes asking about work authorization needs early (in a compliant way), identifying roles that may require sponsorship, and planning for the time it takes to onboard international talent. Many companies also benefit from developing an internal immigration playbook, which enables hiring managers to understand timelines, processes, and the practical limitations associated with different visa types. From a compliance perspective, companies must be aware of obligations such as maintaining public access files for H-1B employees, notifying USCIS of material changes to job duties or work locations, and ensuring foreign national workers are paid the required wage, if applicable. None of this is insurmountable - particularly with experienced immigration counsel - but proactivity is essential. When immigration considerations are embedded into hiring and operations early, startups can avoid the scrambling, delays, and budget surprises that often accompany rapid growth. ## Maintaining Immigration Status While Building a Business *For female entrepreneurs who are in the U.S. on student visas, work visas, or dependent visas, how can they legally start building their businesses while maintaining their current immigration status? What activities are allowed versus prohibited under different visa types? How should they plan their immigration strategy to transition from employee-sponsored visas to entrepreneur-focused options as their businesses grow?* **A**: For women in the U.S. on student visas, work visas, or dependent visas, building a business requires careful planning because each status category comes with different rules around what you can – and more importantly, cannot - do. Generally, student visa holders (F-1) can found companies, but they must be very careful about what activities they personally perform. Passive ownership is usually allowed, but working for the company - whether paid or unpaid- typically requires work authorization such as CPT, OPT, or STEM OPT. For individuals on work visas such as the H-1B or O-1, a key limitation is that they are generally authorized to work only for the petitioning employer. While they may own a business, they typically cannot perform day-to-day or operational work for that company unless they have work authorization for that specific entity. Those on certain dependent visas - such as the L-2, or an H-4 with an approved employment authorization document - may have greater flexibility when it comes to employment and entrepreneurial activity. As the rules are highly nuanced, we always advise clients to map out an immigration strategy that evolves alongside the business. Early on, this means remaining compliant in the current status while carefully limiting founder activity to what is permitted. As the company grows, many founders may transition into visa categories better aligned with entrepreneurship. Planning ahead helps avoid gaps in work authorization and ensures the business’s growth trajectory aligns with the founder’s ability to legally participate in it. *If you have any questions about immigration options for you or your company, our team at McEntee Law is here to help!* McEntee Law Group [https://www.mcenteelaw.com/](https://www.mcenteelaw.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) 773-828-9544 info@mcenteelaw.com > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### From 14 Books to The Grounded Leader: Sweta Vikram on Building NimmiLife, Coaching Leaders Through Grief, and Why Ayurveda Isn't About Perfection URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/wellness/from-14-books-to-the-grounded-leader-sweta-vikram-on-building-nimmilife-coaching-leaders-through-grief-and-why-ayurveda-isnt-about-perfection/ Last updated: 2026-01-06T05:03:41.000Z **Sweta Vikram doesn't just teach wellness. She lives it, writes it, and builds businesses around it. As an award-winning author of 14 books, Ayurvedic doctor, trauma-informed yoga teacher, certified grief coach, and adjunct professor, she's spent decades translating ancient wisdom into practical frameworks for modern life. Her latest venture, NimmiLife, and her podcast The Grounded Leader focus on what most productivity systems ignore: that sustainable success requires managing energy, not just output.** Her forthcoming book, *Rhythms of Resilience: An Ayurvedic Guide to Reduce Stress and Maximize Productivity*, makes a bold claim in a world saturated with wellness hacks and optimization trends. It promises that Ayurveda can reduce stress and boost productivity not by adding more techniques to your routine, but by teaching you to work with your body's natural rhythms instead of against them. For Sweta, this isn't theory. It's how she juggles writing, teaching, speaking, coaching, entrepreneurship, and family life without glorifying burnout. What sets her work apart is her refusal to romanticize wellness. She doesn't live in a "perfectly serene, incense-filled life," and she doesn't believe Ayurveda asks anyone to. Instead, she teaches rhythm over rigidity, consistency over intensity, and self-trust over self-discipline. Her approach is rooted in something most productivity systems overlook: that when your physiology is dysregulated, no amount of meditation apps or bullet journaling will fix the underlying exhaustion. Her grief coaching work addresses another gap in professional wellness conversations. She works with high-functioning grievers, particularly women who organize funerals, manage households, and meet deadlines while carrying loss quietly. She's learned that women are often praised for being composed and productive through trauma, rarely given permission to be slow, messy, or uncertain. Her work helps women unlearn the belief that pushing through is the same as healing. In this conversation, Sweta shares what her own daily routine actually looks like as someone balancing multiple disciplines, the patterns she's noticed in how women process grief and trauma in professional settings, and why Ayurveda's focus on managing energy rather than output makes it fundamentally different from every other productivity system out there. --- **Q: You've written 14 books and built a career spanning multiple disciplines, yet you emphasize wellness and balance in your work. What does your own daily routine look like? I'm curious about how you personally apply Ayurvedic principles—not just what you teach, but what actually works in your real life as someone juggling so many responsibilities.** That’s a fair question—and an important one. I don’t live a perfectly serene, incense-filled life, and I don’t believe Ayurveda asks us to. What it asks for is *rhythm*, not rigidity. My daily routine is simple, flexible, and realistic for someone balancing writing, teaching, speaking, coaching, entrepreneurship, and family life. I have realized that making plans is important as it adds structure to the day but having the flexibility to move things around also helps us become less rigid. I wake up early—not to be “productive,” but to claim quiet. That first hour is mine. I drink warm water, meditate, do breathwork depending, and spend a few minutes grounding myself before the world makes demands. Some days that looks like meditation or responding to DM’s while sipping on coffee; other days it’s simply sitting in silence with my husband. The key Ayurvedic principle here is listening—to energy, digestion, mood, and mental clarity. Food is non-negotiable medicine for me. I try to cook everyday honoring the Ayurvedic principles (you can apply it to any cuisine). Cooking is centering for me, so that helps. I eat warm, grounding meals and avoid skipping meals, even on busy days. I’ve learned the hard way that productivity collapses when digestion is ignored. I don’t eat perfectly, but I eat intentionally. Work-wise, I structure my day in *energy blocks*, not endless to-do lists. Writing and creative work happen when my mind is sharp. Meetings and administrative tasks happen later. Ayurveda taught me to stop forcing my body into unnatural productivity rhythms—and that shift alone reduced burnout more than any productivity hack ever did. I don’t work late evenings. Throughout the day, I build in micro-pauses: a few deep breaths between calls, a short walk, stepping away from screens, a short call with a friend or cousin or even a cup of coffee. These aren’t luxuries—they’re nervous system regulation. I no longer glorify powering through. Evenings are about downshifting. On those evenings when I do an event, things are different. But I protect sleep fiercely because nothing replaces it. Screens go off early when possible, dinners are lighter, and I choose calm over stimulation. Again—not perfectly, but consciously. What actually works in my real life is this: **consistency over intensity, self-trust over self-discipline, and compassion over perfection.** Ayurveda, for me, isn’t a checklist—it’s a relationship with my body. And that relationship is what allows me to show up fully across many roles without losing myself in the process. **Q: Your grief coaching work really stands out to me. Grief isn't something we talk about enough, especially in professional settings. What have you learned about how women specifically process loss and trauma? Are there patterns you've noticed in how we tend to push through rather than process?** Thank you for naming that—because silence around grief is one of the most exhausting burdens women carry. Not prioritizing themselves is so deeply ingrained in so many women. I was talking to a friend just yesterday about how women focus on nourishing and nurturing others even during times of grief—*did people eat and sleep and rest? Did the kids complete their homework? Were the extended family members notified?* *Was everything on the priest’s checklist taken care of ?* Etc. Etc. What I’ve learned, both professionally and personally, is that many women are *high-functioning grievers*. We don’t fall apart—we organize. We manage households, teams, deadlines, and emotions while carrying loss quietly. From the outside, we look “strong.” On the inside, we’re often numb, depleted, or chronically overwhelmed. I know I put my own grief on pause to help others and this is when I work in the grief space. There are a few patterns I see again and again. First, women are conditioned to **focus on others even when working through own grief.** We worry about how our pain affects others, so we minimize it. We return to work quickly. We keep things moving. We become efficient instead of embodied. Grief gets postponed—sometimes for years. Second, we tend to **intellectualize trauma.** We can explain it, analyze it, even teach from it—while never actually letting it move through the body. In Ayurveda, unresolved grief shows up as stagnation: disrupted digestion, sleep issues, anxiety, fatigue, autoimmune flare-ups. The body keeps the score long after the mind has “moved on.” Third, there’s immense pressure—especially for professional women—to **exhibit resilience.** We’re praised for being composed, productive, and positive. Rarely are we given permission to be slow, messy, or uncertain. So, grief gets redirected into overwork, hyper-independence, or burnout rather than processed with tenderness. What healing requires is not more strength—but *safety*. Safety to pause. Safety to feel without fixing. Safety to say, “I’m not okay, and I don’t need to be inspirational about it.” Safety to not be a role model. Processing grief doesn’t mean collapsing your life. It means allowing grief to be witnessed—in the body, in community, and over time. When women are given that permission, something powerful happens: their nervous systems soften, their intuition returns, and they stop confusing survival with success. My work is about helping women unlearn the belief that pushing through is the same as healing—and reclaiming a more honest, sustainable way to live and lead after loss. **Q: Your upcoming book promises to help people reduce stress and boost productivity through Ayurveda. That's a bold claim in a world full of productivity hacks and wellness trends. What makes the Ayurvedic approach different from everything else out there? Why should someone who's tried meditation apps and bullet journaling pay attention to this ancient system?** **Tentatively titled, Rhythms of Resilience: *An Ayurvedic Guide to Reduce Stress and Maximize Productivity*, my 15thbook makes a bold claim—and it’s one I make very *intentionally*.** Most productivity tools today focus on **managing output.** Ayurveda focuses on **managing energy.** That’s the fundamental difference. Meditation apps, planners, and hacks assume that the same strategy should work for everyone if they just try harder or stay consistent. Ayurveda starts with a different question: *Who are you, how is your system wired, and what state is your body and nervous system in right now?* Ayurveda isn’t a trend or a technique; it’s an operating system for the human body. It recognizes that stress, focus, digestion, sleep, creativity, and decision-making are all connected. You can’t optimize one while ignoring the others. That’s why so many people meditate in the morning and still crash by mid-afternoon—or meticulously plan their day while feeling chronically exhausted. Productivity doesn’t break down because people lack tools—it breaks down because their physiology is dysregulated. Ayurveda uses a customized approach. What makes this approach different is that it’s **contextual and compassionate.** Ayurveda doesn’t ask you to push through low energy—it teaches you how to *work with it*. It helps you understand when to rest, when to create, when to simplify, and when to stretch—based on cycles of time, season, and your own constitution. For someone who’s tried meditation apps and bullet journaling, Ayurveda doesn’t replace those tools—it explains *why* they sometimes work and why they sometimes don’t. For example, Ayurveda explains why walking meditation works for one person and sitting quietly in a corner works for another. It shows you when meditation should be grounding versus energizing, when structure supports you versus overwhelms you, and how small daily shifts—sleep timing, meal rhythm, nervous system cues—can unlock clarity and productivity without burnout. The promise of Ayurveda isn’t superhuman output. It’s **sustainable success—**the kind that doesn’t cost you your health, creativity, or joy. And in a culture addicted to optimization, that might be the most radical productivity strategy of all. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### From Am Law 200 Chair to Co-Founding Conn Maciel Carey: Kara Maciel on Leaving Big Law to Build a Boutique Employment Firm, Compliance Mistakes Startups Make, and What Non-Unionized Companies Need to Know About the NLRA URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/law/from-am-law-200-chair-to-co-founding-conn-maciel-carey-kara-maciel-on-leaving-big-law-to-build-a-boutique-employment-firm-compliance-mistakes-startups-make-and-what-non-unionized-compan/ Last updated: 2026-01-06T04:56:08.000Z **Kara M. Maciel** is a co-founding partner of [Conn Maciel Carey LLP](https://www.connmaciel.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) and Chair of the firm's national Labor & Employment Practice Group. But her path to co-founding a successful boutique employment law firm came after serving as Chair of the Hospitality Employment and Labor Law Outreach Practice at Epstein Becker & Green, an Am Law 200 firm. Kara co-founded Conn Maciel Carey in 2014 with a vision to provide employers with proactive, strategic counsel. The firm focuses on labor and employment law, workplace safety (OSHA and MSHA), and litigation, representing employers across all industries with particular expertise in hospitality (hotels, resorts, restaurants, country clubs), retail, grocery, food distribution, healthcare, trade associations, and nonprofits. Recognized in DC Super Lawyers since 2014, recommended in The Legal 500 United States (Labor-Management Relations category), and recipient of the 2014 Burton Award for Legal Writing for her article "For Employers with High Turnover and Large Numbers of Seasonal Workers, the ACA Creates Unique Compliance Issues," Kara has established herself as a leading voice in employment law. She's a member of IR Global's Employment Law Group, a multi-disciplinary professional services network spanning 155+ jurisdictions, and served on the Board of Directors for Women Chefs and Restaurateurs. Kara represents employers in litigation at both federal and state levels, handling matters involving ADA, FLSA, FMLA and Title VII. She advises clients on protecting trade secrets and pursuing enforcement against former employees, provides counsel to both unionized and non-unionized workplaces regarding employer rights under the National Labor Relations Act, and serves as chief negotiator for management at collective bargaining negotiations. She represents employers in union election campaigns and defends companies before the Department of Labor regarding workplace safety whistleblower complaints. A popular speaker at conferences and events across the country, Kara writes extensively on ADA accessibility, wage/hour compliance, ACA strategies, prevention of harassment and discrimination, tip credit/tip pools/service charge compliance, effective employment policies and procedures, employee handbook development, and managing unionized workforces. She's frequently quoted as an authority by media outlets and authors "The Employer Defense Report," providing legal updates on labor and employment issues. Based in the Washington, D.C. area, Kara provides unique perspective to international and multinational corporations on doing business in the United States from both federal statutory and regulatory perspectives as well as compliance with state and local business requirements. She lives with her husband and two young children. In this Q&A, Kara shares why she left the platform and resources of Big Law to co-found a boutique firm in 2014 (when her daughter was born), the most critical employment law mistakes she sees startups make, and what non-unionized companies need to know about the NLRA and employee organizing rights. --- ## From Am Law 200 to Co-Founding Conn Maciel Carey - Building a Boutique Employment Law Firm That Prioritizes Practical Solutions **You co-founded Conn Maciel Carey LLP in 2014 after serving as Chair of the Hospitality Employment and Labor Law Outreach Practice at Epstein Becker & Green (an Am Law 200 firm). Today, as a Co-Founding Partner and Chair of the national Labor & Employment Practice Group, you lead a boutique firm focused on providing strategic counsel to employers across industries. You've been recognized in DC Super Lawyers (2014-present), Legal 500, and received the 2014 Burton Award for Legal Writing. For female attorneys considering leaving Big Law to start their own practices, what prompted your decision to co-found a boutique firm rather than continue at a major platform? How did you and your co-founder structure the firm to compete with larger practices while maintaining the flexibility and client focus that drew you away from Big Law, and what advice would you give women about building credibility and attracting clients when launching a new firm?** In 2013, my second child—my daughter—was born. At that time, I realized I wanted more flexibility and control over my work: the kind of work I did, the clients I served, and how I billed for my services. I wanted the freedom to determine my own rate structure and how I delivered value. In addition, I wanted to be a strong role model for my daughter to show her that, as a woman, you can lead, you can own a business, and you can define your own path. The kind of work that Eric Conn, my co-founder, and I do, labor and employment and workplace safety, does not naturally fit the big law firm model. At those firms, we were often brought in only after a catastrophe had occurred or a major bet-the-company lawsuit was filed. The high rates and rigid structures didn’t support proactive engagement. To us, true partnership means helping clients prevent problems, not just respond to them. That requires trust, accessibility, and flexibility. At a smaller and more agile platform, which we are, our clients feel comfortable calling us early, when issues are still small. We help them manage risk, protect employees, and address problems before they escalate. We still handle the big events—but we do so with greater value, more impact, and a true commitment to long-term compliance and success. One of the best resources I recommend to women is to get involved in the local Bar Association’s course on starting your own firm. It covers the essential nuts and bolts, from business structure to compliance. It’s a must for anyone thinking of hanging out their own shingle. That said, some of the best advice I received is that while lawyers are often great at lawyering and client relationships, they may not naturally excel at running the operational side of a business, things like payroll, insurance, taxes, HR policies, and compliance. So, be prepared: either accept that some of your time will shift from client work to operations or invest in people who can manage those functions. Knowing your strengths and where you need support is key to long-term success. ## Employment Compliance Mistakes Startups and Growing Companies Make - From Misclassifying Workers to Skipping Employee Handbooks **You represent employers in all aspects of the employment relationship, defending companies in litigation involving ADA, FLSA, FMLA, Title VII, and affirmative action/OFCCP regulations. You're a popular speaker and writer on topics including wage/hour compliance, harassment/discrimination prevention, employee handbooks, and labor relations. For female founders building startups and scaling companies, what are the most critical employment law mistakes you see early-stage companies make? How should founders think about employee vs. contractor classification, when they actually need formal employee handbooks and policies, and what compliance issues they can handle in-house versus when they need to bring in employment counsel? What are the red flags that a company is headed for an employment lawsuit or DOL investigation?** For female founders scaling early-stage companies, common employment law mistakes include: - **Worker misclassification:** Treating employees as independent contractors can trigger back pay, tax liability, and penalties. - **Informal hiring practices:** Lack of clear job descriptions, consistent interviews, and documentation increases discrimination risk. - **Wage-and-hour violations:** Equity or deferred compensation does not replace minimum wage and overtime requirements. - **Missing agreements and policies:** Without proper contracts, IP protection, and workplace policies, startups risk disputes and asset loss. - **Delayed compliance planning:** Employment laws change quickly and vary by location; addressing compliance early helps avoid costly setbacks as companies scale. Founders should carefully evaluate employee vs. contractor classification using legal standards (not just titles or pay method) because misclassification carries significant wage-hour and tax risk. Federal and state laws assess factors like control and integration of work into the business; getting this right early helps avoid costly enforcement actions. A formal employee handbook and policies become important once you have multiple hires and need consistent, legally compliant expectations on conduct, leave, anti-harassment, wage and workplace safety practices — both for compliance and defense in disputes. Basic compliance like timekeeping or classification audits can be handled in-house, but drafting handbooks, classification analyses, or addressing evolving multi-jurisdictional laws is when employment counsel should be engaged. Having a strong partner with employment counsel at the outset of company formation is critical as many states and localities have compliance obligations that occur with the first hire, such as paid leave and harassment laws. Red flags that a company may be headed for an employment lawsuit or DOL investigation often start with recurring compliance gaps. Common triggers include wage-and-hour issues such as misclassifying workers, failing to pay proper overtime or minimum wage, permitting “off-the-clock” work, and poor recordkeeping — all of which frequently prompt complaints to the DOL and wage-hour investigations. Other red flags are patterns of inconsistent policies or enforcement, repeated employee complaints, frequent informal practices instead of documented procedures, and a failure to address credible reports of harassment or discrimination. These conditions increase the risk of government scrutiny or litigation. Consistent compliance and proactive audits can help catch issues before they escalate. ## Navigating Federal Labor Law and the NLRA - What Non-Unionized Employers Need to Know About Employee Rights **You provide advice and counsel to both unionized and non-unionized workplaces regarding employer rights under the National Labor Relations Act. You've also served as chief negotiator for management at collective bargaining negotiations and represented employers in union election campaigns. One common misunderstanding is that the NLRA only applies to unionized employers, but it actually applies to most private sector employers regardless of size or union status. For female founders and executives who've never dealt with labor relations, what do non-unionized companies need to know about the NLRA and employee organizing rights? What are the warning signs that employees might be organizing, how should companies respond (and what should they absolutely avoid doing), and what's your advice for founders about building positive employee relations that reduce the likelihood of unionization in the first place?** For founders unfamiliar with labor relations, it’s crucial to know that the NLRA applies even in non-union workplaces and protects employees’ rights to engage in “protected concerted activity” — like discussing wages, working conditions, or organizing, whether or not they ultimately form a union. Employers must avoid actions that interfere with, restrain, or coerce employees from exercising these rights, such as threatening retaliation for group discussions or discouraging organizing efforts. Non-union companies should focus on positive employee relations and lawful communication. While basic understanding can be handled in-house, when employee organizing arises or legal boundaries become unclear, employment counsel should be consulted to ensure NLRA compliance and avoid unfair labor practice risks. Warning signs of employees organizing often start with underlying dissatisfaction — persistent complaints about pay, inconsistent policies, slow responses to workplace issues, or low morale can signal that workers are talking collectively about their terms and conditions of employment. Trends like increased discussion of workplace concerns or informal group meetings about work conditions may indicate early organizing activity. Addressing these underlying issues proactively and lawfully is key. When employees begin organizing, companies must respond lawfully. Under the NLRA, employers cannot restrain, coerce, interrogate, threaten, surveil, or promise benefits to influence employees’ organizing decisions — actions that could expose the company to unfair labor practice charges. Instead, employers should focus on open, respectful communication and address legitimate workplace concerns rather than trying to suppress organizing. Founders should build positive employee relations early by treating employees fairly, applying policies consistently, offering competitive pay and benefits, and providing channels for feedback and dialogue. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### From Laid Off and "Captive" in a Cubicle to Founding YellowBook-CPE: Leita Hart-Fanta on Teaching Yellow Book Standards with a "Three-Ring Circus," Surviving Breast Cancer, and Why Healthcare Should Never Keep You from Entrepreneurship URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/women-who-lead/from-laid-off-and-captive-in-a-cubicle-to-founding-yellowbook-cpe-leita-hart-fanta-on-teaching-yellow-book-standards-with-a-three-ring-circus-surviving-breast-cancer-and-why-healthcare/ Last updated: 2026-01-05T04:46:07.000Z **Leita Hart-Fanta, CPA** is the founder of [YellowBook-CPE.com](https://yellowbook-cpe.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org), a government audit training company she launched in 1996 after seven years of feeling "captive" in traditional audit positions where she "went to work in the dark and left work in the dark." Today, YellowBook-CPE provides enjoyable, relevant, and NASBA-compliant continuing professional education to government auditors across all 50 states through live seminars, webinars, on-demand videos, and self-study texts. But Leita's path to building a training empire wasn't linear. After graduating from the University of Texas at Austin with a degree in business (her father discouraged her from pursuing art history), she started her audit career in public accounting before moving to legislative auditing and federal grants controlling. Her first job out of college taught her that "stable audit positions are not stable" when her firm merged and she was laid off. That experience, combined with having two entrepreneur parents, planted the seed that "having one job was much shakier than having multiple clients." The turning point came when Leita took the life-changing Johnson O'Connor aptitude test, which told her she was "made to be a teacher, marketer, and writer—NOT an accountant." The test literally said she should have been an art history professor (what she'd originally wanted at UT). "I cried at the results because they were so affirming of my instincts," she shares. After contemplating going back to school, she decided not to "ditch my hard-earned CPA and accounting degree but instead to use that knowledge to build a business." Leita has since authored over 15 books, led over 3,000 conference sessions and seminars, and built a client roster that includes the US Department of Justice, the US Army, the US Department of the Interior, the Inspector General of the Texas Health and Human Services Commission, Walmart, Valero Energy, Deloitte, and dozens of state legislative auditors, city auditors, and county auditors. She regularly speaks for IIA and CPA chapters and is the instructor for Texas State University's Public Funds Investment Act program. She also hosts the "Auditors Save the World" podcast. Students describe her teaching style as making "what I thought was going to be boring, over-my-head, and above my experience level a lot of fun and very understandable." One CPA firm owner notes: "Leita Hart-Fanta, as a teacher, has a way of explaining the concepts and providing examples that make learning fun and simple. In this last class we had a race to see who could answer correctly the most concepts we had just been taught—it was exciting." Leita's approach to teaching dense audit standards involves what she calls a "three-ring circus": "In ring one, I tell you the facts and ask you questions. In ring two, you do silly exercises that help the facts sink in. In ring three, you practice what we learned and receive feedback from me." She uses technology like Mentimeter and Mural to keep things interactive, and before each course, she recites a "training manifesto" that includes: "Enjoy the crowd. Open the cameras and mics. Laugh often and hard. Show and guide. No shaming. Innovate in every class. Sing and play." In 2024, Leita was diagnosed with breast cancer (she's "all better now!") and reassessed her activities, leading her to delegate more tasks and give other instructors platforms to shine on YellowBook-CPE. She's currently working on CPE tracking software and a certificate program set to launch in 2026. Living in the Texas Hill Country with her fishing-obsessed husband and elderly pug, Leita remains passionate about helping auditors get training that doesn't feel like torture and about removing the barriers—especially healthcare—that keep people trapped in jobs that don't "jazz" them. In this Q&A, Leita shares her journey from feeling captive in stable audit positions to building a training company that's survived 30 years, why she refused to hire bands that wouldn't play Beatles songs at her wedding (artistic integrity doesn't pay the bills at first), and why the "stupid healthcare system" is a "dark stain of shame" keeping people from entrepreneurship. --- ## From Stable Audit Positions to Starting Your Own Training Company - Leaving the "Captive" Job Where You Worked in the Dark **Walk us through the decision to leave stable audit positions to start your own training company in the mid-1990s. What made you realize there was a gap in government audit training, and what advice would you give women in technical fields (accounting, auditing, compliance) who are considering building businesses around education and training?** My first job out of college taught me that "stable audit positions" are not stable. My firm merged with another firm and I was laid off. Add that to the fact that both of my parents are entrepreneurs, and I concluded that having one job was much shakier than having multiple clients. I figured that the likelihood of multiple clients all firing me at once was low. You know, the old "don't put all your eggs in one basket" saw? So, I was planning to be an entrepreneur very early in my career but was afraid to take the leap because so many folks argued that I should stay in my "secure" job with the state. But the pain of the day-to-day secure job was what prompted my eventual move after having a "real job" for about 7 years. For my last "real job" I went to work in the dark and left work in the dark! I couldn't use my office phone for any personal business (this was pre-cell phones) and on my short lunch break, the line for the pay phone in the lobby was five people deep. I felt captive and yearned to take a walk in the sunlight. I also knew I wanted to have children. And there was no way I could have kids and be tied to a job like that. So, I started exploring my options. I started using my time off to speak and build my resume. And then I took a few days off and took a life-changing test called the Johnson O'Connor aptitude test. This test told me that I was made to be a teacher, marketer, and writer—NOT an accountant. It literally said that I should have been an art history professor—which is what I was going for at UT before my dad told me he would not support that. I cried at the results because they were so affirming of my instincts. I can't recommend that test enough. Both of my kids took it when they were 16 to help shape their choices in college. After a year or so of contemplating going back to school to study art history or design, I decided not to ditch my hard-earned CPA and accounting degree but instead to use that knowledge to build a business. My initial goal was to teach auditors to write as I had had a job as a writing coach and teacher at the Texas State Auditor's Office and really enjoyed it. But I soon found out that auditors thought they wrote just fine and didn't want training on that subject. Whoops! So I connected with a seminar company that provided CPE to CPAs across the country and taught budgeting, balanced scorecard and financial statement analysis for them. I traveled extensively for the next few years working for the AICPA, local chapters of Societies of CPAs, and Western CPE among others. Eventually, I started developing my own curriculum and started selling that to my customers. What I developed was always based on a request. I didn't come up with my own ideas and try to push them on my customers. Instead, I responded to what they requested. That led me to getting work at Dell Computer and UT teaching Finance for Non-Financial Managers which led to me writing a few books. Over time, I realized that I wanted to work with auditors again—especially performance auditors because they are creative thinkers. And although I worked with Walmart and other corporations, I have more credibility in the government space. So I narrowed my focus to that crowd. I'd advise anyone who wants to become an independent trainer to start by letting the customer tell you what they want and then refine your offerings over time. Don't be like some of those bands that I interviewed for my wedding who refused to play Beatles songs because it was an affront to their artistic integrity. Ha! Play the covers and make money at first. Once you get a reputation and the money starts flowing, you can be more selective. At first, your goal is to survive and then when you stick with it a while (5+ years) you can start refusing to do stuff you aren't jazzed about because there is plenty of work that you are jazzed about. ## Teaching Dense Audit Standards with a "Three-Ring Circus" - Making Yellow Book Standards Stick **For female founders building education or training businesses in technical, complex, or traditionally "boring" fields, what's your framework for taking dense material (Yellow Book standards, GAAP, audit procedures) and making it stick? How do you balance being technically accurate while also being entertaining and memorable, and what advice would you give women about positioning themselves as instructors or educators when they're competing with traditional institutional training programs?** I study the heck out of the audit standards and know them as well or better than anyone. So, when I get asked a question, I know the answer. But I have a very narrow field of expertise! So, first of all, you have to know your content backwards and forwards. And then I try to "play" with my audiences and have fun. We have all been in trainings where you were afraid you would fall out of your chair from boredom. Torture! So, I put on my goofy hat and say whacky silly things to keep their attention. I think of my trainings like a three-ring circus. In ring one, I tell you the facts and ask you questions. In ring two, you do silly exercises that help the facts sink in. In ring three, you practice what we learned and receive feedback from me. And they never know what I am going to do next or what tricks I have up my sleeve. I love using technology—like Mentimeter and Mural—to keep things interactive and fun. And before I begin each course, I say a little training manifesto that says: "Enjoy the crowd. Open the cameras and mics. Laugh often and hard. Do not force your opinions. Show and guide. No shaming. They do as they like. Innovate in every class. Remind folks you like their questions. Remember your privilege and gift. Sing and play. Check in on learning multiple times. Do silly things." If you love on your audience, they will love you back. I try to be very expressive and surprising in my presentations to make them more memorable. It is pretty well impossible to beat the power of major brands of institutional training programs. You either join their roster (which I have) or you eat from the crumbs they leave under the table (which I have). There is plenty to go around but the large, trusted institutions get the lion's share. Do they deserve that trust? Not always. They get so big they often start phoning it in and disappointing their customers. And that is your opportunity. If you know your stuff and the audiences enjoy their time with you, enough business to sustain you will come your way. Over time, I have endeavored to become one of those trusted institutions myself—albeit a very tiny one. ## From Solo Practitioner to Building a Team - Delegating, Surviving Cancer, and Why Healthcare Shouldn't Keep You from Entrepreneurship **For female founders scaling service-based or education businesses, what's your advice about knowing when to expand from solo practitioner to building a team and productizing your expertise? How did you decide which revenue streams to pursue (live training vs. self-study vs. corporate curricula development), and what would you tell women about maintaining quality and your unique voice as you scale beyond just delivering everything yourself?** This has been really hard for me to allow other folks to use my platform to present their content. At first, I got in there and tried to make other speakers as playful and interactive as I am and that did not work at all! Lots of hurt feelings and bad results all due to me trying to inflict help on them. Ha! So now we give instructors their own space and see what they can do. Sometimes these instructors aren't great and I have to fire them which is very unpleasant, but often they are better than me and the students love them. We have been experimenting with the volume of offerings and topics. It is a moving target and we don't have it mastered yet. But you have to start somewhere. And in writing this I realize that we are breaking one of my early rules of business—don't offer things that people don't want... don't "push" your content on others. So, I need to revisit that rule of thumb. In studying brands, marketing, and succession planning, I decided that I wanted my company to be the brand, not me. Because if I'm the brand, the business dies when I die. I have a limited repertoire and limited energy to teach. In order to meet my clients' needs, YellowBook-CPE hires instructors in IT auditing, cybersecurity, agile, and leadership—none of which I feel like I have credibility around. I am still teaching here and there and maybe my voice is still the "soul" of the company (I'm not objective about that), but since I wanted my company to grow and survive whatever happens to me, I had to recognize that I can only do so much. I can't both perform constantly and run the business. And in 2024, I was diagnosed with breast cancer (I'm all better now!) and reassessed a lot of my activities. Now I am proud to say that I delegate most tasks that I'm not jazzed about or don't have to do personally AND that I am giving other instructors a platform on which to shine. Delegation to super staff is absolutely the key to growth. And I have an amazingly competent and forward-thinking team. I am always looking for new revenue streams and am working on CPE tracking software and a certificate program. Both should be out in 2026\. I am big on getting started, experimenting, and adjusting. This last quarter, I think we learned a lot of hard and expensive lessons that will serve us well in 2026\. You can plan all you want, but you can't plan all the risk away. So, I find that you have to try whatever it is and then tweak it... and tweak it... and tweak it. Once a counselor told me that life is like sitting in a raft headed downstream. Sometimes you hit the bank and have to adjust to get back in the flow. Sometimes you hit rapids. Sometimes you get tangled up in a branch. Sometimes, you get to enjoy a gentle flow, but those little peaceful glides don't last long! You seldom get to stop paddling. A business is like its own living person on its own river. The business has to be nurtured and cared for and it has to progress and grow, just like your personal life. In your personal life you have to resist stagnation and it must be resisted in business as well. Since receiving my cancer diagnosis, I have spent more time on personal growth and enjoyment and less about the business and the lack of nurturing and care on the business is showing up in the financials. So for the next year, I am working on taking care of both personal and business rather than one or the other. We'll see how that goes. And my business and personal life are intertwined and push each other on. I will tell you that looking back over my career, as you have graciously prompted with your questions, I can see the Lord slowly showing me the next step. I didn't try to be a huge entity right away—by coming up with a fancy business plan and seeking venture capital. I have eschewed debt and control by another entity or person. So, I am not living large! But I just took the next logical step, which was always pointed out by the Lord. Any big mistakes I made I can now see were generated by fear. There is definitely something else (and I know it as God) bigger than us pulling the strings. And one last thing related to fear. Many folks I talk to who say they want to own their own business say they can't work for themselves because they need the medical benefits provided by their employer. The stupid healthcare system and insurance system are dark stains of shame on our country. As if you couldn't tell, I am really pissed about how sucky the medical care situation is. If we all had access to medical benefits we wouldn't be bound to crappy employers. I have been on my own for 30 years now and have always had coverage. It is expensive. But not as expensive as selling your soul in a job that doesn't jazz you. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### From Background Vocalist to Award-Winning IP Attorney: Jo-Ná A. Williams on Protecting Creatives from Exploitation, Negotiating Without Killing Deals, and Building a Law Practice That Doesn't Lead to Burnout URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/law/from-background-vocalist-to-award-winning-ip-attorney-jo-na-a-williams-on-protecting-creatives-from-exploitation-negotiating-without-killing-deals-and-building-a-law-practice-that-doesn/ Last updated: 2026-01-05T04:26:44.000Z **Jo-Ná A. Williams, Esq.** is an award-winning attorney, founder, advisor, and instructor who founded [J.A. Williams Law P.C.](https://www.jawilliamslaw.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) in 2011 to provide artists, entrepreneurs, and thought leaders with ways to successfully navigate their careers, secure their companies, and protect their intellectual property. But her path to founding her law firm came after a deeply personal experience 23 years ago, when she was not credited or compensated for her work as a background vocalist and songwriter. That exploitation became her turning point. Jo-Ná committed her life to educating and protecting entrepreneurs through her work as a lawyer, coach, instructor, and business advisor on entrepreneurship. In 2013, she founded her coaching company to advise creatives and business owners on entrepreneurship, branding, and marketing, believing that "owning your own business is a path to freedom, security, and authentic creative expression." Her clients include Grammy-nominated artists, Billboard Top 100 performers, New York Times best-selling authors, and entrepreneurs who have received local and international acclaim. Jo-Ná specializes in entertainment, business, Internet, and intellectual property matters, providing assistance with contracts, trademark and copyright protection, business formation, and strategic negotiations for creatives navigating deals with record labels, publishers, galleries, investors, and brands. Jo-Ná has been named one of the Top 40 Lawyers Under 40 by the National Black Lawyers and Intellectual Property & Business Attorney of the Year by Acquisition International in 2019\. She was named "Alumni Innovator" by Suffolk University Law School's Institute of Law Practice Technology and Innovation. She's been featured in Forbes, Entrepreneur, Fortune, Black Enterprise, Marie TV, The Huffington Post, and The Root, and has spoken at Facebook, LinkedIn, NYU, and Rent The Runway. Jo-Ná is also a WNBA agent and serves on the board of The LGBT Center NYC. But despite her success, Jo-Ná faced a profound challenge. "I love helping my clients, and I love the law, but the freedom that most entrepreneurs said they had, I didn't feel," she shares. "While I'd made good money, I still felt like I was not in control of my life and had more pressure than ever to produce more, be more, do more, give more—and I was exhausted. As a Black woman, I felt that it was my responsibility to never show vulnerability or mistakes, as that meant I would not be able to ever receive opportunities again." This culminated in burnout that took over two years to recover from. The experience led to a complete reinvention. "I realized that in order to live a vibrant and full life, I had to create the foundation that incorporated and cared for all aspects of my life—my connection to myself, my spiritual wellness, my relationships, my passion, my pleasure, my financial health, my physical health, my calling, and my business—in a way that continued to allow innovation, creativity, purpose, and revenue." Today, Jo-Ná is passionate about helping entrepreneurs protect what they work hard to create while building businesses that support sustainable growth rather than burnout. She provides free online legal workshops for entrepreneurs through her website at jawilliamslaw.com and continues to advocate for creatives whom she believes are "a population highly vulnerable to exploitation without proper knowledge." In this Q&A, Jo-Ná shares the most critical mistakes founders make with IP protection, how to negotiate strong contracts without killing opportunities, and how to structure your business to prevent the burnout that nearly ended her own entrepreneurial journey. --- ## IP Protection for Creatives and Entrepreneurs – What Founders Miss Before It's Too Late **You started your legal career after not being credited or compensated for your work as a background vocalist and songwriter, which led you to focus on preventing exploitation through proper IP protection. For female founders in creative industries—whether they're building content businesses, product brands, or service companies—what are the most critical mistakes you see them make early on?** Such a good question. One of the most critical mistakes I see is founders not documenting everything. It's essential to maintain a clear paper trail of communications, payments, agreements, and records. Many founders don't realize how easy it is for someone to report a business to Google or the BBB, or for a client or customer to initiate chargebacks—often costing hundreds or even thousands of dollars. Always keep your correspondence and business documents organized and accessible. Another major issue is security. This includes online security for your accounts, protecting client information, obtaining cyber insurance (especially if you operate online), and having an attorney review your testimonials, webpages, and draft your website's terms and conditions and privacy policies. You should also take extra measures to secure your social media profiles and laptops, and never use public Wi-Fi. It's incredibly easy for bad actors to steal information, access client data, or phish confidential information from phones and laptops. There are serious legal implications if client or customer data is compromised, and you also need to protect yourself personally. **When should founders actually file trademarks versus when it's premature?** I love this question. I always tell people to file a trademark if you are so committed to a name, logo, or tagline that you would be upset if someone else registered it. If you're still figuring things out or feel lukewarm about the branding, it's usually not worth the investment yet. Trademark registration is a long process—sometimes a year or more—and it can be expensive. It's not as simple as registering a domain name. **How do you advise clients to protect their work without spending thousands on legal fees before they have revenue?** I actually have a document on my website, jawilliamslaw.com, that people can sign up to receive. It outlines multiple ways to protect your work online beyond traditional copyrights, trademarks, and patents. Some of the most important steps include placing copyright notices on your work, adding appropriate disclaimers to your website, and setting up Google Alerts so you're notified if your work is posted, sold, or used without your consent. That way, you can quickly address misuse and contact the wrongdoer. --- ## Contracts That Protect Without Killing Deals – Negotiating as Artists and Entrepreneurs **Your clients have been Grammy-nominated, reached the Billboard Top 100, and written New York Times bestsellers. They're navigating deals with record labels, publishers, galleries, and brands. For female founders negotiating contracts—whether with investors, partners, vendors, or clients—what clauses should they pay special attention to, and what red flags do you commonly see?** One major red flag I see is investors expecting a return on their investment too quickly. It typically takes at least five years for a company to move beyond its infancy stage, so expecting returns in year one is concerning. Another issue is ownership rights, particularly when working with vendors or service providers. For example, when you hire a designer, do you own the final design after full payment, or are you merely receiving a license that can be revoked or that requires ongoing fees to continue using the work? Cancellation terms are also incredibly important. If a service provider cancels or fails to fully perform their contractual obligations, what remedies do you have? Finally, make sure you are clear on the payment schedule, delivery timeline, and all other parameters for performance. You want to ensure you receive exactly what you paid for and that the contract clearly explains how you are made whole in the event of a breach. **How do you coach clients to negotiate strong protections without seeming difficult or killing opportunities—especially when they're early-stage and feel they have limited leverage?** Negotiation is an art, but the most important thing to know is your boundary. You need a clear line where you're willing to walk away, and everything above that line is negotiable. Also remember: there are many opportunities and brands to work with. Never sacrifice your mission, integrity, or focus just to close a deal. Once a company knows you're willing to do that, they will never meet you at numbers that truly reflect your value. Always write down how your work provides value to them. That way, if the numbers fall short, you're prepared to articulate why you deserve more. And remember—you do have value, or they wouldn't want to work with you in the first place. Many companies rely on founders not knowing the true price of that value. Do your research on the company or brand. Look at how they've worked with similar businesses and whether they've had issues in the past. Social media and Google can be powerful leverage tools. --- ## Building a Business Without Burnout – Legal Structures That Support Freedom, Not Trap You **You've written about realizing that despite making good money and working with successful clients, your law practice wasn't giving you the freedom entrepreneurship promises—you felt constant pressure to "produce more, be more, do more," and you were exhausted. For female entrepreneurs setting up their businesses, what legal and business structures should they put in place from day one to protect their time, energy, and boundaries?** This is such an important question. The most critical boundaries are the ones you set with yourself. After experiencing burnout that took over two years to recover from, I used to tell people I was on "burnout watch" with myself. I reflected on the behaviors that led me there—long hours, no time off, scaling too fast, sacrificing my health—and I became determined never to repeat them. On the other side of burnout, I felt amazing, happy, and free. That came from honestly evaluating what I needed and then building structures to support that. I had to be strict about work hours, use a separate work phone, take real time off, and intentionally schedule self-care and social time. It was a process. This is not just about business structures—it's about ensuring you have a full life outside of work. Entrepreneurship is incredibly fulfilling, but it can easily become all-consuming without systems that protect you as a human being. Hiring help was also critical—both domestic and business support. When you really look at your budget, you often find room to make life easier. Burnout frequently comes from not having enough support. Finally, communicate clearly with family and friends about your availability so your work time and personal time don't constantly overlap. ## How can founders structure their businesses to actually support sustainable growth and prevent burnout? Design legal documents around how you want to live, not just how you want to earn. Your entity structure and operating agreement should clearly define: - Who makes decisions - How the business operates - How conflict is handled before it becomes personal Operating agreements should be used to set expectations—not just ownership. That includes defining roles and authority, and addressing what happens if someone checks out, underperforms, wants out, or even passes away. Finally, build contracts that protect your nervous system. Strong contracts include: - Clear scopes and non-negotiables - Boundaries around access, response times, and revisions - Processes that reduce constant back-and-forth and urgency culture > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### From MIT PhD to Building Innovation Infrastructure at Three Healthcare Giants: Naomi Fried on Building PharmStars, Bridging the Pharma-Startup Gap, and Why Startups Need "an MBA in Pharma" URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/women-in-vc/from-mit-phd-to-first-chief-innovation-officer-at-three-healthcare-giants-naomi-fried-on-building-pharmstars-bridging-the-pharma-startup-gap-and-why-startups-need-an-mba-in-pharma/ Last updated: 2026-07-11T10:03:43.000Z Naomi Fried, PhD is the founder and CEO of [PharmStars](https://www.pharmstars.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org), the first and only pharma-focused accelerator for digital health startups, and co-founder of the PharmStars Ventures fund. But her path to launching PharmStars came after an extraordinary track record as a "first" in healthcare innovation leadership across three major organizations. Naomi was the first VP of Innovation and Advanced Technology at Kaiser Permanente in 2006, where she led efforts to identify and assess emerging healthcare technologies, chaired the board of Kaiser's internal Innovation Fund for Technology, formed the Telehealth Working Group, and served as Managing Director of the Archimedes Project. She then became the first Chief Innovation Officer at Boston Children's Hospital in 2010, where she built and led the Innovation Acceleration Program from scratch, overseeing 37 innovation seed grants and developing nine novel clinical software solutions. Next, she was the first VP of Innovation and External Partnerships at Biogen, where she developed the firm's "innovation beyond the molecule" strategy to deliver non-pharmacological value to patients and providers. It was during her time at Biogen that Naomi recognized an important insight. "When I arrived at Biogen, I struggled to understand how the company was organized, how drugs were developed, and how the different functions within the company worked together," she explains. "That experience gave me a deep appreciation for how opaque the pharmaceutical and life sciences industries can be to outsiders. Pharma has its own language, culture, and way of operating, and without being trained in that system, it's very difficult to navigate or even communicate effectively." After leaving Biogen, Naomi founded Health Innovation Strategies, a boutique advisory firm helping large pharma companies with digital health strategy. While consulting, she witnessed a complete disconnect between a startup and pharma client she'd brought together. "The startup and the pharma teams were essentially talking past each other. They didn't share a common language or understanding, and nothing ultimately came of the meeting. At the time, I didn't have a name for it, but I realize now that I was witnessing the 'pharma-startup gap' in action." That persistent challenge inspired Naomi to launch PharmStars in 2021 with a team of experts from pharma, startups, digital health, and innovation backgrounds. PharmStars runs a highly selective 10-week program (PharmaU) twice a year, with hundreds of digital health startups from 37+ countries applying. Approximately ten startups are selected per cohort. The program culminates in a three-day Pharmatech Innovation Summit where startups present to PharmStars' pharma members (such as Alexion, Sanofi, and Takeda), investors, and media. Graduates receive investment from the PharmStars Ventures Fund. Naomi earned her PhD in Materials Science from MIT and her BS in Chemistry, summa cum laude, from the University of California, Berkeley. She has been a member of the Governor of Massachusetts' Innovation Council and the Board of the American Telemedicine Association. Her awards include Healthcare IT News' "Health Information Technology (HIT) Men and Women of the Year Award, Innovators," being named "The Emerging Executive of the Year" in 2014 by the Massachusetts Technology Leadership Council, and one of Medical Marketing and Media's 40 "Healthcare Transformers" in 2016. She has served on boards at Wavely Diagnostics and Head Diagnostics, advised companies like Remepy and ResApp Health, and writes and speaks nationally and internationally on innovation and digital health. When not working, Naomi can be found dancing in Zumba classes or lifting weights. In this Q&A, Naomi shares her journey from being one of the first chief innovation officers in healthcare to launching an accelerator and venture fund, the biggest mistakes startups make when trying to engage pharma as customers (hint: they don't understand the problem they're solving), and her framework for evaluating whether a digital health startup will actually drive adoption and improve patient outcomes versus just having interesting technology. --- ## From MIT PhD to First VP of Innovation at Kaiser Permanente, Biogen, and Boston Children's Hospital – Building PharmStars as the First Pharma-Focused Digital Health Accelerator *You have an extraordinary track record as a "first" in healthcare innovation leadership: first VP of Innovation and Advanced Technology at Kaiser Permanente, first VP of Innovation and External Partnerships at Biogen (where you developed their "innovation beyond the molecule" strategy), and first Chief Innovation Officer at Boston Children's Hospital. You then founded PharmStars, the first and only pharma-focused accelerator for digital health startups, plus co-founded PharmStars Ventures and previously served as General Partner at Ambit Health Ventures. For female founders with deep technical or corporate backgrounds (especially those with advanced STEM degrees like your MIT Materials Science PhD), what made you decide to leave executive roles to launch your own accelerator and venture fund? Walk us through how you identified the gap between digital health startups and pharma partnerships, and what advice would you give women about transitioning from corporate innovation leadership to entrepreneurship?* The accelerator grew out of a series of personal and professional experiences over several years that, taken together, became a clear market need to me that was impossible to ignore. I’ve always been drawn to innovation and building new things. I’m an entrepreneur at heart, and before entering pharma, I held executive roles across healthcare on both the payer and provider sides. When I was recruited to Biogen to lead their “innovation beyond the molecule strategy,” I expected the transition to be relatively straightforward given my background. But I was genuinely surprised by how different the pharmaceutical world was from anything I had experienced before. When I arrived at Biogen, I struggled to understand how the company was organized, how drugs were developed, and how the different functions within the company worked together. That experience gave me a deep appreciation for how opaque the pharmaceutical and life sciences industries can be to outsiders. Pharma has its own language, culture, and way of operating, and without being trained in that system, it’s very difficult to navigate or even communicate effectively. That realization stayed with me and was formative in starting PharmStars. While at Biogen, I also came to appreciate the enormous potential for digital health to transform the pharmaceutical industry. There is a significant need for digital innovation across the entire drug development lifecycle — from discovery and development through commercialization. I became passionate about advancing pharma’s digital health transformation. Another formative experience came after I left Biogen, when I began advising large pharma companies on their digital health strategy. In one case, a client was looking for a very specific type of innovation. After exploring the startup ecosystem, I found a company that seemed to offer exactly what my client needed. I was excited to bring the two groups together and expected the meeting to lead somewhere productive. Instead, what I witnessed was a complete disconnect. The startup and the pharma teams were essentially talking past each other. They didn’t share a common language or understanding, and nothing ultimately came of the introduction. At the time, I didn’t have a name for it, but I realize now that I was witnessing the “pharma–startup gap” in action. Over the next few years, while working with life science firms and operating in the space between pharma and digital health startups, I repeatedly saw how difficult it was for these groups to connect and collaborate effectively. That persistent challenge ultimately inspired me to gather a small, dedicated team to launch the PharmStars accelerator — to help bridge that gap and enable more successful engagement between pharma and digital health startups. My advice for women transitioning from corporate innovation leadership to entrepreneurship is to follow your passion. If, like me, you’re an entrepreneur at heart and energized by new ideas, it’s an amazing path. That said, it’s important to know the differences between corporate environments and startups. Startups typically move much faster, operate with far fewer resources, and require people to wear many hats. In contrast, corporate roles tend to be more clearly defined, decision-making is slower, and resources are generally more abundant. Career risk-taking associated with startups can be very rewarding, but only if you’re prepared for the shift in pace, structure, and culture. My advice is to make sure you’re truly ready for that environment — and if you are, go for it. ## Accelerating Digital Health Adoption and Closing the Pharma-Startup Divide – How PharmStars Sources, Develops, and Connects Startups to Pharma *PharmStars runs a highly selective program with hundreds of digital health startups from 37+ countries applying twice a year. You've fine-tuned a standardized process for sourcing, developing, and accelerating the best global digital health startups through mentor advisors (former pharma executives), fireside chats with pharma innovation leaders, and a three-day private event where startups present to pharma members, investors, and media. For female founders building digital health solutions and seeking pharma partnerships, what are the most common mistakes you see startups make when trying to engage pharma as customers? How should founders position their solutions to pharma innovation teams, and what does your accelerator teach startups about navigating the complex pharma ecosystem? What separates startups that successfully close pharma partnerships from those that don't?* The biggest mistake startups make when selling to pharma is not truly understanding pharmas’ problems. Many don’t understand how drugs are developed or where the real pharma pain points are across the drug development lifecycle. As a result, they focus on selling their solution rather than deeply understanding, validating, and solving their client’s problem. My advice to startups is to put themselves in their customers’ shoes. The goal should not be to lead with the solution, but to clearly identify and corroborate the problem first. Only once a pharma partner recognizes and agrees on the problem will they be open to discussing a potential solution. Too often, startups go into meetings talking only about what their technology does and leave it to the pharma team to figure out how it might be used. Another common mistake is not speaking the language of pharma. When startups don’t understand drug development, the structure of the industry, or the terminology being used, they lose credibility. In many cases, they also don’t fully understand the questions they’re being asked. We’ve heard of startups that felt pressured to say “yes” to every question simply because they didn’t fully grasp what was being asked — and were afraid to ask clarifying questions for fear of exposing gaps in their knowledge. A core focus of our accelerator is empowering startups to speak “pharma” fluently. That’s why the program is often described as “an MBA in pharma.” It gives founders the language, context, and confidence they need to engage credibly and productively. It’s also important for startups to recognize that they are rarely selling to an innovation team alone. Ultimately, they need to deliver value to a business owner. That means positioning their solution around pharma’s unmet needs — whether in drug discovery, clinical trials, or marketing — and clearly articulating how it improves efficacy, saves time, or reduces cost. We believe startups must understand pharma. The PharmStars accelerator teaches startups how to navigate the complex pharma ecosystem through our PharmaUTM program, which is the core of the accelerator. PharmStars’ PharmaU has three main components. The first component is our comprehensive curriculum designed to teach startups what they need to know to work effectively with pharma. We cover how drugs are developed, how pharma companies are organized, and how work actually gets done inside pharma. We also address the business and regulatory aspects of the industry. One of the parts of the curriculum founders find most valuable is learning how to engage pharma, structure deals, and navigate due diligence. The second component of PharmaU is personalized mentoring. Startups in our program work closely with a small group of highly experienced former pharma executives. These mentors help founders refine their pharma value proposition and position their solutions in a way that resonates with pharma decision-makers. PharmaU’s third component is designed for pharma. We’ve built a program that also helps pharma companies bridge the pharma–startup gap: engaging more effectively with startups and adopting digital innovation. We have a unique program for pharma innovation leaders. Our pharma members meet regularly to build community and to discuss emerging issues and topics in digital innovation for pharma. ## PharmStars Ventures Fund and Investing in Digital Health Innovation – Balancing Accelerator Expertise with VC Returns *PharmStars Ventures Fund wraps around your accelerator, strategically investing in graduates and leveraging established pharmaceutical industry connections, rigorous due diligence, and long-term development programs. You've served on boards at Wavely Diagnostics and Head Diagnostics, advised companies like Remepy and ResApp Health, and been named one of Medical Marketing and Media's 40 "Healthcare Transformers" and Healthcare IT News' "Health Information Technology Innovators." For female founders navigating venture capital in the digital health space, how do you evaluate early-stage digital health startups for investment potential? What's your framework for assessing whether a startup's solution will actually drive adoption and improve patient outcomes versus just having interesting technology? And what advice would you give women raising capital from pharma-focused investors or exploring accelerators as a path to funding and partnerships?* The PharmStars Venture Fund is designed to wrap around the PharmStars accelerator. We invest in the startups that graduate from the accelerator, so our investment criteria are closely aligned with how we select companies for the program. Startup selection is driven by themes and needs identified by our pharma members. Within those themes — such as rare disease or data management and insights — we work with pharma companies to understand their unmet needs and pain points. This unique market intelligence directly informs which startups we select for each cohort. To be considered, startups must already have a product or prototype, and we prioritize those with the most innovative and creative solutions that are well-positioned to address real pharma needs. Technology is certainly part of the solution, but we don’t invest in technology for technology’s sake. We invest where there is a clear market need. I’ve seen startups with outstanding technology fail because the market simply wasn’t ready. Timing matters, and success depends on understanding whether the need is real, significant, and urgent enough to support a viable business. The pharma market is fundamentally different from the payer or provider markets, and a presentation to a pharma client is very different from an investor pitch. When it comes to engaging pharma, startups need to be highly focused and able to clearly articulate a pharma-specific value proposition. But to articulate the pharma problem effectively, startups must first understand how pharma operates. That’s why I strongly encourage entrepreneurs — especially women founders entering the space — to do their homework and develop a deep understanding of pharma’s needs before meeting with potential clients. When considering accelerators, startups should be thoughtful and selective. There are many different accelerator models with different strengths. Many accelerators claim to “educate” or provide “mentoring,” but the quality of these activities varies across the industry. I encourage founders to look closely at how a program is structured, what value it claims to deliver, and — most importantly — to speak with graduates. They’re the only ones who can tell you whether the promised value was actually delivered. Unfortunately, not all accelerators live up to their claims. Firsthand experience is the most reliable way to assess that. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### From Widowed with Two Young Children to The UK's First Widow Coach: Karen Sutton on Building "Finding Hope in Widowhood," Hosting The Widow Podcast, and Why "It Wasn't Just Him I Lost, It Was the Version of Me That He Knew" URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/women-who-lead/from-widowed-with-two-young-children-to-the-uks-first-widow-coach-karen-sutton-on-building-finding-hope-in-widowhood-hosting-the-widow-podcast-and-why-it-wasnt-just-him-i-lost-it-was-th/ Last updated: 2026-01-05T08:02:23.000Z **Karen Sutton** is the UK's first specialized coach dedicated to supporting widows and surviving partners globally. But her path to building [**The Widow Coach**](https://www.karensutton.co.uk/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) Ltd came after the sudden death of her husband Simon in September 2016, when she was left widowed with two young daughters. From the minute Simon died, Karen made a vow: "This would not define mine or my children's lives negatively forever. We were not going to be victims." She initially worked with a counselor to process her grief, which she calls invaluable for making sense of her emotions. But around two and a half years after Simon's death, although her grief had softened, she still felt deeply lost and alone. "I didn't know who I was anymore in this new reality. I didn't know what I wanted, or how to create a life that could feel good again as a solo parent and a widow." That's when Karen made what she calls "the best decision I ever made"—she invested in a life coach. Though her coach wasn't grief-informed, the experience was profoundly transformative, providing tools, self-awareness, and personal growth she hadn't found elsewhere. It helped her realize what had been missing: a blend of grief education, coaching, and a safe, supportive space where people feel truly seen, heard, and understood. Karen trained as a certified life coach, then as a certified grief educator through world-renowned grief expert David Kessler's program. She also trained as a Master Intuitive Psychology Coach, graduating in May 2024, which has allowed her to provide her Vibrant Living programme and Rise and Renew retreats. She's also trained as an integrative nutrition health coach, recognizing that grief impacts every part of life, not just emotions. Since 2020, she's been providing emotional and practical guidance through group programs including "Vibrant Living" and "Finding Hope in Widowhood" (an eight-month program with twelve modules), widow retreats including "Rise and Renew," and her membership community "Re-member." In addition to her coaching practice, Karen hosts The Widow Podcast (the first UK podcast specifically for those who have lost a life partner), which has reached listeners worldwide. The podcast shares essential tools and strategies for coping with bereavement, including episodes with David Kessler and other grief experts. Listeners describe it as "a lifeline" and "a reliable source of comfort and guidance in this often lonely healing process." Karen has been featured on BBC discussing widow support. Clients praise Karen's work: "Working with Karen has been the best decision I've made since my husband died. I feel more confident and stronger than I could ever have imagined. I carry my grief with me in a more joyful way now." Another shares: "Her coaching has really helped me understand the things that were keeping me so stuck in my grief. I now feel a sense of calm and peace that I never ever thought possible." Karen is passionate about the power of community, saying "some of the most cathartic breakthroughs occur as a result of widows discussing their grief collectively." Her "Finding Hope in Widowhood" program started as a small six-week offering and has evolved into an eight-month journey. Her "Re-member" membership community has grown organically from around 20 women to over 200. Based in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, Karen lives with her two daughters and continues to navigate her own grief journey while supporting widows globally. She's spoken openly about how "when my husband died, it wasn't just him I lost, it was the version of me that he knew" and how she's learned that "the hurt will never go away, but it's now a part of me and my new life—and that's ok." In this Q&A, Karen shares her journey from widow and former NHS nurse and midwife to certified grief educator and coach, why she believes we live in a "largely grief-illiterate society," and her advice for women building businesses around sensitive topics while navigating personal trauma, caregiving responsibilities, and healing. --- ## From Widow to "The Widow Coach" - Building the UK's First Specialized Coaching Practice for Bereaved Partners **You're recognized as the UK's first specialized coach dedicated to supporting widows and surviving partners globally. In 2016, you were widowed with two young children, and you transformed your personal journey of devastation and grief into a professional calling. You initially worked with a life coach yourself (which you've called "the best decision I ever made"), then became a certified life coach and later a certified grief educator drawing on the methodology of world-renowned expert David Kessler. Since 2020, you've been providing emotional and practical guidance through one-to-one coaching, group programs like "Vibrant Living" and "Finding Hope in Widowhood," widow retreats, and your membership community "Re-member." Walk us through the decision to formalize your experience into a coaching business rather than keeping it as lived expertise you shared informally. What made you realize there was space for a widow-specific coach in the UK, and what advice would you give women who've been through trauma or loss and are considering turning their healing journey into a business that serves others?** After my husband Simon died suddenly in 2016, I was left trying to work out how to live again. I was determined not to become a victim of his death and not to allow mine or my daughters’ lives to be defined negatively forever because Simon had died. In the years that followed, I searched hard for support and for people who truly understood what it meant to lose a life partner and still want to move forward. I had a wonderful counsellor, and that safe space was invaluable for helping me process what had happened and make sense of my grief. But around two and a half years after Simon died, although my grief had softened, I still felt deeply lost and alone. I didn’t know who I was anymore in this new reality. I didn’t know what I wanted, or how to create a life that could feel good again as a solo parent and a widow. That’s when I invested in a life coach – a huge decision financially and emotionally. My coach wasn’t grief-informed, but the experience was profoundly transformative. I gained tools, self-awareness, and a sense of personal growth that I hadn’t found anywhere else. It helped me realise what had been missing: a blend of grief education, coaching, and a safe, supportive space where people feel truly seen, heard, and understood. We live in a largely grief-illiterate society. People are uncomfortable with grief, afraid of it, and unsure how to talk about it. Widows often feel invisible, as though their loss should be “over” after a year – something that couldn’t be further from the truth. I realised that if this combination of support had been so powerful for me, then other widows would be searching for it too. That’s when I decided to formalise my lived experience into a coaching practice. I trained as a life coach, later as a grief educator through David Kessler’s programme, and I began working one-to-one with widows, blending what had genuinely helped me. Over time, demand grew. I created *Finding Hope in Widowhood* as a small six-week group programme, which has since evolved into an eight-month journey. The power of community completely blew me away – women speaking the same language, holding space for one another, and realising they weren’t broken or alone. From there, my work naturally expanded into a membership community, retreats, and events. My advice to women who’ve experienced trauma or loss and are considering turning their healing into a business is this: start by sharing your story. Speak, write, record, connect. You don’t need to be “fully healed” or years ahead – you only need to be a step or two ahead of those you’re supporting. But you *do* need to be supporting yourself. Your wellbeing must come first. ## The Widow Podcast, Community Building, and Creating Safe Spaces for Grief - Your Framework for Supporting Women Through Loss **You host The Widow Podcast (featured on BBC), where you share essential tools and strategies for coping with bereavement, including episodes with David Kessler and other grief experts. You've also built multiple community offerings including your "Re-member" membership (a relaxed, informal group for widows to connect and support each other) and structured programs like "Finding Hope in Widowhood" (an eight-month program with twelve modules focused on helping widows understand who they are, what they want, and how to create meaning after loss). You're passionate about the power of bringing together people with shared experiences, saying "some of the most cathartic breakthroughs occur as a result of widows discussing their grief collectively." For female founders building coaching or community-based businesses around sensitive topics like grief, trauma, or loss, what's your framework for creating safe spaces where people feel comfortable being vulnerable? How do you balance emotional support with practical guidance, and what's your advice for structuring offerings (one-to-one coaching vs. group programs vs. memberships) when building a business that serves people through difficult life transitions?** Everything I do – whether through *The Widow Podcast*, my membership, or my programmes – is grounded in safety. When people are grieving or navigating trauma, their nervous systems are often dysregulated. Creating a safe space isn’t just about emotional openness; it’s about calm, containment, and regulation. As a facilitator, your state matters. If you arrive overwhelmed or frantic, that energy transfers. I’m very intentional about grounding myself before sessions, often starting with a few gentle breaths or a short meditation. I lead with honesty and authenticity. I don’t pretend to have all the answers or to have everything figured out. I share my challenges as well as how I support myself through them. That permission to be real allows others to be real too. At the same time, boundaries are essential – there are parts of our stories that are just for us, and that’s okay. Structurally, safety comes from clarity and consistency: a clear topic, gentle facilitation, time for sharing, and sometimes small breakout rooms so people can connect more deeply. My role isn’t to fix or rescue, but to listen – truly listen – and to help people reconnect with their own inner wisdom and answers. When it comes to structuring offerings, one-to-one coaching, group programmes, and memberships all serve different needs. One-to-one work is powerful but emotionally demanding. Group coaching works beautifully with as few as six to eight people, while memberships need a bit more momentum. I began my membership with around 20 women; it’s now grown to over 200, slowly and organically. There’s no single right model. What matters is alignment – with your energy, your capacity, and the kind of life you want to lead. ## Navigating Identity, Motherhood, and Business While Grieving - Building The Widow Coach Ltd While Raising Your Children **You're a mum who understands the unique challenges of grieving while raising children. You've spoken openly about how when your husband died, "it wasn't just him I lost, it was the version of me that he knew" and how you made a vow that loss wouldn't define your or your children's lives negatively forever. You've also trained as an integrative nutrition health coach, recognizing the importance of holistic health and sustainable behavior change in grief recovery. For female founders who are building businesses while navigating personal trauma, caregiving responsibilities, or major life transitions, what's your advice about maintaining boundaries and avoiding burnout? How did you manage the emotional labor of supporting other widows while still processing your own grief and raising your daughters, and what would you tell women about the timeline and pace of building a purpose-driven business when you're also healing from trauma?** Being widowed with two young children shaped every decision I made. My children have always been my priority. I wanted to be a loving, present mother and a role model – to show them that life can still be meaningful and fulfilling, even after loss. Before Simon died, I was a nurse and midwife in the NHS. I truly believed that was all I knew how to do. Grief dismantled that belief and showed me how capable I really was. I went on to train as an integrative health coach because grief isn’t just emotional – it impacts every part of life. That holistic understanding has been incredibly valuable, both personally and professionally. Burnout is a real risk, especially when your work involves emotional labour. I experienced it early on, doing up to six one-to-one sessions a day. I was exhausted physically, mentally, and emotionally. That taught me a vital lesson: looking after myself isn’t separate from my work – it *is* part of my work. Boundaries matter. Regulation matters. Joy, rest, creativity, and connection matter. If you don’t tend to your own nervous system and wellbeing, you can’t sustainably hold space for others. My advice to women building businesses alongside trauma, caregiving, or major life transitions is to take your time. Steady growth is far more sustainable than rapid expansion. It’s easy to focus on where you think you should be, rather than how far you’ve come. And finally: carve out time for yourself every single day – not occasionally, not when everything else is done. Even 30 minutes to walk, journal, breathe, sit in the garden, or simply be. Everything you want to create starts with you. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### System + Soul AI Institute URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/partners/founding/system-soul-ai-institute/ Last updated: 2026-01-12T11:55:38.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2025/12/System---Soul-AI-logo.png) #### System + Soul AI Institute is a Latina-led training and strategy firm that helps entrepreneurs and purpose-driven teams go from overwhelmed to AI-confident. Through hands-on workshops and leadership coaching we help businesses build emotionally intelligent, AI-fluent teams that work smarter, lead boldly, and scale sustainably, while having fun! [Visit website](http://systemandsoulai.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ### Faithfully Legal™ URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/partners/law/faithfully-legal/ Last updated: 2026-01-06T01:58:32.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2026/01/unnamed--32--4.jpg) #### Faithfully Legal™ is a boutique legal-strategy practice serving purpose-driven entrepreneurs and women-led businesses. We help founders prevent costly legal issues by building clear, aligned foundations—covering contracts, structure, intellectual property and compliance—so they can grow with confidence, peace, and protection. ****Website URL** [https://faithfullylegal.com](https://faithfullylegal.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ****Preferred Contact Email** hello@faithfullylegal.com [Schedule a call](https://faithfullylegal.com/scheduler/faithandclarity?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ### From the Music Scene to Nordic Tech PR: Lovisa Fredriksson on Finding Compelling Stories, Why Press Releases Don't Work Like Magic, and Building a Solo PR Practice That Delivers Agency-Level Results URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/pr/from-the-music-scene-to-nordic-tech-pr-lovisa-fredriksson-on-finding-compelling-stories-why-press-releases-dont-work-like-magic-and-building-a-solo-pr-practice-that-delivers-agency-leve/ Last updated: 2025-12-23T05:03:19.000Z **Lovisa Fredriksson** is the founder of [LFPR & Content](https://lfpr.se/?ref=foundedbywomen.org), a strategic PR and content agency based in Malmö, Sweden. But LFPR & Content is "so small that it actually consists of only one person" – and that person is Lovisa, who has worked in the PR and communications industry for over 15 years, delivering results across Swedish, Danish, and Norwegian markets for both global companies and startups. Lovisa's 15+ year career has taken her from writing press releases about getting more girls and women into the music scene (she's been involved with Popkollo, an organization working for gender equality in the music industry, since 2006) to rolling out Twitter for B2B companies before it was cool, to working with tech startups, fintech, IT, and lifestyle brands across Sweden, Denmark, and Norway. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Strategic Communications and completed a two-year Qualified Profession Education (KY) focusing on communications, journalism, project management, and media production. Lovisa's specialty is helping companies see "the nuggets that make your offer interesting" – because she's convinced that "everything starts with a good story" and that everyone has a good story to tell. She works primarily with B2B companies in tech/IT, industry, and lifestyle, helping them gain visibility and awareness in Nordic media through a combination of strategic PR, media relations, and engaging content. With her strong editorial background and ability to quickly understand complex topics and explain them in accessible ways, Lovisa has delivered results for well-known established companies and local startups across the Nordic region. She's known for her "diligent" approach to media relations – she still pitches journalists over the phone, which she says "really makes a difference" – and her refreshingly honest take on PR realities. As she's written on LinkedIn: "Sending a press release over the wire doesn't put it in some magical journalist inbox that guarantees it will end up getting covered. Or even seen." Clients praise her as "straightforward and result-oriented with an excellent flair for not only the good story but also client service" and appreciate her ability to find news value and complement it with interesting angles. Based in Malmö, Lovisa works both independently and with trusted partners across the Nordic region, adapting to different industries and helping clients achieve their communication goals through clear, focused messaging that emphasizes customer benefit. In this Q&A, Lovisa shares how she uncovers compelling angles for founders who think their stories aren't exciting enough, what actually gets Nordic journalists to pay attention (and why knowing someone in the media won't help if your story isn't strong), and her framework for maintaining quality and avoiding burnout as a solo PR consultant delivering agency-level strategic thinking. --- ## From the Music Scene to Tech Startups - Finding the Story That Connects **Your 15+ year career has taken you from writing press releases about the importance of getting more girls and women into the music scene to rolling out Twitter for B2B companies (before it was cool!) to working with tech startups, fintech, and lifestyle brands across Sweden, Denmark, and Norway. You've said "everything starts with a good story" and your specialty is helping companies see the "nuggets that make your offer interesting." For female founders who feel their business story isn't exciting enough, how do you uncover the compelling angles and news value that media and audiences actually care about? What's the difference between a story that lands versus one that gets ignored?** That’s a really interesting question. I think that very many people, especially women, doubt themselves and believe that their story isn’t interesting enough. Sometimes it’s true, but most of the time it’s not, it’s really just about finding the right” hook” and package it in a compelling way. It can be hard to find this specific hook yourself, so my recommendation is to ask people around you – your friends, your network and your peers – what would they say are some exciting things about you and your company? It’s so easy to get home blind, you will probably get amazed by the answers that you get. ## The Reality of Press Releases and Media Relations in 2024 **You've been refreshingly honest on LinkedIn about how "sending a press release over the wire doesn't put it in some magical journalist inbox that guarantees it will end up getting covered. Or even seen." With over 15 years working in Nordic media relations, what's your realistic assessment of what actually gets journalists to pay attention?** I would say the most important thing is to have a deep interest in and also respect for the journalist, the media and their readers. Ask yourself questions such as “*Why should this reporter and this media cover my story?*”, “*What makes me and my story interesting to their readers?*” Do your research and always focus on the outside-in perspective. It’s interesting to think how many companies believe that sending out press releases is equivalent of doing PR. Many journalists get hundreds of press releases every day, and don’t read even the headline of the majority of them. I know that many PR people say they’re not pitching over the phone anymore, but I still do and it really makes a difference. That’s also what I’ve heard from some of my clients, that I work with media relations in a very diligent way and that’s what’s creating the results. **For female founders with limited PR budgets, where should they invest their time and money to gain visibility and awareness in Swedish and Nordic media? What are the biggest misconceptions startups have about media relations, and how should they approach it differently?** The thing is that even if your budget is really big or very limited, the story is still what’s most important. Also, if you have a strong story, you don’t need a big budget. So, my recommendation is to work on creating a strong story with a compelling and interesting hook that will create interest among the people you wish to reach. Regarding media relations, I think the most common misconception is that you need to know someone in the media to get coverage. That’s not the case (but you need to know the media landscape though), especially not in the Nordics where journalists are very protective of their integrity. For example, a Swedish journalist would very seldom – if ever – accept a paid press tour and/or press dinner of any kind. This has very much to do with integrity but also their objectivity. Swedish and Nordic media can be tricky in many ways as the bar to get featured in a publication, especially a high profile one, is extremely high. Nordic journalists won’t do you any favors in any ways. I would say that knowing a journalist can help getting your email opened or your phone call answered, but if the story sucks, it still won’t be featured. So, once again – focus on the story and the rest will follow. ## Building a Solo PR Practice That Delivers Agency-Level Results **LFPR & Content is just you, yet you deliver strategic PR and content services for both global companies and startups across multiple Nordic markets. You've worked on everything from promoting gaming events to sustainability reports to creating entirely new brands. For female entrepreneurs considering going solo in communications or consulting, what's your framework for maintaining quality and client satisfaction when you're a one-person operation?** Listen to yourself as much as you are listening to the client, if not more. Remember that you are the PR professional and believe in yourself and your competence, even if we all have those days when it’s tricky to do so. Set boundaries, keep your head high and take in external help when needed. For bigger projects, I always prefer to have a ball plank when it comes to both ideas and execution. **How do you set boundaries, manage project loads, and deliver "agency-level" strategic thinking without burning out?** Discipline is super important. Sometimes it can be super stressful and difficult to keep your head above the water. What has helped me has been meditation as well as focusing on one thing at a time. Also, it’s important to remember that sometimes “good enough” is just fine - you don’t need to be on your toes all the time. Maintaining your mental as well as your physical health is crucial. No one – least of all your clients - will benefit from you burning yourself out. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### From BigLaw Paralegal to Virtual Business Pioneer: Pamela J. Starr on Launching StarrParalegals in 2008, Chairing NFPA's Ethics Board for Eight Years, and Building a Career Mitigation Business with Snarky Authenticity URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/law/from-biglaw-paralegal-to-virtual-business-pioneer-pamela-j-starr-on-launching-starrparalegals-in-2008-chairing-nfpas-ethics-board-for-eight-years-and-building-a-career-mitigation-busine/ Last updated: 2025-12-23T04:27:08.000Z Pamela J. Starr, CBA, J.S.M., M.A.T.D., is the founder and "Paralegal Extraordinaire" of [StarrParalegals](https://starrparalegals.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org), LLC, a pioneering virtual paralegal service launched in 2008—long before remote work became mainstream. After spending decades in BigLaw, Pamela reinvented herself by creating a model that blended precision legal support with the flexibility of virtual work, specializing in bankruptcy & creditors' rights, commercial transactions, and UCC. But reinvention also meant investing in herself. Pamela earned a Master of Science of Law (J.S.M.), cum laude, in Bankruptcy & Restructuring and E-commerce from Thomas Jefferson School of Law in 2012, and a Master of Arts in Training & Development (M.A.T.D.), summa cum laude, from Roosevelt University in 2016\. Following graduation for the University of Texas at Austin with a B.A. in 1983, she earned her Paralegal Certificate from Southwestern Paralegal Institute in Houston in 1983—one of the first ABA-approved paralegal certification programs in the United States. In 2006, Pamela became a Certified Bankruptcy Assistant (CBA) under the auspices of the Association for bankruptcy Judicial Assistants. Pamela served for eight years as Chair of the Ethics Board for the National Federation of Paralegal Associations (NFPA), shaping professional standards across the paralegal industry. She's an active member of NALA – The Paralegal Association, the Association of Bankruptcy Judicial Assistants (ABJA), and the ABA GPSolo Division. Her leadership extends beyond ethics—she's been a featured speaker at national conferences, presented webinars, and been published in the National Paralegal Reporter, ABA GPSolo Magazine, Paralegal Today, Law Technology News, and The Fulton County Daily Report, among others. In 2011, ParalegalGateway named Pamela a "Paralegal Superstar," and she was nominated by her peers as a 2011 Georgia Powerhouse Paralegal. In 2012, her blog "Pamela the Paralegal" was chosen as a Top 25 Paralegal Blog by Criminal Justice Degree Schools. StarrParalegals won top honors in the StartupNation Home-Based 100 Business Competition and achieved 2nd place in "Best Start-up Potential" in the 2009 Concept2Reality Competition. Known for her authentic voice, wit, and Trekkie flair (she's "a left-handed, redheaded stepchild, born on Friday the 13th" and proud cat mom to Lt. Uhura, Lt. Vinny LaSalle, Ensign Demora Sulu, and Mr. Spock), Pamela has become both a trusted industry leader and a relatable advocate for paralegals navigating career transitions. Through "Sessions with a Starr," she offers Career Mitigation services to help experienced paralegals convert from traditional brick-and-mortar careers to virtual/freelance work. Her blog features "lots of snarky posts and rants" that have made her memorable, relatable, and sometimes even viral. In this Q&A, Pamela shares her journey from BigLaw paralegal to virtual business owner in 2008 when remote work was still new, how she built credibility in a specialized niche while also coaching other paralegals through career transitions, and why her "snarky" authentic voice became her superpower in building a business that reflects her values. ## From BigLaw Paralegal to Virtual Business Owner - Launching StarrParalegals in 2008 When Remote Work Was Still New **You spent decades working as a paralegal in BigLaw before launching StarrParalegals in 2008 - when virtual work was still relatively new and "the economy could no longer support traditional law firms." For women in traditional careers considering entrepreneurship after many years as employees, what made you realize it was time to leave BigLaw and start your own business? What were the biggest challenges of launching a virtual service business in 2008, and what advice would you give women about making that transition from employee to business owner?** After decades in BigLaw, I saw firsthand how the 2008 financial crisis reshaped the legal industry. Firms were downsizing, overhead was unsustainable, and the traditional model simply couldn’t keep pace. I realized attorneys still needed skilled paralegal support, but not necessarily in the same building. That was my lightbulb moment: if the economy couldn’t support the old way, I would create a new way. The truth is, I was sort of thrown into it. Launching StarrParalegals wasn’t a carefully plotted plan, it was survival. The industry shifted, and I had to reinvent myself. What felt like being pushed out of BigLaw became the opportunity to build something new. Let’s be honest, no one wants to start interviewing for a new job at 40‑many years old. Reinvention wasn’t glamorous, it was survival. But survival became opportunity, and opportunity became longevity. Reinvention also meant investing in myself. I went back to school and earned two master’s degrees: a Master of Science of Law in Bankruptcy & Restructuring and a Master of Arts in Training & Development. The biggest challenge in 2008 was credibility. Remote work wasn’t mainstream yet, so I had to prove that virtual paralegals could deliver the same precision, confidentiality, and timeliness as in-house staff. Technology was clunkier then, too - secure file sharing and e-filing systems weren’t as seamless as they are today. My advice for women making the leap: don’t wait for perfect timing. There will always be risks, but if you’ve built expertise, you already have the foundation. Focus on solving a real problem in your industry, and trust that your skills are transferable. Entrepreneurship isn’t about abandoning your career; it’s about reimagining it on your own terms. ## Finding Your Niche and Building "Career Mitigation" Services - Specializing in Bankruptcy & Creditors' Rights While Helping Other Paralegals Transition to Virtual Work **StarrParalegals specializes in bankruptcy & creditors' rights, serving attorneys nationwide virtually. You also created "Sessions with a Starr" offering Career Mitigation services to help experienced paralegals convert from traditional brick-and-mortar careers to virtual/freelance work. For women building service-based businesses, how did you identify your niche and decide to specialize rather than offer general services? What made you decide to add the Career Mitigation coaching component, and what's your advice about building credibility in a specialized field?** Bankruptcy and creditors’ rights were my natural niche because the federal courts had already begun the transition to online docket access and eFiling and that’s where attorneys consistently needed specialized, detail-oriented support. Rather that offering a broad spectrum I services, I leaned into what I knew best. Specialization builds trust. Attorneys want to know you’re not just competent, but an expert in their exact pain points. I took my 30 years of BigLaw bankruptcy experience and spun it on its ear by reimagining that expertise as a virtual service. It felt risky, what if hanging my virtual shingle limited my options? In reality, it gave me freedom: freedom to be known for something, and freedom to attract the right clients instead of chasing every opportunity. “Sessions with a Starr” grew out of conversations with other paralegals who were watching the industry shift but didn’t know how to adapt. I realized I could help them transition from brick-and-mortar careers to virtual work by sharing both the technical skills and the mindset shift required. Career Mitigation was personal. I knew what it felt like to be forced to reinvent myself, and I didn’t want other paralegals to face that alone. My advice: credibility comes from consistency. Publish, speak, share insights, and show up in your niche over and over again. Don’t dilute your brand by chasing every opportunity; own your specialty, and people will come to you as the authority. ## Balancing Business Growth with Industry Leadership - Publishing, Speaking, and Using Your "Snarky" Authentic Voice **You've been published in major paralegal publications, named a ‘Paralegal Superstar,’ and your blog "Pamela the Paralegal" was chosen as a Top 25 Paralegal Blog. You're known for "lots of snarky posts and rants" on social media and describe yourself as a "left-handed, redheaded stepchild, born on Friday the 13th" and a Trekkie. For female entrepreneurs building professional services businesses, what's your advice about balancing business development with thought leadership? How has your personality and authentic voice (including the "snarky" side) helped or hindered your business growth?** For me, business growth and thought leadership have always gone hand-in-hand. Authoring articles, speaking at conferences, and maintaining my blog weren’t distractions, they were amplifiers. They positioned StarrParalegals as not just a service provider, but a voice in the industry. As for my personality, yes, I’m a snarky, left-handed, redheaded, born on a Friday the 13th, and a Trekkie. That authenticity has been my superpower. Attorneys don’t want bland marketing; they want to know the person behind the service. My snarky posts and rants made me relatable, memorable, and sometimes even viral. I’ll admit, there were some who worried my snark might scare people off, but it actually became the filter that drew the right clients in. Sharing my authentic voice wasn’t just about branding, it was about connection. People want to collaborate with humans, not faceless businesses. Did it ever ruffle feathers? Sure. But the right clients appreciated the honesty and humor, and those are the ones I wanted to work with anyway. Through all of it, I maintained my membership and involvement with several professional organizations. Eventually, I was appointed as Chair of NFPA’s Ethics Board - a position I held for eight years. It reinforced the idea that credibility isn’t just built, it’s stewarded. Leadership in ethics taught me that trust and integrity are the foundation of any professional service. My advice: don’t mute yourself to fit a mold. Your authentic voice is what sets you apart in a crowded market. Thought leadership isn’t about being perfect, it’s about being real, consistent, and willing to share your perspective, even if it’s unconventional. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### From IBM Project Manager in Singapore to Co-Founding Norton Basu LLP: Somita Basu on Leaving Management Consulting for Law School, Estate Planning for Entrepreneurs, and Building a Multicultural Firm Called "The Best of the Best" URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/law/from-ibm-project-manager-in-singapore-to-co-founding-norton-basu-llp-somita-basu-on-leaving-management-consulting-for-law-school-estate-planning-for-entrepreneurs-and-building-a-multicu/ Last updated: 2025-12-22T11:13:02.000Z **Somita Basu** is the founding principal of [Norton Basu](https://www.nortonbasu.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) LLP, a California-based estate planning and probate law firm that Retired Judge LaDoris Cordell (who presided over Santa Clara County Probate Court for two years) calls "the best of the best." But Somita's path to co-founding a successful law practice was anything but traditional. Somita began her career in financial services and insurance, working with Fortune 500 companies in senior management positions across three continents—from the New York metro area to three years in Mumbai, India, to a decade in Singapore where she led a $30 million IBM project managing 40 people across four countries. While pregnant with her first child in Singapore, Somita made a dramatic decision: she enrolled remotely in Purdue Global's Concord Law School (an online law school that "was looked down upon—until 2020"), flew to California with jet lag to take the bar exam, and moved to the Bay Area in 2013. On her first day of volunteer training at Bay Area Legal Aid, Somita met Zakiya Norton. That meeting would become the foundation of Norton Basu LLP, a firm specializing in estate planning, probate, conservatorships, and trust administration with particular sensitivity to immigrant cultures and diverse perspectives. Having lived abroad for 13 years, Somita speaks fluent English and Bengali (conversational Hindi) and brings a unique understanding of how different cultural views influence decision-making and risk appetite. A Super Lawyers Rising Star, Somita has served as Board Chair of Justice At Last, Vice Chair and Chair of the Solo and Small Firm Section of the California Lawyers Association (where she was past editor of *The Practitioner*), and Co-Chair of the DEI Outreach Committee for CLA. She served on the influential Project 2021 Committee to determine the future of the California Lawyers Association. Somita is also an Adjunct Professor teaching law students and remains actively engaged in pro bono representation. Clients describe Somita and Zakiya as "highly responsive, solutions-oriented, and empathetic," offering a "pragmatic, straightforward and compassionate approach." The firm has helped thousands of people with estate planning needs, from entrepreneurs building wealth through their businesses to immigrant families with assets across multiple countries. In this Q&A, Somita shares her journey from climbing the corporate ladder in management consulting to attending law school remotely while pregnant, meeting her future law partner on day one of volunteer training, and building Norton Basu LLP with mentor support from a retired judge who became their first client. --- ## From Fortune 500 Management Consultant to Law School in Singapore - Co-Founding Norton Basu LLP After a $30 Million IBM Project and Career Across Three Continents *You began your career in financial services and insurance, working with Fortune 500 companies in senior management positions across the New York metro area, India (3 years in Mumbai), and Singapore (a decade leading a $30 million IBM project managing 40 people across four countries, up-selling $1.6M in consulting, and earning IBM's Customer Service Excellence Award). While pregnant with your first child in Singapore, you decided to attend law school remotely through Purdue Global's Concord Law School, flew to California with jet lag to take the bar exam, and moved to the Bay Area in 2013 where you met Zakiya Norton volunteering at Bay Area Legal Aid on day one of training. For female founders with successful corporate careers considering dramatic career pivots (especially women with international experience or unconventional paths to entrepreneurship), what made you decide to leave management consulting to become an attorney? Walk us through the journey from that decision in Singapore to co-founding Norton Basu LLP, and what advice would you give women about making major career transitions while raising young children?* I spent much of the first half of my life climbing the corporate ladder and checking off boxes of what was expected of me along the way. I left management consulting because I wanted a career with more interaction with clients for whom I could really make a difference. Law is a career I had always thought of since I was in my early 20s. Family pressures and responsibilities kept me from pursuing a legal career. However, when I left Singapore and returned to the US, I vowed to have more control of my time (for my small children) and my own fate (for myself). Every woman has their own set of ever-shifting priorities. However, sometimes what gets lost is the big picture. While raising young children, often compromises need to be made. But it's always helpful to keep the ultimate goal in mind. Not every phase or step is forward progress but keeping your priorities and values at the forefront helps manage your own expectations. Be patient with yourself! Demands on working mothers are incredibly high. ## Estate Planning for Entrepreneurs and Immigrant Families - Why "Everyone Needs an Estate Plan" and How Cultural Perspectives Shape Decision-Making *Norton Basu LLP focuses on estate planning, probate, conservatorships, and trust administration with particular sensitivity to immigrant cultures and diverse perspectives (you speak fluent English and Bengali, conversational Hindi). You're You served as Board Chair of Justice At Last, ~~served as~~ Vice Chair and Chair of the Solo and Small Firm Section of the California Lawyers Association, were past editor of The Practitioner, and served on the Project 2021 Committee and Co-Chair of the DEI Outreach Committee for CLA. You've been recognized as a Super Lawyers Rising Star and work with clients from diverse cultural backgrounds who have different views on risk appetite and decision-making. For female founders and entrepreneurs building wealth through their businesses, what are the most common estate planning mistakes you see? How should founders think about estate planning when their assets are tied up in businesses, startups, or illiquid investments? And what specific considerations do immigrant entrepreneurs need to keep in mind when creating estate plans that may involve assets or family members across multiple countries?* Estate planning is a foundational tool to help your family and your business. People regularly consider estate planning as only being effective in the case of death. But a comprehensive estate planning can also handle your care and your assets in the event of incapacity. It's important to have a professionally drafted estate plan in place that addresses your business entities as well as your personal assets. For those with assets overseas, the most practical approach to handling international assets is to have appropriate estate planning documents in place in the country where the assets are located. While US documents can work in other countries, the process is complex and expenses. A local Will or Trust will ensure that international assets will be handled in a much more efficient manner consistent with local laws. ## Building Norton Basu LLP as a Multicultural Firm - From Bay Area Legal Aid to Retired Judge LaDoris Cordell's "Best of the Best" Endorsement *You and Zakiya Norton built Norton Basu LLP into a firm that Retired Judge LaDoris Cordell (who presided over Santa Clara County Probate Court for two years) calls "the best of the best." You've brought a global outlook from having studied, lived, and worked across the country and globe, offering what clients describe as a "pragmatic, straight-forward and compassionate approach." You're also an Adjunct Professor teaching law students and actively engaged in pro bono work. For female founders building professional services firms (law, accounting, consulting) or considering co-founder partnerships, what's your framework for building a firm culture that reflects your values? How do you balance running a successful practice with teaching, pro bono work, board service, and family life? And what advice would you give women about pricing legal services and building credibility when they've taken nontraditional paths to their professions (like attending law school online, which you note "was looked down upon - until 2020")?* Firm culture is the key to longevity in any professional services business. From the outset, my law partner, Zakiya Norton, and I vowed to work with clients we like on matters that we feel are worthwile. We have always strived to provide the best service to our clients and having clients who share our values of respect and dignity for all people makes serving these clients a pleasure instead of a chore. As the saying goes, 'All money is not good money'. Don't be afraid to say no. I believe all women entrepreneurs face an uphill climb in professional services so protecting your peace and mental health is the key to longevity. In the professional services industry, always remember that you are selling your knowledge and expertise. In the beginning, your rates may be lower than you wish. But with time and experience, you can and should increase your price to match your lengthier track record and heightened confidence. Having a mentor is helpful. No one can do it alone. We had a retired judge as our mentor and she was able to provide us context and the benefit of her experience as both a private sector attorney and entrepreneur and as the first Black woman judge in Santa Clara County. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### From 25+ Years on Bay Street to Betting on Herself at Dipchand LLP: May Cheng on Leaving Big Law for a Boutique IP Powerhouse, Building a Specialty Practice in Anti-Counterfeiting, and Navigating Bill 96's French Language Requirements URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/law/from-25-years-on-bay-street-to-betting-on-herself-at-dipchand-llp-may-cheng-on-leaving-big-law-for-a-boutique-ip-powerhouse-building-a-specialty-practice-in-anti-counterfeiting-and-navi/ Last updated: 2025-12-24T02:21:54.000Z **May Cheng** is a partner at [Dipchand](http://www.dipchand.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) LLP, a Toronto-based IP boutique that Legal 500 describes as "a small but mighty IP boutique that punches well above its weight." But May's path to this woman-led, seven-partner firm came after spending over 25 years at top-tier Bay Street firms including Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt, Fasken Martineau DuMoulin (where she served as Chair and Partner of the Toronto Intellectual Property Group from 1999-2016), Smart & Biggar, and Scott & Aylen (now BLG Gowling WLG). May is a Lexpert/ALM 500-ranked intellectual property lawyer recognized as "very strategic" and "experienced and effective" in brand protection and enforcement. She's been named an IP Star for the past decade by *Managing Intellectual Property Magazine* and received a Gold Band ranking in Enforcement and Litigation and Silver Band in Anti-Counterfeiting. Chambers describes her as bringing "a wealth of knowledge and experience across a range of industries" with "exceptional skill set" that makes her "an irreplaceable part of our IP strategy." In 2023, May received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Federation for Asian Canadian Lawyers—the organization's highest honour—for her career as a mentor and role model for Asian Canadian lawyers, including her advocacy for Head Tax Redress and other Asian community groups. She was recognized as one of Canadian Lawyer's Top 25 Most Influential Lawyers in 2024 for her exceptional contributions to equity, diversity, and inclusion in the legal profession. May has also received recognition from the Ontario Bar Association for her mentoring of women in law and volunteer work in the field of women's equality. With nearly three decades of experience, May has established a strong reputation in brand protection and enforcement with a specialty practice in anti-counterfeiting, working across all major industries with particular focus on retail, travel, fashion, and food. Her litigation experience spans patent, trademark, and copyright infringement cases, expungement and injunction cases in federal and provincial courts. She's described as a "fearless advocate" whose goal is to arrive at the best business solution for clients, which often isn't achieved through protracted litigation. May writes extensively for *The Lawyer's Daily* about IP issues (including McDonald's aggressive brand protection strategy) and has been featured on the Lawyered podcast discussing Bill 96 and Quebec's new French language requirements for advertising, bad faith trademark registrations, and copyright law regarding AI derivative artworks. She presents regularly at Law Society of Ontario programs on trademark law updates and is recognized as both a rainmaker and an inspiration to countless Asian-Canadian and women lawyers. In this Q&A, May shares why she left the resources and platform of elite Bay Street firms to join a boutique practice, her framework for deciding when aggressive brand enforcement makes business sense versus when it escalates costs unnecessarily, and practical advice for Canadian businesses navigating Bill 96's French language requirements and bad faith trademark registrations. --- ## From 25+ Years at Top-Tier Bay Street Firms to Joining Dipchand LLP - Trading Big Law for a Boutique IP Powerhouse **You spent over 25 years at top-tier full-service firms on Bay Street (including Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt, Fasken Martineau DuMoulin, and Scott & Aylen (now BLG) before joining Dipchand LLP, a boutique Toronto law firm focused exclusively on intellectual property, corporate law, franchise law, and litigation. You're recognized as a Lexpert/ALM 500-ranked intellectual property lawyer known for being "very strategic" and "experienced and effective" in brand protection and enforcement. For female attorneys considering leaving prestigious Big Law partnerships to join smaller, specialized firms, what prompted your decision to leave the resources and platform of elite Bay Street firms for a six-lawyer boutique? How did you evaluate whether Dipchand LLP's culture, values, and focus aligned with your practice goals, and what advice would you give women about making the leap from established firms to boutique practices without sacrificing professional reputation or client relationships?** Lawyers are a risk-adverse group generally, so I can appreciate how the idea of leaving Big Law can seem daunting. Women lawyers in particular are also even less likely to move firms, because they are less motivated by money and they are extremely loyal both as employees and as partners. I've spoken to recruiters about this paradox, where the women get paid less and yet are not prepared to seek out a promotion or a better platform for their practice, because they feel they do not have the perfect experience level for a promotion or because they do not have the confidence that they can bring their clients with them. Male lawyers will actively seek out options for higher compensation, even just to come back to their current firms to leverage another firm's offer into a compensation level increase. What I noticed as I was rising the ranks in Big Law was that women partners were leaving in higher numbers and did not rise as quickly as the men in the partnership, but many of the women would ultimately leave Big Law for in-house roles. I love the work that I do, and I really had no interest in moving to an in-house role, because I enjoy private practice and the depth and breadth of the files I got to work on. Ultimately, there is a higher price tag for your overhead in Big Law, and while you may attract larger files you also give over a larger proportion of the revenue generated to pay for all the trappings, including the fancy office space, big budget marketing machinery, expensive client events and partner conferences. In one of my moves within Big Law, I realized that I had the relationships and the profile to bring a lot of work with me, because I had developed a loyal client base that was portable. Then the pandemic came along and showed us all that the showy trappings of the big firm were not really valued by clients, that what really mattered to clients was good advice and they no longer wanted to subsidize the fancy offices with the outsized hourly rates. It's a misconception that you don't get the state-of-the art resources outside of Big Law, because small firms actually have the ability to adopt new technology faster and more cost effectively, and with the big firm come tons of conflicts that prevent you from taking a lot of great files. I had a bit of an epiphany during the pandemic that technology had levelled the playing field for small firms in being able to manage deadlines and litigation support functions without the huge teams. I also recognized that I was not truly enjoying the success that I had achieved, as there was constant pressure to take on so many roles internally and externally, particularly as a visible minority woman in a white male dominated environment. I felt pressure to constantly be putting myself out there, while not being recognized for all the extra effort at the end of the day. Ultimately, at a certain age and stage, I also started to ask myself: what am I building and for whom? Did I really just want to build up an enviable practice to hand it off to these managers who viewed it as nothing more than a drop in the bucket? I've always strived for impact in my volunteer work, particularly work that would advance women and minorities, why not do this with my legal practice? My choice to join Dipchand LLP had a lot to do with the soul searching I was doing mid-pandemic and the fact that I got to know Elizabeth Dipchand on a more personal level during that time. She is the one who asked me "Why don't you bet on yourself?" That question really resonated with me and ultimately fuelled my decision to leave Big Law. Being a partner in a much smaller firm allows for engaging in decisions as an actual partner and not just a glorified employee. Decisions in Big Law are made by an elite Partnership Board or Compensation Committee, where the equity partners get a vote, but not always a seat at the table. I will not only have a say in my succession planning, but the opportunity to train up my successor(s) and build something that reflects my values. I get a direct say in the types of cases we take, and can represent smaller clients on files that I would be forced to turn away in Big Law. I think the message for women looking to make a leap is that you can control your own destiny, because your reputation and skills follow you, so no one can take those from you. We are in a service industry that is all about trusted advisor relationships. Women are generally better than men at building relationships, so remember that if you have done your work well you can trust that those clients will follow you. I was pleasantly surprised by the number of clients that I did not expect would follow me to a smaller shop that sought me out to continue with the relationship following my move. If anything, the move to a boutique environment has allowed me to deepen those relationships and focus on clients and causes that matter to me most. As you become more senior, you need to constantly re-evaluate what is working for you and what no longer serves you, to truly strive to live your best life. Success is not defined by a corner office. My life has always prioritized my relationships with my spouse, kids, family and friends, as well as my community work. I think people who prioritize work and money not only miss out, they become miserable chasing the illusion of success. True success for me is grounded in balance and a rich, fulfilling personal life. ## Building a Specialty Practice in Anti-Counterfeiting and Brand Protection - Advising Retail, Travel, Fashion, and Food Companies **You've established a strong reputation in brand protection and enforcement with a specialty practice in anti-counterfeiting, working across all major industries but with particular focus on retail, travel, fashion, and food. Your litigation experience spans patent, trademark, and copyright infringement cases, expungement and injunction cases in federal and provincial courts. You're described as a "fearless advocate" whose goal is to arrive at the best business solution for clients, which often isn't achieved through protracted litigation. For female founders building brands in retail, fashion, food, or travel industries, what are the most critical IP protection mistakes you see startups make early on? How should founders approach trademark registration, anti-counterfeiting strategies, and brand enforcement when they're bootstrapping or in early growth stages, and what's your framework for deciding when aggressive enforcement makes business sense versus when it escalates costs unnecessarily?** My best advice is to start by doing the research on not only your product but your marketing plan. You need to find a product name or company name that will create a value proposition for customers and resonate with the market. My job is not only to file trademarks, but to help out with the choice of the trademark/brand, to conduct the due diligence on the choice of name/mark/logo before the company makes a misstep by not identifying other market players who may already have a stake in a confusingly similar name/mark. Nowadays the federal and provincial governments in Canada are prioritizing trademark and patent protection for Canadian start-ups, so there are funding sources available to new market entrants to be able to go get their trademarks and patents early. All of the good law firms in the intellectual property field know how to tap into these funding sources and can help a new company avoid spending all their early cash on trademark and patent protection by tapping into these government resources. The biggest mistakes I have seen start-ups make in the past are: (1) not clearing a trademark before adopting it and spending a lot on marketing, only to be met with a cease and desist letter; or (2) overspending on trademarking every possible iteration of their logo, in multiple countries, only to run out of money before they can get the product to market by spending too much on legals. Start-ups need to prioritize what is absolutely necessary versus nice to have. Searches and clearance are necessary, trademarks for every single iteration of the logo are just nice to have but should only be pursued if there's cash to burn. Anti-counterfeiting is mainly a problem for bigger and popular brands, or overnight successes. Sometimes the spending can be wasted on "whack a mole", because imitators crop up from all over, even if you shut a few down. However, going after a few examples more publicly, by filing a claim for instance, against some of the more egregious copycats can go a long way towards deterring others who want to use the same playbook. Enforcement needs to be strategic and advice from senior practitioners is critical in helping to decide who to go after or what methods will have the best return on investment. Sometimes a demand letter is enough to scare off a copycat, but if there's a lot of targets that you're chasing, you may need to tolerate some competition that doesn't really hurt your customer base and allows you to not spend all the profit chasing infringers. Even really successful and famous brands have tight budgets for enforcement and are always looking for ways to avoid anti-counterfeiting spend, but some do so little to protect their brands that dilution leads to diminished value. ## Navigating Bill 96's French Language Requirements and Bad Faith Trademark Registrations - Practical IP Strategy for Canadian Businesses You've been featured on the Lawyered podcast discussing Bill 96 and Quebec's new French language requirements for advertising, bad faith trademark registrations, and copyright law regarding AI derivative artworks. As someone who writes extensively for The Lawyer's Daily about IP issues (including McDonald's aggressive brand protection strategy), you balance strategic legal advice with practical business considerations. For female entrepreneurs expanding into Canadian markets or dealing with cross-border IP issues, what do founders need to know about Bill 96's French language requirements and how does this impact companies' advertising obligations? How should startups approach trademark registration in Canada to avoid bad faith claims, and what are the early warning signs that a competitor's trademark registration might be vulnerable to expungement? The key for successful market expansion into Canada is to start with the legal advice you need to avoid regulatory and other pitfalls, which can put the whole investment into a new market at risk of failure. On the French language requirements side, one strategy is to avoid selling into the Quebec market initially to not have to make the investment in translation and other regulatory compliance issues at the start. There have been new decisions about trademark protection and signage requirements that really need to be researched and planned out. For example, SWATCH recently managed to avoid having to translate their signage on the basis that SWATCH is a coined word and not an English word. So, choice of trademark and solid advice on signage requirements are really important for a new market entry in Quebec or face costly fines and potential litigation. Bad faith registration is something that is being used more aggressively in Canada lately as a basis for opposing trademarks or for preventing local companies from trading on the goodwill of famous or successful foreign brands. There are critical considerations, but the main objective has to be clearance searches and doing your homework to ensure that you are not trying to launch with a name/mark that is too similar or likely to be confused with an existing competitor in the market. As the world grows smaller with the reach of online shopping via the Internet, more brands are colliding across platforms or in new markets for foreign brands where their diaspora are migrating to adoptive countries. While it may be tempting to try to mimic the success of a foreign brand from a faraway place, the new remedy for bad faith registration can play a role in preventing the adoption of nostalgic brands in new markets if it's not by the original source from a foreign country. Expungement is also a useful tool for clearing a trademark that is no longer in use by a competitor or opposer. The Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO) has also launched a new randomized expungement program to try to clear "dead wood" from the Register where a brand owner is no longer using a mark. Previously, a party needed to commence an expungement proceeding, but now CIPO can take the initiative. It's also a cautionary tale for a client who wants to assert a weakly used mark against a third party, only to find itself on the defensive when a cancellation is initiated by the party they have aggressively sent a demand letter to. Expungement can really turn the tables on a market player who is too bullish on its rights. It's always risky to assert rights against a third party without doing the proper research on when they started to adopt and use their mark. Fortunately, there are many tools at the disposal of trademark lawyers to investigate the prior use made by a competitor. One cautionary tale on a file I worked on involved Atomic Energy of Canada, which was aggressive in asserting its "A" Design against Areva when they entered the Canadian nuclear market. Acting for Areva, not only were we successful in having their trademark infringement case dismissed, because it's pretty hard to confuse purchasers of nuclear reactors, but their trademark was vulnerable to cancellation because the Canadian company had not sold a new nuclear reactor in Canada in decades. Even big companies can have weaknesses in their trademark portfolios that can be exploited if they get too aggressive. Ultimately, having experienced counsel guide a new business can make a huge difference in helping to navigate the bumps in the road to success. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### From Growing Up on a Farm to Co-Founding Janzen Schroeder Ag Law: Brianna Schroeder on Environmental Litigation, Agriculture's Big Data, and Leading the National Discussion at the Intersection of Farming, Technology, and Regulation URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/law/from-growing-up-on-a-farm-to-co-founding-janzen-schroeder-ag-law-brianna-schroeder-on-environmental-litigation-agricultures-big-data-and-leading-the-national-discussion-at-the-intersect/ Last updated: 2025-12-22T10:53:04.000Z **Brianna Schroeder** is co-founder of [Janzen Schroeder Ag Law](https://www.aglaw.us/?ref=foundedbywomen.org), a boutique law firm exclusively focused on serving those involved with agriculture—from sophisticated farms to ag technology providers to agribusinesses. Since co-founding the firm with Todd Janzen in 2015, Brianna has become a national thought leader at the intersection of agriculture, environmental law, and emerging technology. Brianna grew up on an old family farm in rural Indiana, and after practicing environmental litigation at Plews Shadley Racher & Braun in Indianapolis and later at Wilson Elser in Chicago,she decided to "get back to her roots and work with farmers and agribusinesses." Today, she litigates complex environmental matters, drafts contracts for agribusinesses, helps livestock farms navigate regulatory compliance, and is leading the national discussion on agricultural law. In August 2025, Indiana Governor Mike Braun appointed Brianna to the Environmental Rules Board to represent agriculture. She's recognized in *The Best Lawyers in America 2026* for Litigation - Environmental, served on the American Agricultural Law Association Board of Directors, won AALA's 2021 Professional Scholarship Award for her Amicus Brief on the Right to Farm Act, and graduated from the Indiana Agricultural Leadership Program (Class 18). Brianna co-authored the "Best Paper" at the 2025 American Bar Association's SEER Fall Conference and was a key source for the *Indiana Prairie Farmer*'s three-part series on Salamonie Mills' failure. A frequent speaker on topics from PFAS legislation to renewable energy to novel zoning and land use issues, Brianna serves as Board Secretary for Indiana AgrIInstitute, was elected to the Indianapolis Bar Association board of directors, and volunteers with Child Advocates. She actively mentors undergraduates, law students, and recent graduates, and is a sought-after author writing extensively on the Right to Farm Act, zoning, renewable energy, sustainability, the Clean Water Act, and how the Supreme Court's *Loper Bright* decision fundamentally changed administrative appeals. In this Q&A, Brianna shares her journey from environmental litigation to co-founding a specialized ag law firm, navigating the post-*Chevron* regulatory landscape for agricultural compliance, and building credibility as a subject matter expert in a traditionally male-dominated field. --- ## From Environmental Litigation to Co-Founding Janzen Schroeder Ag Law - Building a Practice at the Intersection of Agriculture, Technology, and Environmental Regulation *You co-founded Janzen Schroeder Ag Law, a firm focused exclusively on serving those involved with agriculture, from sophisticated farms to ag technology providers to agribusinesses. You litigate complex environmental matters, draft contracts for agribusinesses, help livestock farms navigate regulatory compliance, and are leading the national discussion on agriculture's big data (privacy policies, data transfer agreements). In August 2025, Indiana Governor Mike Braun appointed you to the Environmental Rules Board to represent agriculture. You're recognized in The Best Lawyers in America 2026 for Litigation - Environmental, served on the American Agricultural Law Association Board of Directors, won AALA's 2021 Professional Scholarship Award for your Amicus Brief on the Right to Farm Act, and graduated from the Indiana Agricultural Leadership Program (Class 18). For female founders building businesses at the intersection of agriculture, technology, and sustainability, what made you decide to specialize in agricultural law? Walk us through your journey from environmental litigation to co-founding a boutique ag law firm, and what advice would you give women about building specialized legal or professional services practices in niche industries like agriculture where the client base and practitioner community are traditionally male-dominated.* I grew up on a farm, so working with the agricultural industry really was an obvious fit for me. As a young lawyer, I worked on all kinds of environmental matters. As I learned more and became more confident in my practice, I represented a few farms with permitting and other environmental issues. When my law partner and I decided to start our own firm, we knew we wanted to do something different—to focus entirely on the clients and to meet them where they are. That is why we decided to base on practice not on the type of law (contracts versus litigation, for example), but rather on the industry itself. Farmers and agricultural businesses have a variety of legal needs, but the issues almost always come back to the land. My advice to women practitioners looking to build a focused legal or professional practice would be to look for niche areas who are not yet being served. Think of industries that deserve specialized attention, but who aren’t yet getting it. When you find an area like that and it overlaps with your personal education or experience, I think that is the sweet spot for female entrepreneurs. ## Navigating the Regulatory Landscape - Clean Water Act, Right to Farm, PFAS, Water Rights, and the Post-Chevron Era for Agricultural Compliance *Your practice covers environmental regulatory compliance, zoning, Right to Farm Act litigation, water rights, PFAS chemicals, renewable energy, agritourism, farm security, employment law, and insurance coverage. You handle government flooding takings cases, and write extensively about how the Supreme Court's Chevron decision and Indiana's HEA 1003 fundamentally changed administrative appeals and give "less deference to agency decisions." You're a frequent speaker on agricultural and environmental topics and served on the the Indianapolis Bar Association Environmental Law Section. For female founders in agriculture, food production, agtech, or sustainability businesses, what are the most common regulatory mistakes you see startups and established farms make? How should founders think about environmental compliance, land use, and zoning from day one? And how has the post-Chevron legal landscape changed what ag businesses need to know about challenging or defending regulatory decisions?* When it comes to regulatory compliance, it is best to hire someone who understands the field and has experience with the regulatory agency. One mistake we see sometimes is companies or entities assuming they don’t need to secure a permit or other approval before taking some action like building a farm or installing drainage tile through a wet area. Environmental compliance is not only required by law but also is a solid business strategy. It helps a company avoid liabilities and take care of its natural resources like land, water, and air. After the Supreme Court’s Loper Bright decision and similar state law changes, courts may defer less to agency decisions. This can cut both ways for the agricultural industry and an experienced lawyer can help producers sort through their rights. ## Building Janzen Schroeder Ag Law While Advancing the Field - From Salamonie Mills Litigation to International Speaking on PFAS and Carbon Markets *You've been featured as a key source in major agricultural litigation (including the Indiana Prairie Farmer's three-part series on Salamonie Mills' failure), speak internationally on topics from PFAS legislation to South Korean farming to carbon market transparency principles, and actively mentor undergraduates, law students, and recent graduates. You're Board Secretary for Indiana AgrIInstitute, were elected to the Indianapolis Bar Association board of directors, volunteer with Child Advocates, and have been appointed to represent agriculture on Indiana's Environmental Rules Board. For female founders building professional services firms or advisory businesses while maintaining significant community leadership and mentorship roles, how do you structure your time and practice to balance client work, thought leadership (speaking, writing), board service, and mentorship? What's your advice for women about building credibility as subject matter experts in specialized fields, and how do you think about pricing legal services for agricultural clients who may have different budget expectations than corporate tech clients?* I think the idea of work life balance is a little bit of a funny idea. To me, it is all one thing. My life outside the office impacts my life inside the office and vice versa. I try to look at it from a holistic perspective – all the parts of life fitting together to make you the best version of you that you can be. This necessarily includes giving back to your communities, serving in leadership roles, advancing industry knowledge through writing and presenting, and obviously practicing law at a high level. I have served on boards which I believe improve the agricultural or legal world because those are the areas in which I have experience. This ensures that my non-profit work dovetails with my legal practice and each one supports the other. My advice to women looking to build credibility in a particular field is to read and write in that field—this ensures you are constantly increasing your knowledge base. Attend the educational and networking events in that space to learn from others. Meet people where they are! > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### From Single Parent to Successful Coach: Gemma Hogan on Building Talenta, Overcoming Imposter Syndrome, and the 'Align & Act' Framework URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/women-who-lead/from-single-parent-to-successful-coach-gemma-hogan-on-building-talenta-overcoming-imposter-syndrome-and-the-align-act-framework/ Last updated: 2025-12-19T03:35:35.000Z Gemma Hogan didn't have a traditional path into HR. As a young single parent without much education or experience, she made a decision not to let circumstances dictate her life. Evening classes, part-time roles, college, and university all while supporting her son. Sixteen years of grafting in corporate HR roles including designing Talent and Leadership Development programs such as a Business Academy, Management & Leadership Excellence, creating successful graduate schemes, and building mentoring programs that connected high performers with senior leaders. But along the way, Gemma noticed something: she was far exceeding her own expectations at each career advancement, and many of the limits people experience are self-imposed. That realization led her to coaching, which became a game changer. It unblocked her limiting beliefs and crippling imposter syndrome. After experiencing the life-changing benefits firsthand, founding Talenta was the natural next step. Now as a Confidence and Leadership Coach at [Talenta](https://talenta.me.uk/?ref=foundedbywomen.org), Gemma specializes in supporting women through career transitions, imposter syndrome, and self-limiting beliefs. Her coaching philosophy is "evolving from the Inside Out," creating what clients describe as "a spacious environment with full presence" that's both practical and holistic. She's helped clients navigate international relocations, career transitions, and business start-ups, guiding them from self-doubt and stuckness to self-belief and empowered action. In this conversation, Gemma shares why she left stable corporate HR to build her own coaching practice, her "align & act" framework for building confidence and overcoming self-doubt, and what she's learned about finding your niche, pricing your services, and avoiding burnout while running multiple ventures and collaborations. --- ## From Corporate HR, Talent and L&D to Founding Talenta - Building a Coaching Practice That Unlocks Potential **You're a Confidence and Leadership Coach at Talenta Ltd. You have extensive experience in Learning & Development, including designing and delivering Management, Leadership, and Excellence Programs, creating successful graduate schemes, and building mentoring programs that connect high performers with senior leaders. You've been described as having "an extraordinary ability to engage with leaders, identify key focus areas for improvement, and seamlessly design bespoke events" and as someone who "consistently strives to ensure that everyone has the opportunity to achieve their full potential." Walk us through your journey from corporate HR, Talent and L&D roles to founding Talenta. What made you decide to launch your own coaching practice, and what advice would you give women in corporate L&D or HR roles who are considering making the leap to entrepreneurship?** I didn't have a plan when I decided to make the leap from the safety of a highly successful and stable career in HR spanning 16 years - I just 'felt' it was the right time. I had a bumpy start to my HR career - I was a young single parent without much education and completely inexperienced in HR. However, I made the decision not to let circumstances dictate my life. I grafted - evening classes, part-time roles, college, university - all whilst supporting my son. I was determined and singularly focused on creating a successful career and being a great role model for my son. I noticed along the way that I was far exceeding my expectations at each of my career advancements and saw that many of the limits we experience are the ones we put on ourselves. This eventually led me into the wonderful world of coaching which was a game changer for me - it unblocked my limiting beliefs and crippling imposter syndrome, and I've never looked back since. Having experienced the life changing benefits of coaching, launching my own coaching practice was the natural next step. I love helping clients move from self-doubt and stuckness to self-belief and empowered action, equipped with clarity, confidence, and practical tools to navigate challenges and live authentically. Taking the leap into entrepreneurship is exciting, scary and brings a lot of self-doubt with it. The first 2 years are the most trying but if you truly believe in your purpose and craft, it's worth sticking it out as it provides opportunities, growth, flexibility, new partnerships and a sense of achievement. It's easy to become disconnected and isolated so create a virtual team around you, recruit your cheerleaders and contact your local Chamber / Growth Hub as there's a lot of resources, funding and mentoring support available. ## "Evolving from the Inside Out" - Your Coaching Philosophy and Approach to Career Transitions **Talenta's coaching philosophy is "evolving from the Inside Out" and you specialize in supporting women through career transitions, imposter syndrome, and self-limiting beliefs. Your clients have described your approach as "gently challenging negative thought patterns with a perfect balance of kindness and understanding" and creating "a spacious environment with full presence" that's both practical and holistic. You've helped clients navigate major life changes including international relocations, career transitions, and business start-ups. For female founders and professionals struggling with imposter syndrome or facing major career transitions, what's your framework for building confidence and self-belief? How do you help clients identify and overcome self-limiting beliefs, and what advice would you give women about positioning themselves for new opportunities when they're struggling with self-doubt?** My 'evolving from the inside out' philosophy is based on my own experiences of overcoming self-doubt and imposter syndrome. I knew that in order to address these, I needed to spend time learning about and understanding my emotions and thoughts. I had to take a mirror and look closely at myself - it was hard. However, I learnt to think about and treat myself with kindness and compassion, instead of harshness and judgment. I learnt to recognise and accept my strengths and achievements, instead of chalking them up to luck. I learnt to trust myself and take risks more often, instead of playing small. It also helped to normalise imposter syndrome knowing that it affects 70% of brilliant, talented people at some point in their life. I didn't feel alone anymore. This is the how I work with my clients. I create a psychologically safe space where they can learn to understand and reframe emotions and thoughts, build their self-belief and connect with their confidence, using my 'align & act' framework: - **Recognise** \- identifying outdated scripts, limiting beliefs, and self-doubt. - **Reframe** \- creating a mindset shift, releasing negative patterns, and reconnecting with values and strengths. - **Step Into** \- taking empowered action aligned with true self and building confidence and momentum. It's normal to experience feelings of self-doubt when positioning yourself for new opportunities. I often remind clients going through similar situations of a couple of models to help normalise feelings of self-doubt - the Learning Zone Model: this is where you're moving from your comfort zone (existing state) to the growth/stretch zone (engaging with a new state) which will naturally feel uncomfortable at first. When landing a new opportunity, the other model I reference is - the Four Stages of Competence Model: - Stage 1 - you don't know what you don't know - Stage 2 - you recognise what you don't know & start to learn it - Stage 3 - you know you can do it now, with concentrated effort, - Stage 4 - you can do it without thinking about it. The first 2 stages feel uncomfortable but there is a light at the end of the tunnel. ## Building Talenta, Surviving Covid and Running Multiple Service Offerings & Collaborations **You've been running Talenta for 6+ years. You've also completed your Master NLP Practitioner certification, survived Covid while remaining financially stable, and you're collaborating on coaching retreats for senior professional women and Elevate Her - a programme for aspiring female leaders. You've said you struggled initially with "trying to break into SMEs" before a mentor pointed out you should leverage your 16 years of corporate experience. For female coaches and consultants building their businesses, what's your advice about finding your niche and ideal clients? How do you balance running multiple ventures while maintaining quality and avoiding burnout, and what would you tell women about pricing their services to reflect their experience without underselling themselves?** I'll be honest, it took me 2-3 years before I really found my niche. It didn't help that Covid happened in the same 12-month period as my business start-up which meant that I needed to pivot temporarily for survival. I originally thought I wanted to work with SMEs, but it just wasn't happening. A mentor then pointed out that I should be leveraging my 16+ years of corporate experience instead of trying to break into a completely new market - it was obvious when he said it to me and so I about turned. The next challenge was niching this down further but with multiple service streams and the ability to work across multiple sectors, I found this really tricky. I received another great piece of advice from a fellow coach - she suggested that I look back at my coaching clients to see who I was attracting, as opposed to who I should target. This really helped me to find my coaching niche. Similarly, I looked back at my career highlights and achievements and what had given me joy, and this helped me to niche my consultancy services. If you're trying to find your niche whilst building your business, another great model is IKIGAI which you can use to plot: - What you love - activities and experiences that bring you the most joy and fulfilment - What you're good at - talents, skills and capabilities you possess - What the world needs - contributions you can make to society or a community that address a problem or need - What you can get paid for - services or products you can offer that others are willing to pay for Another area I struggled with for a couple of years was pricing my services to reflect my experience without underselling myself. I was rubbish at this in the beginning, especially with my coaching services. My script was 'you're a newly qualified coach' but in reality, I had been informally coaching throughout my 16-year HR career. So, I learnt to reframe my coaching prices to take into account my extensive training, continuing professional development and my full experience across my career and as a leader, as opposed to from the point of becoming a qualified coach - I had been doing myself a dis-service. Also, focus on outcomes - what will your client be able to achieve? That's what they're buying. Due to wearing so many different hats and juggling different clients, burn out is always a risk and I know other entrepreneurs who cannot switch off. A couple of years ago, I was collaborating with a fellow coach on two different coaching programmes, as well as working with clients on a 1:1 basis in two different organisations and also working for another client 4 days a month as a consultant. I could have burnout but made a conscious effort to avoid so by putting systems in place - a project plan, different project folders for each client / programme, scheduling breaks, not overbooking myself, going to the gym and getting out for walks. This meant that I was able to deliver a quality service for all my clients without running myself into the ground. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### From Foundation to Freedom: How Elana Leoni Built a Mission-Driven EdTech Marketing Agency URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/women-who-lead/from-foundation-to-freedom-how-elana-leoni-built-a-mission-driven-edtech-marketing-agency/ Last updated: 2026-01-23T07:14:08.000Z When Elana Leoni walked away from her role leading marketing at the [George Lucas Educational Foundation](https://www.edutopia.org/?ref=foundedbywomen.org), where she'd grown Edutopia's social media presence to reach over 20 million education changemakers monthly, most people thought she was crazy. Eight years at a nationally recognized brand backed by a billionaire founder doesn't exactly scream "time to start fresh." But Elana had spent nearly a decade elevating educator voices and building authentic communities, and she knew her impact didn't have to stop at one brand. She saw an opportunity to work across the education ecosystem with EdTech startups, nonprofits, and mission-driven organizations of all sizes, helping them connect with diverse stakeholders while staying true to the human-centered marketing that drives real change. Today, [Leoni Consulting Group (LCG)](https://leoniconsultinggroup.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) has partnered with over 50 education brands in the past eight and a half years. The agency specializes in **social media marketing, content creation, email marketing, and community building** exclusively for the education space. What makes LCG unique isn't just their deep education expertise. It's their commitment to social impact. Through the [LCG Foundation](https://lcgfound.org/?ref=foundedbywomen.org), originally established in partnership with Meta, the agency has given $498,500 directly to approximately 2,500 educators through micro-grants and classroom support, proving that profitability and purpose can coexist. As a first-generation college graduate and daughter of an incarcerated parent, Elana brings a perspective to EdTech marketing that few can match. She understands firsthand how education can transform lives, and how critical it is that marketing in this space remains authentic, accessible, and equity-focused. From age six, she told anyone who would listen, "I just want to do something that makes money so my mom doesn't have to worry about money anymore." She sent schoolwork to her father in prison describing how she wanted to be a lawyer—or anything else that made money. That early drive shaped her path toward business, even as she minored in dance and French at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, where she earned a scholarship as a "non-traditional business major" and became President of the Entrepreneurship Club. Though she would have chosen a more creative route if money hadn't been a concern, she eventually found ways to weave creativity into business—from analyzing how to turn around companies to developing engaging social media content. In this conversation, Elana shares the real story behind leaving stability for entrepreneurship, how her personal experiences shape her approach to helping brands connect with diverse communities, and the hard lessons she's learned about balancing social impact with business sustainability in one of the toughest years the education industry has ever faced. --- ### From Edutopia Empire to Agency Independence: The Transition Story **You spent eight years at the George Lucas Educational Foundation growing Edutopia's social media presence to reach over 20 million education changemakers monthly. That's an incredible platform and reach. What was the specific moment or realization that made you decide to leave that success behind and start LCG? How did you navigate the transition from having the backing of a major foundation to building your own client base from scratch?** First, I'd add an important nuance to the question. I didn't just grow Edutopia's social media—our charge, even though I probably didn't fully understand it at the time since I came in fairly junior, was to authentically elevate educator voices as much as possible to truly inspire others across the nation. How could we spotlight what truly works from educators' own voices and create this beautiful ricochet effect? We used social media to identify changemakers, those educators who didn't believe what they were doing was special. That was a truly amazing part of the work, and I feel humble to have been part of it. I eventually grew into a role leading all of their marketing efforts. As for leaving, there wasn't one specific moment—there were multiple reasons. Something that kept itching in the back of my mind was feeling slightly typecast. I'd hear things like, "Oh, you can only do that with a big national brand that already has recognition," or "You can only talk to teachers." I knew I could do more. This brand was blessed with national reach, a billionaire at the helm with star recognition, and it talked really effectively to K-12 educators in the classroom. But I took that on as a challenge. I wanted to do more in the sphere of education, and I knew from my years at Edutopia that to truly make change in education, you have to talk to all stakeholders. You have to empower the ecosystem at large. I wanted to work with lots of brands that spoke to different stakeholders, with different products addressing different challenges. I'm able to say now that LCG has worked with over 50 brands in a very deep partnership capacity over the past eight and a half years. I've also always been an entrepreneur in spirit. I started two companies before this—one was a cookie company with my family, and another was a tourism company with my best friend that lasted four years. I had excitement around doing my own thing and building a team from scratch where we could make impact together and really just focus on doing the work without managing huge departments or being in endless meetings. My first move out of Edutopia wasn't actually to start my own thing—it was to step back and reflect on what I'd accomplished while taking a creative break and diving deeper into the foundation of marketing. I got an opportunity to attend the Executive MBA program at the Haas Business School at UC Berkeley (it's designed for returning professionals with at least 15+ years of experience). I learn by doing—that's why I love project-based learning and all the strategies Edutopia emphasized. During my time at Haas, I entered startup competitions. Our team won the Hult Prize regional competition at Cal with a startup called HomeFluent—a mobile product designed to help incoming refugees resettle quicker and more effectively by empowering case workers, NGOs, and refugees through an AI-Powered Chatbot. We went to nationals where we made it to the finals, and won the Dean's scholarship. We were developing it throughout, applying the principles we learned in school to the startup. During all of that time, I thought, what better time would it be to really incubate my own thing and start something? It initially started as consulting to see how it works and to wayfind to a product-market fit of clients in education. I knew I would never want to be a one-person show—I love building teams and doing things together. So I slowly started building in more teammates as my demand increased, making sure it aligned with my passion and what I liked doing as much as possible. The Executive Program at Haas was 18 months, and during that time, I built it from a consultancy to be able to start with a very small list of clients as an agency once I graduated. As for navigating the transition from foundation backing to building my own client base—that's a really valid question. A foundation is stable with guaranteed money and resources. Building your own client base from scratch was hard. I tell everybody: if you're going out on your own and people aren't already asking for your services, don't go out on your own yet. You have to have a built-in network of people who know you and your work, and who have indicated that if you went on your own, they would work with you. I started getting more of that towards my later years at Edutopia. Once I signaled to folks that I was leaving, a couple of them said, "Hey, yes, let's work together." I was very externally facing at Edutopia. I collaborated with lots of organizations—from Meta to the Born This Way Foundation to CASEL to PBL Works—so many well-respected organizations in education. I was in a lot of those meetings and forged friendships and relationships. Being able to continue that in a very value-driven way after I left is how I was able to jump from having foundation stability to building my own client base. I did a listening tour as soon as I got out, where I talked to people and said, "What would you do if you were me?" By doing that, I was really signaling to them, "Hey, I'm thinking about going on my own. If you know of anyone, let me know," kind of activating them as referrals, but also in a very curious, learner-driven way. Some of my first clients were The Teaching Channel, who I collaborated with at Edutopia. There was a startup called Insight Advance that got bought by The Teaching Channel—the person who ran that organization worked closely with us from a partnership perspective. Meta loved how we worked together, and they became one of our biggest clients for five years. They became such a big client that we created the LCG Foundation together with their funding and guidance. A lot of venture capitalists and investors in EdTech knew me because I ran and helped run unconference-type events on the West Coast called [EdCamps](https://digitalpromise.org/edcamp/?ref=foundedbywomen.org)—unconferences where people would go and learn together with no sponsorships, no sit-and-get, really owning your own professional development. I worked closely with [EdSurge](https://www.edsurge.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) (which was later purchased by ISTE). I attended all of EdSurge's meetups—it's a very small space and I was active in the EdTech community, where they hosted many meetups and cutting-edge discussions. I had a big network in the EdTech space too. I built upon the existing relationships within Edutopia and the reputation I created through eight years of work around the service lines we still offer in our agency—creating really great content, social media, and now we're getting more into email marketing. --- ### The First-Generation Graduate Advantage in EdTech Marketing **In your podcast appearances, you've mentioned being a first-generation college graduate and having a parent who was incarcerated. These experiences often provide unique perspectives that can be powerful in business. How have these personal experiences shaped your approach to marketing for education brands, and how do you help your EdTech clients connect authentically with diverse communities they might not naturally understand?** My father was incarcerated for eight years, and I was a first-generation college graduate—I was almost a first-generation high school graduate. My dad graduated, but really they just graduated him because he had an externship for the last two years. For most of my career, including all of my career at Edutopia, I was embarrassed about being first-generation and having a parent who was incarcerated. Most people wouldn't have known that from my Edutopia work—it was something I felt shame over. It wasn't until I went to the Haas Business School that they really taught me that what has happened to you in life is what makes you incredibly unique, and that you have this unique perspective. For me, I didn't have a lot of people telling me that education is the way, or really being in my corner emphasizing the power of education and believing in me. It wasn't that my parents didn't believe in me, but they didn't have that focus. They never graduated—it's not that they didn't value education, but they didn't know any better not to value it, if that makes sense. I didn't have a lot of the same opportunities that many kids did. It was just by chance that I happened to have a great teacher in fourth grade who believed in me and helped catapult me into an area where I then believed in myself. School became something I could use to sometimes escape chaos and just have joy from learning. For me, it made me angry and lit a fire that so many people—it's by chance, it's by happenstance—if they happen to have a great educator who believes in them. But what if you don't have that equity? What if you don't have that access? So many first-generation kids don't. You can't even put into words all the obstacles they face. When I think about working with brands, particularly the nonprofits in education that LCG works with, I want to make sure we're selective and working with brands that truly move the needle in education and can really help make education as accessible and equitable as possible, while making education super relevant. Education right now needs to be as relevant as possible because the world is moving at an exponentially fast rate. When it comes to being first-gen, I now take pride in it. When I think about education, I think about the school-to-prison pipeline. I think about so many children who are born into circumstances that don't allow them private tutors, SAT guides and test prep to get them into college, or parents who know how to work the system or what college is really for, or allow students to actually study instead of taking part-time jobs to support the family. There's so many things around this that I know can be hard. I just want to be able to show that I went through it—I think you have to see it to believe it. These personal experiences shape my approach to marketing. I always try to get brands to be as human-forward as possible. I know that sounds jargony, but be a human first. Get rid of all the fancy jargon. Make the words accessible. It's really important in social media in particular—how do you stop the scroll in a way that's uniquely you? That can really attract a diverse amount of audiences. It's about keeping it real, keeping it human-centered as much as possible. I've been talking with people about AI and its role right now, and how it's really forcing humans to understand that their unique superpower is being human themselves. Someone said something I liked: "Humanity is the algorithm in 2026." How can we embrace fully who we are, our voice that no machine can take, our unique perspective on life, and really build deep relationships that in education can last for decades with the goal of improving learning outcomes? As for how we help EdTech clients connect authentically with diverse communities—usually clients come to us with their prioritized ICPs, their ideal customer profiles. I don't think just because I come from a background of being first-gen and having an incarcerated parent that I'm uniquely qualified to talk to all diverse communities. One of my superpowers is being a huge empathy-driven person. What we end up doing, if we feel clients don't connect or are unintentionally not connecting with their prioritized audiences, is a lot on the research side—doing interviews with their ideal customers and ideal users and really getting into the psyche of what moves them, what they like to do in their pastime. We build out really comprehensive personas through lots of interviews. We did this three or four times with Meta alone, with different types of educators and different types of people in the ecosystem. If they don't naturally understand their audience, and if it's prioritized and aligned with their business outcomes and operational plans, we will do interviews. We'll use lived experience in education as well to say, here's what their background typically is, here's what motivates them. I joined the board of [Mt. Tam College](https://mttamcollege.org/?ref=foundedbywomen.org), formerly known as the Prison University Project. I was on the board for four years. That is the only accredited university that is physically based inside a prison. When I was on the board, we got the university accredited through the College Board—it was huge, an amazing experience. I try to channel those types of experiences as a child of an incarcerated parent into situations like that, where I talk about the school-to-prison pipeline. My work in the agency is proactive work—let's get ahead of it. Let's make sure education doesn't create more people in our prison population. The more educated, the fewer people in our prison population. That's a proactive approach. But what happens to the people in prison? What if education can fundamentally transform who they are? I'm not just talking about a career pathway when they get out—that's great—but them as humans. If you haven't seen that transformation, it is goosebump-worthy. I like to work on both ends of that spectrum, and I have worked with nonprofits that mentor children who have incarcerated parents as well. --- ### Building Community vs. Building Revenue: The LCG Foundation Model **You've created something unique with the LCG Foundation, giving away significant funds to teachers and supporting educators while running a for-profit marketing agency. Many entrepreneurs struggle with balancing social impact and business sustainability. How do you structure the relationship between LCG's revenue-generating work and the foundation's giving? What advice would you give other service-based business owners who want to create meaningful social impact without compromising their bottom line?** Through the LCG Foundation, we've given away $185,000 directly to educators through micro-grants and classroom support. But the question remains: how do you run a foundation that gives to teachers and supports educators while running a for-profit marketing agency? Many entrepreneurs do struggle with balancing social impact and business sustainability. This is a hard one. I have a community of agency owners, and we coach and mentor each other to stay as focused as possible. Do less, do less very well. This is an example of doing more because you can, but also because it really aligns with your heart. When Meta first approached us with this opportunity, we had been a five-year partner with them—or at the time, maybe a three-year partner—and a trusted partner. They wanted to give away micro-grants to educators to help them with their everyday needs, financially unrestricted grants so they could choose to do whatever they wanted professionally. They asked us multiple times if we could be a partner with them, and I said no respectfully multiple times because it just didn't fit. We're such a small team—how do we spend more resources to divert the team's effort into something that's not growing the agency and the impact of the agency? But by the third time, I started looking at it and really scoping out what it would take to create this and understanding why they wanted us to do it versus anybody else. Once I scoped it out, I got more excited about the idea of being able to do it as seamlessly as possible and in a way that brings such joy to educators. Yes, micro-grants are not going to change the world. A micro-grant could be anything from $50 to $600—it's not going to change an educator's life. But it is a moment in time where educators felt seen, they felt heard. They put a smile on their face. You wouldn't believe the stories we've gotten around that. I'm really proud of the work we've done, but it doesn't mean it hasn't caused a strain on the agency itself. The way I had to structure it is making sure that our core agency employees were generally not working on foundation things unless it aligned with their areas of expertise. The foundation itself was hiring LCG agency. For example, if they needed marketing help to market the program, or they needed somebody to help build their community—those types of things that aligned with our area of expertise within LCG. So short story: it's very hard. It wasn't the most strategic move for a small agency, but it really aligned with our passion to make a difference, and I couldn't say no because I knew we could do it better than anyone else, while being really cognizant about not diverting the path of the agency and the resources of the agency as much as possible. I think there's a fallacy in our education industry, sometimes particularly in EdTech. One thing that stood out to me is when I interviewed an EdTech founder who said he would survey his employees and ask, "What do you want to do at the end of the year? Would you rather give money to educators or charities in education, or would you rather have Starbucks gift cards for yourself?" Most of the employees said, "No, we probably want stuff for us, because what we do in education is so helpful for them. Our product or service is already benefiting them." I think there's a fallacy there, because there is no silver bullet to fixing and improving education. It's a combination of so many multitudes of things over so many years of time to make an impact. The fact of the matter is, a lot of EdTech actually hurts and doesn't help education. An EdTech company that spends a lifespan of six years and wastes the time of educators, wastes the time of people doing the pilots, and then they just bottom out—their runway's gone—and sometimes they leave educators high and dry without a quick replacement to the technology the educators relied on. I'm not saying that's all the case, but I just want to bring light to: just because you're in education doesn't mean you shouldn't give and that you shouldn't do everything you can to really support educators who are in the trenches all the time and don't feel seen, don't feel heard. In fact, a lot of times they're micromanaged and completely underappreciated, often in very toxic environments. How do we help them? Your product or service can only do so much. For other service-based businesses that want to create meaningful social impact, I wouldn't advise them to create a foundation. It is a lot of work, a lot of upkeep, and unless they're consistently going to be doing it, I wouldn't advise that. But I would advise: whatever you do, there are ways to integrate giving. There are ways to talk about helping the space as a whole beyond your product. It could be donations. It could be giving X percent of your product profits. Kind of the old-school Salesforce model by Benioff—I think it was the 1% model where he donated 1% of his employees' time to nonprofits and 1% of his profits. Eventually, with the 1% of his profits, he created a foundation because it was so large. Try to find ways, small ways throughout the year, to really give back and to tell the story of your giving back. It's not tooting your own horn—it's talking about it in an industry that typically doesn't do it as much as they should, in my opinion. I think business owners need to think about what they absolutely need to do for their business to reach their goals. Do not stray from that so you're not compromising your bottom line. This year in particular is the hardest year education has ever faced. To give you a sense in terms of agencies, the majority of them had to let people go. The majority of them are barely breaking even at the end of the year or operating at a loss. The uncertainty in the industry has caused a freezing of spending—people just did not spend. Now we're getting slightly back into a new normal, but there's more uncertainty with the government shutdown. Business first. We actually had to dial a lot of our foundation activities this year and a little bit last year to really hone in on stability and growth of our agency. Just because you have your eye on the prize for social impact doesn't mean you can't decrease it or halt it when you need to truly focus on your bottom line. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### From Cybersecurity Law to Wellness Entrepreneurship: Fazila Moosa on Acquiring Stretch-eze and Building a Nervous System Support Brand URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/women-who-lead/from-cybersecurity-law-to-wellness-entrepreneurship-fazila-moosa-on-acquiring-stretch-eze-and-building-a-nervous-system-support-brand/ Last updated: 2025-12-18T03:00:28.000Z After 25 years practicing cybersecurity and privacy law, including founding PRIVATECH Consulting and serving as a recognized Privacy by Design Ambassador, Fazila (Zila) Moosa made an unexpected pivot: she acquired [Stretch-eze](https://stretch-eze.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org)®, the original resistance loop trusted by movement professionals since the 1980s. But this wasn't a random career shift. Zila is also a certified yoga teacher and breathwork facilitator who experienced firsthand how the Stretch-eze band created alignment, ease, and nervous system regulation in ways nothing else had. When the brand's creator was ready to retire, Zila saw an opportunity to combine her business expertise with her passion for embodied wellness. Now as President of Stretch-eze, she's modernizing the 40-year-old brand while preserving what makes it special: its ability to bridge fitness, somatics, and nervous system care. In this conversation, Zila shares what drew her to acquire a legacy wellness product, what she's learned navigating the crowded recovery market, and her advice for women entering wellness entrepreneurship, especially those making the leap from traditional careers into founder roles. --- ## Acquiring a Legacy Wellness Brand ***Stretch-eze has been around since the 1980s as the original stretch strap. What drew you to acquire this particular brand in summer 2025? Walk us through what you saw in Stretch-eze that made it the right opportunity - whether it was the product's loyal following, untapped market potential, or something else entirely. What's your vision for where you're taking the brand?*** Stretch-eze wasn’t just a business opportunity; it was a *felt* experience for me. I purchased the company because I deeply believe in the value of this sensory feedback tool for nervous system regulation and movement support. The first time I used it, my own body felt stronger, more connected, and unexpectedly free. It gave me access to alignment and ease in a way nothing else had, and I knew there was something special there. After practicing cybersecurity law for 25 years, I was ready to leave the stress of privacy breaches to embrace a major life transition with a focus on wellness. I had just completed yoga and breathwork certifications, and I was exploring how movement, breath, and somatic work could support people in ways that go far beyond fitness. So when I learned that the creator of the Stretch-eze was ready to retire — and was struggling with inventory and the operational side — it felt like the perfect convergence: a product I loved, my business experience that could serve the brand, a community that already valued it, and an opportunity to carry a brilliant creation into its next chapter. My vision moving forward is to elevate the Stretch-eze from “a great movement prop” to a truly recognized nervous-system support tool — something that bridges fitness, somatics, and nervous system regulation. I want to expand distribution globally, bring more science-informed resources to instructors, educators and therapists, and modernize educational support for the product so it can reach people who are hungry for grounded, embodied tools that actually work. ## Building in the Wellness Product Space ***Now that you're several months into ownership, what have you learned about the wellness product industry? How are you thinking about product development, reaching your customers (physical therapists, athletes, everyday wellness seekers), and competing in an increasingly crowded flexibility/recovery market? What's working, and what's been more challenging than expected?*** Several months into owning the Stretch-eze business, I’ve learned that the wellness product space is both crowded and opportunity-rich. The flexibility and recovery market is full of quick-fix tools, but there’s a real need for products that support nervous-system health, somatic awareness, and cue proper alignment during movement — that’s exactly where the Stretch-eze stands apart. One key insight is that people aren’t just buying products anymore — they’re buying *experiences*, education, and trust. Physical therapists want tools that integrate seamlessly into treatment. Athletes want performance support without extra complexity. Everyday movers want something intuitive that feels good. And all of them want to understand *why* it works. In terms of product development, the focus isn’t on adding more features…the Stretch-eze works because of its simplicity. It’s about going deeper: expanding education, strengthening the Stretch-eze community, and offering options that meet people where they are. Reaching customers has been about showing the value through education — short demos, follow-along sequences, and practical guidance help people experience the benefits immediately. We’re also excited to be participating in wellness events and tradeshows in 2026 – more people need to step into the into the Stretch-eze to feel its magic. What’s working is authentic storytelling and community engagement; the loyal Stretch-eze audience has been incredibly supportive of our evolution. The biggest challenge has been managing operational complexity, in particular, getting the Stretch-eze to those who have experienced and love the band worldwide. International shipping costs and navigating customs/duties is our reality until we gain a strong global network of distributors. Overall, the Stretch-eze clearly occupies a unique space between fitness, recovery, and nervous-system care — and my goal is to help more people experience its calming, strengthening, and connecting benefits firsthand. ## Advice for Women Entering Wellness Entrepreneurship ***The wellness industry is booming, but it's also highly competitive and can be capital-intensive. What advice would you give to women looking to launch or acquire wellness brands? What do you wish you'd known before diving into the wellness space, and what's been the most rewarding part of building Stretch-eze so far?*** My advice to women entering wellness entrepreneurship is to lead with curiosity and lived experience. The wellness industry is crowded and can be capital-intensive, but the most successful brands are those rooted in authenticity — products or services that you *personally believe in* and understand deeply. For me, owning Stretch-eze combines my own experience of its benefits with my desire to help others feel stronger, calmer, and more connected in their bodies. That passion carries you through the challenges. It often helps me when things get stressful to step into a Stretch-eze shoulder-foot wrap, close my eyes and remember that I am in service to this product. So much of wellness entrepreneurship is education and community-building. Unlike many other industries, you can’t just sell a product; you need to help people understand *why it works* and guide them in experiencing its value. Educating new users about why a soft, stretchy band is such a powerful tool takes time, requires patience (not easy for me!), and consistent engagement. The most rewarding part of building Stretch-eze has been witnessing that “aha” moment — when someone finally feels the calm, strength, or alignment the band creates. It’s also been deeply gratifying to nurture the existing loyal community while introducing the product to new audiences who may not have known a tool like this existed. For women stepping into this space, I’d say: trust your intuition, focus on real value, get clear on your strengths as well as how your past experience serves you now, and be ready to educate and connect. When you combine authenticity, clarity, and patience, you’ll be rewarded with immense personal growth and also carve out a meaningful place in a competitive market. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### From Biochemistry Student to Building Dani Digital: Danielle Theobald on Scaling to 65 Million Monthly Impressions, Why She Guarantees Results or Clients Get Their Money Back, and Building Marketing Funnels That Turn Vanity Metrics Into Revenue URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/marketing/from-biochemistry-student-to-building-dani-digital-danielle-theobald-on-scaling-to-65-million-monthly-impressions-why-she-guarantees-results-or-clients-get-their-money-back-and-building/ Last updated: 2025-12-18T02:27:54.000Z Danielle Theobald knows the difference between chasing viral content and building a business that actually makes money. As Founder and Director of [Dani Digital](https://danidigital.co.uk/?ref=foundedbywomen.org), she's built a social media marketing agency achieving 65 million monthly impressions and generating $4M+ revenue for clients in 2023 (plus $10M+ through paid ads). The agency has created hundreds of viral videos with clients featured on major news outlets, working with 10+ multi-billion dollar companies and 150+ small to medium businesses worldwide. But Danielle's approach isn't about vanity metrics—it's about building "unbreakable marketing funnels with no leaks" that turn social media views into genuine brand growth and sales. Before founding Dani Digital, Danielle earned her BSc in Biochemistry with Honours, bringing a data-driven, scientific approach to social media strategy. Today, she runs multiple successful ventures: Dani Digital (the agency), XOXO Sets (her e-commerce store), and offers personalized 1:1 coaching for businesses and social media managers. She co-hosts the 2 Gals 1 Planner podcast and is launching a Pinterest Blueprint Course. Her team of 10+ in-house creators specializes in various niches, delivering content within one working day with unlimited revisions, focused on quick action, quick results, and constant testing. Danielle's positioning is unapologetically specific: she specializes in scaling health and wellness brands to seven figures with Instagram and Pinterest strategy, guaranteeing 1M+ impressions in 90 days. Her framework is simple but bold—she offers a 3-month trial on a rolling monthly retainer (the "testing period"), and if clients stay longer, she provides a reduced fee with a metric guarantee (e.g., guaranteed 200% increase in impressions month on month, or they get their money back). She doesn't negotiate on price, doesn't work with platforms she hates (TikTok and ads), and believes "many gurus in the SMM space are fake and don't actually know how to grow accounts"—so she guarantees she'll deliver. Here, Danielle breaks down how she scaled from content creator to agency founder without getting commoditized in the crowded social media marketing space, and why being true to yourself (including what you refuse to do) matters more than following every "how to get your first client" tutorial online. She explains her framework for building marketing funnels that flow from viral content to follow to webpage to purchase—not just chasing views. And she shares her fail-proof method for diversifying revenue streams beyond client services: test with your audience, ask what they want, launch it, and if it doesn't work, let it go without drama. --- ## From Content Creator to Founder of 3 Businesses – Building Dani Digital to 65 Million Monthly Impressions **You're an entrepreneur running three successful businesses, with Dani Digital achieving 65 million monthly impressions and generating $4M+ revenue for clients in 2023 (plus $10M+ through paid ads). You've worked with 10+ multi-billion dollar companies and 150+ small to medium businesses worldwide. For female founders building service-based businesses in the crowded social media marketing space, how did you scale from content creator to agency founder without getting commoditized? What made you confident you could compete against massive marketing agencies, and what's your framework for pricing and positioning services to attract both enterprise clients and SMBs?** In today's world it's very easy to get lost in the marketing and SMM space. We all know that you have to have a USP to make you stand out, but it goes beyond what you can ChatGPT. What is your personality like? What channels do you have a passion for? Don't be afraid to say you don't like something. I hate TikTok, I hate ads. I simply won't work with them, because I know that I won't do my best work. When you're true to yourself rather than following all the content online telling you 'this is how you get your first client' 'this is how to make $5k/month as an SMM' - only then will you start to see real growth, trust me! My framework is very simple, and I also don't negotiate. I know my value and businesses can take it or leave it. I offer a 3 month trial on a rolling monthly retainer, which I call the testing period. We test lots of content types, content pillars, but also the relationship with the client. If I like the client, I offer them a longer contract on a reduced fee with a metric guarantee (eg - guaranteed 200% increase in impressions month on month, or you get your money back). That way it's a win-win. I get a stable retainer, the client gets guaranteed results. Many gurus in the SMM space are fake and don't *actually* know how to grow accounts - this immediately sets you apart because you're guaranteeing that you will deliver. The client simply can't say no! **Question 2: Creating Viral Content That Actually Drives Revenue – Beyond Vanity Metrics** **Dani Digital has created hundreds of viral videos with clients featured on major news outlets, but you emphasize going "beyond vanity metrics" to implement sales funnels and drive real revenue growth. For female founders trying to leverage social media for business growth (not just likes), what's your framework for turning viral content into actual sales? How do you advise founders to balance creating content that algorithms love with content that converts, and what are the warning signs that a founder is wasting time chasing virality instead of building a business?** The only real trick to turn vanity metrics and numbers on social media to dollars in the bank is to build an unbreakable marketing funnel with no leaks. Rather than thinking 'how can I get this video to go the most viral?' you should be thinking 'how will I flow the content and channel mix so that person A sees the content, then clicks follow, then looks at the webpage, then ultimately buys?'. There's a HUGE difference, and focusing on the latter one will guarantee you constant business and referrals rather than chasing potential clients. **Question 3: Building "The Entrepreneur Incubator" and Offering 1:1 Coaching – Scaling Beyond Client Services** **Beyond Dani Digital's agency work, you run The Entrepreneur Incubator on Discord (connecting business owners with resources and collaboration), offer personalized 1:1 coaching for businesses and social media managers, co-host The Social Coffee Break podcast, and you're launching a Pinterest Blueprint Course. For female entrepreneurs who've built successful service businesses and want to scale beyond trading time for money, what's your advice for diversifying revenue streams without spreading yourself too thin? How do you decide which opportunities to pursue (courses, coaching, communities) versus which are distractions from core business growth?** Simple - test!! Test things with your audience and most importantly *ask*. You don't know what your community wants (and is willing to pay for) until you gather the data. Launch something and if it doesn't work, let it go. It's not a big deal, and I don't know why everyone makes it out to be. If it works, great! Refine and make it even better then charge a higher price point than before. You literally can't go wrong when you ask for customer/community insights and then follow the data through testing - it's a fail-proof method. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### From Tech City UK to Building CEW Communications: Cathy White on Strategic PR for Startups, Why Credibility Matters More Than Coverage, and How Founders Should Think About Communications Before, During, and After Fundraising URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/marketing/from-tech-city-uk-to-building-cew-communications-cathy-white-on-strategic-pr-for-startups-why-credibility-matters-more-than-coverage-and-how-founders-should-think-about-communications-b/ Last updated: 2025-12-17T12:22:45.000Z Cathy White knows what it takes to break through the noise in Europe's startup ecosystem. As Founder and Director of [CEW Communications](https://cewcomms.mxspruce.com/FXxqh2bZQfSwr3wyS/l/bjfako0P6SfF8jQps?rn=ISZkF2VgE2YpN3clpkI&re=icmcv5ibl12b3lnYkVGZuV3bmBUZkF2duE2YpN3clpmI&sc=false&ref=foundedbywomen.org), she's built one of Europe's top boutique agencies for tech scaleups since launching in 2016\. Within two years, CEW was recognized as one of the UK's top 100 small businesses and is regularly highlighted as one of the best agencies for scaling tech companies and VCs. Her client roster spans early-stage and fast-growth companies, including Glovo, Mondu, and Sleepwave, as well as VCs such as APEX Ventures, Exceptional Ventures, Lunar Ventures, Pact, and venture studio Insurgent. Before founding CEW, Cathy served as Head of Communications for Tech City UK (now Tech Nation), an organization accelerating the growth of digital startups and skills in the UK, and as Communications and Marketing Manager for Seedcamp, a first-round fund investing in pre-seed and seed-stage tech startups. Today, CEW offers integrated communications services, including PR, social media, content creation through the CEW Writers Studio (a group of professional journalists contributing to the BBC, Sifted, and other major publications), and strategic advisory services. Here, Cathy breaks down when founders should invest in professional PR versus building credibility through owned channels first, and why "silence is far more damaging than imperfect messaging" in the era of founder-led communications. She explains how to approach communications strategy before, during, and after fundraising rounds—and why media coverage amplifies stories but doesn't replace strong fundamentals. And she shares how to build authority through content that demonstrates depth rather than just filling a blog, offering a pragmatic framework for founders deciding where to show up and, just as importantly, where not to. --- ## From Tech City UK to Building CEW Communications for Startups **You founded CEW Communications in 2016 after serving as Head of Communications for Tech City UK and Communications and Marketing Manager at Seedcamp, giving you an inside view of the startup ecosystem from seed to scale.** **For female founders launching their first businesses, when is the right time to invest in professional PR versus handling communications themselves? What are the biggest mistakes you see early-stage founders make when trying to get their message to market, and how should they think about building credibility before they can afford an agency?** Credibility is the right place to start, because it underpins almost everything a founder needs to do in the early days - from fundraising to hiring to winning their first customers. Crucially, credibility can be built long before you ever engage with the media. In fact, the stronger and more active you are across your own channels, the better your press outcomes will be when the time comes. Journalists, much like investors, need to see that you’re a trusted, consistent voice before they take you seriously. Founders should begin with the channels they fully control. That means your website, your personal LinkedIn profile, and one core social channel for the business. While it’s tempting to do everything at once - blogs, newsletters, multiple platforms - that approach is often overwhelming and unsustainable. Start small, stay active, and focus on producing content your target audience genuinely cares about. Visibility matters, but substance matters more. What you say, and how clearly you say it, is what builds authority. The biggest mistake I see early-stage founders make is inactivity. We’re operating in an era of founder-led communications, and silence is far more damaging than imperfect messaging. Founders often think they only have permission to speak when they’re selling something. Still, credibility is built by talking about the wider problem you’re solving, your perspective on the market, and why you’re uniquely placed to build this business. Being present, opinionated, and consistent goes a long way. The right time to invest in professional communications is usually when there’s a significant moment coming up - a fundraising announcement, a major launch, a hiring spree, or a product push - or when the cost of doing it yourself becomes too high. Every hour a founder spends on comms is an hour not spent on product, sales, or investment. Once you’re financially able, partnering with the right integrated agency can make a significant difference. Done well, communications isn’t just about PR - it supports growth across your entire business. ## Strategic Communications for Fundraising and Investor Relations **CEW Communications works extensively with VCs, accelerators, and startups from Seed through Series C, supporting clients through fundraising rounds.** **You previously hosted the EU VC Lowdown podcast and have made angel investments,** **giving you perspective from multiple sides of the funding table. For female founders preparing to raise capital, how should they approach communications strategy before, during, and after a fundraising round? What role does media coverage and thought leadership play in attracting investor attention? How should founders position themselves and their companies to appeal to VCs while building authentic market traction?** When founders are preparing to raise at the pre-seed or seed stage, my advice is to be very disciplined about where communications sits on the priority list. Fundraising can easily consume 80–90 percent of a founder’s time, and you still have a company to build. At this stage, external PR should be limited. Instead, focus on the channels you own - your website, your founder profile, and a small number of consistent touchpoints that clearly articulate what you’re building and why it matters. Investors will look you up before they meet you; your job is to make sure what they find is coherent, credible, and current. That said, communications shouldn’t be something you only think about when you’re actively raising. When you’re not in a live process, you should always be laying the groundwork for the next round or conversation. This means steadily building credibility through owned and earned channels: sharing informed perspectives on your market, demonstrating momentum, and becoming a recognisable voice in your space. Over time, this creates familiarity, which is incredibly powerful in venture - most deals start well before a pitch deck is ever sent. Media coverage can play a role, particularly in building awareness and narrative, but it’s important to be clear-eyed about what it does and doesn’t do. Investors won’t - and shouldn’t - back a company because it appeared in TechCrunch, Axios, or any other outlet. Media can amplify a story, but it isn’t an investment strategy. VCs back opportunities with large markets, strong traction, differentiated products, and teams that can execute. Numbers matter, and no amount of coverage compensates for weak fundamentals. The strongest positioning for founders comes from aligning communications with genuine market traction. Thought leadership works best when it reinforces what the business is already proving - insight into a growing problem, evidence of demand, and a clear vision for scale. As companies grow, gain momentum, and have capital behind them, more proactive PR can significantly accelerate investor interest. But early on, the focus should remain squarely on building the business; communications should support that goal, not distract from it. ## Building Authority Through Content and Thought Leadership **CEW Writers Studio employs professional journalists contributing to BBC, Sifted, The Next Web, and other major publications, producing everything from thought leadership articles to whitepapers. For female founders in tech who need to establish authority in their sectors (AI, FinTech, HealthTech, etc.), how should they approach content strategy? What's the difference between content that actually builds credibility versus content that just fills a blog? How do founders identify which platforms and formats (articles, podcasts, speaking) will give them the best return on their time investment?** For early-stage founders, content strategy has to be pragmatic before it’s ambitious. Authority isn’t built by being everywhere; it’s built by being consistent and credible in the places that matter. I always advise founders not to over-commit. Start with the fundamentals: keep your own social channels active, ensure your website clearly articulates what you do and why it matters, and regularly audit your digital footprint. A simple digital review - search results, bios, outdated messaging - can often deliver more authority than launching a new content stream too early. The difference between content that builds credibility and content that simply fills a blog is intention and precision. Credible content is written for a very specific audience and takes a clear point of view. It doesn’t try to please everyone, and it’s not rushed out at scale. Thought leadership should demonstrate depth - original insight, lived experience, or a strong opinion grounded in expertise. If content feels generic, interchangeable, or designed for clicks alone, it rarely builds trust, especially in complex sectors like AI, FinTech or HealthTech. When it comes to ROI, channels don’t operate in isolation - they reinforce each other - but time is often the scarcest resource for founders. That means making calculated bets. I encourage founders to ask three questions: does this put me in front of the audience I actually want to reach? How much of my time does it realistically require to do well? And how else can I reuse this content once it’s live? Speaking at an event, for example, can be incredibly powerful - it puts you in the room with the right people and generates social proof - but it’s also time-intensive. If you’re doing it, think bigger: can it lead to press coverage, recorded content, investor conversations, or private dinners with key stakeholders? Finally, founders should think in terms of content ecosystems, not one-offs. A strong opinion piece can lead to a panel invitation; a podcast appearance can open the door to journalist relationships; a whitepaper can underpin months of social and sales conversations. Authority is cumulative. The founders who build it most effectively are the ones who are intentional, selective, and strategic about where they show up - and just as importantly, where they don’t. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### From Corporate HR to Building Bruford's: Linda Hughes on Alignment, Partnership, and Why Clarity Matters More Than Activity URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/women-who-lead/from-corporate-hr-to-building-brufords-linda-hughes-on-alignment-partnership-and-why-clarity-matters-more-than-activity/ Last updated: 2025-12-16T12:54:58.000Z Linda Hughes spent much of her career being brought into organizations when progress had stalled. As a senior HR leader at companies including Oxford City Council, Lucy Group Ltd, and Atlas Copco, she saw the same pattern repeat. Capable people. Strong intent. High effort. Yet work felt heavier and outcomes weaker than they should have been. The issue was rarely commitment or capability. It was the growing gap between what leaders said mattered and what shaped decisions day to day. That gap became the foundation for [Dynamic Coach Group](https://dynamiccoach.co.uk/?ref=foundedbywomen.org), which Linda co-founded with her husband Nick. Linda focuses on how strategy shows up through culture, talent, leadership, and employee experience. Nick works on scaling, strategic direction and execution. Together, they help leaders protect and grow what they've built by getting clearer about priorities, decisions, and how the business really operates. But Linda's work goes beyond advisory services. She and Nick also co-founded Bruford's, a hospitality and community space combining a coffee shop, co-working environment, and a holiday cottage. Built from scratch, Bruford's operates on the same principles Linda brings to client work: clear purpose, practical decision making, and multiple income streams to avoid over reliance on any one source. Running a customer-facing business with payroll deadlines and daily trade-offs has shaped how Linda understands leadership pressure beyond boardrooms. It has reinforced the difference between good ideas and decisions that actually hold under pressure. In this conversation, Linda shares why she stepped away from corporate leadership, why alignment matters more than activity when it comes to growth, and what she's learned about making a partnership business work without losing clarity when ambition, decisions, and personal relationships overlap. --- ## From Corporate Leadership to Founder **What was the moment, or the realisation, that made you step away from corporate leadership and build your own business? And how did your sense of impact and value shift when you made that move?** For most of my career, I was in roles where I was expected to make strategy real through people. That meant balancing commercial pressure, operational demands, and leadership behaviour all at the same time. Over time, I became the person people brought in when things felt messy or stuck and they needed clarity again. What I kept seeing was that people weren’t the issue. The strategy often made sense, but it lost shape as it moved through the organisation. Leaders were trying to do the right thing, but not always in a joined-up way. The impact showed up commercially, even if no one named it straight away. Margins thinned. Decisions slowed. Teams worked harder for less return. Starting Dynamic Coach Group came from realising that this is where I add the most value. I’m not interested in people work for its own sake. I care about helping leaders protect and grow what they’ve built by improving decision quality and strategic alignment. Working independently meant I could focus on that across different organisations and stand behind the outcomes, not just the intention. For women thinking about making a similar move, I’d say be very honest about the value you bring. Leaders don’t invest in expertise; they invest in better decisions and better outcomes. Making the shift isn’t about freedom. It’s about owning your judgement and being prepared to stand by it. ## Why Alignment Has Become Central to Your Work **When a business feels stuck or under pressure, how do you go about understanding what’s really getting in the way? And why does alignment matter more than activity when it comes to growth?** I usually start by assuming it’s not a people problem. When organisations are under pressure, the symptoms look familiar. Engagement dips. Delivery feels heavy. Leaders start talking about capability or motivation. But when you slow it down, the issue is often that people are working without enough shared clarity. Priorities compete. Decisions aren’t consistent. Leaders send mixed signals without realising it. I look at how clear the direction is, not how clear people think it is. I pay attention to how decisions get made, what gets prioritised when things are tight, and where time and energy are going that don’t really move the business forward. Because of my background, I’m often asked to work on culture or diversity. Those things matter, but they only work when they’re part of how the business operates. Diversity isn’t something you roll out. You see it in whether different views are genuinely heard and whether challenge improves thinking or gets shut down. When alignment improves, a lot of behaviour changes without being forced. People stop filling the gaps left by confusion and start focusing on what matters. Culture becomes something you experience, not something you manage. ## Building a Business Together Without Losing Clarity **What have you learned about making a partnership business work in practice, especially when ambition, decisions, and personal relationships overlap?** It works because we’re honest about the fact that it’s not always smooth. Nick and I are clear about what each of us is responsible for, whether we’re working with clients or running Bruford’s. I focus on how the business works through people and leadership. He focuses on decisions, momentum, and scale. In a hands-on business-like hospitality, that clarity really matters because problems show up quickly and margins don’t give you much room to hide. Bruford’s has been a reality check in the best possible way. You can’t talk in theory when you’re dealing with customers, staffing, costs, and cash flow every day. If decisions drift or roles blur, you feel it straight away. It’s reinforced for me that alignment isn’t a concept. It’s practical. It shows up in who decides what and how quickly. Working with a spouse means you get to the truth fast. There’s no pretending. If something isn’t working, it gets said. That can be uncomfortable, but it also avoids things dragging on. For women thinking about going into business with a partner, I’d say shared ambition is the easy bit. What really matters is whether you can challenge each other, hold each other to account, and stay focused on what the business needs when things get tough. When that discipline is in place, partnership becomes a commercial advantage, not an emotional risk. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### From Imperial College London to Award-Winning Consultancy: Leyla Okhai on Building Diverse Minds and Why Mental Health and Race Equality Are Business Imperatives URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/women-who-lead/from-imperial-college-london-to-award-winning-consultancy-leyla-okhai-on-building-diverse-minds-and-why-mental-health-and-race-equality-are-business-imperatives/ Last updated: 2025-12-16T12:45:22.000Z After 14 years in higher education, including serving as Head of the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Centre at Imperial College London, Leyla Okhai founded [Diverse Minds](https://diverseminds.co.uk/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) in 2016\. What started as external demand from organizations asking her to replicate the cultural transformation work she'd led at Imperial has grown into an award-winning consultancy serving clients like ASOS, FarFetch, Science Museum Group, and University College London. Leyla's approach is distinctive. She combines mental health training with DEI work, recognizing that the two are deeply interconnected and that organizations can't address one without the other. Her Diverse Minds Podcast has produced 290+ episodes and won the Podcasting for Business Award in the Diversity and Inclusion category. The business itself has won the Woman Who Award (Services Category) and the Asian Business Chamber of Commerce's Outstanding Diversity and Inclusion Business of the Year. As a South Asian woman who experienced being overlooked at school and in the workplace, Leyla brings both lived experience and strategic expertise to her work. She's a TEDx speaker, trained coach and mediator, and served on the Council of the University of Leeds from November 2018 to July 2024\. She is a Board member of Serendipity Institute for Black Arts and Heritage and Pedestrian UK. In this conversation, Leyla shares how she transitioned from institutional leadership to entrepreneurship, why she built podcasting into her business model, and how she helps organizations understand that mental health and inclusion aren't just ethical imperatives but financially strategic ones. --- ## From Head of EDI at Imperial College London to Founding Diverse Minds – Building Your Own Consultancy **You spent 14 years in higher education, including serving as Head of the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Centre at Imperial College London, before founding Diverse Minds in 2016\. For female entrepreneurs considering leaving stable institutional roles to start their own consultancies, what made you decide to leave academia to build your own business? How did you leverage your institutional experience to secure private sector clients like ASOS, and what advice would you give women about positioning their expertise when transitioning from employee to consultant?** I left my role working in higher education as I had reached the limit of progression within professional services. I loved leading the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Centre at Imperial College London, but there was simply nowhere further to go. I wanted to keep expanding my skills and the work, plus I had a really long commute and my wellbeing was suffering. Interestingly, I never set out to start a business, due to the work I was doing at Imperial, other institutions kept approaching me to run sessions and asking how I had delivered certain projects. That external demand ultimately showed me there was a viable path outside the College. My institutional experience has been central to securing private-sector clients. In many ways, it came down to being in the right place at the right time,delivering talks to the right audiences due to the people I knew and building genuine connections. That’s exactly how my relationship with ASOS began. Someone from their HR team heard me speak, we clicked, and we ended up working together for several years. For women transitioning from employee to consultant, I always say: you are the CEO of your own life. Map out your network *and* your network’s network. Who is on your personal board? Who can champion you, open doors, and help amplify your expertise? Social media has its place, but nothing replaces face-to-face connection, trust, and recommendations. Those relationships are what generate your first clients and establish your credibility in a new chapter. ## Building an Award-Winning Podcast as a Business Development Tool – The Diverse Minds Podcast Journey You've produced 285+ episodes of the award-winning Diverse Minds Podcast, winning the Podcasting for Business Awards in the Diversity and Inclusion Category. For female founders considering podcasting as a business strategy, what's your framework for creating content that builds authority while also driving business? How do you balance educational content with client development, and what practical advice would you give entrepreneurs about starting a podcast without it becoming a time drain that doesn't generate ROI? I would say that podcasting requires consistency over celebrity status. You might not see thousands of downloads per episode, but over time it becomes a resource bank for you and your work. For me, podcasting was a natural fit because I enjoy speaking far more than blogging! It allowed me to share ideas in a format that feels easy and I am not one to shy away from speaking my truth. I think it also comes from being a South Asian woman and being overlooked at school and the workplace. The way I balance education with business development is by planning carefully. I work with a podcast producer, and early on we created a structure and script format so each episode flows well. I do write my content, and over the years I’ve learned how to weave in insights, calls to action, and themes aligned with my consultancy. For anyone starting out, my biggest advice is: start small and plan intentionally. Before I launched Diverse Minds, I learned to list questions you are always asked by clients and potential customers. These became my first episode topics. You don’t need perfect production. You can create short series, five-minute “one tip” episodes, or seasonal content. There are so many tools now that make podcasting accessible. Most importantly, if you want your podcast to support your business, commit to the long game. Longevity is what builds thought leadership. And remember: done is better than perfect. ## Addressing Mental Health and Inclusion Together – Why Both Matter for Business Diverse Minds uniquely combines mental health training with DEI work, recognizing that mental ill-health costs UK businesses £35 billion annually and that race equality and wellbeing are interconnected. For female founders building purpose-driven businesses, how do you help organizations understand that addressing both mental health and inclusion isn't just ethical but financially strategic? What's your approach to getting leadership buy-in when these topics can be seen as "nice to have" rather than business-critical, and how should entrepreneurs position social impact work as essential to business performance? Many organisations come to me once they’ve realised that mental health and inclusion are not “nice-to-haves” but essential to performance and retention. While we want this work to be proactive, leadership buy-in is often triggered by incidents, tribunal cases, or negative press. All situations where the financial and reputational costs become impossible to ignore. My approach is to connect the dots between wellbeing, equity, talent, and organisational outcomes. There is extensive research showing the financial impact of mental ill-health and the cost of inequity, and I help organisations translate that data into their own language: What talent are you losing? Where is performance suffering? What is the cost of inaction? Ultimately, people are the pot of gold under the rainbow, without healthy, included employees, businesses simply cannot thrive. For entrepreneurs building purpose-driven businesses, the key is to tell the story in a way leaders can truly hear. Data is important, but stories, lived experiences, and visceral connection drive action. Every organisation responds to different triggers, so tailor your message: What matters to their strategy? Their values? Their bottom line? When we help leaders feel, not just see, the case for change, social impact work becomes recognised not as an add-on but as fundamental to business success. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### From Octopus Investments to "The Human LinkedIn": Michelle Andrew on Building Meeesh Unlimited, The Strategic Attendee Framework, and Breaking Into the Built Environment URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/women-who-lead/from-octopus-investments-to-the-human-linkedin-michelle-andrew-on-building-meeesh-unlimited-the-strategic-attendee-framework-and-breaking-into-the-built-environment/ Last updated: 2025-12-16T11:07:08.000Z Michelle Andrew has been called "the human LinkedIn" by a VP at Goldman Sachs, and it's not hard to see why. With 16+ years of cross-industry expertise spanning fintech, proptech, and telecoms, she's built a reputation for connecting the dots between tech scale-ups and institutional leaders, particularly at the intersection of technology and the built environment. As founder and MD of [Meeesh](https://www.michelle-andrew.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) Unlimited Ltd (known to many simply as "Meeesh"), Michelle specializes in driving strategic growth for companies navigating change and expansion. She previously led sales and distribution strategy at Octopus Investments, where she was called "one of the most forward thinking" in the sales function, and held senior partnerships roles at Loqbox and Vorboss. She's served as fractional CCO and consultant for companies including Smart Spaces, UpSkill Digital, and WCKD RZR. But Michelle's path to entrepreneurship wasn't part of a long-term master plan. It was born from frustration and clarity after repeatedly hitting a ceiling in industries where the boys' club still quietly dictates who gets access to power and progression. When a C-suite role at a fintech was completely mis-sold, Michelle made a decision: she could keep taking risks on senior roles that looked great on paper, or she could take control of how and with whom she worked. Meeesh Unlimited was incorporated shortly after. Michelle is also the creator of The Strategic Attendee, a three-phase framework that transforms conference attendance from "expensive days out of the office" into systematic business development, based on insights from 50+ conferences. In this conversation, Michelle shares why she left corporate positions to build Meeesh, how her Strategic Attendee framework helps founders turn conferences into clients and real ROI, and her approach to building partnerships between tech scale-ups and institutional players in the built environment who move slowly and have complex decision-making processes. --- ## From Octopus Investments to Founding Meeesh Unlimited – Building a B2B Growth Consultancy as "The Human LinkedIn" **You're the founder and MD of Meeesh Unlimited Ltd, a boutique consultancy that helps tech scale-ups navigate change, expansion, and strategic partnerships across property, ed-tech, fintech, and investment sectors. You previously led sales and distribution strategy at Octopus Investments (where you were called "one of the most forward thinking" in the sales function), held partnerships roles at Loqbox and Vorboss, and served as a fractional CCO/consultant for companies like Smart Spaces, UpSkill Digital, and WCKD RZR. A VP at Goldman Sachs called you "the human LinkedIn." For female founders building consultancies or transitioning from corporate roles to entrepreneurship, what made you decide to launch Meeesh rather than staying in senior corporate positions? How did you build credibility as a fractional CCO and strategic consultant when you were just starting out, and what advice would you give women about positioning themselves as business development or partnerships experts in competitive markets?** I wish I could say Meeesh was part of a long-term master plan, but the truth is it was born out of frustration and clarity. I’d always been ambitious about getting to the top of the ladder. I led sales and distribution strategy at Octopus Investments, worked in senior partnerships roles across fintech and telecoms, and was repeatedly brought in to fix or scale commercial functions. But despite strong results, I kept hitting a ceiling, particularly in property and finance where the boys’ club still quietly dictates who gets access to power and progression. The turning point came when I was headhunted into what was positioned as a C-suite role at a fintech. Within weeks, it was clear the role had been completely mis-sold. I tried to make it work, but ultimately decided to leave before the end of my probation. That moment crystallised something for me: I could keep taking risks on senior roles that looked great on paper, or I could take control of how, and with whom, I worked. Meeesh Unlimited was incorporated shortly after. What gave me confidence was realizing that the work I was most often hired to do (building commercial strategy, establishing market fit, opening new markets, and fixing partnerships) didn’t actually require me to be full-time. In fact, I could often deliver more impact in one or two focused days a week than in a traditional role full of internal noise. My first clients came directly from my network. I never burn bridges, and I’d previously interviewed with or been approached by companies I turned down due to salary, scope, or growth limitations. I reframed that same expertise as fractional or contract support, and several of those companies became early clients. I also went back to firms like Octopus and offered support to their portfolio companies, which proved incredibly successful. In terms of credibility, I didn’t try to “become” a consultant overnight - I simply kept doing the work I was already known for, but under my own banner. Results compound quickly when you’re clear about your value. My advice to women positioning themselves as business development or partnerships experts is this: - **Be specific** about the problems you solve - “partnerships” is too vague. - **Leverage your track record unapologetically** \- especially internal wins that didn’t come with public credit. - **Price for impact, not time.** - And finally, trust that you don’t need permission to operate at a senior level - you already earned it. ## The Strategic Attendee Framework – Turning Conferences Into Clients, Connections, and Real ROI **You created The Strategic Attendee™, a three-phase framework that transforms conference attendance from "expensive days out of the office" into systematic business development, based on insights from 50+ conferences. You teach how to target the right connections, use conversation techniques to network better, follow up strategically, and measure ROI from conference investments. For female founders who are exhausted by endless networking events that don't convert to business, what are the biggest mistakes you see people make at conferences? Walk us through your framework for making conferences actually pay off, and how should founders decide which events are worth the investment versus which are just distractions?** The biggest mistake I see people make at conferences is trying to do *everything* \- meet prospects, see clients, build visibility, learn trends, and network broadly - all at once. Individually, those are valid goals. Collectively, they guarantee diluted results. The Strategic Attendee™ framework is built around one core principle: **every conference should have a single, dominant objective**. Not three. Not five. One. If your goal is sales, then everything flows from that. You start by validating whether the conference actually attracts your ideal customer - which often means asking organizers for historic attendee profiles or speaker lists. If your target audience isn’t there, it’s not a strategy problem, it’s an event selection problem. Once the goal is clear, the framework breaks into three phases: **1\. Pre-conference strategy** You identify exactly who you want to meet, connect with them on LinkedIn in advance, and plan your agenda around where those people will be - panels, sessions, or private events. You arrive informed, intentional, and warm-connected. **2\. In-room execution**This is where most people default to awkward small talk. Instead, I teach conversation techniques that position you as commercially sharp, curious, and memorable without pitching. You’re there to learn, qualify, and open doors, not force outcomes. **3\. Strategic follow-up**This is the most neglected part and where ROI is actually created. Clear notes, tailored follow-ups, and a defined next step tied back to your original goal. If you can’t measure outcomes against that goal, the conference didn’t work. For founders deciding which events are worth it, I always ask: - Does my ideal customer attend? - Can I realistically get access to them? - Is this aligned to my current business priority or just FOMO? If you answer no to any of those, it’s probably a distraction. ## Building Strategic Partnerships and Ecosystems – Connecting Tech Scale-Ups With Institutional Leaders in the Built Environment **You specialize in building strategic partnerships between tech scale-ups and institutional leaders, particularly at the intersection of technology and the built environment (you're "particularly nerdy about smart buildings and data"). You've worked across fintech, proptech, and telecoms, helping clients with go-to-market strategies, commercial frameworks, pricing models, and CRM systems. For female founders building B2B businesses in property tech, sustainability, or infrastructure, how do you approach partnership development with large institutional players who move slowly and have complex decision-making processes? What's your framework for crafting partnerships that create mutual success, and what advice would you give founders trying to break into the built environment sector from the outside?** Partnerships in the built environment require patience, structure, and a very clear understanding of how institutions actually make decisions... (slowly). My starting point is always adjacency. The most effective partnerships come from adjacent industries that serve the same clients but solve different problems. That’s where alignment exists without defensiveness. From there, I’m very intentional about structure. Large institutions move slowly because risk is distributed across multiple stakeholders, so partnerships need: - **Clear parameters** \- what this partnership is and isn’t. - **Defined success metrics** \- commercial, operational, or strategic. - **Checkpoints** \- formal moments to review progress and reset expectations. Over-communication is essential. Silence creates uncertainty, and uncertainty kills momentum in complex organizations. Most importantly, I focus on complementarity, not extraction. The fastest way to lose institutional trust is to approach partnerships as a channel you can “take” from. The most successful ones clearly articulate how both sides win - commercially, reputationally, or operationally. For founders breaking into property, sustainability, or infrastructure from the outside, my advice is learn to speak the language in the sector, respect the pace, and find internal champions who are incentivized to move things forward. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### From Big Law to Building My Brand": Sandra Fava on Leaving Fox Rothschild After Gender Dynamics, Protecting Business Assets in High-Net-Worth Divorce, and When Mediation Won't Work URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/law/from-big-law-to-building-my-brand-sandra-fava-on-leaving-fox-rothschild-after-gender-dynamics-protecting-business-assets-in-high-net-worth-divorce-and-when-mediation-wont-work/ Last updated: 2025-12-16T01:23:09.000Z Sandra Fava spent years as a partner in the Family Law Department at Fox Rothschild LLP, a national Am Law 200 firm based in Morristown, New Jersey. Despite professional success, she grew tired of being "treated differently from the men in the room" and left to found [Fava Law](http://www.favalawnj.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) LLC, where she provides personalized service to clients navigating high-net-worth and high-conflict divorce matters. A certified mediator with over two decades of family law experience, Sandra represents professionals, corporate executives, hedge fund managers, and business owners in complex divorce proceedings. She's been recognized as one of New Jersey's Top 50 Women Attorneys by Super Lawyers (2025), included in Best Lawyers in America (2019-2024), and ranked in the Chambers High Net Worth Guide (2022-2025). She's also been honored as a New Jersey Law Journal Trailblazer (2019) and named one of NJBIZ's Best 50 Women in Business. Here, Sandra breaks down why she left the stability of Big Law to launch her own firm, the critical mistakes high-net-worth founders make when protecting their companies and assets during divorce, and the warning signs that mediation won't work for high-conflict cases. --- ## From Am Law 200 Partner to Founding Fava Law - Building a Family Law Practice on Your Own Terms **You spent years as a partner in the Family Law Department at Fox Rothschild, a national Am Law 200 firm, before founding Fava Law LLC to provide clients with a more personalized level of service. For female attorneys considering leaving Big Law partnerships to start their own practices, what prompted your decision to leave the stability and platform of a major firm, and how did you build your client base and reputation as a solo practitioner? What's your advice for lawyers who want the autonomy of running their own firms but worry about leaving established platforms behind?** I was definitely prompted to start my own firm from my desire to have control over my schedule. Balancing a career, especially as a litigator, and a family can be challenging. In my experience, there's not much room for flexibility at a large firm, no matter the lip service. I was also at a point in my career where I realized that despite my professional successes, I was still being treated differently from the men in the room and I was tired of that. Fortunately, I had a strong client and referral base. However, I was able to substantially grow that in my own firm as the concerns about other practice group members no longer existed. It's my brand so I get to make those decisions. If you're reading and thinking about starting your own firm, I would tell you to do it. It's the best career decision I've made to date. --- ## Protecting Business Assets and Entrepreneurial Wealth in Divorce - Advising High-Net-Worth Founders and Executives **You specialize in high-net-worth and high-conflict divorce matters, often representing professionals, corporate executives, hedge fund managers, and business owners. For female entrepreneurs going through divorce, what are the most critical mistakes you see business owners make when protecting their companies and assets during divorce proceedings? How should founders structure prenuptial agreements, handle business valuations, and navigate custody arrangements when building or running demanding startups, and what's the difference between protective legal strategies versus approaches that escalate conflict unnecessarily?** The most common big mistakes I see with my high-net-worth and high-conflict clients is a failure to prepare. Having a demanding job or running your own business takes a lot of time and energy. That leaves little of those things for your personal life. And let's face it, most people don't want to deal with their problems. But making sure you have your documents in order, that you understand them, that you have a plan for what the future could/should look like and doing your research before you hire an attorney to work with are key. Those things will have you so much better prepared for the process, which will enable you to make decisions and feel confident in your choices. Prior to marriage, prenuptial agreements are mandatory for anyone who is a founder or has created or is on the way to creating high net worth. Prenuptial agreements are binding contracts that set forth the rights and obligations of each party before marriage, in the event of divorce. Assuming that these are within the realm of reasonable and fair, they allow parties to structure the division of pre-marital and marital assets and liabilities as well as spousal support. This can save a lot of time and money for parties by avoiding a long, drawn out and expensive divorce process. In most states prenuptial agreements that address custody of unborn or future children as well as financial support are unenforceable. This is because these determinations require an analysis of many factors at the time the issue is ripe. Business valuations generally require an expert such as a forensic accountant. A tax accountant or financial advisor cannot perform valuation services. As important, however, is working with an attorney who understands the ins and outs of these evaluations, knows the questions to ask, the information to request and provide, etc. --- ### Mediation vs. Litigation - Knowing When to Negotiate and When to Fight **You're a certified mediator who believes in exploring alternative dispute resolution whenever possible, but you're also a skilled litigator who knows when to fight in court. For female founders and executives navigating divorce while trying to maintain their professional reputations and business operations, how do you help clients decide between mediation and litigation? What are the warning signs that mediation won't work, and how should high-profile entrepreneurs approach divorce differently to protect both their personal interests and their public-facing businesses?** The choice to mediate or to litigate is determined on a lot of case specific factors. For many clients, a combination of both is an appropriate strategy. I believe that a case has to be "ready" to mediate. The most important factor, in my experience, is both parties have to be mentally ready to mediate. As this is a confidential process, mediation allows parties to take positions they may otherwise not want to take in court. However, being ready to reach resolution and compromise is an important part of having success in the process. It is also important that there is/has been transparency and an exchange of information so that both parties are negotiating from the same information. Warning signs that mediation won't work: First and foremost, a party who is unwilling to share information. A party that is operating from emotions only. High-profile entrepreneurs often need to do more pre-divorce planning to understand their exposure and the process. Doing this will allow the creation of a strategy that protects the things they've worked hard to create. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### "Be the VC You Didn't Have": Shruti Shah on Move Loot's Painful Exit, Proximity to Problems as Competitive Advantage, and Building Pre-Seed Companies for Sustainability Over Unicorn Theater URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/women-in-vc/be-the-vc-you-didnt-have-shruti-shah-on-move-loots-painful-exit-proximity-to-problems-as-competitive-advantage-and-building-pre-seed-companies-for-sustainability-over-unicorn-theater/ Last updated: 2025-12-17T03:15:18.000Z Shruti Shah knows what it feels like when investors override your instincts and how steep the price is when you let them. As co-founder and COO of Move Loot, a Y Combinator-backed online marketplace for used furniture, Shah and her team raised $22 million and led national expansion, building a capital-intensive logistics business from scratch with customers who loved the service. But when later-stage investors changed their minds about the strategy and pushed the team to shift the model, it took them off their center of gravity. Move Loot wound down in 2016\. Not the ending Shah hoped for, but one that fundamentally rewired how she sees the founder-investor relationship. Today, as Co-General Partner at [Symphonic Capital](https://symphonic.vc/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) alongside Sydney Thomas (whom she joined in 2022), Shah has a clear mission: "to be the VC I didn't have." Symphonic closed its first fund at $13.5 million (backed by Bank of America, Illumen Capital, Uplifting Capital Management, Candide Group, Mary Reynolds Babcock Foundation, and Known Financial) in a challenging fundraising environment for women-led emerging managers. The firm invests in pre-seed and seed stage companies building AI-enabled health tech, fintech, and climate tech businesses, focusing on founders with proximity to the problems they're solving, particularly those serving overlooked and underserved communities beyond Silicon Valley. Before Move Loot, Shah taught 2nd, 4th, and 5th grade in Baltimore through Teach for America and worked at NewSchools Venture Seed Fund investing in education technology companies. She earned her B.A. in Political Science with a minor in Entrepreneurship from UNC Chapel Hill and her M.S. in Education with a focus on Urban Education from Johns Hopkins University. She was honored by Forbes as a 2016 30 Under 30 recipient in Retail and E-Commerce and by the Aspen Institute as an Aspen Ideas Festival Scholar in reimagining capitalism. Here, Shah breaks down the painful Move Loot lesson that most VCs haven't lived inside the chaos of not making payroll or had to tell a team you're pivoting because someone with capital said you should. She explains what "proximity to the problem" actually means when evaluating founders and why female founders often undersell the expertise born from their lived experience. And she shares how Symphonic defines success for a pre-seed fund intentionally building for the long view, where every founder teaches them something they fold back into supporting the next founder, and where endurance and institution building matter more than unicorn theater. --- ## From Co-Founding Y Combinator-Backed Move Loot to Co-General Partner at Symphonic Capital – Building the VC You Didn't Have as a Founder **You co-founded and served as COO of Move Loot, a Y Combinator-backed online marketplace for buying and selling used furniture, where you raised $22 million and led national expansion before winding down in 2016\. You've said you joined Sydney Thomas at Symphonic Capital in 2022 "to be the VC I didn't have" when you were building Move Loot, after a group of investors changed their minds about your strategy and asked you to change the business model in ways that didn't work.** **You were honored by Forbes as a 2016 30 Under 30 recipient in Retail and E-Commerce and by the Aspen Institute as an Aspen Ideas Festival Scholar. For female founders who have experienced the painful side of venture capital (investors changing direction, business models forced to pivot, companies sold for parts), what did you learn from Move Loot's journey that directly informs how you support founders now? Walk us through how that experience shaped Symphonic's approach to pre-seed investing, and what advice would you give women about controlling their own destiny, trusting their gut, and structuring processes to get to break even as quickly as possible?** When I say I joined Symphonic "to be the VC I didn't have," I mean it in the most literal sense. At Move Loot, we built a national, capital-intensive logistics business from scratch — we were solving a real problem, we had customers who loved us, and we moved fast. But when a group of later stage investors changed their minds about our strategy and pushed us to shift the model, it took us off our center of gravity. It was a painful, clarifying lesson: when you let people who aren't close to the business override your instincts, you pay the price — and the price is steep. That experience didn't just shape how I invest. It rewired how I see the entire founder-investor relationship. Most VCs haven't built companies. They've pattern-matched them, advised them, sat on boards — but they haven't lived inside the chaos of not making payroll, or had to tell a team you're pivoting because someone with capital said you should. That distance can calcify into a kind of unintentional cruelty: well-meaning advice that sounds strategic but is disconnected from the reality of what it actually takes to execute. I don't think most investors are malicious. I just think they lack a cultivated empathy gene for what founders are actually up against. So Sydney and I have built Symphonic to operate differently. Here's how that shows up: ### **1\. We center the founder's lived expertise — not our own preferences.** I know what it feels like to have someone with a board seat but limited context dictate choices that fundamentally alter the trajectory of your business. It's disorienting. It makes you second-guess yourself when you shouldn't. Today, We are intentional about being advisors, not operators-by-proxy. My job is to pressure test assumptions, provide frameworks, surface blind spots, and clear roadblocks — not to steer the ship. You're the one who knows where the icebergs are. I'm here to help you navigate around them, not to grab the wheel. ### **2\. I help founders build toward break-even sooner than they think they need to.** Because I lived through a capital-intensive model in a "growth at all costs" era, I now believe deeply — almost religiously — in designing companies that have a path to sustainability early. Not because it sounds conservative or risk-averse, but because it buys you freedom. Freedom to say no. Freedom to choose your investors. Freedom to build the business you actually want to build, not the one your cap table is forcing you toward. For women especially, who often raise less and face more scrutiny at every stage, profitability isn't just a milestone — it's power. ### **3\. I emphasize alignment and transparent communication from day one.** Move Loot taught me that misalignment doesn't show up suddenly. It accumulates quietly — in small moments, in language that sounds supportive but isn't, in strategic "suggestions" that chip away at your conviction. At Symphonic, we actively screen for investors and co-investors who align with our approach, and we work with founders who want a thought partner, not a puppet master. We ask founders early: - What are the non-negotiables in your business model? - What assumptions are you willing to test? - Where are you willing to flex, and where do you need us to hold the line with you? These aren't rhetorical questions. They're the foundation of how we work together. --- ### **Advice to women founders** **Trust your gut — it's built from lived pattern recognition.**If something feels off in your fundraising process, it is. Don't talk yourself out of it. Don't let someone with a term sheet convince you otherwise. **Structure for sustainability.**Don't build a business dependent on investor approval to survive. Build one that can hit break-even earlier than you think you need to. It changes everything. **Own your strategy, even as you stay coachable.**Listen to input, not directives. There's a difference. You're the one closest to the customers. You're the one who knows what's working and what's theater. **Choose investors who respect your expertise.**Ask them: *Tell me about a time you disagreed with a founder and how you handled it.* Their answer will tell you everything. --- Move Loot didn't end the way I hoped. But the experience has made me a better investor - one who views founders as partners, not bets. One who remembers that every founder is doing something really hard: putting something they created out into the world, which means opening themselves up not just to opportunity, but to criticism, rejection, and doubt. As VCs, we owe it to founders to be kind, present, thoughtful, and supportive. That's not soft. That's the work. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2025/12/IMG_0676.jpeg) ## Symphonic Capital's $13.5M First Fund and Investing in AI-Enabled Health Tech, Fintech, and Climate Tech for Overlooked Communities **Symphonic Capital closed its first fund at $13.5 million (backed by Illumen Capital, Uplifting Capital Management, Candide Group, and Known Financial) in a challenging fundraising environment for women-led emerging fund managers. You invest in pre-seed and seed stage companies building AI-enabled health tech, fintech, and climate tech businesses, focusing on founders with proximity to the problems they're solving. You've said that many of the problems that need solving exist outside of Silicon Valley, and Symphonic invests beyond the coasts. For female founders building companies that serve overlooked and underserved communities, what does "proximity to the problem" actually mean when you're evaluating founders? How should founders articulate their unique insights or lived experience when pitching investors, and what are the early warning signs that a founder has genuine understanding versus surface-level awareness of the communities they're serving?** At Symphonic, proximity to the problem isn't a buzzword. It's the center of our investment philosophy — and it's one of the most misunderstood concepts in venture. For founders building for overlooked communities — especially women and people of color — your insight is often your superpower. But you have to articulate it in a way that helps investors see what you see. Not because your insight isn't valid, but because most investors haven't lived in the world you're building for. They need you to close the gap. ### **What proximity really means to us:** **Direct lived experience.** You've personally felt the pain point or navigated the system you're trying to change. You're not building for a demographic — you're building for yourself, and people like you. **Deep professional experience.** You've spent years inside the environment where the problem lives — clinics, schools, financial institutions, social services, community organizations. You know the informal rules, the workarounds, the reasons things are the way they are. **Embedded relationships.** You're in continuous dialogue with the community — not just at user research time, but always. You're not extracting insights. You're part of the conversation. **Long-term pattern recognition.** You know why previous solutions failed. You can map the constraints in a way an outsider wouldn't see, because you've lived inside those constraints. That's not anecdotal. That's strategic. --- ### **How founders should articulate this** Investors want clarity, not hero narratives. They want to know: *Why you? Why now? And what do you see that I don't?* Here's how to answer those questions in a way that lands: **"Why you?"** What unique insight did your lived or professional experience give you? Be specific. Not "I understand this market," but "I spent five years navigating this broken system, and here's what I learned that shaped the product we built." **"Why now?"** What's changing — regulatory, cultural, technological — that makes your solution newly possible? Timing isn't just about market readiness. It's about inflection points you can see because of your proximity. **"What are outsiders consistently getting wrong?"** This is where depth of understanding shows up. If you can articulate the thing everyone else misses, you signal that your proximity is an advantage, not just a story. **"What did you build *because* of your proximity?"** Not anecdotes — product choices. Features. Workflows. Pricing models. Things that wouldn't exist if you hadn't lived this problem. --- ### **Early signs the founder has real proximity vs. surface-level awareness** **Real proximity:** - Knows the customer's decision-making constraints in granular detail. - Understands the messy, offline workflows that aren't in pitch decks or market reports. - Can explain unit economics grounded in real behavior, not hoped-for behavior. - Has early users who trust them because they already know the community — trust is built before the product even launches. **Surface-level:** - Over-indexing on "the market is huge" instead of "here's how the customer actually buys." - Relying on academic research or reports instead of lived insight. - Using generic impact language without specificity. - Cannot clearly articulate why previous attempts failed. --- ### **A note to female founders** Female founders often undersell the expertise born from their lived experience. We're taught to be humble, to not center ourselves, to lead with data instead of intuition. But here's the truth: your lived experience *is* data. It's pattern recognition. It's insight that can't be Googled. My advice: Don't minimize it. Operationalize it. Show how it shaped your product, your go-to-market, your pricing. Make it impossible for an investor to ignore. It's one of your biggest differentiators — own it. --- ## Pre-Seed With a Long View – How Symphonic Provides Operational Guidance and Defines Success Differently Than Traditional VCs **Sydney Thomas has said that Symphonic isn't focused on finding two unicorns to return the fund, but instead seeks broader, more sustainable success across the entire portfolio because that drives the most impact and outsized returns long-term. You meet regularly with founders to provide operational guidance through each stage of growth, and you've structured the firm with experts dedicated to solving problems in People/Talent, Business Operations, and other critical areas. For female founders navigating pre-seed fundraising, what operational support should they actually expect from early-stage investors versus what sounds good but never materializes? How do you help founders define clear metrics for success at the earliest stages, and what's your framework for deciding when to double down on portfolio companies versus when to acknowledge something isn't working? What does "success" look like for a pre-seed fund that's intentionally building for the long view?** Early-stage founders often hear promises like "We're hands-on," only to find out that means one quarterly check-in and a Slack channel no one responds to. It's frustrating. It's also avoidable. At Symphonic, we intentionally built the opposite model — because we believe early operational guidance has outsized returns when applied early, before bad habits calcify and before small problems become existential ones. --- ### **What founders should actually expect from early-stage investors** Most investors will say they're supportive. Ask them to show, not tell: - How often do you meet with your founders? - Who are the functional experts on your team, and how do founders access them? - What are examples of problems you've helped founders solve in the last 30 days? - How do you help with hiring? Pricing? Go-to-market? Financial modeling? If they can't point to real case studies — not vague statements, but actual examples — it's probably not real. --- ### **How we support founders operationally** **Regular touchpoints.** Weekly or biweekly calls in the earliest days. Not because we're micromanaging, but because early-stage companies move fast and the margin for error is thin. We want to catch things early. **Dedicated experts across talent, people, ops, and fundraising.** You shouldn't have to figure out how to structure equity on your own, or how to price your product, or how to hire your first Head of Sales. We've done it. We'll help you do it. **Structured playbooks for going from MVP → traction → repeatability.** There's a method to moving from "this works for 10 customers" to "this works at scale." We help you build that muscle. **A relentless focus on metrics that drive the business — not vanity KPIs.** We care about the metrics that predict success, not the ones that make slide decks look impressive. There's a difference. --- ### **How we help founders define success early** At pre-seed, success is not revenue at all costs. It's learning fast, reducing risk, and compounding insights. We work with founders to define a 12–18 month roadmap with: - **3–5 North Star outcomes:** What does success look like? - **A handful of leading indicators that predict traction:** What tells you you're on the right path before the lagging indicators show up? - **Key questions the business must answer:** Pricing elasticity, ICP validation, retention drivers, cost to scale the business - **Critical hires and the timing of each:** Who do you need, and when? This isn't bureaucracy. It's clarity. And clarity at the pre-seed stage is a competitive advantage. --- ### **Our framework for doubling down vs. acknowledging something isn't working** We ask: - Is the founder still learning quickly? - Is the insight getting sharper or fuzzier? - Are we seeing consistent signals from the market — even if they're quiet? - Has the founder adapted with clarity, not chaos? - Is the team energized or discouraged? (Energy is data.) When those answers point toward momentum — even quiet momentum — we lean in. If the core insight is disproven and the founder is spinning instead of synthesizing, we have honest, compassionate conversations early. Not because we want to cut our losses, but because we owe it to founders to be truthful about what we're seeing. --- ### **What success looks like for a long-view pre-seed fund** - **A portfolio where a high percentage of companies reach meaningful follow-on rounds.**Not every company will. But if we're doing our job, most should. - **Founders who want us involved in their next companies or refer us to their friends because they felt truly supported.**This is the metric that matters most to me. If founders come back or refer us to their founder friends, we did something right. - **Companies that become sustainable, even if they don't become unicorns overnight.** Venture is obsessed with outliers. We're interested in endurance and institution building. - **Insights that compound across the portfolio and create a flywheel for Fund II and III.** Every founder teaches us something. We take those lessons and fold them back into how we support the next founder. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### From Retail to Royalty to Running Her Own Show: Astrid Davies on Leadership for "Accidental Leaders" and Why Groupthink Dooms Organizations URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/women-who-lead/from-retail-to-royalty-to-running-her-own-show-astrid-davies-on-leadership-for-accidental-leaders-and-why-groupthink-dooms-organizations/ Last updated: 2025-12-12T08:23:32.000Z After 35 years leading high-performing teams across private, public, and voluntary sectors—navigating everything from high street retail to property (where she worked with Royalty and Hollywood A-listers)—Astrid Davies MA FIoL decided she wanted to "run her own show." In 2017, she founded [Astrid Davies Consulting](https://www.astriddaviesconsulting.co.uk/?ref=foundedbywomen.org), an ethical leadership consultancy focused on responsible and sustainable leadership development. Astrid's practice spans corporate teams, public sector organizations, and charity boards (which represent about a quarter of her client work), and she's particularly passionate about supporting "accidental leaders"—people who find themselves in leadership positions without formal training or preparation. She's also the creator of Future Leaders Breakfast®, a networking and leadership development series for young professionals new to management, and she serves as a mentor and guest lecturer at the University of Southampton, supporting Enactus entrepreneurs building social enterprises. As a Fellow of the Institute of Leadership (FIoL), Astrid brings a no-nonsense, straight-talking approach to leadership development, tackling everything from the perils of groupthink and failure to speak truth to power, to building resilient teams that can weather change without burning out. Her philosophy? Leadership skills are like baking a cake—you can't just make up the recipe as you go along and expect it to work. In this Q&A, Astrid shares what her "circuitous career journey" (from retail to property to public service) taught her about leadership, why the biggest mistake companies make when hiring C-suite talent is ignoring culture, and her urgent message about sustainability: "If our leaders across economies don't start taking this seriously, we'll be OK but our grandchildren will be living in Hell. I don't want that on my watch." --- **1\. You've spent 30 years leading high-performing teams across private, public, and voluntary sectors before founding Astrid Davies Consulting. What prompted you to make the leap into consultancy, and how did your eclectic background shape the way you approach leadership development today?** I chose consultancy because, after 35 years of working for other people, I wanted to run my own show. That was partly to have control over the context and values which shape my company and partly so I could feel fully responsible and accountable for my work. This made it feel real and this desire is a reflection of the commitment that I bring to all my client work. My circuitous career journey (I like eclectic) gave me many skills which I have chosen to transfer and harness, to shape my leadership development approaches. From high street retail, I took agility, responsiveness and being able to not take things personally. From my time in property I took the ability to work with people at all levels (including Royalty and Hollywood A listers) and to build political skills that have served me well. Both these contexts gave me huge levels of customer service experience, which I have used throughout my career. And in public service, I really took from that the importance of value for money, and also a deep appreciation of the challenges that people face in all walks of life. Leadership was a key thread throughout these different stages in my career, both developing my own and observing good (and the less good) examples of effective leadership in others. **2\. Your client work spans private, public, and voluntary sectors (with charities representing about a quarter of your practice). Across these different environments, what are the most common leadership challenges you encounter, and how does your approach to leadership development adapt based on whether you're working with a corporate team, a public sector organization, or a charity board?** There are several leadership challenges, but I think the top three would probably be: The perils of "groupthink". Affinity and confirmation bias (aka "people like us are right") is a sure way to arrive at poorly-informed and positioned strategic decision-making. It's easy to do but often very hard to challenge from within. That's where I come in! Failure to speak truth to power. I often refer to the Challenger and Columbia disasters, where failure to speak truth to power at NASA led to very public loss of life. There HAVE to be leaders at the top of an organisation that are prepared to hear bad news. Any organisation is doomed if that isn't in place. Taking responsibility, particularly in times of change. It is too easy for people to be passive (or even passive-aggressive) in the Board room and allow mistakes to go unchallenged because it wasn't that individual's place. Commitment to shared endeavour will always result in better outcomes for organisations and the people they serve. My approach to leadership development remains largely the same, because the principles of effective leadership transcend the operational environment to a significant degree. That said, there are very different pressures on a leader in a charity that needs to raise cash to keep a hospice open every day, from a leader running a national accountancy practice. So, I would say that an effective leadership approach translates across sectors, but then the context in which that leadership takes place forms an important completing piece of the puzzle. And that differs from context to context, and from individual to individual. I find that profiling tools and other objective ways to demonstrate strengths can build bridges into other worlds and sectors. **3\. You write about "accidental leaders" - people who find themselves in leadership positions without formal training or preparation. Why is this such a critical issue for organizations today, and what's your approach to helping these accidental leaders evolve into confident, purposeful leaders?** People are expected to lead effectively, but how can they, when they don't know what good is? If you were making a cake and didn't use the right ingredients because you were making the recipe up as you went along, it's unlikely it would work. Most things in life are like that and leadership is most certainly so. So I see my role as first building confidence that accidental leaders are doing the best they can, and then helping them understand and develop their own parameters for what good means in their context. A good leader in a small local charity might well be very different from a good leader in a big law firm. They will, however, share some common threads of skill, competence and inclination: strong communication skills (listening, then speaking); strong observation skills (I encourage them all to "notice" what goes on in their work environment and that in itself can be transformative); strong appetite for accountability, so they know their role and fulfil it clearly and well; strong motivational skills (the ability to meet their team on their terms and bring them with the leader on the collective journey). I also always include an emphasis on purpose – what is it that drives them on? My practice focuses on responsible leadership, so I always emphasise sustainability too. If our leaders across economies don't start taking this seriously, we'll be OK but our grandchildren will be living in Hell. I don't want that on my watch. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### Dian Trabulsy on Legal Gaps Stalling Women-Led Startups and Building Faith-Aligned Businesses URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/law/dian-trabulsy-on-legal-gaps-stalling-women-led-startups-and-building-faith-aligned-businesses/ Last updated: 2025-12-12T01:59:15.000Z Dian Trabulsy spent nearly fifteen years in New York City working for some of the nation's top law firms and Wall Street companies, navigating the complexity of corporate law, AI governance, and regulatory compliance. But the pace and culture left little room for the values that mattered most to her—purpose, integrity, and peace. When she became a mother and began supporting women in entrepreneurship on the side, she realized something: incredibly talented founders were being stalled not by lack of vision, but by preventable legal gaps. Google-template contracts. Missing operating agreements. Privacy policies that didn't cover the data they were actually collecting. Contractor relationships one misclassification penalty away from disaster. So Trabulsy founded [Faithfully Legal](https://faithfullylegal.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) to change that. The goal was simple: deliver white-glove legal strategy grounded in excellence and aligned with the founder's values. She replaced her corporate counsel income within a year, but more importantly, she regained something far more meaningful—clarity of purpose, a practice anchored in her faith, and the chance to elevate mission-driven entrepreneurs. Faithfully Legal™ now serves founders nationwide through legal-strategy consulting, contract development, and business-structure guidance. Attorney-specific services are limited to NY & PA, but the strategic work helps women-led companies across the U.S. build businesses that are protected, confident, and ready to grow. Here, Trabulsy breaks down the five legal gaps that stall women-led startups long before disputes surface, the early warning signs that founders have outgrown their initial legal setup (hint: if you're using Meta Pixel or Google Analytics, your privacy policy is probably non-compliant), and how to structure operating agreements, client contracts, and entity frameworks that reflect organizational values, honor boundaries, and support the "single signature offer" model—without spending thousands on attorneys who don't understand mission-driven business. --- ## The Five Legal Gaps That Stall Women-Led Startups – What Founders Miss Before Problems Arise **You work with purpose-driven entrepreneurs and nonprofits helping them build values-aligned legal foundations, and you've identified the five most overlooked legal gaps that stall women-led startups. For female founders bootstrapping their businesses, what are these critical gaps they're missing (beyond just "get an LLC")? Walk us through the difference between Google template contracts and proper legal protection, and when founders should actually invest in custom operating agreements, bylaws, and contracts versus when they can safely DIY with templates.** I spent nearly fifteen years in New York City working for some of the nation’s top law firms and Wall Street companies. I loved the complexity of the work, but the pace and culture left little room for the values that mattered most to me—purpose, integrity, and peace. When I became a mother and began supporting women in entrepreneurship on the side, I realized something: incredibly talented founders were being stalled not by lack of vision, but by preventable legal gaps. I built Faithfully Legal™ to change that. The goal was simple: deliver white-glove legal strategy that is grounded in excellence and aligned with the founder’s values. I replaced my corporate counsel income within a year, but more importantly, I regained something far more meaningful—clarity of purpose, a practice anchored in my faith, and the chance to elevate mission-driven entrepreneurs. Faithfully Legal™ now serves founders **nationwide** through legal-strategy consulting, contract development, and business-structure guidance. Attorney-specific services are limited to NY & PA, but the strategic work we provide helps women-led companies across the U.S. build businesses that are protected, confident, and ready to grow. ## Website Compliance, Privacy Laws, and Risk Assessment – Tightening Legal Protections as You Scale **Many female founders launch with basic websites and simple service agreements, but as they scale, they're suddenly dealing with privacy compliance (GDPR, CCPA), contractor relationships, volunteer agreements, and increased liability exposure. What are the early warning signs that a founder has outgrown their initial legal setup and needs to tighten compliance? How should founders approach website terms, privacy policies, and contract updates without spending $10K+ on legal fees, and what's your framework for assessing legal risk as businesses grow?** Many women founders launch with simple websites and DIY policies, but as soon as the business gains momentum, their legal risk increases exponentially. Here are the **early warning signs** a founder has outgrown her initial setup: ### **1\. She’s collecting more data than her privacy policy covers.** Using tools like: - Meta Pixel - Google Analytics - Email marketing software - Calendly / CRMs …means you’re now subject to data protection laws (GDPR, CCPA, etc.). ### **2\. She’s hiring contractors or volunteers.** This triggers: - Confidentiality needs - Classification rules (avoid misclassification penalties) - IP ownership issues ### **3\. She’s offering group programs, memberships, digital products, or recurring services.** These require updated terms that address: - Client conduct - Refunds - Usage rights - Community boundaries ### **4\. She’s expanding across state lines or serving international clients.** This increases exposure to tax, compliance, and data privacy obligations. ### **5\. She feels internally: “This system doesn’t feel protective anymore.”** Founders often sense misalignment before a legal issue ever arises. --- ### **How to Tighten Compliance Without Overspending** Women don’t need a $10K overhaul. They need a strategic approach: ### **Step 1: Conduct a simple legal audit** Review current contracts, privacy policies, website terms, and internal processes. (Founders can use my guide’s checklist to do this.) ### **Step 2: Upgrade the essentials** Most founders need only: - Updated client agreement - Compliant privacy policy - Website terms - Strong contractor/volunteer agreements - Clear refund & usage policies ### **Step 3: Create a risk-aware growth plan** Legal needs shift at each revenue milestone. My framework helps founders align their business model with the right protections at the right time. Founders can begin with the free guide here: **Download the Faith-Fueled Legal Foundations Guide** [https://faithfullylegal.com/page/faithfully-legal-checklist](https://faithfullylegal.com/page/faithfully-legal-checklist?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ## Building a Legally Strong AND Values-Aligned Company – Faith, Purpose, and Clear Boundaries **Your work at Faithfully Legal centers on helping purpose-driven founders build companies that are both legally protected and values-aligned (including faith-based principles for those who want that integration). For female entrepreneurs building mission-driven businesses, how do you structure entities, operating agreements, and client contracts to reflect organizational values while maintaining legal strength? What's your advice for founders who want clear client boundaries and a "single signature offer" approach - how does legal structure support or undermine business clarity and protection?** Legal structure is often framed as compliance. I view it as **clarity, stewardship, and values in action.** Here’s how I help mission-driven women build legally strong *and* values-aligned companies: ### **1\. Values-Aligned Entity Structure** Your entity should reflect: - How decisions are made - What authority looks like - How you protect your mission - What happens as your team grows A strong structure prevents misalignment before it begins. ### **2\. Operating Agreements Rooted in Identity** For purpose-driven or faith-led founders, we embed: - Organizational values - Founder protections - Conflict-resolution principles - Mission-preservation clauses This ensures the business grows *without drifting* from its purpose. ### **3\. Contracts That Honor Boundaries** Especially for women, boundaries are essential. A strong client agreement: - Defines scope - Protects IP - Clarifies outcomes - Preserves energy - Reduces emotional labor When women articulate their boundaries in writing, their business becomes more sustainable and profitable. ### **4\. The Single Signature Offer Model** A single, well-defined offer paired with a clear contract reduces risk and simplifies operations. Legal structure either strengthens this model—or creates confusion if not aligned. Founders can learn how to align structure with mission through my free resource: **Download the Faith-Fueled Legal Foundations Guide** [https://faithfullylegal.com/page/faithfully-legal-checklist](https://faithfullylegal.com/page/faithfully-legal-checklist?ref=foundedbywomen.org) --- ### DISCLAIMER FOR PUBLICATION *The information provided in this Q&A is for educational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice or create an attorney–client relationship. Faithfully Legal™ provides legal-strategy services nationwide and legal representation only in jurisdictions where duly licensed. Readers should consult a qualified attorney for guidance tailored to their specific circumstances.* > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### Investors Aren't Your Customers: Sutin Yang on Why Founders Waste Years Fundraising, the 2-Minute Deck Rule, and Why Angels Beat VCs in This Market URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/women-in-vc/investors-arent-your-customers-sutin-yang-on-why-founders-waste-years-fundraising-the-2-minute-deck-rule-and-why-angels-beat-vcs-in-this-market/ Last updated: 2025-12-11T14:10:01.000Z Sutin Yang sold candy on the playground at age 6, started trading stocks at 16, and spent 12 years in finance—first on J.P. Morgan's trading floor, then investing in hedge funds—before finally doing what she'd always wanted: starting her own business. After hitting her learning ceiling in traditional finance and growing tired of "investing at arm's length for faceless institutions," she co-founded an FCA-authorized property crowdfunding platform, ran Microsoft's AI for Good accelerator program, and eventually landed at Virgin StartUp leading their scale-up programs. Today, as Co-Founder & Managing Partner of [The Fundraising Accelerator](https://thefundraisingaccelerator.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org), Sutin has reviewed over 3,000 pitch decks and helped portfolio companies raise £38M+ in 18 months—£30M of which she raised hands-on as a freelance advisor working with two Series B companies (before and after her Virgin StartUp tenure), allowing CEOs to focus on running and growing their businesses while she supported their fundraises. Her tagline? "Helping underestimated founders bypass the old boys' club and get funded." But here's what makes Sutin's approach different: she doesn't sugarcoat the fundraising reality. DocSend data shows investors spend an average of 2 minutes and 24 seconds on decks—they're scanning, not studying. Most founders waste months, sometimes years, trying to raise capital because they focus on product features and technicalities when investors actually want to see traction, market size, go-to-market strategy, and business model. As Sutin puts it: "Investors aren't your customers. They want to know how the business is going to make money, not how your product works." In this conversation, Sutin breaks down why founders without investor experience immediately reveal themselves in their decks, her framework for building a focused list of 60-150 investors (not the spray-and-pray approach), and why in this challenging market, angel investors remain more willing to take risks than institutional VCs hunting for unicorns. If you've been pitching for months with no traction, or you're about to start fundraising and don't want to waste precious time on the wrong activities, this is the roadmap you need. --- **1\. You transitioned from investment banking at J.P. Morgan to leading Virgin StartUp's scale-up programs, and now you're Co-Founder & Managing Partner of The Fundraising Accelerator. What prompted you to move from traditional finance into the startup ecosystem, and what surprised you most about what founders get wrong when approaching fundraising - especially given your experience reviewing over 3,000 pitch decks?** I'm actually an entrepreneur at heart. I sold candy on the playground at 6 and started trading stocks at 16\. I only studied finance to be able to better run my own business one day but ended up in banking instead. After 12 years in finance, first J.P. Morgan's trading floor, then hedge fund investing, I'd hit my learning ceiling and was tired of investing at arm's length for faceless institutions. I was ready to finally do what I'd always wanted: start my own business. Entering the startup ecosystem felt like coming home. I was learning constantly again: digital marketing, UX design, legal structuring, hiring, everything. The speed, freedom and control were intoxicating. We kept a tight control on expenditure and built a financial model for our business. What surprised me most about what founders get wrong when approaching financing is that they actually don't know what investors are evaluating and what investors want to see in their pitch decks. It actually makes sense when you think about it as they are amazing at doing whatever their business is, marketing, tech build, etc., but investing isn't their job. It was mine. You can immediately tell from a deck how much investor experience a founder has. Those without experience spend too much time on product features and technicalities, when investors actually want to see traction, market size potential, go-to-market strategy, and business model. I always tell founders, investors aren't your customers, they want to know how the business is going to make money, not how your product works. **2\. You've repeatedly emphasized that "most founders waste months, sometimes years, trying to raise capital" and that decks are "scanned, not studied." For female founders preparing to fundraise, what's the most critical mistake you see them make in their pitch materials or investor approach, and what's your framework for getting investor-ready without wasting precious time on the wrong activities?** The most critical mistake is not having an easy-to-understand, narrative-driven teaser deck covering how your business works, not how your product works. DocSend data shows investors spend an average of 2 minutes and 24 seconds on decks. That's because they're doing a quick flick test to see if your business fits their investment criteria, makes sense, has traction and is interesting and credible enough to warrant a deeper look or meeting. The best way to get investment-ready is joining a fundraising-focused accelerator like ours. We teach the entire process and have built tools, templates, databases, and networks to support successful fundraising. While the full process takes months, here's the framework to start: - **Create a clear, narrative-driven teaser and pitch deck.** It should be simple enough that any family member or friend can understand and find it interesting. - **Build a focused list of 60-150 investors.** Angels, VCs, or syndicates who actually invest in your sector, geography, stage, and check size. - **Get warm intros** wherever possible, then craft short, impactful outreach messages. Start with lower-priority investors to practice. - **Iterate and learn** from each message or pitch. Add interested-but-hesitant investors to your update list and continue nurturing them over time. - **Use momentum as touchpoints:** sales wins, traction metrics, new partnerships. Build investor relationships like you would with customers. - **Leverage FOMO.** Report new commitments and use deadlines to drive investors toward your close date. The market is tough right now, so fundraising takes longer. If you need cash immediately to keep growing, use instruments like Advanced Subscription Agreements (or SAFEs in the US) to deploy funds while you continue to raise. **3\. Through your work as a freelance advisor and at Virgin StartUp's Angel Investment Accelerator and Collective Impact programs, you've helped portfolio companies raise £38M+ in 18 months. You've also noted that angel investors remain more willing to take risks than VCs in this challenging market. How should female founders think differently about approaching angel investors versus institutional VCs, and what are the early warning signs that a founder should focus on revenue growth instead of fundraising?** If available for your business, start by pursuing free money like grant funding or challenge prizes. If you need to fundraise, approach angels before institutional VCs. Angels have simpler due diligence processes and more flexible criteria since they're investing their own money. Institutional VCs invest on behalf of their investors, called Limited Partners, so they face strict limitations and must hunt for potential unicorns to generate returns that let them raise their next fund. Angels, investing their own capital, can take more risks on sectors they're passionate about, interested in, or have experience in. The downside is that angel checks are smaller, so you'll need more of them. However, many angel syndicates let you pitch to groups of angels at once, including female-focused angel syndicates like Alma Angels, Hermesa, and Angel Academe. Early warning signs are if you've been pitching for a couple months and have no interest and no calls at all, then it means your deck and communication needs a lot of work, or you need to go get more traction. In reality, you'll need to try and grow your traction and business even during fundraising, because if you don't, you won't be able to show investors any momentum to make them change their minds. That's what investors are watching for when they say to come back later. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### The AI Legal Trap and Peloton's Music Mistake: Stephanie Furgang Adwar on IP Protection from Day One, Mandatory vs. Optional Enforcement, and Building the First 100% Women-Owned Law Firm Certified by The She Mark URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/law/the-ai-legal-trap-and-pelotons-music-mistake-stephanie-furgang-adwar-on-ip-protection-from-day-one-mandatory-vs-optional-enforcement-and-building-the-first-100-women-owned-law-firm-cert/ Last updated: 2025-12-11T02:09:35.000Z Stephanie Furgang Adwar has spent over three decades building one of the most respected intellectual property practices in entertainment and brand protection—first alongside her father at Furgang & Adwar, and now as co-founder of [Adwar Ivko](https://www.adwarivko.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org), formed through her 2023 merger of her firm with Ivko Law Group. A New York Metro Super Lawyer with an AV rating from Martindale-Hubbell (the highest possible), she's represented clients across film/TV, music, and book publishing, and represents clients in varied industries such as, jewelry, interior design, consumer goods, and technology, protecting everything from multi-million dollar brands to bootstrapped startups. Stephanie often lectures at her law school, Yeshiva University - Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, and at her undergraduate alma mater, NYU's Tisch School of the Arts, and regularly lectures for bar associations and law schools. Stephanie serves on the Board of Governors of the American Bar Association's Forum on Entertainment and Sports Industries. And she serves as Associate Village Justice in Suffern, New York—the first female justice appointed in the village's 218-year history. When Stephanie's father/partner began to think about slowing down, rather than joining one of the larger firms courting her, she partnered with Polina Ivko, a Ukraine-born former artist turned art and entertainment attorney she'd collaborated with on cases and ABA governance work. The result: Adwar Ivko became the first law practice certified by The She Mark for being 100% women-run, owned, and governed—proof that strategic partnerships don't have to compromise values or independence. The firm was recently named New York Intellectual Property Law Firm of the Year (2025) and has been ranked as a top firm in the Chambers and Partners Spotlight Guide, and has been consistently recognized for leadership in media, entertainment, and luxury law. Here, Stephanie breaks down the three buckets of IP protection every female founder needs from day one (and why waiting until you're "well into planning stages" is the biggest mistake entrepreneurs make), the difference between mandatory trademark enforcement and voluntary copyright protection, the real cost of a business’s failure to license music properly, why AI legal solutions backfire spectacularly when branding is your most valuable asset, and the partner vetting checklist she used to evaluate whether merging two firms—and effectively entering a business marriage—would actually work. ## IP Protection for Female Founders – Essential Steps from Day One **With over three decades of experience in entertainment, copyright, and trademark law, you've helped clients across industries—from film and music to jewelry, interior design, and consumer goods—protect their intellectual property. For female entrepreneurs launching creative or consumer-facing businesses, what are the most critical IP protections they should put in place from the beginning? What common mistakes do you see founders make with trademarks, copyrights, or brand protection that come back to haunt them later?** We are routinely contacted by people starting new ventures, and I have found that women owners are the most likely to contact us in the beginning stages. I am always impressed by forward-thinking entrepreneurs who understand the need for good legal advice; they are the ones most likely to succeed. Entrepreneurs will likely need attorneys in many areas, such as real estate, business, and securities. Each business is different and will have specific issues which will trigger different legal needs. For example, a start up talent agency will need different contracts, and will have different legal concerns, than a start up food business, or an app developer. Getting your legal house in order is the key to a smooth start. Intellectual property concerns for startups generally fall into three primary buckets: Patent, Trademark, and Copyright. The biggest mistake entrepreneurs make is waiting until they are well into their planning stages before they think about their IP. **The Three Buckets of IP Protection** **1\. Patent (The Invention)** **Critical Error**: Thinking the invention must be "complete" before seeking counsel. **Reality:** Ownership and commercial viability must be determined as early as possible. There are strict statutory time limits; if you miss them, it could be the demise of a viable patent. **Advice:** See a patent attorney immediately. Even if your primary counsel handles "soft IP" (trademarks/copyrights), they likely work with patent specialists. You need to know early if your invention is even patentable. **2\. Trademark (Brand Identity)** **Definition:** A word, slogan, design, or picture used to identify the source of a product or service. **Critical Error**: Adopting a trademark and preparing for its use without assuring it is available for use in this country and in others which may be crucial. **Advice: Avoid the AI Legal Trap**: In an effort to keep costs down, many startups use drive-through legal service providers such as Legal Zoom and others, or more and more frequently, they trust AI solutions for legal advice. I cannot be clearer about how spectacularly such reliance can backfire. Your trademarks are often the most valuable asset in your business portfolio - sometimes more valuable than the product itself. You need qualified private counsel to look at your branding strategy holistically and create a strategy for protecting your trademarks. **3\. Copyright (The Artistic Expression)** **Definition:** Protects artistic creations fixed in a tangible medium (writings, music, art, code). **Critical Error:** Failing to account for the use of others' copyrights (music, art, film). **Case in Point:** Failing to get proper copyright licenses when you incorporate artistic works into your product or advertising, could result in costly litigation. Peloton faced multimillion-dollar lawsuits for failing to get appropriate synchronization licenses for music used in their classes. An experienced IP attorney will ask all of the important questions at the outset, which will set up the proper rights ownership arrangements which will avoid any costly errors. Protecting your IP is not the place to be penny-wise and pound foolish. Investing a smaller amount at the beginning could save enormous amounts later. ## Litigating IP Disputes – When to Fight and When to Negotiate **You've authored articles like "How to Litigate Against A Copyright Troll" and take a pragmatic approach to litigation. For female founders facing copyright infringement, trademark disputes, or unfair competition claims, how should they decide whether to litigate or settle? What factors determine the best legal strategy, and how can entrepreneurs protect themselves against bad actors while managing legal costs effectively?** There is nothing more stressful or costly to a business and its owners, than litigation. My father (and former partner of 26 years) always said: "Litigation runs your financial cash register, as well as your emotional cash register, backwards." That is why we do everything possible to help our clients avoid litigation, but when it is necessary, we understand the stressors on the business and its owners. **Litigation Prevention Strategy** **Get Insurance:** Look into liability defense policies which provides legal defense to a business if it is sued for infringement or other advertising violations. Also look into "IP Abatement Insurance" or "IP Enforcement Insurance" which funds legal costs if a business needs to enforce its IP against others. **Hire Competent Counsel Early:** The best protection an entrepreneur has for its IP is an experienced IP attorney. That attorney will work closely with the entrepreneur to make sure that every “i” is dotted and every “t” is crossed, leaving no holes which could open a new business to avoidable, and potentially costly, issues. **Put It in Writing:** Reduce all agreements to writing at the outset. **The Decision to Litigate** We work diligently to resolve disputes without litigation. However, if amicable resolution fails, we assess the likelihood of success, the cost, and the damage to the business if its rights aren't enforced. **Mandatory v Voluntary Litigation** There is a difference between legal actions that a business owner must take, and those that are optional. For example, a copyright owner is not required to stop an infringer from using its copyrights without authorization. Such enforcement is voluntary. However, a trademark owner is obligated to enforce its rights and stop any infringing use. If a trademark owner does not enforce its rights, it risks losing those rights entirely. Creating a strong, federally-protected portfolio of trademarks which are strongly enforced, is probably the most important step a new business can take to protect its trademarks. The owner of such protected brands will have an upper hand in any possible disputes, which will also serve to keep legal fees at the lower end of the spectrum. ## Building a 100% Women-Owned Law Firm – Merging Two Practices Successfully **Adwar Ivko was formed through the merger of two powerhouse firms (Furgang & Adwar and Ivko Law Group) and became the first law practice certified by The She Mark for being 100% women-run, owned, and governed. For female founders considering partnerships, mergers, or strategic collaborations to scale their businesses, what were the key factors that made this merger successful? What legal and business considerations should women entrepreneurs evaluate before joining forces with another business?** My employer, and then my partner for my first 33 years of practice, was my father. It was a respectful and wonderful partnership. However, in 2021 when my father started to think of slowing down, I started to think about next steps. I was courted by a number of firms, but none of them felt like the right fit. At that time, I was collaborating with Polina Ivko, my now partner, on a couple of matters. That experience was easy and pleasant. I had also worked with her on the Board of Governors for the American Bar Association - Forum on Entertainment and Sports Industries, and knew of her work ethic, her competence, and her overall good nature. One day, it hit me that a partnership was a marriage, and while I could not be married to any of the colleagues who had proposed, I could definitely be married to Polina. That started a conversation that two years later became Adwar Ivko. We are now celebrating the successful completion of our second year in partnership. **"Partner Vetting" Checklist** Women have amazing instincts. Women founders should trust their guts and choose partners who make them feel supported, heard and respected. If your partner is ethical and honest, you are starting from a good foundation. The questions you ask about a business partner are the same you would ask about a life partner: - How do they treat you? - Can you trust them with private information? - How do they treat others? - Do they attempt to be fair? - Are they inspirational (do they lift up those around them)? - Do they do what they promise? - Do they deal with conflict in a mature and honest manner? If these questions are answered in the affirmative, it is highly likely to be a successful partnership. To be assured of that success, always set forth the understanding in a written partnership, shareholder, or operating agreement. It is the best way to avoid misunderstandings. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### Walking Down Fleet Street With a Roll of Whiteboard Charts: Sallee Poinsette-Nash on Building Brandable & Co. From a Borrowed Meeting Room to World-Leading Firms, and Why AI Remains a Thought Partner (Never a Decision-Maker) URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/women-who-lead/walking-down-fleet-street-with-nothing-but-an-idea-a-roll-of-whiteboard-charts-and-a-bag-of-sharpies-sallee-poinsette-nash-on-building-brandable-co-from-a-borrowed-meeting-room-to-the-b/ Last updated: 2025-12-10T08:57:05.000Z Sallee Poinsette-Nash spent 20+ years holding CEO and COO positions, working with HNWIs, and building her reputation as someone who could "work with the unworkable" before she founded [Brandable & Co](https://brandableandco.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org). in 2018\. But when she finally left employment to launch her award-winning people-brand strategy agency, she had zero clients. Just a vision, a roll of whiteboard charts under her arm, a bag full of Sharpies, and a borrowed meeting room on Fleet Street in London where she ran her first one-to-one brand strategy workshop. It went better than she thought. She built from there, both the business and her self-confidence. When BCG joined her client list after those first 10 clients, that logo finally made her believe she could actually do this. Now, Sallee is one of the UK's leading people-brand strategists, working with the Big Three consulting firms, Fortune 500 companies like Oliver Wyman, Figma, Deutsche Bank, and world-class professional services firms. She's a United Nations UK Women delegate, a sought-after speaker who delivers keynotes globally (she's an introvert who really likes people), and a mentor committed to making career strategy accessible through Brandable & Co.'s Pay It Forward initiative. Her tagline captures her entire philosophy: "Make the competitive edge you're seeking the conversation you're leading." Translation? Stop doing more. Start doing more with what you already do. Here, Sallee breaks down the 1cm rule for positioning yourself ahead without fabricating credentials (how to connect people to the "future you" so they forward opportunities weeks, months, years later), why relationship-focused positioning opens more doors than trying to match big agencies from day one, her framework for extracting maximum ROI from a single speaking engagement (spoiler: most people prepare the speech, deliver the speech, post on social media, and move on—leaving 90% of the value on the table), and how she uses AI as a thought partner but never as a spokesperson or decision-maker. AI counts filler words, deep-dives into ICPs, and sorts survey results at lightning speed. But it does not, and will not, have permission to decide who a client is, what they stand for, or how they build brand equity. That stays firmly on the human side, where experience, instincts, and lived context add value no model can replicate. --- ## From CEO/COO Roles to Founding Brandable & Co. and building a Human-Brand Agency **You spent 20+ years holding CEO and COO positions before founding Brandable & Co. in 2018, an award-winning people-brand strategy agency that has worked with the likes of BCG, Oliver Wyman, Figma, Private Banks and other Fortune 500 companies. For female entrepreneurs transitioning from senior corporate roles to entrepreneurship, what made you decide to leave executive positions to start your own consultancy? How did you secure high-profile clients from the start, and what advice would you give women about positioning themselves as credible alternatives to established agencies when they're just launching?** I was always going to leave ‘employment’, but I knew I had to build my experience first. I did things slowly, transitioning from employee to consultant, working with HNWIs and in Interim roles for 8 years before setting up my business. I’d become known as someone who could ‘work with the unworkable’, and I’d reached a point where it became... well, unworkable! I’d finally got to the point where I wanted to build my own business on my own terms and focus on everyday ‘humans at work’. So, I did... no pivotal moment, no dramatic exit, just an overdue decision followed by doing. I had no clients. I walked down Fleet Street in London with a roll of whiteboard charts under my arm and a large collection of Sharpies in my bag. I had a vision in mind and I ran a one-to-one all-day workshop for my first-ever test client, in a meeting room I’d ‘borrowed’ from a friend of mine. It went better than I thought it would, and I built from there... both the business and my self-confidence! I continued offering one-to-one brand strategy to my first 10 clients, then BCG joined the client list, and the arrival of that logo drove me to start believing that I could do this! Every opportunity that has come my way has either been the result of relationships or my personal brand. It’s well-known that I’m an introvert (who likes people), so when I say ‘personal brand’ I don’t mean that millions of followers, big stages, high-energy kind of personal brand... I mean showing up in the aligned spaces, for aligned people, with a strategy that works for me. For women positioning themselves as a credible alternative to established agencies when they're just launching, the clue is in the question and in my answer... ‘positioning’. So many people position themselves exactly where they are today, and when that happens, no one knows where you’re going; therefore, they can't help you get there. I teach something so simple but highly effective in so many of our Masterclasses: the 1cm rule. ***Here’s a quick 1cm rule breakdown so you can start applying it and connect whoever you’re next in conversation with to the ‘future you’*** 1. Current brand positioning = today = 0cms 2. Future brand positioning = 2035 = 30cms 3. Spend time defining your 30cms 4. Reverse engineer back to today 5. Then position yourself 1cm ahead. Not 5cms. Just One. *Example:* - *30cms: I want to be working with multiple high-profile clients in 2035* - *0cms (today): I’m not working with any high-profile clients!* - *Where will I need to be in 2030, 2028, 2026?* - *Who will I need in my network in 2030, 2028, 2026?* - *Positioning 1cm ahead could look like:* - *Them: What did you get up to at the weekend? You: I caught up with a friend for dinner, went for a long walk by the coast, and was thinking about a LinkedIn resource I want to curate on women who have become credible alternatives to established agencies and landed high-profile clients. Do you know anyone I should think about featuring in it? How was your weekend?!* - *LinkedIn post: I’m planning to curate and share a directory of women who have become credible alternatives to established agencies and landed high-profile clients in their first year of business. Know someone who should be featured in it? Tag them below to share this post with them.* - *It’s not necessarily about getting names of people; that's just a bonus. The person who asked you how your weekend was, and anyone who read that post, can now connect the current you with the future you. You haven’t fabricated anything because it’s only 1cm ahead of you and you’ll be amazed at how many people forward you useful things, opportunities and connections, weeks, months and years later with “I recall you saying you were planning to do something on LinkedIn on this, I just met this incredible person / I read this and thought it might be of interest / Wondered if you knew about this event?* - *That’s 1cm ahead. At whichever point you’re at on the ruler!* Well-positioned and relationship-focused will open up more growth opportunities than trying to match big agencies from day one. ## "Doing More With What You Already Do" and Your Philosophy on Competitive Advantage **Your tagline is "Make the competitive edge you're seeking the conversation you're leading," and you teach clients to leverage what they already have rather than constantly "doing more." For female founders overwhelmed by endless advice to do more marketing, more content, more networking—what's your framework for identifying and amplifying the assets, expertise, and relationships they already possess? How do you help leaders turn their existing experience into strategic positioning, and what's the difference between personal branding that works versus personal branding that feels inauthentic or performative?** We’re all doing a lot, and the last thing we need is the pressure and time challenge of ‘more’. Let’s take a speaking engagement as an example here because it touches on your ‘more marketing, more content, more networking’ comment. Lots of people will prepare their speech, deliver their speech, put a post on social media of them on stage... and move on. That approach has a very low return on time, energy and expertise investment. Here’s how my ‘do more with what you already do’ mindset views the same speech. **Before the speech** - Agree 3-5 social media posts with organisers *before* agreeing to speak, and if it can’t be shared publicly, agree internal comms with a link to your website or LinkedIn profile. - If there is no fee, ask if they can make a donation to a charity of your choice. *This is useful when you can’t talk about the client/event. You can then share that your talk had an impact beyond the stage and shine a spotlight on that Charity via your socials.* - Consider whether you can create personal IP and turn this talk into a signature keynote that you can also deliver elsewhere in the future? - As you practice your talk, record your rehearsals on Zoom so you have a transcript that can be repurposed for social media content. - Get photos/videos of you rehearsing and share on social media. **During the speech and event** - Your speech needs to do two things: - Encourage your audience to do or think differently after they’ve listened to you. - Deliver a keynote that books the next one! You can use the 1 cm rule here too. - Get lots of image and video assets (on the way to the event, backstage, on stage) - Connect with as many people as possible via LinkedIn... there and then, not “I’ll do it after” **After the event** - Follow up with organisers (maximum 48 hours) - Request any professional photography/videos - Ask for a testimonial or LinkedIn recommendation - Upload your transcripts to your preferred AI tools for creating multiple social posts - Pull any videos or rehearsal recordings (you can remove the volume if needed) into Descript or your preferred all-in-one video editing and content repurposing tool - Use the content as a pick ‘n’ mix and schedule intermittently over the next 52 weeks (you don’t need to keep mentioning it was from the same 60-minute speaking engagement!) - Start having conversations about your signature keynote and position 1 cm ahead. In list form, I‘m sure that it feels like a lot (and there’s so much more than that!) but essentially, it was one speech with what will now end up as a very high return! You could deliver 2 talks a year and achieve incredible returns on your time, energy and expertise or you could keep repeating version one: *prepare the speech, deliver the speech, put a post on social media... and move on.* ## Blending AI and Human Strategy: The Future of Human-Brand Work **Brandable & Co explicitly blends "AI technology and human expertise" in your approach to personal branding and speaking strategy. For female entrepreneurs navigating how to integrate AI into their businesses without losing the human touch, how do you actually use AI in brand strategy work? What should founders understand about where AI adds value versus where human judgment is irreplaceable, and how do you work with clients to use AI tools strategically rather than becoming dependent on them or using them poorly?** I personally use AI as a thought partner, but never as a spokesperson or decision-maker. My team and I use it to structure, spot patterns, explore future trends and test positioning. It saves time and gives us a stronger starting point without compromising the quality of our client work. I am holding position when it comes to ‘humans at work’ rather than going all in on building an AI tool. What AI can’t do at Brandable is decide who a client is, what they stand for or how they want to increase their brand equity. That stays firmly on the human side, where experience, instincts and lived context add far more value than any model. AI supports the work and organises our thinking, it counts the WPM (words per minute) of the speakers we work with and lets us know how many times they used a particular filler word. AI deep-dives into our clients’ ICPs (Ideal Customer Profiles), reminds us of outstanding tasks, and sorts survey results at the speed of light. But it does not, and will not, have permission to drive any of it! I’ve seen a lot of AI slop out there. I suspect that people aren’t struggling because of AI itself, but because they don’t have a broad enough view or that they are using it without a strategy. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### From 'Physically Sick' at Public Speaking to Hosting Award Ceremonies: Ilona Alcock on Building Elevate from Pandemic Redundancy and Why Strategic Networking Beats Spray-and-Pray URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/women-who-lead/from-physically-sick-at-public-speaking-to-hosting-award-ceremonies-ilona-alcock-on-building-elevate-from-pandemic-redundancy-and-why-strategic-networking-beats-spray-and-pray/ Last updated: 2025-12-10T02:19:08.000Z Ilona Alcock moved to Manchester in 2015 knowing exactly one person. When the pandemic hit five years later, she and co-founder Katie Robson were both made redundant—and instead of job hunting, they launched [Elevate](https://www.elevategm.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org), a business development consultancy that's since become the world's first Carbon Literate business development organization and secured partnerships with Bruntwood, Electricity NW, and RTC North. Today, Elevate runs everything from the Northern Sustainability Summit at Manchester Central to intimate dinner clubs, public speaking workshops, and the Northern Gamechangers awards, recognising good business champions. But Ilona's path to confident event hosting wasn't straightforward. She used to feel physically sick at the thought of speaking to even small groups, a fear she systematically dismantled through training, international competitions, and sheer determination. In this conversation, Ilona breaks down how she and Katie gave themselves a three-month deadline to win business (and why time frames matter when you're deciding whether to hang on or let go), the unglamorous truth about building strategic networks in unfamiliar cities (hint: it's about being "naturally nosey" and asking who else you should know), and why public speaking remains the fastest way to build rapport with target audiences in ways digital marketing simply can't replicate. If you've ever been told to "just network more" without understanding what that actually means in practice, this is the manual you've been missing. --- ## From Redundancy to Co-Founder – Launching Elevate During a Pandemic **You and Katie Robson were both made redundant during the pandemic and launched Elevate in 2020, quickly securing deals with Bruntwood, Electricity NW and RTC North. For female entrepreneurs considering starting businesses during uncertain times or after job loss, what made you confident enough to take the risk rather than seek another employed role? How did you secure your first clients so quickly, and what advice would you give women who are weighing the security of employment versus the opportunity of entrepreneurship during a crisis?** Being made redundant at any time is scary, add in a pandemic and our whole industry being turned upside down, and it's fair to say we were panicking! Luckily we had an incredible, supportive network who immediately came through with potential job opportunities. When Katie suggested we do something together it lit a spark and I started to feel more excited than scared. We talked to a number of trusted people (expecting at least a few to tell us not to be stupid and to get jobs!) and they all offered support and encouragement. We agreed to give it three months, to the end of 2020, and then look for employment if we hadn't won any business. As it turned out, the industry being so chaotic worked in our favour. No one knew how to do business development in a pandemic and that gave us a chance to offer something new. Within the first few months, we ran an online peer networks programme, hosted webinars, filmed content for a regional conference, designed virtual training courses and created sector focus groups. My advice for anyone facing redundancy is: 1\. Allow yourself to be sad, angry and scared. It's important to give yourself time and space to process it all. 2\. Take stock of where you are. Can you afford to go a few months without a salary? What's the base level you need to pay bills? 3\. Talk to your potential customers. Do they want what you have to offer? Is there budget to pay for it? 4\. Give yourself a time frame. I see people who give up too fast, and also people who hang on for too long. ### Building Strategic Networks from Scratch – Moving to Manchester with One Contact **You moved to Manchester in 2015 knowing just one person and built an "incredible network of supportive people across industries" that now forms the foundation of Elevate's business development work. For female founders who need to build business networks quickly—whether relocating to new cities or entering unfamiliar industries—what's your practical framework for strategic networking? How do you distinguish between transactional networking and relationship-building that actually drives business, and what systems do you use for tracking and managing contacts effectively?** Be really clear about who you're looking to meet. Is it new friends/peers? Potential customers? Suppliers? Mentors? Industry experts? Then have a strategy for each group. What events do they go to? What are they talking about on social media? Who can introduce you? It's tempting to just go to the things you like the look of but that won't broaden your circle. Get creative. I took a voluntary role with JCI Manchester (a young professionals network), which introduced to me to loads of incredible people, including my now business partner, Katie. Joining groups, attending training etc helps to find connections with people. Following up is key. Whenever I met people I liked and respected, I connected on LinkedIn, invited them for coffee and asked who else they thought I should know. I'd also ask a million questions about the city, their roles and trends. It helps that I'm naturally nosey but it's the only way to really understand a new business community or market. I've never had an official system for managing contacts and leads (beyond LinkedIn), but simple CRMs like HubSpot can work really well. For me, it's about nurturing all those relationships, through regular contact and aiming to be helpful, and being open about what I need. Too many people forget to let their networks know what clients, projects or support they're actually looking for. ### Overcoming Public Speaking Fear to Become a Confident Event Host **You used to be a "very nervous public speaker" who felt physically sick at the thought of speaking to even small groups, but you've now hosted conferences, panel discussions, and award ceremonies—and public speaking is now a key part of Elevate's offering. For female entrepreneurs who struggle with visibility or public speaking but know it's essential for business growth, what specific steps did you take to develop your skills and confidence? How do you coach others to overcome this fear, and why is public speaking particularly important for business development in ways that digital marketing can't replace?** No one believes I used to hate public speaking but I was SO scared about it! I attended a lot of training in my early thirties (through JCI) which lead to speaking at events and even international competitions. It is easily the most valuable skill I've developed and has transformed my career. The first thing I say to people is that it is normal to be scared. It's actually the same instincts that have kept us safe for thousands of years kicking in, trying to get you out of perceived danger. I always recommend practicing as much as possible and building up confidence in front of smaller groups and friendly audiences. Too often, we avoid public speaking until it's a job interview or big event, where a lot is riding on it. The visibility gained from public speaking can't be replicated by anything else. It's the fastest way to build rapport with large groups and to become known by your target audience. There are still far too few women on stage - and even fewer women of colour - so we need to push ourselves out of our comfort zones and into the places we can been seen. We offer free coaching for women and people from underrepresented groups to help to address this imbalance, and constantly promote brilliant female speakers from our network. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### Privacy by Design Beats Retrofit Compliance: Shanti Hubbard on Legal Infrastructure That Scales and Avoiding Expensive Mistakes with IP Ownership and Contractor Misclassification URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/law/privacy-by-design-beats-retrofit-compliance-shanti-hubbard-on-legal-infrastructure-that-scales-and-avoiding-expensive-mistakes-with-ip-ownership-and-contractor-misclassification/ Last updated: 2025-12-09T08:29:23.000Z Shanti Hubbard co-founded [Chan Hubbard](https://www.chanhubbard.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) PLLC in 2014 after years practicing at nationally premier law offices, including Skadden Arps and the Bronx Defenders, where she started her legal career as a public defender fighting for clients in the courtroom. Today, based in Brooklyn, she advises startups and growth-stage companies on the legal infrastructure they actually need—not the overkill they don't. With over 10 years of experience, Shanti has managed trademark portfolios of 500+ marks, negotiated enterprise-level SaaS agreements (MSAs, DPAs, SLAs), supported clients through Series A/B financings and M&A due diligence, and counseled businesses through data breach incidents and regulatory response. She's seen the patterns: founders who jump into product development without securing IP, companies that misclassify workers and face expensive consequences, and early-stage teams that accept unreasonable liability in their first enterprise deal because they don't know what actually matters. In this conversation, Shanti breaks down how legal infrastructure should scale with your business model (not a one-size-fits-all checklist), why privacy by design costs far less than retrofitting compliance later, and the most common mistakes around contractor agreements and equity arrangements that derail financings and acquisitions. If you've been told you need "proper legal infrastructure" but have no idea where to start—or you're worried about accepting unreasonable terms just to close your first big deal—this is the practical framework you've been missing. --- ### Building Legal Infrastructure for Growth-Stage Companies - IP, SaaS, and Commercial Transactions **With over 10 years advising startups and growth-stage companies, you've managed trademark portfolios of 500+ marks, negotiated enterprise-level SaaS agreements, and supported clients through Series A/B financings and M&A due diligence. For female founders scaling their businesses, what legal infrastructure should they prioritize at different growth stages? When should founders invest in formal IP protection versus focusing resources on product development? How should they approach negotiating their first enterprise SaaS deals (MSAs, DPAs, SLAs) without getting buried in legal costs while still protecting their interests?** Legal infrastructure should scale with your business model and level of regulation. Companies in highly regulated industries—such as healthcare, fintech, and education—should expect higher upfront legal spend to ensure regulatory compliance from day one. In less regulated spaces, legal infrastructure tends to grow as the company scales: more customers, employees, partnerships, and revenue increase your exposure and make formal policies, contracts, and protections essential. On IP protection, invest early. Intellectual property is often a startup's most valuable asset, and it's one of the first diligence points investors review. If you jump straight into product development without securing IP, you risk not fully owning what you've built. Fortunately, early-stage IP protection doesn't always require a massive budget. NDAs, confidentiality and invention-assignment agreements, trademarks, copyrights, and provisional patents are relatively accessible and can meaningfully protect your value. A short consultation with an IP attorney can help map out what you have, what needs protecting, and how to prioritize spend. For your first enterprise SaaS deal, focus on understanding and managing risk—not perfecting every provision. If your first customer is a large enterprise, you may have limited negotiating leverage. The goal is often to close the deal without accepting unreasonable liability. Early founders should identify key risks—such as indemnity for data breaches—and put systems in place to mitigate them, including strong data security practices and cyber liability insurance. Working with counsel experienced in lean, early-stage negotiations can help you focus on what actually matters while keeping legal fees proportional to the opportunity. As your company enters into more enterprise agreements, you and your counsel can track recurring contract issues. If every enterprise customer pushes for the same indemnity carve-out or SLA metric, build a negotiation playbook. ### Data Privacy and Breach Response - Navigating Regulatory Risk **Your practice includes counseling clients on regulatory and contractual risk related to data incidents and breach response, as well as compliance with evolving privacy laws. For female entrepreneurs building tech companies or handling customer data, what proactive steps should they take to minimize data privacy risk before a breach occurs? When a data incident does happen, what's the proper framework for responding to protect both customers and the business? How should founders balance privacy compliance requirements with the practical realities of running a lean startup?** Minimizing data privacy risk starts with 'privacy by design.' This means identifying what data you collect, ensuring you have consent, and using, sharing, and storing that data according to your privacy policy and applicable laws. Limit retention—don't store more data than necessary—and implement access controls so only employees who need the data can use it. Technical safeguards and written data retention policies should be in place before onboarding your first customers. When an incident occurs, respond based on law and contract. Most companies are legally required to notify customers within a specific time frame, and enterprise contracts often impose their own notice obligations. Founders should evaluate (1) what their customer agreements require, and (2) which state, federal, or international laws apply. Cyber insurance can be a valuable partner here—many providers offer breach coaches, forensic investigators, and templates to streamline response. To balance compliance with startup realities, build privacy into your product early rather than bolting it on later. It costs far less to design good data hygiene from the beginning than to retrofit compliance when scaling or entering regulated markets. ### Employment Law Essentials - Contractor Classification and IP Ownership **You've advised clients on employment compliance, contractor classification, and structuring contractor IP ownership. For female founders building their first teams, what are the biggest legal risks around hiring contractors versus employees? How should they structure agreements to ensure they actually own the IP that contractors create? What are the most common mistakes you see early-stage companies make with employment contracts, non-competes, and equity arrangements that come back to haunt them during fundraising or acquisition discussions?** Misclassifying workers can be a very expensive early-stage mistakes. Classifying someone as an independent contractor when they legally qualify as an employee can trigger back taxes, wage claims, benefit liabilities, and even criminal penalties. Rules vary by state, so don't assume a federal definition protects you everywhere. To protect IP, your contractor agreements must include clear ownership language. Founders should use written agreements with two key components: (1) "work made for hire" provisions and (2) assignment clauses that transfer all intellectual property rights created during the engagement to the company. This is market standard, and reputable contractors expect it. The top mistakes that derail financings or acquisitions include: Hiring without written agreements. Contractor agreements missing IP assignment provisions. Granting equity without vesting schedules, repurchase rights, or board approval. Using unenforceable non-competes or copying templates that don't match state law. Fixing these issues later often requires additional compensation or negotiation leverage, and investors routinely flag them during diligence. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### AI Doesn’t Replace Creativity — It Accelerates It: Inside MConverts’ Approach to Modern Video Content URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/women-who-lead/ai-doesnt-replace-creativity-it-accelerates-it-inside-mconverts-approach-to-modern-video-content/ Last updated: 2025-12-09T08:07:00.000Z Manik Kochian founded [MConverts](https://mconverts.se/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) to solve a problem most B2B brands know too well: content takes too long to produce, campaigns fall flat, and growth gets stuck. Based in Stockholm, her agency combines AI-powered video production with years of content marketing experience to help businesses create high-impact promotional videos, product launches, and explainer content that stops the scroll and converts. But here's what makes MConverts different: Manik doesn't sell the technology. She sells the content experience. AI is simply the engine that helps produce strategically crafted videos at the pace modern marketing demands. The real value lies in the creativity, storytelling, and intention behind the content—not the software used to create it. In this conversation, Manik breaks down how she positioned herself as credible in an emerging tech space where traditional marketers remain skeptical, her framework for creating videos that drive business outcomes versus just accumulating views (and why comments are the most overlooked metric hiding real insights), and how to price AI-enhanced creative work when there's no universal market rate. If you've been told you need video content but don't know where to start—or you're worried AI will commoditize your creative services—this is the clarity you've been missing. --- ### Building MConverts in the AI-Powered Video Content Revolution **You founded MConverts to solve a problem most brands face: content takes too long to produce, campaigns fall flat, and growth gets stuck. By combining AI-driven video production with real strategy and creative expertise, you're helping businesses create high-impact content that stops the scroll and converts. For female founders building businesses in emerging tech spaces (AI tools, creative tech, marketing automation), how do you position yourself as credible when the technology itself is so new? What made you confident enough to build a business around AI-powered video when many companies are still skeptical? How do you convince traditional marketers that AI-generated content can deliver results without sacrificing authenticity?** When you build in an emerging tech space, the biggest misconception is that you need to "sell the technology." You don't. At MConverts, our work is not defined by the tools. It is defined by the content experience we deliver. AI is simply the engine that helps us produce high-impact, strategically crafted videos at the pace modern marketing demands. The real value lies in the creativity, storytelling, and intention behind the content, not the software used to create it. My confidence in building a business around AI-powered video came from my background in content marketing. After years working hands-on with video, it became very clear that traditional content production is incredibly difficult for B2B companies. It requires a dedicated team, significant resources, and a slow, expensive process. AI simplifies that entire workflow. It opens the door for brands of all sizes to show up consistently, stay visible, and compete. When I saw the tools emerging and saw that they actually worked while maintaining high quality, it felt like a natural evolution, not a risk. As for traditional marketers who worry that AI sacrifices authenticity, we do not try to convince them. We focus on educating. Not all content needs to be AI-generated, and not all content should be fast or highly stylized. There is always room for balance. A strong content strategy includes many formats: human-led videos, behind-the-scenes moments, team stories, and client interviews. All of these build authenticity. AI-generated videos simply expand what is possible by helping brands announce new markets, explain features, or create visuals that were not affordable or feasible before. A good marketer understands that content marketing is complex and that different types of content serve different purposes. The power lies in how they complement and support each other. The mindset should not be "replace," but "add." Keep the content that works, and now add new formats because the technology finally makes them accessible. ### From Concept to Conversion - Creating Video Content That Actually Sells **MConverts emphasizes that you don't just create content that looks good, but content that works, driving awareness, engagement, and measurable growth. You produce everything from product launches to promotional and explainer videos designed to convert attention into results. For female entrepreneurs who know they need video content but don't know where to start, what's your framework for creating videos that actually drive business outcomes versus just accumulating views? How should founders think about the balance between production quality and speed to market? What metrics should they track to know whether their video content is working?** For entrepreneurs who know they need video content but don't know where to begin, the first step is not production. It is clarity. You need to look at your business and ask a simple question: What is our goal? Once that goal is defined, you can then decide what type of content will help you reach it with the highest impact and the least friction. Content should never exist just to fill a feed. It needs a purpose. When you start with purpose, the entire creative process becomes more strategic. If you are starting from zero, expect a period of trial and error. Test different formats, experiment with messaging, and observe what resonates. When you find a format that works, keep it, scale it, and continue refining it. And even then, leave room to try new things. Effective video content is not a single moment. It is an ongoing process built on clarity, experimentation, and iteration. Regarding the balance between production quality and speed to market: This is exactly where AI-powered video becomes transformative. Traditionally, brands had to choose between high-quality production and fast execution. With AI, that trade-off disappears. You no longer need to sacrifice one for the other. AI allows you to achieve both: polished, high-quality content delivered at the speed modern marketing requires. This is one of the main reasons AI-driven video has become such a powerful tool for founders who need to stay visible and agile. On what metrics founders should track: The answer always depends on the purpose of the video. A promotional video, an ad, a product announcement, and a brand-awareness piece all require different metrics. The key is to define your goal and decide on the success indicators before you create the video. What I will say, however, is that comments tend to be the most overlooked metric. This is often where the real insights are hiding: what your audience, clients, or partners truly think, want, question, or react to. Comments reflect genuine engagement because someone took the time to respond, not just watch. So whatever your goal is, make sure you always check the comment section. It is far more valuable than most people realize. ### Scaling a Creative Business with AI - Strategy, Speed, and Sustainability **You've built MConverts around "clear strategy, fast delivery, and content that scales," combining years of experience in social media, marketing, and creative production with AI precision. For female founders building creative agencies or content businesses in 2024-2025, how do you balance leveraging AI for efficiency while maintaining the human strategy and creative thinking that clients actually pay for? What's your advice for women entrepreneurs who are worried AI will commoditize their services? How do you price AI-enhanced creative work when clients may not understand the value versus traditional production?** For female founders building creative agencies or content businesses today, the balance between AI efficiency and human creativity is actually quite straightforward. As I mentioned earlier, clients do not come to us for the tools we use. They come for our experience, our strategic thinking, and our creative judgment. AI simply allows us to scale that expertise. It gives our clients the ability to move faster, respond to trends in real time, and produce more without compromising quality. The human part remains the foundation. AI is the accelerator. For women entrepreneurs who fear that AI will commoditize their services: My advice is not to panic. AI is not here to replace what we do. It is here to change how we do it. Every major technological shift throughout history has created the same reaction: fear, skepticism, and eventually transformation. Yes, some roles disappear, but new roles also emerge. AI is both an evolution and a revolution, and it is already reshaping how we think, work, and create. The people who adapt the fastest will benefit the most. Creativity does not become less valuable because tools become more powerful; it becomes more impactful because we have fewer limitations. On pricing AI-enhanced creative work when clients may not understand the value: There is no universal market rate for AI-generated content, and it is generally more affordable than traditional production because we are not hiring large teams, renting studios, or managing heavy equipment. However, high-quality AI content still requires significant time, direction, decision-making, and creative labor. Good AI content—content that feels intentional, on-brand, emotionally resonant, and worth publishing—does not appear magically. It takes strategy. It takes refinement. It takes expertise. So the way to price AI-powered creative work is simple: you price it based on the value, time, and strategic depth you bring to the project. Clients are not paying for a tool. They are paying for the result and for the creative mind guiding the process. And when they see the speed, quality, and flexibility AI enables, they understand the difference very quickly. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### From All-In Diversity Project to Defy the Odds: Kelly Kehn on Building Industry-Wide Change and Why "Everyone Knows Everyone" Is Your Superpower URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/women-who-lead/from-all-in-diversity-project-to-defy-the-odds-kelly-kehn-on-building-industry-wide-change-and-why-everyone-knows-everyone-is-your-superpower/ Last updated: 2025-12-09T07:47:05.000Z With over two decades in gaming and tech, Kelly Kehn has built a reputation as a connector, changemaker, and multi-award-winning leader who brings people together to build purpose-led businesses. In 2017, she co-founded the All-In Diversity Project, an industry-led non-profit that benchmarks diversity, equality, and inclusion across the global gaming sector through the All-Index report—a rigorous framework used by major companies like IGT and Kindred to measure DEI progress as a boardroom imperative, not a marketing exercise. Now, Kelly has co-founded [Defy the Odds](https://dtolaunchpad.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) (DTO) alongside gaming industry veterans Paris Smith (former Pinnacle CEO turned angel investor) and Sue Schneider (VP of Americas at SBC Events), creating a startup launchpad specifically focused on supporting female and minority founders in gaming. DTO operates on a flexible model: when there's strong deal flow, they accelerate it; when there are promising people without a path, they develop them. The platform offers everything from an AI-enabled pitch deck analyzer to curated investor intros, helping underrepresented founders navigate what Kelly describes as gaming's deceptively small ecosystem: "iGaming seems vast to newcomers, but is actually quite interconnected once you understand it." Kelly's expertise spans commercial strategy, leadership, marketing, and business development across gaming, ESG, and investment sectors. She's previously served as Partner for Industry Relations at Happyhour.io and has worked at Initial Rewards, where she pioneered gamification in loyalty programs for iGaming clients. Her philosophy? Start before it's perfect, lead with measurable value over slogans, and remember that in tight-knit industries where "everyone knows everyone," specificity is your superpower. In this Q&A, Kelly shares why she chose a non-profit model for All-In Diversity Project over a for-profit consultancy, how Defy the Odds balances advocacy with business sustainability, and her tactical advice for breaking into established industry circles without coming across as transactional: "Be crystal clear about who you need, why, and what you're asking for. Do your homework, bring a crisp one-pager, and always make follow-up easy." --- ### Co-Founding the All-In Diversity Project – Building an Industry-Wide DEI Movement **You co-founded the All-In Diversity Project in 2017 as an industry-led non-profit that benchmarks diversity, equality, and inclusion across the global gaming sector, creating the All-Index report that major companies like IGT and Kindred use to measure progress. For female entrepreneurs who want to drive systemic change in their industries, what made you decide to build a non-profit initiative versus a for-profit consultancy? How did you secure founding members and industry buy-in when DEI work can be seen as "soft" or non-essential, and what advice would you give women about building credibility when advocating for cultural change in male-dominated sectors?** We chose a non‑profit because integrity mattered more than margin. Making All‑In independent kept the data clean, comparable, and free from any single sponsor’s agenda—critical if you want boards to treat DEI as a business imperative, not a marketing exercise. Industry buy‑in took time, but we started All-in Diversity Project because we knew that in order to make DEI a boardroom imperative, businesses needed tools. We led with value: a clear framework (the All‑Index), rigorous methodology, and tools companies could use immediately. Early champions like IGT and Kindred came on board because we gave them something measurable to manage, not slogans—then we amplified their wins to bring others along. Advice to women driving change: start before it’s “perfect.” Just get started—it will never be perfect, but if you’re passionate and truly believe in what you’re advocating for, people will come along on the journey. People buy conviction—believe it, build it, listen, iterate, and keep going. ### From All-In Diversity Project to Defy the Odds – Launching a Startup Launchpad for Underrepresented Founders **You recently co-founded Defy the Odds (DTO) with Paris Smith and Sue Schneider, creating a startup launchpad specifically focused on supporting female and minority founders in gaming. For female entrepreneurs building platforms or initiatives to support other underrepresented founders, how do you balance advocacy with business sustainability? How did you identify the gap that DTO fills versus what existing accelerators or VCs offer, and what's your framework for connecting startups with investors and operators in ways that actually lead to funding and partnerships?** Advocacy vs. sustainability isn’t a trade‑off for us—it’s the operating model. We built DTO to flex to what the market needs in any given quarter: when there’s strong deal flow, we accelerate it; when there are promising people without a path, we develop them. That’s how an industry grows—by adding new perspectives and new builders—so value expands rather than being redistributed. Practically, that means combining mission with measurable outcomes: founders launched, pilots secured, follow‑on capital raised, and tools that reduce friction for the next cohort. We identified the gap from years inside gaming, fintech, and sports—too many homogeneous ideas cycling through the same networks. Capability wasn’t the blocker; access was. Our framework is prep, match, and amplify. Prep: make founders investor‑ and operator‑ready (narrative, metrics, compliance) and productize support like our AI‑enabled pitch deck analyser. Match: curate intros to investors and Tier‑1 operators with clear briefs, success metrics, and timelines so meetings convert. Amplify: create visibility through events, social, and opportunities to share and build profile. ### "iGaming is Actually a Pretty Small Industry Once You Get to Know It" – Strategic Networking in Niche Sectors **You've written about how iGaming seems vast to newcomers, but is actually quite interconnected once you understand the ecosystem. For female founders entering niche or specialized industries where "everyone knows everyone," what's your practical advice for building relationships and credibility quickly? How should entrepreneurs approach networking in tight-knit communities without coming across as transactional or opportunistic, and what mistakes do you see new founders make when trying to break into established industry circles?** In industries where “everyone knows everyone,” specificity is your superpower. Ask for intros, but be crystal clear: who, why, and what you’re asking for (“A 15‑minute sanity check with \[Name\] would help us validate A/B”). Do your homework on customer pain points, bring a crisp one‑pager or pilot brief, and always make follow‑up easy. For networking on a larger scale, find the right rooms—niche meetups at industry events, LinkedIn groups, open forums—and show up consistently; credibility compounds with repetition. Approach networking with humility and intent. Be yourself, state plainly what you need, and offer something useful back (an insight, a warm intro of your own, a thank you). People are generous when they know how to help and trust you’re not wasting their time. The biggest mistakes new founders make: trying to be someone they’re not, overclaiming what they’ve built, spamming generic asks, and treating every interaction as a pitch. Instead, be honest about stage and gaps, ask precise questions, and close the loop—thank the intro, share outcomes, and keep people updated. Credibility grows from doing what you say you’ll do, learning in public, and showing steady progress. In tight‑knit ecosystems, relationships are a long game: show up, add value, and be consistent. Do that, and the “everyone knows everyone” network starts working for you. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### From Profound Loss to the BEM: Zoe Bennett on Building the MBCC Awards Through Grief, Why 'Things Happen For Us' Not To Us, and Coaching Resilience Without Burning Out URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/women-who-lead/from-profound-loss-to-the-bem-zoe-bennett-on-building-the-mbcc-awards-through-grief-why-things-happen-for-us-not-to-us-and-coaching-resilience-without-burning-out/ Last updated: 2025-12-09T02:10:42.000Z Zoe Bennett, BEM, didn't set out to become known as "The Motivational Queen." In 2011, her father Errol was brutally murdered in Jamaica, leaving her traumatized and fighting a three-and-a-half-year battle for justice. She had to identify his mutilated body. She received death threats. And in the aftermath, she made a choice—to channel unbearable grief into purposeful action. In 2015, she founded the Multicultural Business and Community Champion (MBCC) Awards, a platform that now attracts 800+ attendees annually and has honored icons including Sir Lenny Henry, Annie Lennox, Alison Hammond, and Levi Roots. Through her Birmingham-based consultancy [Training Personified](http://www.trainingpersonified.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org), she's worked with everyone from Serco and Deloitte to Job Centre Plus clients—homeless individuals, ex-offenders, and people with mental health challenges—coaching them on mindset resilience and employability. In 2023, she received the British Empire Medal for services to the community. But Zoe's resilience isn't a slogan. It's something she lives every day, built through small decisions rather than sudden miracles. In this conversation, she breaks down how she transformed pain into a "for the people, by the people" event that's become one of the largest diverse black-tie ceremonies in the Midlands, why she walked away from corporate partnerships that didn't align with community values (no matter how big the name), and her practical framework for maintaining your own mental strength while supporting others—including knowing when to breathe, when to speak, and when to rise again. If you've ever wondered how to turn lived experience into expertise without being defined solely by trauma, this is the blueprint. --- > **From Personal Tragedy to Purpose – Building the MBCC Awards** > > You founded the Multicultural Business and Community Champion Awards in **2015** after the brutal murder of your father Errol in 2011, channeling profound grief into a platform that now attracts 800+ attendees annually and has honored icons like Sir Lenny Henry, Annie Lennox, and Alison Hammond. For female entrepreneurs who have experienced trauma or adversity, how did you transform your pain into purposeful action? What advice would you give women who want to build businesses or initiatives from personal experience, and how do you balance honoring your father's legacy while creating something that stands on its own merits? When I founded the Multicultural Business and Community Champion Awards, I was still carrying the weight of losing my father in such a devastating way. I needed somewhere to place that pain, but I also needed a way to say thank you to my unsung heroes. The people who hold communities together, who show kindness without recognition, and who reminded me that even in grief there is goodness. Turning pain into purpose was not a straight path. It was small steps, one moment at a time, choosing to create something positive when it would have been easier to stay silent. For any woman who has faced trauma or adversity and wants to build something from her experiences, my advice is this: start with your truth. Let your story guide you but not limit you. You do not need to have everything figured out. You only need the courage to take the first step and the belief that your voice matters. Balancing my father’s legacy with creating something that stands on its own has been a journey of love and learning. The awards honour him, but they have grown into something much bigger. They celebrate unity, courage and community spirit. They belong to everyone who continues to inspire and uplift others. In that way, his legacy lives on while the awards shine in their own light. > **Scaling a Mission-Driven Event – From Vision to 800-Person Ceremonies** > > In less than a decade, you've grown the MBCC Awards from concept to one of the largest diverse black-tie events in the Midlands, with major sponsors like Amazon, Deloitte, and Serco. For female founders building mission-driven businesses or events, what were the critical decisions that enabled you to scale while maintaining the "for the people, by the people" ethos? How do you approach corporate partnerships and sponsorships in ways that align with your values, and what practical advice would you give women entrepreneurs about building credibility and attracting high-profile supporters? When I started the MBCC Awards, I never imagined it would grow to an event with hundreds of guests and major sponsors. The heart of the Awards has always been simple. I wanted to say thank you to the unsung heroes who often go unnoticed, and I wanted every nominee and every winner to feel seen. Holding onto that purpose guided every decision as we scaled. One of the most important choices I made was to stay grounded in community. I listened to people, I stayed present with their stories, and I made sure the Awards never became about glamour alone or any one person. If anything, the growth made me even more protective of the soul of the event. I made it clear to every partner and sponsor that the community came first. If a partnership did not feel right, no matter how big the name was, I could not continue with them. Protecting the integrity of the Awards mattered more than anything. When approaching corporate partners, I focused on alignment rather than size. I looked for organisations that valued people, that understood what recognition can do for a community, and that wanted to make a genuine difference rather than simply attach their logo to a moment. That is how partnerships with Amazon, Deloitte and Serco became natural rather than forced. They understood the mission and were willing to support it with respect. > **Building Resilience as "The Motivational Queen" – Coaching Others Through Your Own Experience** > > Through Training Personified, you've worked with clients including Serco, Deloitte, and the FA, coaching everyone from corporate teams to homeless individuals and ex-offenders on mindset resilience and employability. You've spoken about how "things do not happen to us but for us to learn from." For female entrepreneurs facing their own adversity while trying to build businesses, how do you practice the resilience you teach? What's your framework for maintaining your own mental strength while supporting others, and how should founders think about turning their lived experience into expertise without burning out or being defined solely by their trauma? Resilience for me is not a slogan. It is something I live every day. I learned early on that things do not happen to us but happen for us, offering lessons that shape who we become. When I coach others, whether it is corporate teams, disadvantaged individuals or those deemed hard to reach, I remind them that resilience is built through small daily decisions, not sudden miracles. To stay grounded, I have a simple framework. I pause and reflect before I react. I ask what this moment is teaching me. I remind myself of my purpose, which is to lift others, and I protect my wellbeing by setting boundaries, resting when needed and surrounding myself with people who nurture rather than drain me. Supporting others requires a full cup and I take responsibility for keeping mine topped up. For female entrepreneurs, your lived experience can be your greatest strength, but it does not need to become your whole identity. Use your story as a bridge, not as a cage. Share what feels right, keep what feels sacred and allow yourself to grow beyond what hurts you. Through Training Personified, I help people see their own potential even when life has knocked them down. Each year we create our winners book which celebrates the inspirational stories of MBCC Award winners. It gives people hope and reminds readers that resilience comes in many forms. These stories continue to inspire me as much as they inspire others. My advice for women building a business through adversity is this. Honour your journey, but do not live only in it. Lead with purpose, rest with intention and remember that your strength is not proven by how much you carry but by knowing when to breathe, when to speak and when to rise again. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### From Puppy Mill Rescue to C-Suite Search: Vips Kirrage on Building Two Businesses Without Overthinking It URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/women-who-lead/from-puppy-mill-rescue-to-c-suite-search-vips-kirrage-on-building-two-businesses-without-overthinking-it/ Last updated: 2025-12-10T01:14:10.000Z Vips Kirrage co-founded [ConsultantBox](https://consultantbox.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) in 2000 alongside her husband Simon, building a boutique executive search firm that has placed senior leaders across Fortune 500 and FTSE 100 companies for nearly three decades. Specializing in board-level searches for CEOs, CTOs, CISOs, and senior SAP, cybersecurity, and AI/ML leaders, ConsultantBox operates globally from its UK base, with a particular focus on high-stakes hires you simply cannot afford to get wrong. But Vips's entrepreneurial journey doesn't stop at executive recruitment. After rescuing Roxy, a French Mastiff who spent her early years as a puppy-mill dog, Vips is now launching [SolaPup](https://solapup.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) in the New Year—a clean-label supplement brand for rescue dogs and those dealing with health challenges. What began as desperate research to help Roxy recover from malnutrition, inflamed joints, and years of trauma has become a mission-driven business built on integrity, research, and a genuine commitment to helping dogs live better—not just adding another shiny product to the market. SolaPup's New Year launch represents the culmination of years of research and international sourcing to create supplements that actually make a difference. Vips invites you to join the SolaPup family on this journey to transform the lives of dogs who deserve better. In this Q&A, Vips shares what nearly 30 years of placing top executives has taught her about the biggest hiring mistakes companies make, how she balances running two completely different businesses (one in executive search, one in pet wellness), and her no-nonsense advice for women building businesses with their spouses: "Don't overthink it, just do it. Momentum beats perfection every time." ### How has the landscape of C-suite recruitment changed since 1997, and what’s the biggest mistake companies make today? As you know, I’ve been placing people for nearly three decades, but the senior executive and C-suite search work has really accelerated in recent years. That happened naturally, many of the brilliant people Simon and I placed back in the 90s and early 2000s climbed the career ladder and took us with them across the world. When they reached board level, they still trusted us, and suddenly we were being pulled into searches for CEOs, CTOs, CISOs, and senior SAP, cybersecurity, and AI/ML leaders across the UK, Europe, and beyond. We also spent more than three years working with the UK armed forces community, helping veterans and their families transition into civilian roles. That experience sharpened my understanding of people, resilience, culture, and the realities of transition, all of which I now use in exec search. Now back at ConsultantBox full time, our focus is on high-level, high-impact leadership hires, the kind you simply cannot afford to get wrong. ### The biggest mistake companies make when hiring board-level talent? They ignore culture. Full stop. They obsess over track records, P&Ls, “gravitas”, and buzzword bingo… but forget to ask whether this person will actually complement the existing leadership DNA. The second mistake is underrating industry fluency, parachuting in someone smart but inexperienced in the sector and hoping they “figure it out”. That usually ends in tears. ### How do you balance ConsultantBox and SolaPup, and what’s each taught me? ConsultantBox has always been run as a family-friendly yet razor-professional business. Honesty, integrity, transparency, all with a small dose of humour to keep us human, that’s been our ethos from day one. SolaPup, on the other hand, is rooted in something far more emotional. I created it after rescuing our girl Roxy, who was due to be put to sleep the following day. She was a French Mastiff who had lived her early years as a puppy-mill dog, crated her whole life, no affection, no nature, no walks, no fun, just used. When she came to us, she was broken in every imaginable way: inflamed skin, ears, paws, and joints; constant itching; malnutrition; pain; fear; and a spirit that had been stamped out. Our other Dogue de Bordeaux boy, Monty, gently guided her back to some sense of peace, and I worked hard researching and sourcing clean-label supplements and food to support her recovery. She gave us 3.5 beautiful years before passing in 2017. SolaPup exists because of her. I found clean, natural, well-researched supplements that helped her feel good again, and that’s exactly what I want other dog owners to have access to. ### So how do you juggle both? ConsultantBox is my day job, structured, client- and candidate-centric, and built around the rhythm of leadership hiring. I work around the dogs’ needs because that’s simply our family life. SolaPup is the mission-driven brand, built on research, international sourcing, and the goal of helping dogs who’ve been dealt a bad hand or who simply deserve great-quality, honest supplements. ### What has each taught you? ConsultantBox taught me discipline, organisation, research and how to deliver a premium-level service while staying very human. SolaPup taught me courage, creativity, and how to build something from nothing, a brand, a supply chain, a product line, and take it international. Together, they’ve made me sharper, more resilient, and far more intentional. ### What advice would you give to women carving out a niche in traditional industries, especially when building a business with a spouse? Don’t overthink it, just do it. Nothing has to be perfect. Momentum beats perfection every time. When it comes to building a business with your spouse: Make sure your strengths and weaknesses genuinely complement one another. That’s why it works so well with Simon and me, he has the big-picture overview; I’m more detail-oriented. He sees the horizon; I see the road. It only works because we balance each other out. If you can find that synergy, it’s a superpower. And yes, we argue, sometimes passionately, but we put that aside when we’re on video calls with clients, candidates, or suppliers. Occasionally he gets a kick under the table, but as long as no one notices, we’ve done our job :) Afterwards, we either bury the hatchet or continue the debate, depending on the circumstances. That balance keeps both the business and our partnership strong. I genuinely couldn’t have built any of this without him. > SolaPup officially launches in the New Year with its first product: **SolaPup Active, Natural Recovery Chews for Active Dogs**—a clean-label, research-backed supplement designed to support post-adventure joint and muscle recovery. Whether your dog hikes, works, trains, or just plays hard (with rescues always in our hearts), SolaPup is here to help them feel their best. **Visit** [**SolaPup.com**](https://solapup.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) **to learn more and follow the journey on** [**Facebook**](https://www.facebook.com/SolaPup) **and** [**Instagram**](https://www.instagram.com/solapup.dogs?ref=foundedbywomen.org)**.** **Connect with Vips:** [LinkedIn](https://linkedin.com/in/vipskirrage?ref=foundedbywomen.org) | [ConsultantBox](https://consultantbox.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) | [SolaPup](https://solapup.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) | [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/SolaPup) | [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/solapup.dogs?ref=foundedbywomen.org) > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### From the Magnetic North Pole to the Boardroom: Sue Stockdale on Leading Through Uncertainty, Building Global Podcasts, and the Explorer Mindset URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/women-who-lead/from-the-magnetic-north-pole-to-the-boardroom-sue-stockdale-on-leading-through-uncertainty-building-global-podcasts-and-the-explorer-mindset/ Last updated: 2025-12-05T10:24:38.000Z In 1996, Sue Stockdale became the first British woman to ski to the [Magnetic North Pole](https://suestockdale.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org), selected from 500 applicants despite being a novice Arctic explorer. Since then, she's traversed some of the world's most extreme environments—from Antarctica to Greenland, Patagonia to the Wadi Rum desert—and translated those expedition lessons into over two decades of executive coaching for CEOs and senior leaders at FTSE 250 and Fortune 500 companies. Through her work, more than 15,000 leaders have transformed their thinking through Sue's leadership development programs, coaching, and speaking. She's also an author of several books, including *Explore: A Life of Adventure*, and was awarded an Honorary Fellowship from the Royal Scottish Geographical Society in 2024 for her contributions to exploration and inspiration. In 2019, Sue co-founded *Access to Inspiration* podcast with her husband Clive Steeper, which has grown to rank in the top 5% of podcasts globally, featuring guests from over 30 countries—from acrobats to astronauts. Through her keynotes, coaching practice, and content platforms, Sue helps leaders develop what she calls the "explorer mindset"—the courage to embrace uncertainty, adapt to change, and lead boldly in unknown territory. We spoke with Sue about translating polar expedition lessons into practical leadership frameworks, making decisions under pressure with incomplete information, and building a globally recognized podcast from scratch. --- ### From Athlete to Arctic Explorer – Building the Mindset for Extreme Challenges *You became the first British woman to ski to the Magnetic North Pole in 1996, selected from 500 applicants despite being a "novice Arctic explorer." For female entrepreneurs facing their own extreme challenges—launching businesses, pivoting during crises, or entering unfamiliar industries—what framework did you use to prepare mentally and physically for something you’d never done before? How do you distinguish between healthy discomfort that leads to growth versus reckless risk-taking, and what advice would you give women who feel they're "not qualified enough" to pursue ambitious goals?* Mentally, I visualise the outcome: I imagine the goal completed and how it feels to have achieved it. I think about what I will see, hear, and experience at the moment of success. Then, I start from what’s *known*—the knowledge, skills, or experiences I already have, perhaps from other projects or life situations, that can help. From there, it’s about taking incremental steps, reflecting, learning, and moving forward. No challenge is too great when you break it down and keep progressing. Healthy discomfort pushes you to grow. As author Susan Jeffers says, “Feel the fear and do it anyway,” which keeps you just outside your comfort zone. Spend time with people who support and encourage you rather than naysayers. Have a mantra to return to; for me, it was, “If it’s meant to be, I will find a way to get there.” Reckless risk ignores preparation and leaves you exposed. My rule of thumb: if you have the skills, a plan, and a support system, it’s growth. If not, it’s gambling. Remember, no matter what happens—success or failure—you will have learned something. For women feeling “not qualified enough,” remember qualification isn’t always experience. It’s courage, curiosity, and the willingness to learn. Surround yourself with mentors, test yourself incrementally, and trust that readiness comes with action. ### Translating Polar Expedition Lessons to Executive Leadership *You’ve spent 25 years coaching CEOs and board-level executives at FTSE 250 and Fortune 500 companies, helping over 15,000 leaders apply expedition lessons to business. For female founders building leadership skills, what are the most practical, non-obvious lessons from polar exploration that actually transfer to running a business? How do you coach leaders to make decisions under pressure when they don’t have all the information, and what do extreme environments teach about team dynamics that corporate settings often miss?* In the Arctic, there is nothing to hide behind, literally—so authenticity is key. Being a leader requires the same. No one expects you to know all the answers; what is most valuable is knowing what questions to ask to help others think and learn for themselves. A leader must be observant—notice how people behave, how the market changes, and adapt accordingly. Observation and attention to detail are vital both in the Arctic and in business. Leading a polar expedition is brutally clear: decisions must be made under pressure with incomplete information. You learn to trust instincts, analyse what’s controllable, and adapt quickly. That translates directly to business. Teams in extreme environments also teach lessons corporate settings often miss: trust, accountability, and clarity of purpose are everything. Small misalignments get magnified quickly, so you learn to have difficult conversations when necessary and not avoid them. Celebrating small wins keeps morale and momentum alive. ### Building a Top 5% Global Podcast from Nothing – The Access to Inspiration Journey *You co-founded Access to Inspiration in 2019 with your husband Clive Steeper, and it’s now ranked in the top 5% of podcasts globally, featuring guests from 25+ countries. For female entrepreneurs building content platforms or media projects, how did you grow a podcast from zero to global recognition? What’s your framework for securing diverse, high-quality guests (from acrobats to astronauts), and how do you balance creating valuable content with building a sustainable business model around it?* When Clive and I started *Access to Inspiration*, our goal was simple: share stories that inspire action. We started small, focusing on guests who were often first-time podcasters but had a passion or interesting experience to share. My role as host is to listen, hold the space, and allow the guest to be truly heard—then they light up. That’s where the magic comes from. Our growth framework involves producing regular, high-quality episodes and actively seeking a range of diverse guests from different backgrounds, countries, and experiences. We follow curiosity: interesting episodes often emerge when the guest isn’t trying to sell something or is a regular podcaster who knows exactly what they want to say, rather than just letting the story unfold. We make sure every guest feels invested in the conversation, not just the platform. We also learn iteratively from metrics and listener feedback, refining without losing authenticity. Balancing content and sustainability comes from prioritising quality over monetization initially, then exploring complementary revenue streams such as partnerships. My advice for female entrepreneurs building content platforms: start small, stay authentic, nurture relationships, and be patient. Curiosity, consistency, and courage can open doors you never imagined. Long-term authority comes from consistently delivering value, not shortcuts. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### From Recruiter to Marketing Maverick: Jayde Pope on Building Magenta MAD Through Fundamentals, Referrals, and Marketing That's "Anything But Ordinary" URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/women-who-lead/from-recruiter-to-marketing-maverick-jayde-pope-on-building-magenta-mad-through-fundamentals-referrals-and-marketing-thats-anything-but-ordinary/ Last updated: 2025-12-03T11:28:09.000Z Jayde Pope didn't follow the traditional path to founding a marketing agency. After spending a decade in the trenches of recruitment and estate agency, she launched [Magenta MAD](https://www.magentamad.uk/?ref=foundedbywomen.org)—a full-service creative agency that exclusively serves the property and recruitment industries. Known as "The MAD Hatter," Jayde has built a thriving business on marketing fundamentals over fads, with around 90% of her clients finding her through referrals and word-of-mouth recommendations. From freelancer to full-service agency in less than a year, Magenta MAD has generated over £5 million in revenue for SMEs, delivered 4 million+ social media impressions, and executed over 4,100 email campaigns. Jayde's approach is unapologetically direct: she calls out ineffective marketing, champions consistency over "shiny new tactics," and believes that great marketing starts with clear messaging, proof, and strategic fundamentals—not just flashy campaigns. In this Q&A, Jayde shares her insights on building a referral-based agency, the importance of treating employees with respect to create a team that genuinely cares, and why female founders should master the marketing basics before chasing the latest trend. Her advice is practical, honest, and delivered with the kind of clarity that comes from someone who's been on both sides of the table. --- ## From Recruiter to Marketing Agency Owner - Building Magenta MAD **You founded Magenta MAD after working in recruitment, creating a specialized marketing and branding agency focused exclusively on the property and recruitment industries. You've positioned yourself as the "MAD Hatter" who helps businesses change perceptions through marketing that's "anything but ordinary." For female founders who are considering leaving stable careers to start niche agencies, what made you confident enough to specialize so narrowly (property and recruitment only)? How did your recruitment background inform the way you approach marketing for these industries differently than generalist agencies? What surprised you most about the transition from being in the industry to serving it?** My confidence in niching down came from two places: firstly, I know estate agency and recruitment inside-out. I spent a decade in the trenches of both industries, seeing what works, what absolutely doesn’t, and where businesses repeatedly trip over the same problems. Secondly, in marketing you quickly learn that the more niche you go, the sharper your message becomes. Broad strokes don’t convert. Precision does. My recruitment/estate agency backgrounds give me something generalist agencies simply can’t replicate - context. I don’t have to guess how a valuer thinks before a market appraisal, or what keeps a recruitment agency owner awake at 3am. I’ve lived it. That means the strategies I build aren’t hypothetical; they’re rooted in real motivations, pressures, objections, and bottlenecks. It also means I can communicate with their clients and candidates in language that actually resonates, not in generic “industry speak.” What surprised me the most about the transition was how undervalued marketing still is in the UK. My US clients tend to understand that marketing is an engine, not decoration, and they see the relationship between long-term consistency and long-term revenue. In the UK, marketing can still be treated like a nice-to-have or something fluffy that sits on top of the “real work.” Yet those same businesses panic when leads dry up. There’s an education gap that I didn’t anticipate when I started Magenta MAD, but it’s one I’m very comfortable filling… with a megaphone, when required. ## Building a Referral-Based Agency - 90% Word of Mouth Growth **You've said around 90% of your clients find Magenta MAD "the old-fashioned way, by being told to" after seeing the work and hearing rave reviews. In an industry where agencies typically rely on paid ads and cold outreach, how did you build a business where clients come pre-sold through referrals? For female entrepreneurs in creative services or B2B consulting, what's your framework for creating work that people can't help but recommend? How do you balance being "good at what you do" with being "good to work with" in ways that actually drive word-of-mouth growth?** I spent 10 years working in the exact industries I now serve, building relationships, helping people, showing up, and proving myself. So when I shifted into marketing, I already had a community watching. They saw I wasn’t just “starting an agency”. I was genuinely improving businesses they knew. My first clients were people who’d followed my journey and thought, “If she’s doing this for others now, we want in.” And once the wins started stacking up, referrals snowballed. There’s no big secret to it, really. Be the person you’d want working on your business. Do the little things others overlook. Communicate well. Fix problems fast. Show appreciation loudly. I’ve taken clients out for lunch, sent Christmas gifts to their whole teams, checked in when I didn’t “need” to - and I’ve done that long before I had any real financial room to do it. It matters. People remember how you treat them as much as the results you deliver. The balance between being good at what you do and being good to work with is something I’m still working on! I’m a recovering perfectionist, so handing work to employees or freelancers used to feel like handing over my firstborn. But you can’t build an agency where clients love you and the work unless you let your team shine too. I believe it also comes down to how you treat your employees and have always said I want to be a safe haven for creatives, where they are free to be adventurous, are treated like adults and treated with respect. So I guess the real balance is this: set your standards high, train and treat people well, and then back off enough for them to execute, but still be there for them when needed. In my experience, this has created a team that appears to care as much about my business as I do. And clients can feel when your whole team cares, not just you. ## The Fundamentals vs. The Shiny - SEO, Tactics, and Cutting Through Marketing Noise **You've been vocal on LinkedIn about how marketing fundamentals remain constant even as tactics evolve, comparing modern SEO to businesses naming themselves "AAA Garage" in Yellow Pages to rank first. You've also called out agencies running ineffective campaigns (poor graphics, unused Shopify catalogues, massive ad spend with terrible ROI). For female founders trying to build visibility on limited budgets, how do they distinguish between fundamental marketing principles that work versus chasing "something completely new and shiny"? What are the non-negotiable marketing basics that startups should nail before worrying about the latest platform or trend? How should founders audit whether their current marketing is actually set up to succeed?** I’ve always worked with businesses on limited budgets, so I understand the pressure to make every pound count. Yes, marketing includes trial and error (that’s literally part of the science) but small businesses don’t have the luxury of throwing money at random tactics and hoping one sticks. That’s why the fundamentals matter more than the fads. The non-negotiable basics every founder should nail before touching anything “new and shiny” are: 1\. A clear value proposition. If you can’t explain why someone should choose you over a competitor in one sentence, no amount of SEO or TikTok hooks will save you. 2\. A website that actually converts. Not just “pretty.” Clear. Fast. Easy to navigate. Built for humans and Google equally. CTAs in the right places. Mobile-first (because everyone is scrolling on the loo). 3\. Messaging that speaks to pain, not features. People buy outcomes and relief. Not buttons, colours, or job titles. 4\. Consistency. You can’t post three times in March and then panic in August. Visibility compounds. Silence kills momentum. 5\. Proof. Testimonials, case studies, screenshots, numbers…if the internet is one giant shouting match, proof is your megaphone. Once those foundations are set, you can layer in tactics. But without them? You’re just decorating a house with no foundations. As for auditing your current marketing, ask three brutally honest questions: 1. Is it clear what I offer and who it’s for within three seconds of seeing my website or LinkedIn? 2. Is anyone actually converting or are we confusing “activity” with “progress”? 3. If I stopped posting tomorrow, would anyone notice, and would they miss the value I create? If you can’t answer yes to all three, you don’t need something shiny. You need the basics to work harder. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### Marketing Automation Without the Noise: Marte Stenbro on Building Meaningful Customer Experiences Through Data, AI, and Strategic Silence URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/women-who-lead/marketing-automation-without-the-noise-marte-stenbro-on-building-meaningful-customer-experiences-through-data-ai-and-strategic-silence/ Last updated: 2025-12-03T11:18:19.000Z Marte Stenbro has spent two decades learning one critical truth about marketing automation: anyone can automate their marketing, but few can maintain meaningfulness and relevance. As Co-founder and COO of Homerun Customer Experience, Marte has led complex international projects across the Nordics, Europe, Asia, and the US, specializing in marketing technology, CRM, and e-commerce for ambitious companies ready to scale. Homerun's philosophy is built on three pillars: laser focus on customer experience, actionable customer insights, and smart use of systems, data, and AI. But Marte's approach challenges the conventional "more is better" mentality in marketing automation. She warns founders about the Ferrari-driven-like-a-lawnmower syndrome—companies investing in powerful automation tools but using them to blast generic messages that damage their brand and exhaust their database. In this Q&A, Marte shares her practical framework for knowing when to automate versus when to keep it human, how to turn customer insights into effective automated journeys (not just email sequences), and why clean data matters more than the latest AI tool. Her advice is grounded in real experience: she's seen companies obsess over short-term sales bumps while quietly destroying long-term customer relationships. For Marte, meaningful communication beats constant communication every single time—and sometimes, strategic silence is the smartest move a founder can make. --- **With two decades in Marketing Automation and CRM — and extensive experience leading complex international projects across the Nordics, Europe, Asia and the US — you’ve built Homerun Customer Experience around a core insight: anyone can automate marketing, but few can maintain meaningfulness and relevance.** **For female founders scaling their businesses, how do you know when you're ready to invest in marketing automation versus continuing with manual processes? What are the most common mistakes you see startups make when implementing automation too early or too late? How should founders think about the balance between automation efficiency and maintaining genuine customer relationships?** You’re usually ready for marketing automation when the volume or the complexity of your customer journey becomes too much to handle manually. If you have a growing contact base or a long, multi-step buying journey, automation can help keep things consistent, timely, and far less chaotic. If something is repetitive, predictable, or admin-heavy, automate it. It frees you to focus on the moments where human expertise genuinely matters. But the biggest mistakes I see aren’t really about starting “too early” or “too late.” The real problem is starting without thinking. It’s very easy to get excited, hit the automation button, and suddenly send everything to everyone. And every time you push something out, you’ll usually get *some* results — which creates this illusion of success. But what you don’t see as clearly is the long-term cost: the people who tune out, unsubscribe, or quietly move your brand into their “annoying” folder. **This is where founders often go wrong: they own a Ferrari but drive it like a lawnmower.** We’ve seen companies — especially in B2C — become so obsessed with the short-term sales bump from each automated push that they completely mess up their database and damage their brand in the process. Finding the right balance is about understanding where human contact adds real value. Some customers are high-value. Some steps in the journey need reassurance, expertise, or a bit of human nuance. Build your automation so it leaves space for that — with shortcuts, exit points, and signs that tell you when a human should take over. And honestly, if you’re unsure whether to send something, silence is better than irrelevant communication at the wrong moment. Meaningful beats constant every single time. **Homerun emphasizes that successful automated communication requires “laser focus on the customer experience, actionable customer insights, and smart use of systems, data, and AI.” For female entrepreneurs building B2B or B2C businesses, how should they approach gathering and leveraging customer data to create meaningful automated experiences? What’s the framework for turning customer insights into effective automated journeys rather than just sending generic email sequences? With AI evolving so quickly, what should founders invest in now versus wait to see how the technology develops?** To create meaningful automated experiences, start with your goals. Whether you're trying to reduce churn, grow existing customers, or acquire new ones, you need to know which moments actually influence those outcomes. These are your key conversion points — the real test-drive moments. Once you’ve identified them, dig into what really happens around those moments: - What questions pop up? - What concerns or friction keep repeating? - What do you know vs. what are you assuming? - And from the customer’s point of view — what do they actually experience from you right then? If you don’t know, find out.Talk to Sales and Support. Run a few microsurveys. And honestly: mystery shop your own journey. It’s one of the fastest ways to see the truth. When you understand what’s going on at those crucial moments, *then* you can improve them. Automation might be part of it, but meaningful experiences usually come from removing friction, improving clarity, getting the timing right, or opening up a simple two-way dialogue. And when it comes to AI, the priority is very straightforward: If your data isn’t in order — fix that first. (Yes, there’s AI that can help with that too.) Without clean, structured data, you can’t benefit from any of the AI developments coming your way. After that, I’d invest in a powerful conversational tool or chatbot that can capture and structure unstructured customer input. It gives you real insight into what customers actually think, want, and struggle with — and it does it at scale. Everything else can wait. Clean data + real customer signals = your entire AI foundation. **You've worked extensively on personas, customer journeys, and turning strategy into execution. For female founders who know they should map customer journeys but don't know where to start, what's your practical framework? How do you identify which touchpoints to automate versus which require human interaction? What are the warning signs that your marketing automation is hurting the customer experience? How should founders measure whether their automated communication is truly meaningful and relevant, or just adding to inbox noise?** If you’re unsure where to start with customer journeys, again, begin with the basics:What are you trying to achieve? Your goal tells you exactly which part of the journey to focus on first. From there, recognise that B2B and B2C behave differently.In B2B, you often have several stakeholders involved in the buying process, all with different motivations and concerns. This is why narrowing the scope matters so much. Decide which market, company size, industry, and which stakeholders you actually need to understand for the outcome you’re targeting. Trying to map everything at once only creates broad, generic insights that don’t help you prioritise. When gathering insights, direct conversations with customers are invaluable — and often far more effective when done by a neutral external interviewer. People are simply more open that way, and someone without preconceived notions will often pick up on things internal teams overlook. Aim to speak with at least 8 people per stakeholder group. And if you suspect two roles in the buying committee have conflicting agendas, interview both — these dynamics often reveal insights you didn’t expect. Once you understand the real questions, concerns, and friction points that appear along the journey, compare that to how your business currently shows up. That’s where the gaps become visible: wrong timing, unclear steps, missing information, or touchpoints that don’t match how customers actually behave. When deciding what to automate: Automate the predictable, repetitive, or informational moments. Use human contact when customers need reassurance, expertise, or nuance. Warning signs your automation is hurting the experience: - Engagement drops - Unsubscribes spike - Support keeps getting the same confused questions - You read the messages yourself and wouldn’t want to receive them If any of these show up, go back to the beginning:anchor to your goal, narrow your scope, and improve the specific part of the journey that actually drives that outcome. That’s how you create automation that adds value, not volume. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### From Night Shifts to Leading Law Firm: Shazia Ali on Building Scarsdale Solicitors Through Determination, Empathy, and Giving Voice to the Voiceless URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/law/from-night-shifts-to-leading-law-firm-shazia-ali-on-building-scarsdale-solicitors-through-determination-empathy-and-giving-voice-to-the-voiceless/ Last updated: 2025-12-02T11:18:59.000Z Shazia Ali didn't have the luxury of a traditional path to becoming a solicitor. Growing up in an impoverished family and facing daily racism as a teenager, she funded her entire legal education herself, starting at age 14 by waitressing to afford a private tutor for her GCSEs. She worked grueling night shifts as an auxiliary nurse with social services while dragging herself to law lectures during the day, navigating both financial barriers and prejudice as a young Asian woman in a male-dominated profession. Against all odds, she qualified as both a barrister and solicitor, trained at prestigious London law firms, and in 2016 founded Scarsdale Solicitors in Rochdale with a clear mission: to be a voice for the voiceless. Today, [Scarsdale Solicitors](https://scarsdalesolicitors.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) is a results-driven law firm specializing in criminal defence, motoring offences, immigration, and family law. Featured in Authority Magazine as a founder whose mission is "rooted in integrity, high-quality service, and serving the community," Shazia has built a practice where clients are never just file numbers. She runs pro bono clinics for domestic violence survivors, works with charities supporting homeless individuals and asylum seekers, and has created a firm culture centered on empathy and fierce advocacy. Her team reflects the diversity she wished she'd seen in her early career, with staff hired for their skills regardless of background, gender, or social status. In this conversation, Shazia shares how vulnerability and crisis became catalysts for her best decisions, why she refuses to give power to people who underestimate her, and how she's built a reputation-based practice where word-of-mouth referrals drive 90% of growth. Her story is a testament to what's possible when determination meets purpose, and when building a successful business means lifting others up rather than leaving them behind. --- ### From Night Shifts to Law Firm Founder – Building Your Practice Against the Odds **You financed your own legal education by working grueling night shifts as an auxiliary nurse while facing prejudice as a young Asian woman in law school. For female entrepreneurs, particularly women of color entering male-dominated professions, how did you maintain focus and confidence during those years when the odds were stacked against you? What strategies did you develop to navigate both financial barriers and systemic discrimination, and how do those experiences inform the way you run Scarsdale Solicitors today?** The first few years were the toughest of my life, working at night to pay the term fees and dragging myself to lectures in the day. I have never felt I quite fitted in anywhere, and I was perpetually exhausted. I was quiet, shy and not confident, but I have always been very stubborn so if somebody tells me I can’t do something I go ahead and do it. I think this helped me become more disciplined with my time and very resourceful. I stretch myself and can be laser-focused even when I am tired. This has helped me build a confidence in myself, I don’t allow people to control me, I don’t give them power over me. Listening to positive mindsets every day gives me focus, and I no longer feel underestimated. My path has shaped the way I run my business today< I don't feel like an outsider in the room and I have built a culture around those feelings I had in my 20s as a student. I don’t care about someone’s background, accent, age; I see people for who they are, just as I wish people would have seen me, not just my gender or the colour of my skin. I make sure my team can come to me if they feel overlooked. I don’t want people to feel their colour or gender or social status holds them back. Law is a male-dominated field and I am bringing in diversity; my staff are from all sorts of different backgrounds. I employ them for their skills and qualities, regardless of any other factor that may have held them back before. ### Turning Personal Crisis Into Purpose – The Decision to Start Your Own Firm **Your daughter's serious illness became the catalyst for drafting your business plan and launching Scarsdale Solicitors. That's an incredibly vulnerable moment to make such a major professional decision. What made you realize that starting your own practice was the right move during such a difficult time? For women entrepreneurs facing their own crises or crossroads, how do you balance personal challenges with the demands of building a business, and what advice would you give about trusting your instincts when the timing seems imperfect?** When I am most vulnerable I make my best decisions, because I am out of my comfort zone. At that time I felt my whole world had stopped, I didn’t know what the future held and feared for my daughter’s life. But somehow this made me more determined to create the sort of future I wanted for my kids. I knew I needed to do the school run, to be there for them, and if an employer wouldn’t allow that I would have to create that life for myself. Hard moments make me strip back to everything and think about what really matters – and what matters is my children, and making a difference. By building Scarsdale I am building something that helps people, and that will provide an income for me to be able to give my children all and any support they need. For other women going through their own crises – don’t underestimate yourself, I am living proof that you can do more than you believe. There is no such thing as perfect timing, you need to do it. You can’t live on other people’s terms, there will always be something trying to hold you back, but believe in yourself. ### Building a Reputation-Based Practice Through Empathy and Advocacy **You've built Scarsdale Solicitors on the principles of empathy and fierce advocacy, with growth driven primarily by reputation rather than traditional marketing. In the legal profession where credentials and institutional prestige often matter more than client relationships, how do you position your firm as a client-focused alternative? For female founders in professional services, what does "giving others a voice" look like in practice, and how do you translate that mission into business development and sustainable growth?** Scarsdale is centred around our clients. When people come to us we don’t treat them as a file number, they are a person. This builds trust which means we re recommended personally from person to person. I will not take on a client if I don’t believe I can help them, I want to be known as authentic and rely on that as my prestige rather than just results – although our results are unrivalled too! We stand up for people who feel intimated, and also champion each other, so we celebrate our colleagues’ successes. We have men on the team but I am proud to be giving senior roles and opportunities to women that may not achieve them elsewhere. I believe in investing in staff, and when you have a happy and secure workforce, they perform better and are a living advert for your business. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### Beyond Burnout and the Hustle: Sammie McPhail on Building Businesses That Honor Your Nervous System URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/women-who-lead/beyond-burnout-and-the-hustle-sammie-mcphail-on-building-businesses-that-honor-your-nervous-system/ Last updated: 2025-12-02T09:46:43.000Z Sammie McPhail didn't set out to build a typical marketing agency. As founder of [Spellbound Marketing](https://spellbound-marketing.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) and [The Spellbound Strategist](https://www.thespellboundstrategist.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org), Sammie works with burnout-prone creatives, neurodivergent entrepreneurs, and sensitive founders who've been told success requires constant hustle, daily posting, and aggressive sales tactics. Her answer? Build differently. Combining somatic wisdom with technical expertise in SEO, content strategy, and digital marketing, Sammie teaches clients how to grow without grinding themselves down, how to show up without burning out, and how to build visibility strategies that respect their actual capacity rather than punishing them for being human. What makes Sammie's approach distinctive is the blend. She's not anti-strategy or anti-data. She's anti-burnout. Her work bridges the intuitive (energy work, nervous system regulation, alignment) with the mechanical (SEO, conversion strategy, technical marketing). She explicitly rejects the manipulation tactics that dominate online business, championing "Ethical Conversion" that refuses to agitate pain points or deploy high-pressure psychological triggers. For founders exhausted by the constant demand to perform, Spellbound Marketing offers something rare: permission to market effectively while staying grounded, ethical, and sustainably paced. In this conversation, Sammie shares her framework for untangling performance guilt, how she convinces intuition-led founders to embrace technical marketing without losing their magic, and what ethical sales actually looks like in practice when everyone around you is running aggressive funnels. Her insights challenge the assumption that growth requires hustle and offer a refreshingly human alternative for building businesses that last. --- ### Sustainability vs. The Hustle Mentality **You've been very vocal about rejecting the "hustle-at-all-costs" mentality and often speak about marketing that is "energy-led" rather than purely algorithm-driven. For neurodivergent or creative founders who feel paralyzed by the pressure to post daily, how do you practically help them build a strategy that honors their capacity without sacrificing momentum? What's the very first step in untangling that performance guilt?** A: For me, the antidote to hustle culture isn’t “doing less”, it’s doing differently. Many of my clients come to me feeling paralysed by the pressure to post daily, terrified that if they stop for even a day they’ll become invisible. And for neurodivergent or creative founders, that pressure doesn’t just create stress. It triggers shame, performance guilt, and a deep fear of being “inconsistent.” The very first step is always deconditioning. We strip away the idea that visibility must look a certain way. Instead of forcing consistency, I help them build what I call an energy-led visibility rhythm - a system rooted in their natural cycles, capacity, and creativity. It’s not about matching the algorithm. It’s about matching *yourself*. Practically, this looks like: ● Identifying their lowest-energy baseline and making *that* the foundation of their strategy ● Building a content plan around sustainable touchpoints rather than daily posting ● Creating formats that feel safe + doable on low-energy days ● Removing urgency and replacing it with intentionality Once the guilt is quietened, we can rebuild momentum in a way that honours their nervous system. When someone stops fighting their energy and starts working *with* it, everything becomes lighter, and ironically, they become far more consistent. The “momentum” doesn’t come from posting constantly. It comes from showing up in a way their body can actually sustain. ### Balancing the Magic with the Mechanics **Your brand occupies a unique space, blending the intuitive and "witchy" with hard technical skills like SEO and data strategy. You've mentioned that you "blend intuition, data, and a little magic" to create strategies that actually perform. How do you convince a creative, intuition-led founder to embrace the colder, technical side of marketing like SEO? How do you successfully translate those rigid data points into something that feels truly magical and aligned for their business?** My work sits in the space where intuition meets strategy, because business doesn’t have to be binary. You don’t have to choose between “data” and “magic.” The sweet spot is always the bridge. When I teach SEO or data-led decision making, I don’t frame it as something cold or rigid. I frame it as a tool that helps channel their creative energy with more clarity and impact. For intuitive founders, data becomes a way to confirm what their body already knows, not override it. I show them that: ● Keyword research reveals what their audience is already searching for ●Analytics uncovers patterns in how people connect with their message ● SEO becomes a grounding ritual - a way of giving their intuition a structure to land in ● Data gives them permission to focus instead of scatter their energy Suddenly SEO isn’t this intimidating, masculine-coded discipline. It becomes storytelling with a map. It becomes a way to honour both the creative spark *and* the long-term sustainability of their business. I don’t convince them. I translate it. I take the “cold” edges off the data and show them how it can feel magical, aligned, and deeply intuitive. When they see SEO as an amplifier for their creativity (not a cage) everything shifts. ### Ethical Selling in a "Sleazy" Landscape **A core pillar of your work is "Ethical Conversion," where you explicitly reject manipulation and "pain-point agitation." In a digital world dominated by high-pressure funnels, how does an ethical sales strategy differ in practice? Can you share an example of how a brand can convert high-ticket clients effectively while remaining strictly consent-led and refusing to use psychological triggers?** Ethical selling is not a trend for me - it’s a non-negotiable. I reject pain-point agitation, false scarcity, psychological manipulation, and anything that preys on insecurity or urgency. Consent-led sales isn’t just kinder, it converts more aligned clients with far less emotional labour. In practice, ethical selling looks like: ● Transparent information ● Clear boundaries ● No fear-based messaging ● Explicit consent for every step of the buyer journey ● Allowing potential clients to stay in their power But it doesn’t mean you can’t sell high-ticket. You absolutely can - you just do it through connection, clarity, and self-trust instead of pressure. For example: One of my clients recently launched a £3,000 programme without a single “pain point agitate” tactic. No countdown clocks. No guilt. No “you’re leaving money on the table if you don’t join.” Instead, we focused on: ● Storytelling that showed real transformation ● Explaining the *why* behind the method ● Inviting people into the decision instead of cornering them ● Giving them spaciousness to ask questions ● Making pricing and expectations fully transparent ● Allowing their nervous system to stay regulated throughout the process And she sold out her spaces. This is ethical conversion: Letting people choose you from empowerment, not fear. Because when someone feels safe, they can see clearly whether the offer is truly right for them. That clarity leads to better clients, stronger relationships, and long-term sustainability for both sides. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### Integrity Over Profit: Lauren Ellerman on Why Honesty Prevents Lawsuits URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/law/integrity-over-profit-lauren-ellerman-on-why-honesty-prevents-lawsuits/ Last updated: 2025-12-01T08:39:16.000Z Lauren Ellerman has spent nearly 20 years representing the other side of business disputes—and that perspective makes her advice invaluable. As a partner at [Frith & Ellerman](https://frithlawfirm.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) Law Firm in Roanoke, Virginia, Lauren represents patients in medical malpractice cases, families in nursing home neglect claims, employees challenging restrictive non-competes, and whistleblowers exposing healthcare fraud. Named to Virginia Super Lawyers and recognized as a Top 50 Female Attorney in Virginia, she's co-author of "How to Beat Your Virginia Non-Compete" and has seen firsthand which business practices lead to litigation. What makes Lauren's perspective unique for female founders is that she understands the patterns that turn problems into lawsuits. She knows which shortcuts backfire, which communication failures escalate conflicts, and which employment contract mistakes create legal vulnerabilities. Her firm turns down 98% of potential cases, so she can clearly identify the difference between unfortunate outcomes and actual negligence worth pursuing in court. In this conversation, Lauren shares practical guidance from her years of litigation experience. Her message is consistent across employment law, healthcare liability, and whistleblower protection: honest communication prevents lawsuits, integrity matters more than quick profits, and investing in proper legal contracts saves far more than it costs. For founders building businesses in healthcare, professional services, or any field where trust matters, her insights offer a valuable window into what actually triggers legal action and how to avoid it. ### Employment Contracts and Non-Competes - What Founders Need to Know from the Other Side Q: As co-author of "How to Beat Your Virginia Non-Compete" and an attorney who represents employees against overly restrictive agreements, you've seen which employment contract provisions cross the line from reasonable protection to unenforceable restraints. For female founders drafting employment agreements, what mistakes do you see companies make with non-competes, non-solicitation clauses, and confidentiality provisions that end up backfiring in court? How can founders protect legitimate business interests while creating agreements that will actually hold up if challenged? What should they know about enforceability before investing time and money in litigation? A: I only represent employees, so I am delighted when I read a contract that I think is unenforceable, or overly broad. But, my advice to women owned businesses is to not short cut the employee contract process. Hire a lawyer in the state you actually operate to draft your agreement. The online, Chat GPT contracts always lead to trouble down the road as every state law differs and changes annually. A contract that is valid and enforceable in one state will not be valid in another. The most frequent mistake is to take a short cut, or think a one size fits all approach to employee contracts. Do them right or don’t bother drafting them at all. ### Avoiding Medical Malpractice and Professional Liability - Lessons from the Plaintiff's Side Q: With nearly 20 years representing patients and families in medical malpractice, nursing home neglect, and wrongful death cases, you've seen the patterns that lead to litigation. For female entrepreneurs in healthcare, eldercare, or other professional services, what are the most common factors that turn a bad outcome into a lawsuit? What proactive steps should service-based businesses take to minimize liability exposure? From a plaintiff attorney's perspective, what separates the cases you pursue from situations where families accept that things simply went wrong? A: If you try to cover up the truth, or hide it from a patient, that leads to litigation. If you try to avoid hard conversations, patients feel unseen and unheard and will call attorneys. You want to minimize your liability, fire medical providers whose behavior you would not emulate, and tell patients when you screw up. Most states protect medical providers who apologize and tell the truth – the admissions are not liable in court. Honest communication does not lead to litigation. Covering up human mistakes or worse, carless mistakes, leads to litigation. Also, if you are a female provider and you see bad behavior on your team (drinking, drug use, verbal abuse) speak up. Failure to speak up for patients will lead to patient harm. We turn down 98% of the families that contact us because we can't file suit because of bad communication, lack of information, or limited injuries. The cases we pursue are tragically those where someone’s world has been upended by negligent medical care. We know no one wants to file a lawsuit, it is usually the last resort to finding answers and moving on with some new version of life. ### Whistleblower Protection and Employment Law - What Growing Companies Need to Understand Q: Your practice includes representing whistleblowers in healthcare fraud cases and employees in breach of contract matters. For female founders building companies and managing teams, what employment practices put them at risk for whistleblower claims or retaliation lawsuits? How should founders handle employee complaints about potential legal violations or safety concerns? What are the warning signs that an employment situation could escalate into litigation, and how can founders address these issues before they reach your office? A: Again, hiding the truth, putting dollars before patients – this is how people find themselves in front of the Justice Department. For female founders, always put integrity over a quick buck and you will be fine. Interestingly, none of our whistleblower cases have been against women – they are usually however, always filed by women who knew the company was cutting corners and wouldn’t tolerate working in an environment where integrity didn’t matter. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### From Anthropology to Brand Strategy: Siena Dexter on Building Emotionally Intelligent Brands and Flexible Businesses URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/women-who-lead/from-anthropology-to-brand-strategy-siena-dexter-on-building-emotionally-intelligent-brands-and-flexible-businesses/ Last updated: 2025-11-24T12:13:39.000Z Siena Dexter didn't take the typical path from UCL anthropology graduate to brand strategist—but that unconventional route became her competitive advantage. As founder of [Naked Ape Brands](http://nakedapebrands.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org), a Bristol-based micro-studio, Siena combines academic anthropology with behavioral science and commercial design to build brands that respond to real human tensions rather than marketing assumptions. Her approach starts with cultural research—understanding the invisible rules, cognitive biases, and emotional pressures that shape consumer behavior—then translates those insights into positioning strategies that drive measurable business results. But Naked Ape's origin story isn't just about methodology. After experiencing the limitations of traditional agency culture firsthand—including being asked about childbearing plans before accepting a partnership and taking client calls immediately after IVF procedures—Siena founded her agency with a different model in mind. She pivoted from her first agency, Idea Dolls (founded in 2017), to Naked Ape, sacrificing hard-won SEO rankings and brand equity to build something more aligned with both her anthropological approach and her values around workplace flexibility. In this conversation, Siena shares how sales experience taught her to make anthropology practical, why she restructured her agency around independent collaborators rather than permanent staff, and what drove the difficult decision to rebrand even when the first name was working commercially. Her insights offer a refreshingly honest take on building a service business that accommodates life's realities—IVF, weddings, periods—without pretending flexibility doesn't require real trade-offs. ### From Academic Anthropology to Brand Strategy **You studied at UCL and founded Naked Ape Brands with the unique positioning of using anthropology to build emotionally intelligent consumer brands. What drew you from academic anthropology into the commercial world, and how do you translate anthropological insights into practical brand strategies that actually drive business results?** I've always been fascinated by how people behave and why they do what they do. Anthropology let me study that properly – looking at matriarchal versus patriarchal societies, understanding othering and cognitive bias. It helped me see how much of what we call normal is actually learned. Raised more questions than it answered, honestly, but it taught me to approach things with curiosity instead of just applying my own lens to everything. After university I went into sales, which sounds like a weird detour but it shaped everything. I went from wanting to make documentaries, which paid almost nothing, to cold calling and then consultative selling. Buyer psychology became huge for me. You have to really understand people – what they care about, what they're under pressure to deliver, what they need to feel safe saying yes. When I eventually moved into copywriting, it all clicked. Anthropology gave me this deep understanding of culture and power and the invisible rules people live by. Sales forced me to make that practical. You see very quickly whether your thinking actually lands or not. At Naked Ape, anthropology is just how we work. We start with the cultural and emotional tensions around a category. What are people actually trying to solve in their lives? Where do they feel judged or ignored or pushed out? Which stories are shaping how they see themselves? Then we build strategies that respond to those tensions. That might be qualitative interviews, digging into reviews and forums, mapping what competitors are saying, then choosing a completely different role for the brand. The output is tangible – positioning, messaging, creative platforms that all point in the same direction. The business results come from being clear about which belief needs to shift and what behaviour that unlocks. Anthropology gives us a structured way to get there. The work ends up grounded in how people actually live and decide, not just what sounds good in a deck. ### Creating Change Through Workplace Flexibility **You've been open about founding Naked Ape to support flexible working, particularly after your career was negatively impacted by requesting IVF leave and accommodating working hours. How are you building the kind of agency environment you wished existed, and what advice would you give to female founders about creating businesses that genuinely support women's life realities?** I'm laughing a bit because I don't actually remember talking publicly about this, but yes – IVF shaped everything about how I wanted Naked Ape to work. Before I started Naked Ape, I'd been made partner at an agency that asked me, before I even joined, whether I was planning on having children and whether I'd come back afterwards. I needed something stable to pay the astronomical IVF fees, so I threw myself in. Twelve-hour days sometimes. It was exciting – brilliant partners, amazing brands. But underneath I was terrified of being honest about what I was going through. I took a client call an hour after waking up from anaesthetic after an egg retrieval because I felt I had to hide it. Looking back, I wish I'd just said: this is what I'm going through, here's what I need, here's how I'll deliver the work around it. But when I eventually asked for an easier schedule, more time for family stuff, that wasn't really an option. I respected the culture, but it wasn't aligned with how I wanted to live. Starting Naked Ape forced me to look honestly at what flexibility actually means in a small business. Easy to talk about in theory. In reality, with a young agency, you need all hands on deck. That tension is real and I'm not going to pretend it away. What's worked best is collaborating with people as individuals instead of building a big permanent team before we're ready. We started with three women full time, now it's just me, but there's this network of independent studios and freelancers around that who can take on a project or turn one down depending on where they are in their own lives. Gives everyone space to protect their health and personal stuff without the whole business falling apart. Day to day, things like messaging to say I need to skip today, I have my period – that was just normal. No drama. The challenge is finding the balance between that kind of honesty and the consistency a business needs. That's the bit I'm still working out. Right now I'm trying to be really clear about my own limits and encourage that in others. Around my wedding I told partner agencies and clients I'd be taking two weeks off before and after, my head wouldn't be in work mode. I took the time, made it up around that. Feels healthier than quietly disappearing or trying to do everything badly. If I have any advice for female founders, it's that this is a moving target. There's no perfect flexible culture, especially early on. You'll make trade-offs. The important thing is keeping the conversation open, being honest about what the business can and can't hold, staying willing to adjust. I'm still figuring it out and I'm okay with that. ### The Big Pivot from Idea Dolls to Naked Ape **You founded Idea Dolls in 2017 but pivoted to Naked Ape Brands, even wrestling with losing brand equity and SEO rankings. What drove that major rebrand decision, and how do you know when it's time to make a bold change versus persevering with your original vision?** Idea Dolls was my first agency and I adored it. The whole concept was built around layers behind brands, like a matryoshka doll. Playful, strategic, full of imagination. For a long time it felt exactly right. Practically, it was working too. We were page one for searches like branding agency London, reliable flow of leads. Walking away from that brand meant walking away from rankings we'd worked hard to earn. We did lose them. That part was rubbish. We're slowly rebuilding visibility under Naked Ape now. The decision came from realising Idea Dolls didn't reflect where the work was heading anymore. The brand had personality, but there were moments where it felt like the name and concept were taking up more space than the actual purpose, which is launching and growing brands for other people. I also became more aware of how the word Dolls landed. Started to feel out of step with the clients we were attracting and the depth of work we were doing. I still have huge affection for it, but it didn't feel like the name I wanted to carry into the next decade. Naked Ape felt closer to where the agency was naturally evolving. Ties directly into anthropology and how we look at consumer behaviour, culture, decision-making. Gives us a language for the mix of research and creative direction we bring to fast-growing brands. We're still shaping how this brand lives in the world, but it already feels more aligned. As for knowing when to pivot – no perfect formula. I look at whether the name still fits the clients you're actually serving, whether the brand supports the conversations you want to have, whether you keep coming back to an idea that feels truer. Rebrands come with cost. Financial, emotional, practical. You lose equity, confuse search, have to reintroduce yourself. But there's also a cost to holding on to something that doesn't fit anymore. For me, the turning point was realising that staying with Idea Dolls would eventually limit the work and partnerships I wanted to build. Naked Ape feels like a better foundation for where we're going next. Still figuring it out as I go, but it's the right direction. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### Effective Communications for B2B Innovation: Polina Lorelli on Strategic Communications for Scaling Startups and Venture Capital URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/women-who-lead/effective-communications-for-b2b-innovation-polina-lorelli-on-strategic-communications-for-scaling-startups-and-venture-capital/ Last updated: 2025-11-19T10:59:17.000Z Polina Lorelli built her career bridging the gap between complex innovation and the audiences that need to understand it. After working with major global clients like the Islamic Development Bank at Freuds Communications and experiencing the startup world from the inside, she identified a critical market gap: B2B innovation companies were stuck choosing between slow, expensive agencies or limited-scope freelancers. In response, she founded [PL Communications](http://plcomms.uk/?ref=foundedbywomen.org), a boutique consultancy specializing in medtech, fintech, and climate tech—sectors where sophisticated communication can be the difference between breakthrough adoption and obscurity. A self-described "third culture kid" of Russian and Italian heritage who grew up across the world before making London home, Polina brings a unique perspective to translating founders' visions into market growth. With over 10 years of communications experience spanning global consulting, startups, and high-profile agencies like Freuds, she understands both the strategic demands of scaling businesses and the execution required to build credibility with investors, customers, and talent. In this conversation, Polina shares how her work with billion-dollar funds and global institutions prepared her for the agility required by the innovation ecosystem, why she believes authority comes from "credibility, repetition, and resonance," and her candid perspective on the gender dynamics that still shape how female founders are perceived—and how they can position themselves as category leaders despite these challenges. ### From Global Consulting to B2B Innovation Communications *You worked at Freuds, Global Office Consulting, and were a Head of Comms at a startup. You handled communications for major clients like the Islamic Development Bank and Juul Labs. What made you pivot specifically to focus on the B2B innovation ecosystem—working with founders, investors, and scale-ups across medical, financial, and climate verticals—and how did your experience with large-scale global projects prepare you for working with early-stage companies?* Essentially, two things became apparent to me during my time at a major consulting firm and then from inside a startup. First, I saw a gap in the PR market. Clients appeared to only have an option between large, bureaucratic agencies or freelancers who couldn’t offer a full scope of strategic services. I could see an opportunity to build an agency that was agile, impactful, and deeply knowledgeable about the nuances of scaling a business, which led to the creation of PL Communications. Additionally, I came to see that I was driven by a passion for supporting people and projects doing truly impactful things. I realised how vital sophisticated, high-quality communication is in driving awareness, adoption, and ultimately, change for critical technologies in areas including medicine, finance and climate. My experience with large-scale global projects was, in fact, the perfect preparation for working with early-stage companies. The global projects helped me understand market dynamics, corporate motivations, and how to "translate" complex value propositions to diverse audiences. I now call on this foundation to understand the different motivations of investors, founders, and corporations firsthand. Combined with the hands-on mindset I developed working inside a startup, PL Communications operates both efficiently both at the strategy and execution level, and high-growth scale-ups often need both at the same time. ### Question 2: Making Complex Innovation Accessible *Your mission is to "demystify complex ideas and translate founders' visions into product growth" for B2B startups across medtech, fintech, and climate tech. These sectors often involve highly technical concepts that can be challenging to communicate. How do you balance maintaining technical accuracy while making innovations accessible to investors, customers, and the broader market?* My starting point is always the business goal: What is the outcome that we’re trying to achieve? For founders it’s split across three main categories: hiring the best talent, boosting commercial traction or raising investment. For investors it’s improving deal-flow and getting buy-in from LPs. At any given time it might be a combination of these things. Knowing this, we determine who needs to hear about us and what they’ll need to know. From there, I work backwards to define the message, how it should land, and which channels will be most effective. Audiences get their information from many various channels, so we’ll determine whether we should be appearing on LinkedIn, blogs, podcasts, press, or a combination. It always requires a tailored approach, because founders, investors, and customers each have different needs. For founders, communications directly support talent acquisition and retention- people won’t join or stay with a company if they don’t know what it's working towards. For customers, product adoption depends not only on working effectively to meet a need, but also on whether they can grasp and connect with the story behind the innovation. And for investors, they need to get a strong grasp on the team, the mission, and the vision of the company they are considering supporting. When it’s early stage, this is particularly important. While when it comes to the later stage businesses, it’s all about vision to scale and having the team in place to do this. Balancing technical accuracy with accessibility is ultimately being able to answer the ‘who’, the ‘what’ and the ‘why’ with clarity, and supporting those things with data, anecdotes, examples, and so on. It’s not about oversimplifying, but about ensuring that innovation is easily understood and trusted by the people who matter most to its growth. ### Question 3: Building Impact Through Strategic Positioning *You've mentioned that "if people don't understand your product, they won't get on board" and that external credibility is crucial for business growth. For female founders across medical, financial, and climate innovation who may face additional challenges in being taken seriously, what strategies do you recommend for building authority and positioning their companies as category leaders?* We need to start moving away from qualifying people’s roles with the addition of their gender and start to challenge people on the assumption that when someone says ‘CEO’ or ‘founder’ that those people will always be men. That said, it does remain important to champion women who are breaking down barriers and we should highlight their achievements. I have also made some observations about tendencies some women have in a business setting that could hold them back, and more awareness of these things can help us all combat them. For example, women sometimes position themselves more modestly than their male counterparts, while at the same time some male founders are confidently inflating projections. The perceived lack of confidence can translate into missed opportunities, even when the quality of the work itself is excellent. I find that the best way to build self-belief is to surround yourself with people who champion you behind closed doors, who will introduce you to the right networks, and who you can trust to back you, while you do the same for them. Overcoming perfectionism and imposter syndrome is often just as important as developing technical skills. When it comes to positioning companies as category leaders, the fundamentals are the same regardless of gender: clear and consistent messaging, a strong understanding of your audiences, choosing the right channels, and executing with precision. Authority comes from credibility, repetition, and resonance. Whether you are male or female, building external visibility and confidence around your product or service is what earns trust, attracts investment, and ultimately secures you as a leading voice in your industry. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### Navigating AI Law and IP Strategy: Cynthia Cole on Building Legally Resilient Tech Companies URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/law/navigating-ai-law-and-ip-strategy-cynthia-cole-on-building-legally-resilient-tech-companies/ Last updated: 2025-11-14T06:13:09.000Z Cynthia Cole doesn’t just advise on technology law—she shapes how companies architect their legal foundations for scale. As Chair of Baker McKenzie’s Global Commercial, Tech and Transactions Business Unit and a recognized thought leader in AI governance, Cynthia operates at the intersection of innovation and regulation. Named one of California’s “Top IP Lawyers,” she’s guided countless technology companies through the complex landscape of AI compliance, intellectual property protection, data privacy, and cross-border transactions. For female entrepreneurs building AI-powered businesses or navigating tech M&A, Cynthia brings hard-won insights from the front lines of emerging regulation. With states like Texas and Colorado implementing comprehensive AI governance frameworks and data privacy laws evolving across jurisdictions, the legal landscape has never been more challenging—or more critical to get right from day one. In this conversation, Cynthia shares practical strategies for balancing innovation with compliance, protecting intellectual property without sacrificing deal leverage, and building the kind of transparent, traceable data governance that makes companies attractive to investors and acquirers. Her advice is direct: understand your data sources, structure for transparency, and never be afraid to hold your ground on what matters most to your vision.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ *I am not your attorney. Reading this Q&A does not create an attorney-client relationship and the article itself is not legal advice. These are general thoughts and should not be relied upon as a substitute for legal advice tailored to your specific circumstances. For advice about your business, please consult your own attorney, or reach out to me directly if you need an attorney.* ### AI Governance and Compliance for Emerging Tech Companies *Q: As Chair of Baker McKenzie's Global Commercial, Tech and Transactions Business Unit and a recognized thought leader in AI law, you've been tracking the evolving regulatory landscape where states like Texas and Colorado are leading with comprehensive AI governance frameworks. For female entrepreneurs building AI-powered products or incorporating AI into their businesses, what proactive legal strategies should they implement now to stay ahead of emerging regulations? How can they structure their AI development processes to navigate the complex web of state and federal compliance requirements without stifling innovation?* This is such a great question! There can be a tension in creativity and growth vs process and structure but that is exactly what you need to balance in AI. Many regulations around AI products are focused on transparency and explainability and that starts from the ground up. Make sure that you understand and can trace any data and IP that is used in your product or service and create a process around auditing and updating that allows you to continue to capture that information as you scale. And be careful not to oversell or promise too much in your terms and conditions. Keep it transparent and most of all, keep it about where you see your product going in the future. Don't promise something now that you know you will be doing away with in 6 months. ### Strategic IP Protection and Technology Transactions *Q: With your extensive experience in complex cross-border IP and data-driven transactions and recognition as one of California's "Top IP Lawyers," how should female founders approach intellectual property strategy when launching technology companies? What are the key IP considerations they should address before raising funding or entering partnerships? How can they structure technology licensing agreements and joint ventures to protect their innovations while enabling business growth across international markets?* Focus on what you want to achieve in the transaction and let the rest go. So much depends on how much leverage you have and who you have across the table from you. Often, I see people giving away too much in order to bring in capital or strategic partnerships. Think outside the box—maybe you can carve out a future interest for yourself or re-acquire an interest if the other party isn't able to maximize value after a few years. And for any international transactions, get the right counsel. As someone who has worked in multiple jurisdictions, don't expect that the laws or the business habits are the same. Ask and get counsel that can "translate" for you, and help you put the issues in context that aligns with your goals and experience. And don't be afraid to be confident about the value you have created. Hold your ground on what matters to you. ### Data Privacy and Cybersecurity in M&A and Fundraising *Q: Given your expertise in data privacy compliance (including CCPA, GDPR, and emerging neural data protections) and your experience advising on tech M&A transactions, what data governance practices should female entrepreneurs establish early to make their companies attractive to investors and acquirers? How can they build privacy-by-design into their products while preparing for due diligence processes? What are the most critical data privacy mistakes you see startups make that hurt their valuation or derail deals?* It's all about the data. Where did you get it and how are you using it. Keep track and don't take on the risk of data from dubious sources. Or if you do, create a mechanism to dump it once you suspect a problem. Keep it traceable and modular. Have a story that makes sense and a defensible position. No one expects 100% compliance but having a strategy as to how and why are an advantage. ### From Film Sets to PR Powerhouse: Lisa Malcolm on Building Lynk PR Through Trust, Intuition, and Industry Respect URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/women-who-lead/from-film-sets-to-pr-powerhouse-lisa-malcolm-on-building-lynk-pr-through-trust-intuition-and-industry-respect/ Last updated: 2025-11-14T05:41:43.000Z Lisa Malcolm didn’t just pivot during the pandemic—she rebuilt from the ground up. With over 20 years in the entertainment industry and a successful business partnership behind her, she made the bold decision in 2020 to launch [Lynk PR](https://lynkpr.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) on her own terms. Today, the company thrives on something rare in Hollywood: over 90% of its business comes from referrals and word of mouth. As founder of Lynk PR and COO and Executive Producer of KAP Productions, Lisa brings a unique dual perspective to the table. She understands both sides of the camera—and both sides of the story. Her work spans from award-winning content like *This is My Story* on Spotify and Apple Podcasts to strategic publicity campaigns for clients across the entertainment industry. What sets her apart isn’t just experience; it’s the integrity and consistency that have made industry insiders willing to stake their own reputations on recommending her.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ In this conversation, Lisa shares what it took to walk away from success to build something better, how she earned the kind of trust that turns clients into advocates, and why producing her own content made her a sharper, more strategic publicist for everyone else.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ **You started on feature film sets with a communications degree, spent 20+ years in the entertainment industry, and then in 2020 during the COVID shutdown, you left a successful business partnership to launch Lynk PR. What made you walk away from something that was already working to start over on your own, and what did that previous partnership teach you about the kind of company you wanted to build?** The pandemic was a moment of clarity. When everything stopped, it forced me to look at what truly mattered and where I wanted to put my energy. Over time I realized that my values and vision were moving in a different direction, and that meant it was time to trust my instincts and start fresh. Leaving a business that was thriving was not an easy decision, but it became one of the most important choices of my career. It reminded me that intuition has always been my most reliable compass. Founding Lynk PR allowed me to build something that reflected my own standards for integrity, creativity, and collaboration. Looking back, I see that allowing myself the chance to begin again was not walking away, it was walking toward what I was meant to create. **You've said that over 90% of your business comes from industry referrals and word of mouth: clients, contacts, and colleagues vouching for you. In an industry as competitive as Hollywood PR, how did you build that kind of trust, and what do you think makes people willing to bet their reputation on recommending you to their network?** Trust has always been the foundation of my work. I believe credibility is earned consistently over time by doing what you say you will do, delivering results, and treating people well. Hollywood is a small world. I prefer not to focus on how to get the next client. I prioritize making the current client so successful that they cannot wait to tell someone else. Most of my business has come from relationships built through consistency, integrity, and care. When people see that you protect their brand as if it were your own, they remember. Referrals are not just about good outcomes, they are about trust in your character. I think that is why people feel confident recommending me. They know that I show up the same way every time, with honesty, commitment, and respect for the work. **You're not just a publicist. You're also COO and Executive Producer of KAP Productions, with award-winning content like "Jingle Trails" on Amazon Prime. How does wearing both the PR and production hats give you an edge in understanding what your clients need, and has producing your own content changed the way you approach publicity campaigns for others?** Working in both PR and production gives me a full view of the storytelling process from concept to audience. When you have sat in both seats, you understand that every creative project carries the same goal, to connect. Producing has made me more strategic in how I approach publicity because I see the entire ecosystem of a project, the creative vision, the production challenges, the distribution realities, and the emotional investment behind it all. That perspective helps me design strategies that feel authentic to the story and the people behind it. It also keeps me grounded in what really moves an audience. Creating my own content deepened my respect for what it takes to bring an idea to life. It taught me that PR is not about spin, it is about alignment. When the story, message, and intent all match, the results follow naturally. ### The Human Side of AI: Employment Law Expert Stephanie Goutos on Helping Female Founders Scale the Right Way URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/law/the-human-side-of-ai-employment-law-expert-stephanie-goutos-on-helping-female-founders-scale-the-right-way/ Last updated: 2025-11-12T15:00:45.000Z Artificial intelligence is rewriting workplace rules faster than most legal teams can keep up. [Stephanie Goutos](https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephanie-goutos-7565a54a/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) occupies a unique position at the intersection of legal innovation and employment law, helping translate rapid technology changes into practical frameworks companies can actually use. As Head of Employment Law Practice Innovation at Gunderson Dettmer, the leading law firm serving high-growth companies and venture capital and growth equity funds, Ms. Goutos helps founders and executives navigate the evolving relationship between people, technology, and regulation. What makes her work notable is its focus on what AI means for people. “AI integration isn’t just a technology problem,” she says. “It’s a people problem with legal consequences. Recognized as one of the legal industry’s leading voices on AI strategy, implementation, and governance, Ms. Goutos bridges deep employment law expertise with hands-on understanding of how emerging technologies reshape work. She advises startups and investors on building AI-driven operations that are compliant, scalable, and defensible. Her approach is grounded in practical foresight: establish strong employment law foundations early, disclose clearly how and where AI tools are used, and ensure human judgment remains meaningfully in the loop. Her perspective is particularly relevant for female founders building companies in this fast-moving environment. She’s seen the common pitfalls that can undermine even the strongest ventures: worker misclassification, inadequate documentation, wage-and-hour gaps, and the costly fallout that comes when compliance trails growth. With extensive experience in class action defense and employment counseling, combined with her expertise in AI governance and legal technology, Ms. Goutos offers a rare vantage point on how entrepreneurs can scale responsibly without slowing innovation. Her philosophy is simple but strategic: proactive compliance isn’t a constraint on growth - it’s what enables sustainable scaling. In this discussion, Ms. Goutos shares her insights on the critical employment law considerations for AI integration, the most frequent mistakes she sees female-founded startups make as they scale, and the legal frameworks founders should have in place long before they’re sitting across from investors or acquisition teams. ***For female entrepreneurs integrating AI into their businesses or workforces, what are the critical employment law considerations they need to address? How should they structure AI policies, manage employee privacy concerns around AI monitoring, and handle potential displacement issues while staying compliant with evolving employment regulations?*** For female entrepreneurs integrating AI into their businesses, no one understands better that new technology is only as effective as the team using it. This is especially true for AI. The legal implications of AI in the workplace are vast and intertwined, but the heart of responsible AI adoption lies in leveraging these tools to genuinely improve how people work, while staying alert to the complex, often nuanced risks. That balance is far easier said than done. Many companies stumble in their AI integration because they treat it purely as a technology problem when, in truth, it’s a people problem with legal consequences. You can have perfect bias audits and compliant monitoring policies, but if your team doesn’t trust the tools, understand how they’re being used, or see how AI supports their own work, you’ll likely get quiet resistance - and greater risk, not less. For entrepreneurs building the next generation of great companies, here are a few anchors I recommend: **Start with radical clarity and transparency** Tell your people what you’re actually doing. It builds trust, and in some jurisdictions, the law requires it. (For example, New York’s Local Law 144 mandates bias audits for AI used in hiring). Even where disclosure isn’t yet required, transparency is good business. Be specific. Don’t say: “AI assists with hiring.” Say: “We use an AI tool to screen initial resumes and rank candidates based on the core skills outlined in the job description.” Companies should be able to clearly articulate what their AI does and why they are using it. **Keep humans meaningfully in the loop** “No fully automated material employment decisions” should be a baseline principle. But simply having a “human in the loop” is meaningless if that person is undertrained, afraid to override the system, or unsure how to raise concerns. Effective oversight means reviewers are properly trained on what the AI considers and omits, have real authority and cultural reinforcement to override it, and know how to document their decisions. They also need clear escalation paths when they spot patterns of bias, inaccuracy, or data misuse. That structure doesn’t just reduce risk, it builds trust. **Build adaptive and forward-looking policies** The regulatory landscape is evolving faster than most compliance programs can keep up. Build policies that can accommodate new requirements without complete overhauls. Schedule regular audits of your tools for bias, accuracy, data handling, and legal compliance. Be prepared to pivot as often as the technology and regulations demand. Regular training sessions, updates, and reminders can help keep these policies top of mind and reinforce the organization’s commitment to protecting company data. **Create a culture that values experimentation** AI integration requires organizational learning and learning requires room for experimentation and, at times, failure. It’s one of the most effective ways employees will learn. Create a culture that celebrates employees who push transformation, identify an AI's limitations, or catch bias *before* it scales. Those closest to the work often detect critical issues leadership might miss. Listening to and rewarding them creates psychological safety and accelerates responsible adoption. ***With your extensive experience in class action defense and employment counseling at a firm that serves emerging companies and venture capital clients, what are the most common employment law mistakes you see female-founded startups make as they scale? How should founders structure their hiring practices, employee handbooks, and workplace policies from the beginning to avoid costly litigation? What employment law considerations should they address before fundraising rounds or potential acquisitions?*** One of the most common challenges founders face is simply a byproduct of their success: moving so fast that legal compliance becomes a "tomorrow" problem. Founders are wired to build and sell, which is exactly what makes them successful. For startups, broader employment law challenges often surface during growth. Our philosophy is that proactive compliance isn't a barrier to growth; it's what enables sustainable scaling. Addressing these areas early is always far more efficient (and less expensive) than course-correcting later. Here are the most common missteps I see - and how to avoid them: **Misclassifying your team** In the early stages, relying on contractors or consultants offers flexibility, but misclassification is one of the most expensive errors a startup can make. The same scrutiny applies to determining which employees are exempt from overtime laws. Misclassification can result in back pay, penalties, and red flags during diligence. Getting it right early is *far* easier than retrofitting an entire workforce later. **Inadequate documentation and outdated policies** Relying on handshake deals or vague offer letters for early hires can lead to major disputes as a company scales. Every offer letter should clearly outline the at-will relationship and any equity terms. Careless language in an email or letter can accidentally imply a "for-cause" relationship (*e.g.,* they can only be fired for a good reason). And handbooks are not set-and-forget documents - review and update them consistently as headcount grows and laws shift. **Wage and hour compliance gaps** The most common wage and hour violations include misclassifying employees, improperly paying with equity or below minimum wage, failing to pay overtime, lacking accurate timekeeping, and neglecting wage documentation. These are frequent sources of litigation and can erode investor confidence. Regular audits and clear pay policies are key safeguards. **Letting compliance lag behind headcount** Legal obligations shift at critical employee thresholds (typically around 15, 25, or 50 employees) triggering new reporting duties, benefits requirements, and mandatory training. Each inflection point should prompt a legal checkup to update policies, procedures, and compliance frameworks. ### From Legacy to Leadership: How Cheris Monique Built Multiple Empowerment Businesses by Honoring Family Traditions While Creating Her Own Path URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/women-who-lead/from-legacy-to-leadership-how-cheris-monique-built-multiple-empowerment-businesses-by-honoring-family-traditions-while-creating-her-own-path/ Last updated: 2025-11-10T07:19:07.000Z Some entrepreneurs are driven by market opportunity. Others are called by purpose. For Cheris Monique, the founder of multiple empowerment-focused businesses spanning early childhood education to adult transformation, her entrepreneurial journey has always been guided by something deeper than profit: a natural inclination to help others rebuild, rise, and realize their dreams. As a certified Family Life Educator, confidence coach, and seasoned entrepreneur, Cheris has built a multi-generational empire of empowerment. For over 30 years, her Jumping Jacks Learning Center has served the Wilmington, Delaware community, earning recognition from the Wilmington City Council for its exceptional commitment to children and families. But her impact extends far beyond early education. Through RAM Role Model Society, she empowers girls ages 7 to 18 to build confidence through creative outlets like modeling, fashion, and photography. Her Rebuild Your Life brand helps women and adults reignite dreams they may have put on hold. And through her YouTube show “Steel Toes to Stilettos,” she reaches millions with motivational content about resilience and transformation. Cheris’s ability to reinvent herself across industries—from education to entertainment, where she’s appeared on shows like “One Life to Live” and “Law & Order” and walked in New York Fashion Week—is grounded in a powerful belief: it’s never too late to start over. Her journey represents a unique approach to entrepreneurship, one that honors family legacy while carving new paths. What makes her story particularly compelling is how she’s woven together multiple businesses that serve different life stages while reinforcing a single mission. Rather than diversifying for the sake of growth, she’s created an ecosystem where each venture strengthens the others, proving that purpose-driven businesses can be both financially successful and deeply meaningful. In this conversation, Cheris shares how she’s built sustainable revenue streams across multiple generations, the importance of honoring those who came before while creating your own legacy, and why she believes empowerment isn’t just a calling—it’s a business model that works. ### What inspired you to found your businesses and what were the main challenges you faced? By nature, destiny, and passion, I’ve always been drawn to encouraging and empowering others to reach their goals, embrace self-sufficiency, and live unapologetically. Every day, I naturally step into the role of mentor, counselor, or coach—whether it’s offering a listening ear or following up with advice that leaves people feeling lighter and more confident. My work spans across all ages and stages of life. I started with my early education program, serving infants, toddlers, and preschoolers—a family legacy inspired by my mother and aunt, who both owned childcare businesses. Carrying that torch was important to me, not just as a profession but as a way of honoring them. From there, I created RAM Role Model Society, an empowerment program for girls ages 7 to 18\. The mission is to build self-esteem and confidence through creative outlets like modeling, fashion, and photography—tools that give young women the courage to see themselves beyond limitations. And lastly, there’s my Rebuild Your Life brand and community, which empowers women and adults to chase the dreams they may have put on the back burner. Through this work, I’ve learned that consistency, truly understanding my audience, creating effective marketing strategies, and offering a product that meets real needs are the keys to not only sustaining my businesses but also growing them financially. ### Did you start the venture alone? I can’t say that I started everything on my own. Everything is connected to a person or a purpose. My childcare center is an extension of the legacy my mother began over 25 years ago. It just felt right to pick up where she left off, so she can finally rest when she’s ready. Everything else is part of the purpose and plan for my life. Throughout my journey, there have been people who poured into me and believed in me. Those individuals are an important part of my story — but at the beginning and end of the day, it’s up to me to keep it going. ### What’s your business model, and how have you grown your revenue? My business model is built around multi-generational empowerment—serving people at every stage of life through different platforms and programs. Jumping Jacks Learning Center provides early childhood education, creating a foundation for young minds while generating steady revenue through tuition and educational services. RAM Role Model Society operates as a specialized empowerment program for girls, combining creative workshops, mentorship, and confidence-building activities. This creates both direct revenue through program fees and indirect value through community building and brand recognition. Rebuild Your Life functions as my flagship empowerment brand, offering coaching, workshops, content creation, and speaking opportunities. This diversified approach includes my YouTube show “Steel Toes to Stilettos,” which builds audience engagement and creates multiple revenue streams through content monetization, coaching packages, and corporate speaking engagements. The key to my financial growth has been understanding that each venture serves a specific audience need while reinforcing my overall mission of empowerment. By maintaining consistency across all platforms, deeply understanding my audience at each life stage, and ensuring my marketing strategies reflect real value, I’ve been able to create sustainable businesses that grow together rather than compete with each other.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ ### From Courtroom to Community: How Civil Rights Attorney Areva Martin Builds Legal Frameworks for Female Entrepreneurs Who Lead with Purpose URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/law/from-courtroom-to-community-how-civil-rights-attorney-areva-martin-builds-legal-frameworks-for-female-entrepreneurs-who-lead-with-purpose/ Last updated: 2025-11-05T14:32:23.000Z When Areva Martin walked across the stage at Harvard Law School, she carried with her the dreams of a community that had invested in her success and the determination to use her legal expertise as a force for systemic change. Today, as the founding principal of [Martin & Martin LLP](http://martin-martin.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org)—one of Los Angeles' premier African American female-owned law firms—and a California Super Lawyer for five consecutive years, she has built a practice that goes far beyond traditional legal services. Known as "America's Advocate" for her unflinching commentary on pressing legal and social justice issues, Areva has become a household name through her work as a CNN contributor, talk show host, and legal analyst on high-profile cases ranging from police shootings to #MeToo litigation. Her media presence spans everything from co-hosting the Emmy Award-winning daytime talk show "The Doctors" to her primetime radio show "Areva Martin in Real Time" on KBLA Talk Radio. But perhaps her most groundbreaking work happens away from the cameras, in courtrooms and communities where she's fighting for what she calls "modern-day Emmett Tills"—those who have been beaten, battered, silenced, and shortchanged by systems of power. Her firm recently took on a landmark reparative justice case representing over 1,000 plaintiffs in Palm Springs, California, seeking justice for Black and Latino families who were burned out of their homes in the 1960s by the city in what California's Attorney General described as a "city-engineered holocaust." As both a successful entrepreneur and social justice advocate, Areva embodies a new model of business leadership—one that proves you don't have to choose between building wealth and advancing justice. Through her law firm and her founding of the Special Needs Network (sparked by her son's autism diagnosis), she has created a blueprint for how female entrepreneurs can structure their companies to generate financial success while creating meaningful social impact. In this candid conversation, Areva shares the legal frameworks that every female founder should implement from day one, how to navigate the intersection of media attention and legal risk, and the strategic approaches that allow entrepreneurs to build generational wealth while staying true to their values and communities. Her insights offer both practical legal guidance and a powerful reminder that the most sustainable businesses are those rooted in purpose, community, and a commitment to justice that extends far beyond the bottom line. ### 1\. Civil Rights and Employment Discrimination Protection for Growing Companies **As a Harvard Law School graduate and California Super Lawyer who has been recognized as one of Los Angeles' premier African American female-owned law firm leaders, you've built a practice focused on civil rights, employment discrimination, and ADA compliance. For female entrepreneurs building diverse teams and inclusive workplaces, what are the essential civil rights protections they should implement from day one? How can founders create anti-discrimination policies and workplace cultures that protect both their businesses and employees, especially when dealing with issues around disability accommodation, harassment, and equal opportunity?** That’s a great and timely question — especially as more women, and particularly women of color, step into leadership roles and launch their own companies. From day one, founders should view civil rights and employment protections not as legal boxes to check, but as the foundation of a healthy, sustainable workplace culture. First, it’s essential to **build compliance into your infrastructure early**. That means developing clear, written policies that prohibit discrimination and harassment based on race, gender, disability, age, religion, or any other protected category. These policies should be communicated to all employees — not buried in an HR manual that no one reads — and reinforced through training and leadership modeling. Second, every business needs a **strong ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) framework**. That includes not just physical accommodations, but also flexibility in scheduling, remote work, and technology access for employees with disabilities. Founders should foster a culture where employees feel safe requesting accommodations without fear of retaliation or stigma. Third, **respond promptly and transparently to complaints**. Many small businesses get into legal trouble not because of the original incident, but because of how they handle it — or fail to handle it. Create a clear reporting structure, ensure confidentiality, and follow through on investigations with fairness and consistency. Finally, think beyond compliance. The most successful companies weave **equity and inclusion into their values and everyday operations** — from hiring practices to mentorship and promotion opportunities. When employees feel respected, heard, and supported, you not only reduce legal risk, you build loyalty, innovation, and trust.In short, protecting your business and your employees go hand in hand. Building a culture of respect, accountability, and access from the start isn’t just the right thing to do — it’s smart business. ### 2\. Media, Public Relations, and Legal Risk Management for High-Profile Entrepreneurs **With your extensive media experience as a CNN contributor, talk show host, and legal commentator on high-profile cases including #MeToo and police shooting cases, you understand the intersection of legal strategy and public perception. For female founders who may face public scrutiny or media attention, what legal considerations should they address when building their public presence? How can they protect themselves from defamation, manage crisis communications legally, and structure their businesses to handle potential media controversies while maintaining their reputational and legal integrity?** That’s an excellent question — and one that every founder, especially women in the public eye, should take seriously. In today’s media environment, perception often moves faster than fact, and a single headline can shape a brand overnight. For female founders, the key is to build a proactive legal and communications framework before a crisis ever hits. First, understand that your brand and your legal risk are intertwined. From day one, entrepreneurs should ensure their business entity — whether an LLC or corporation — is properly structured to separate personal and professional liability. This protects your personal assets if your company faces legal or reputational challenges. Second, invest in a defamation-aware media strategy. The best protection against misinformation is truth, documentation, and consistency. Avoid making public statements — especially on social media — that could be construed as defamatory or breach confidentiality agreements. When others make false claims about you or your business, consult legal counsel before responding publicly. Often, a carefully worded statement, a cease-and-desist letter, or even silence can be more strategic than engaging emotionally. Third, crisis communications should always align with legal strategy. Too often, businesses react from emotion or public pressure, creating liability in the process. Work with an attorney and a PR professional in tandem — not in silos — to ensure that every public message protects both your reputation and your legal standing. Finally, remember that the best crisis management is prevention. Develop clear internal policies around social media use, non-disclosure, and employee communications. Educate your team on how to handle media inquiries and what not to say online.As someone who’s worked on both sides — in the courtroom and in front of the camera — I always tell my clients: control your narrative before someone else does. Being transparent, prepared, and legally grounded allows you to not only survive public scrutiny but lead with confidence and integrity when the spotlight inevitably finds you. ### 3\. Building Generational Wealth While Advocating for Social Justice **You've successfully built Martin & Martin LLP into a premier law firm while also founding the Special Needs Network and advocating for systemic change through cases like the Palm Springs Section 14 reparative justice lawsuit. For female entrepreneurs who want to build profitable businesses while creating social impact, how can they structure their companies to generate wealth while maintaining their values? What legal structures and business strategies allow founders to pursue both financial success and meaningful advocacy work, and how can they protect their mission-driven initiatives legally and financially?** **1\. Choose the right legal and financial structure.** The first step is deciding what kind of entity aligns with both your mission and your goals. Traditional for-profit corporations can still advance social causes — but for some founders, a *benefit corporation (B-Corp)* or *social enterprise LLC* offers a better fit because it legally embeds social purpose into the company’s DNA. This ensures your mission survives leadership changes, investor pressure, and even ownership transitions. **2\. Separate, but align, your mission-driven and business arms.** Many successful entrepreneurs — myself included — create separate entities for their advocacy or nonprofit work. My law firm, Martin & Martin LLP, was instrumental in the early years of building the foundation for my nonprofit. The firm provided financial support, legal advice, and business consulting as the Special Needs Network began to take off. This model allowed me to pursue systemic change and community impact while maintaining a sustainable business. The key is to maintain proper boundaries, clear accounting, and transparent governance so that both entities strengthen — rather than complicate — each other. **3\. Build partnerships that align profit with purpose.** No one creates generational wealth alone. Partner with corporations, philanthropic organizations, and government agencies that share your values. Those collaborations can open doors to contracts, grants, and media exposure that advance both your financial and social impact goals. **4\. Protect your mission legally.** If you’re running a mission-driven business, your intellectual property — your brand, message, and programs — are among your most valuable assets. Trademark your brand, copyright your content, and use strong contracts that protect your ideas and values. Also, consider succession planning — create legal structures that ensure your mission lives beyond you. **5\. Think long-term and generationally.** True wealth-building isn’t just about money; it’s about ownership, legacy, and empowerment. Invest in assets — property, equity, intellectual property — that appreciate over time. And pass along both the financial and intellectual capital: teach the next generation about leadership, advocacy, and business so they can continue the work. Ultimately, the most powerful model of entrepreneurship is one rooted in purpose. When your business reflects your values and your community, profit becomes not just personal success, but a tool for collective progress. ### Navigating Contracts and Legal Risk: Practical Advice for Female Founders URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/law/navigating-contracts-and-legal-risk-practical-advice-for-female-founders/ Last updated: 2025-11-05T13:41:41.000Z Hi, I’m Emily Logan Stedman—a commercial litigator, AmLaw100 partner at [Husch Blackwell LLP](https://www.huschblackwell.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org), and advocate for practical, people-first lawyering. I spend my days helping business leaders prevent and resolve contract disputes, and I’m passionate about empowering founders with the knowledge to protect what they’re building from day one. Here are some of the most common questions I hear from entrepreneurs about contracts, litigation, and risk—and some thoughts\* for staying out of costly legal trouble: *I am not your attorney. Reading this Q&A does not create an attorney-client relationship and the article itself is not legal advice. These are general thoughts and should not be relied upon as a substitute for legal advice tailored to your specific circumstances. For advice about your business, please consult your own attorney, or reach out to me directly if you need an attorney.* **What are the most common contract mistakes you see entrepreneurs make that end up in litigation?** The top three mistakes are: 1. **Vague or missing terms.** Many contracts gloss over key details—payment, deadlines, deliverables, or what happens if things go wrong. 2. **Boilerplate overload.** Using generic templates or accepting “standard” terms without tailoring them to your actual business needs. 3. **Not addressing dispute resolution.** Failing to specify what happens if there’s a disagreement—where, how, and under what law it will be resolved. **What clauses should I always include in my contracts to protect my business?** At a minimum, make sure your contracts clearly address: - **Payment terms:** When and how you get paid, and what happens if payment is late. - **Termination rights:** How either party can end the contract, with clear notice periods and any penalties. - **Limitations on liability:** Caps on damages and clear indemnity language. - **Dispute resolution:** Where and how disputes will be handled (mediation, arbitration, court—and in which state). - **Confidentiality and IP ownership:** Make sure your business’s intellectual property stays yours. **What are red flags to watch for when reviewing a contract someone else drafted?** - **One-sided terms:** If everything favors the other party, push for more balance. - **Automatic renewals:** These can lock you in—mark renewal dates on your calendar and know how to opt out. - **Vague language:** If a term is unclear, ask for clarification or revision before signing. - **Missing timelines or deliverables:** If the “what, when, and how” aren’t clear, you’re at risk. **How can I reduce the risk of expensive contract litigation?** - Get everything in writing—no handshake or verbal deals. - Be clear and specific about expectations, deadlines, and remedies if something goes wrong. - Communicate early if issues arise—sometimes a simple conversation can prevent a costly dispute. - Invest in a strong contract upfront—prevention is always cheaper than litigation. **If a dispute does arise, what should I do first?** - Stay calm and document everything. - Review your contract—know your rights and obligations. - Communicate with the other party, if possible, to see if you can resolve things informally. - Consult a lawyer before taking any action. Early legal advice can often save time, money, and relationships. **What’s the real cost of contract litigation, and can it be avoided?** Litigation costs can quickly exceed the value of the contract itself—especially once you factor in legal fees, discovery (the exchange of information, and business disruption. Most disputes can be avoided or resolved early with clear contracts, good communication, and a willingness to negotiate. **Q7: What’s your top tip for a founder negotiating contracts for the first time?** Don’t be afraid to ask questions or push for terms that protect your business. Use a checklist for every contract (payment, termination, liability, dispute resolution, IP) and get legal advice before signing anything significant. Remember: you have leverage, even as a small business. **Conclusion** You don’t need to be a contracts expert to protect your business, but you do need to be proactive, ask questions, and prioritize clear, balanced contracts. Prevention is always less expensive than litigation, and some legal investment upfront can save you major headaches down the road. If you have specific questions or want to talk through a contract or risk scenario, feel free to reach out to me directly. I’m always happy to help founders build strong, resilient businesses. *This article is for educational and informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. For guidance tailored to your specific situation, you should consult an attorney.* ### From "You'll Go Nowhere" to Best-Selling Author: How Sarah Farmer Transformed Childhood Trauma and Workplace Toxicity into a Mission to Defeat Imposter Syndrome URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/women-who-lead/from-youll-go-nowhere-to-best-selling-author-how-sarah-farmer-transformed-childhood-trauma-and-workplace-toxicity-into-a-mission-to-defeat-imposter-syndrome/ Last updated: 2025-10-28T12:24:15.000Z When Sarah Farmer's headmaster told her at sixteen that she'd "go nowhere and become nothing," he probably didn't imagine she'd one day be helping C-suite executives and corporate CEOs overcome the very self-doubt his words helped instill. But that devastating moment, combined with years of feeling "different" and being treated poorly for it, became the foundation for both her deepest struggles and her greatest strengths. Sarah's journey from a seven-year-old who felt she didn't belong to a multi-award-winning executive coach and founder of [Bright & Brilliant](https://www.brightandbrilliant.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) Ltd. wasn't linear or easy. Despite earning a degree in Applied Chemistry and excelling in the pharmaceutical industry, that inner voice of doubt played loud throughout her career. Even professional success felt fragile, as if someone would eventually realize it was all a fluke. The breaking point came after she was made redundant following maternity leave and then found herself in what she describes as a "horribly toxic environment" that battered what little self-esteem she had left. That's when Sarah decided something had to change. She began counseling, started a journey of self-discovery that continues today, and eventually stepped out on her own to build something different. Today, Sarah specializes in helping leaders overcome imposter syndrome and develop what she calls "unshakeable self-belief." Her best-selling book "Leader Unleashed" was shortlisted for Leadership Book of the Year, and her SPARK online program offers an accessible path from imposter to empowered. Her client base spans from small business owners to c-suite execs overseeing hundreds of employees. But Sarah's approach to imposter syndrome challenges conventional wisdom. She doesn't believe it hits women harder than men; rather, she thinks women are simply more willing to talk about it while men hide it better. Her perspective is that imposter syndrome isn't a women's flaw to fix but a cultural and organizational issue requiring systemic change. In this conversation, Sarah shares how she rebuilt her confidence after devastating setbacks, why she pivoted her business model during COVID while raising two neurodivergent teenagers, and her belief that imposter syndrome is ultimately a choice. Her story reveals how our deepest wounds can become our greatest sources of strength when we're willing to do the hard work of healing and transformation. ### Q1: What was your experience with Imposter Syndrome and how has it shaped your career? My experience with Imposter Syndrome started early. I was seven when I first remember feeling “different” and being treated appallingly because of it. That sense of not belonging quietly took root. By sixteen, when my headmaster told me I’d “go nowhere and become nothing,” it cemented the belief that I was ‘bad’ & would never be enough. Even as I earned a degree in Applied Chemistry (which still blows my mind) and excelled in the pharmaceutical industry, that inner voice of doubt played loud. Every success felt fragile, as if someone would one day realise it was a fluke. Then, when I was made redundant after returning from maternity leave with my first born, those old fears really took hold. I went on to work in a horribly toxic environment that battered what little self-esteem I had left. That was my breaking point. I decided something had to change. I began counselling and started to truly understand myself — the start of a lifelong journey of self-discovery that I’m still on today. I took back control, rebuilt my confidence, and eventually after a few more skirmishes with the imposter monster, stepped out on my own. Now, I help others do the same; turning self-doubt into an unshakeable self-belief and proving that confidence isn’t something we’re born with; it’s something we can all learn to cultivate. ### Q2: What was the hardest part of building Bright & Brilliant to its current successful status? The hardest part of building Bright & Brilliant was staying strong when everything around me felt uncertain. I pivoted the business from leadership training to coaching during Covid while raising two neurodivergent teenagers facing significant mental-health challenges. At times, it was impossible to be both the parent and leader I wanted to be. At the start, I made plenty of mistakes investing in the wrong things for the wrong reasons, chasing other people’s definitions of success instead of my own. Finances grew tight, and I had to borrow to keep the business afloat. Those moments taught me what no MBA ever could: clarity, courage and having an inspiring ‘why’ matter more than any ‘quick fix’. Writing *Leader Unleashed* almost broke me. Balancing client work, self-development, family and self-doubt was relentless. But that experience forced me to dig deeper, to back myself, and to keep moving forward even when no one was watching. Bright & Brilliant was never built on ease or certainty. It was built on courage, determination, and a belief that in the toughest times, we can shine even more brightly. ### Q3: Why does Imposter Syndrome seem to hit women in the workplace harder than it does men? > “Women talk about it more. Men just hide it better.” *Sarah Farmer Executive Coach* I don’t believe Imposter Syndrome hits women harder — I think women are simply more willing to talk about it. Many men feel the same doubts but have been taught to mask them for fear of ridicule. That said, women do face conditions that *amplify* imposter-led beliefs. From an early age, girls are often socialised to please, to be modest, and to seek approval — lessons that can later clash with the assertiveness expected in leadership. In the workplace, women still shoulder most caring responsibilities. They’re underrepresented in senior roles or juggling parenting and leadership more than their male counterparts. They’re also more likely to have their competence questioned and to be judged on tone and likability rather than results. The higher they climb, the lonelier and more visible they become, which can magnify self-doubt even further. Imposter Syndrome isn’t a women’s flaw to fix; it’s a cultural and organisational issue. The solution lies in workplaces that normalise vulnerability and empathy, celebrate diverse leadership styles, and make belonging a shared responsibility, not another burden for women to carry. ### Q4: What are three takeaway pieces of advice you would offer female leaders to enable them to reach their full potential? The first thing I tell every leader I work with is this: ***Imposter Syndrome is a choice*.** It may be an unconscious choice right now, but you can choose whether to listen to it in the future. You can take control of it and shine. The first step is always **self-awareness**: noticing the stories you tell yourself, understanding your triggers, and recognising that your beliefs are not facts. Second, **reframe fear as fuel.** Courage isn’t the absence of fear; it’s taking action despite it. Every time you step forward when your instinct is to hold back, you rewire your brain for confidence. And finally, **lead with authenticity, not armour.** You don’t need to copy outdated leadership styles or hide behind perfection. The leaders who truly inspire are the ones who show humanity, empathy, and emotional intelligence. When you lead from who you are, not who you think you should be, you stop feeling like an imposter and start feeling unstoppable. *Learn more at* [***brightandbrilliant.com/spark-online***](https://www.brightandbrilliant.com/spark-online?ref=foundedbywomen.org) > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? Founded by Women is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. Get in touch with us today! > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### How a Silicon Valley–Trained Marketer Turned Publicist Is Reimagining the Creator Economy for Writers and Scholars URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/women-who-lead/how-a-silicon-valley-trained-marketer-turned-publicist-is-reimagining-the-creator-economy-for-writers-and-scholars/ Last updated: 2025-10-27T09:55:18.000Z Most 15-year-olds are worried about passing algebra, but Ellen Yang was launching her first digital marketing agency. By 17, she was named one of Boston's Top 25 Under 25\. After studying English and Linguistics at Stanford and cutting her teeth in Silicon Valley's creator economy, she could have easily continued building tech empires or scaling venture-backed startups. Instead, she founded [Punctuation PR](https://www.punctuation-pr.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org), a literary publicity agency that reads manuscripts, copyedits prose, and works deeply with each writer's ideas. In an industry racing toward AI-generated content and automated social media posts, Ellen chose the opposite path: treating authors like the original content creators they've always been. Her approach might seem counterintuitive in today's marketing landscape, but it's rooted in a sophisticated understanding of how language creates systems of meaning and power. At Stanford, Ellen studied how words persuade, organize, and build worlds. In Silicon Valley, she watched platforms like TikTok turn individuals into media ecosystems. Now, she's applying those same frameworks to help writers and thinkers navigate what she calls today's "fractured intellectual economy." Punctuation PR operates on a simple belief: great ideas deserve great audiences. But Ellen's method for connecting them is anything but simple. She serves on the Young Patrons Advisory Council for PEN America, writes about language and culture in her newsletter "New Material Girl," and has built a business model that's profitable from day one while staying intensely hands-on with every client. Her clients’ work spans from literary fiction to investigative journalism, from academic research to Substack newsletters. What unites all her clients is Ellen's conviction that visibility should feel like an extension of their values, not an erosion of them. She helps writers build what she calls "a public self sturdy enough to hold the private one." In this conversation, Ellen shares how she pivoted from tech marketing to literary publicity, why she rejected the content mill model that dominates modern marketing, and her philosophy for helping creative professionals build visibility without becoming performative content machines. --- ### Question 1: From Teen Entrepreneur to Literary Publicist **You launched your first digital marketing agency at 15 and were named one of Boston's Top 25 Under 25 by 17\. After studying English and Linguistics at Stanford and working with tech startups in Silicon Valley, you founded Punctuation PR for writers and thinkers. That's quite a pivot from tech marketing. What made you shift focus to literary publicity, and how does your background in linguistics and the early creator economy influence how you build authors' platforms today?** It might look like a pivot, but for me it’s really the same project: language. My entire career has been about understanding how words create systems of meaning and power, whether in literature, linguistics, or technology. At Stanford, I studied English and Linguistics because I wanted to investigate language as both an art and a science: how it persuades, organizes, and builds worlds. Marketing—and later, artificial intelligence, my primary industry before books—became applied forms of that same inquiry. Working in Silicon Valley, I saw firsthand how platforms like TikTok and Instagram turned individuals into their own media ecosystems. I helped companies and creators alike learn how to cultivate voice, community, and ownership, or, essentially, how to translate identity into influence. Over time, I realized that the same frameworks could transform how writers and thinkers navigate today’s fractured intellectual economy. Authors, journalists, and professors have always been the original content creators, yet they’re often left without the infrastructure or literacy to participate fully in the digital sphere. Punctuation PR is my answer to that gap, to the question of what’s missing. My company is an experiment in what happens when you apply the logic of the creator economy to the life of the mind. My background in discourse analysis and dialogue shapes everything I do: I’m interested in how language circulates, how ideas scale, and how meaning is built collaboratively between writers and their publics. In many ways, this company is my actual senior thesis from Stanford (which used the methods and theories of discourse analysis from sociolinguistics and applied it to the contemporary novel and its relationship to social media) turned outward: an attempt to make the mechanics of attention serve the progress of thought. ### Question 2: Rejecting the Content Mill Model **Most publicists today are cranking out AI content at scale or automating social media posts. But you're reading manuscripts, copyediting prose, and working deeply with each writer's ideas. That's the opposite of what's happening in marketing right now. How do you run a profitable business while staying this hands-on? And why does that matter for the writers you work with?** The great thing about running an agency is that you can be profitable from day one. Coming from Stanford and Silicon Valley, where the default mindset is venture-backed growth and years of runway before revenue, it’s refreshing and liberating to build something self-sustaining. Every client engagement at Punctuation PR is both impact and income in real time. The business scales through reputation, not paid acquisition, and that makes it both lean and resilient. But profitability isn’t the only metric. The deeper innovation is the model itself. Most modern marketing agencies and in-house teams now scale by automating output. I scale by compounding expertise and committing myself to trying something new everyday. Each project makes the next one smarter. Every time I read a manuscript, edit a Substack post, or co-develop a campaign, I’m building a library of intellectual, creative, and strategic frameworks that become adaptable across clients. If you can create a preorder campaign that results in a #1 Hot New Release on Amazon once, you can certainly do it twice. If you can book one show from a major podcast network, you can book another from that same network. That’s my version of R&D. Writers and academics don’t need content mills; they need creative infrastructure. My job is to give them that: systems for visibility, longevity, and voice. That’s why I stay hands-on: it’s how I build competitive differentiation in a space obsessed with speed. AI can generate content at scale, but it can’t build trust or context. Those are human technologies, and they’re the foundation of any sustainable creative economy. ### Question 3: Building a Public Self Without Losing Yourself **Through your newsletters, you write about how language shapes identity online—everything from TikTok punctuation trends to how writers navigate building public platforms. For female entrepreneurs and creative professionals trying to build visibility without becoming performative content machines, what's your actual advice? How do you help clients show up publicly while protecting what matters most about their work?** I think the key is to separate visibility from performance. A public presence isn’t about manufacturing an identity; it’s about sustaining one. That distinction is especially important for women, who are often told to be both authentic and palatable at once. It’s a paradox that can easily turn self-expression into self-surveillance. When I work with writers or founders, my advice is simple: create structures that let you show up consistently without eroding your inner life. Protect time for the work itself, and schedule time for the visibility work. Most people struggle not with strategy, but with implementation. Someone still has to send the pitch, write the caption, or follow up on the email. Someone has to source the contacts, manage the calendar, and organize everything into a spreadsheet. Publicists exist to shoulder that cognitive load so creative people can stay focused on the thinking that only they can do. If you don’t have a publicist, become your own. Treat visibility like any other creative discipline, one that rewards rhythm more than perfection. You don’t need to post every day, but you do need to stay in the conversation. Showing up consistently is how you build trust, and trust is the true metric of influence. I tell my clients that visibility should feel like an extension of their values, not an erosion of them. The goal isn’t to perform authenticity—it’s to build a public self sturdy enough to hold the private one. That philosophy is also the foundation of Punctuation PR. I built the company to give writers and thinkers the infrastructure to show up publicly without fracturing privately, to create systems that protect their focus and multiply their impact. Every client relationship is about creating a sustainable, economically and creatively viable model for authorship. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? Founded by Women is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. Get in touch with us today! > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### Sister Act: How Lina and Manar El Mugammar Turned Personal Hair Frustrations into Knotless, a Beauty-Tech Solution for the $10 Billion Textured Hair Market URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/women-who-lead/sister-act-how-lina-and-manar-el-mugammar-turned-personal-hair-frustrations-into-knotless-a-beauty-tech-solution-for-the-10-billion-textured-hair-market/ Last updated: 2025-10-24T08:43:52.000Z Every woman with textured hair knows the anxiety of a new salon appointment. The uncertainty of whether your stylist will understand your hair, the disappointment when they don't, and the exhausting cycle of searching for someone who truly gets it. For sisters Lina and Manar, this frustration became the foundation for something much bigger. Lina, an accomplished attorney with a background in fine arts and intellectual property law, had always loved her natural hair but dreaded the guessing game of finding stylists who could care for it properly. Meanwhile, Manar, a digital marketing strategist who started braiding hair at 14, could see this wasn't just a personal problem but a massive operational gap in an underserved industry. Their solution? Knotless, a beauty-tech marketplace that's tackling the $10 billion global textured hair market by creating the infrastructure of trust and accessibility that has long been missing. Based in Toronto, the platform goes beyond simple stylist booking to address the deeper cultural and systemic barriers that have left Black patrons feeling unseen in the beauty industry. What makes their story particularly compelling is how their different professional backgrounds complement each other. Lina brings the creative vision and legal framework needed to build something that lasts, while Manar contributes the digital strategy and community-building expertise essential for scaling a tech platform. But perhaps most importantly, they both bring the lived experience of navigating textured hair care in a system that wasn't built for them. Knotless isn't just about connecting clients with stylists. It's about creating a community space powered by technology, complete with filters for gender-affirming care, sensory-friendly environments, religious privacy, and disability access. The platform features verified stylist profiles, transparent reviews, and community-driven recommendations designed to bridge the digital trust gap that makes beauty services so personal. In this conversation, the sisters share how they turned family dynamics into a business strength, the challenges of building cultural authenticity into a scalable tech platform, and their advice for other women considering launching a business with their closest family members while serving a community they deeply care about. --- **1.** **What was the moment you realized that the frustration of finding trusted stylists for textured hair wasn’t just a personal problem but a systemic industry gap worth leveraging your established careers to solve?** **Lina:** It really started as a personal pain point. I’ve always loved my natural hair, but finding a stylist who could actually care for it and do it well—consistently—felt impossible. Every appointment was like rolling the dice. The more I talked to other women about it, the more I realized it wasn’t just my experience; it was systemic. There was no infrastructure of trust or accessibility for people with textured hair. Knotless was born out of that frustration, but also from a lot of love: love for our community, our culture, and the beauty of our hair when it’s properly cared for. **Manar**: I could also see how much of it came down to a lack of systems. My brain immediately went, “This isn’t a one-person problem: it’s an operational gap in a massive, underserved industry.” With my process background, I wanted to help turn what started as a personal pain point into a scalable, trusted system: one that gives stylists the tools they need to run successful businesses and gives clients peace of mind. **2\. How did your different professional backgrounds in law and digital marketing complement each other in building Knotless—not just as a marketplace, but as a beauty-tech company setting new professional standards?** **Manar:** Honestly, it’s been such a natural blend of who we are. My background is in digital marketing and business strategy. I started my very first “business” braiding hair at age 14\. So, when it came time to build Knotless, I understood both sides: the lived experience of trying to find and book the right stylist, and the business side of bringing this idea to life. For me, community-building and influencer partnerships are huge; those are the strategies that will really make Knotless stand out. It’s not just about connecting people to stylists but also about creating a trusted and vibrant community that celebrates Black beauty. **Lina:** My journey has always had this creative undercurrent. I actually studied fine arts before law, so I’ve always been drawn to the intersection of beauty, culture, and storytelling. Working in intellectual property law gave me a deep respect for structure, for protecting ideas and building things that last—but it also made me realize how creativity and culture can get boxed in by systems that aren’t built for us. With Knotless, I get to blend both sides of myself, the creative and the analytical. It’s an opportunity to design something that celebrates Black beauty in all its forms while still being built on strong, thoughtful foundations. I like to think of it as bringing artistry and advocacy into tech: building something beautiful that’s also built to last. **3\. Knotless is tackling a $10 billion global industry while solving a deeply personal problem. How do you balance building a scalable tech platform with keeping the experience culturally authentic for Black patrons? And what have been the biggest challenges in building trust between clients and stylists in a digital marketplace?** For us, scalability and cultural authenticity go hand in hand; you can’t have one without the other. Knotless was born from our lived experiences, so ensuring that Black patrons feel seen, respected, and celebrated isn’t an “add-on” but the literal foundation of the platform. On the tech side, we’re building with scale in mind, so we never lose sight of the details that matter: filters for gender-affirming care, sensory-friendly spaces, religious privacy, and disability access. Those are what make Knotless resonate culturally. The challenge isn’t just solving how to book better hair appointments; it’s also about belonging in an industry that hasn’t always prioritized textured hair. The biggest challenge has been trust. In beauty, trust is everything: it’s your crown, your identity. People want to know they’re in safe hands. To bridge that digital gap, we’ve built in transparency: verified stylist profiles, reviews, and community-driven recommendations. We also highlight stylists’ specialties so clients know they’re booking someone who gets their hair and their needs. It’s definitely a balancing act, but we see Knotless as more than a marketplace. It’s a community space powered by technology. And that balance is what makes it both scalable and deeply personal. **4.** **As sisters and co-founders, how has your relationship shaped the way you build Knotless—and how do you turn family dynamics into a strength in business?** Being sisters is honestly our superpower. We grew up navigating the same challenges around Black hair care, so there’s this built-in understanding of why Knotless matters. That shared experience keeps us grounded and aligned on the bigger picture, even when the day-to-day of running a startup gets intense. Of course, we don’t always agree. Case in point: when we were first brainstorming Knotless branding, Lina wanted fun and vibrant, and I was pushing for sleek and minimal. Let’s just say that debate lasted days, but it forced us to blend both perspectives and land on something stronger than either of us had imagined. That’s the magic of working with your sister: you can disagree passionately, then laugh about it five minutes later. Ultimately, what makes our dynamic work is that when you know someone has your back unconditionally, you can move faster, take bigger risks, and have the hard conversations without worrying about the foundation crumbling. That’s rare in business partnerships, and it’s something we don’t take for granted. **5.** **What advice would you give to other women—especially sisters or close friends—who are considering starting a business together about maintaining both a healthy partnership and a healthy personal relationship, while also building something that serves their community?** Our biggest advice is to treat the business relationship with as much care as you treat the personal one. When you’re building with a sister or a close friend, it’s easy to blur the lines. One minute you’re talking strategy, the next you’re debating what to order for dinner. That closeness is a strength, but it also means you need clear boundaries. For us, it comes down to communication and respect. We don’t assume we’re on the same page just because we’re family; we actually sit down, set expectations, and talk things through like any other co-founders would. And when we disagree (because we definitely do!), we try to approach it with curiosity rather than defensiveness. The other piece is remembering that your relationship is bigger than the business. Sometimes that means carving out time to just be sisters and laugh about something unrelated to Knotless. That balance keeps things joyful, and joy is fuel when you’re serving a community you care about. Lastly, be clear on your shared values. Our north stars are community, inclusivity, and exceptional hair care. When we hit tough moments, we come back to those values, and it helps us move forward without losing sight of why we started in the first place. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? Founded by Women is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. Get in touch with us today! > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### From Brooklyn Backyard to Cultural Movement: How Lovaeta K. Amoako Built LOCnificent Fest to Celebrate Black Hair and Joy URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/all/from-brooklyn-backyard-to-cultural-movement-how-lovaeta-k-amoako-built-locnificent-fest-to-celebrate-black-hair-and-joy/ Last updated: 2025-10-24T06:30:28.000Z LOCnificent Fest is produced by Culture Unloc’d, a Brooklyn-based cultural events organization centered on black joy, diaspora identity, and community. Founded by Lovaeta K. Amoako, whose personal journey with locs began in 2010, the festival expresses her vision to create space where natural hair is not merely accepted—but celebrated. **What inspired you to found Culture Unloc’d and LOCnificent Fest, and what were the main challenges you faced?** I founded Culture Unloc’d and LOCnificent Fest out of a desire to celebrate locs, natural hair, and Black culture in a way that felt authentic, elevated, and community-driven. I wanted to create vibrant, **high-energy** spaces that honor our beauty and creativity while connecting people across the African diaspora through joy, storytelling, and shared experience. LOCnificent Fest began in a Brooklyn backyard in 2018 and has evolved into a two-day festival and cultural movement that amplifies the voices, businesses, and artistry of our community.The biggest challenges have been access to funding and resources. Producing large-scale cultural events independently requires wearing many hats—creative director, operations lead, marketer, and fundraiser all at once. Balancing the vision with the realities of budget, capacity, and sustainability has been a constant learning curve, but also an incredible journey in resilience and innovation. **Did you start the venture alone?** Yes, I started the venture on my own—driven by passion and purpose—but it has never been a solo effort. Over time, I’ve built a network of interns, volunteers, creative collaborators, and community partners who share the mission of celebrating **locs, natural hair, and culture** unapologetically. Every event is a reflection of that collective energy. **What's your business model, and how have you grown your revenue** Culture Unloc’d operates as a creative and cultural production studio that curates experiences, partnerships, and branded activations rooted in community impact. Our revenue streams include event ticketing, vendor fees, merchandise, sponsorships, and creative collaborations with brands that align with our values—such as **Taliah Waajid** and **Locsanity**. Growth has come through consistency, authenticity, and relationships. Each year we refine our model, expand partnerships, and explore new ways to merge culture with commerce—whether through award programs, content collaborations, or curated brand activations that drive both visibility and value. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? Founded by Women is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. Get in touch with us today! > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### From Poetry Circle to Platform: How Araceli Esparza Transformed Storytelling into Economic Liberation for Women of Color URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/women-who-lead/from-poetry-circle-to-platform-how-araceli-esparza-transformed-storytelling-into-economic-liberation-for-women-of-color/ Last updated: 2025-11-12T02:28:42.000Z Araceli Esparza's journey from a high school poetry circle to becoming one of Wisconsin's Most Influential Latinas wasn't linear, but it was inevitable. Growing up with migrant farmer roots, she learned early that storytelling isn't just art—it's survival, connection, and a way to carve new paths for those who follow. What started as a passion for poetry evolved into something much more powerful: a recognition that the stories of Black and Latina women, particularly those over 40 who face compounding barriers, held untapped potential for both healing and economic empowerment. When Wisconsin Public Radio offered to feature her informal group of creators and activists in a six-part series, Araceli witnessed firsthand how sharing authentic stories could transform not just art, but livelihoods. Today, as the founder and Executive Director of [Midwest Mujeres Inc.](https://www.midwestmujeres.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org), a Pushcart-nominated poet, and author of the upcoming book "[*Healing from Racial Discrimination: ¿Ahora Qué? Now, What?*](https://a.co/d/7iTut01?ref=foundedbywomen.org)", Araceli has built a movement that goes far beyond traditional storytelling workshops. Her nonprofit focuses on women who are often overlooked—low-income, single parents, those without college degrees, and the formerly incarcerated—teaching them to leverage their voices for credibility and income generation. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2025/10/Untitled-design_Original.jpeg) Balancing roles as a consultant, DEI certified professional, City of Madison Equal Opportunities Commissioner, and creative practitioner, Araceli has spent over a decade helping organizations build authentic bridges with communities while maintaining her own artistic practice. Her approach is rooted in a simple but revolutionary belief: when women of color own their narratives, they don't just heal—they thrive economically. In this conversation, Araceli shares how she learned to price her worth from the beginning, why she walks away from clients seeking diversity optics over real change, and how her family's courageous stories continue to fuel a mission that transforms ordinary life into extraordinary opportunity. --- **Q1\. You started as a poet in high school, joining a poetry circle made up of only women of color, which you’ve called a pivotal experience. After earning your MFA from Hamline University and being named Wisconsin’s Most Influential Latina in 2018, you founded Midwest Mujeres, a podcast and movement that teaches women how to free their voices, money, and speaking opportunities. What made you realize that your gift for poetry and storytelling could become a platform to help Black and Brown women gain credibility and create new streams of income? How did growing up with migrant farmer roots shape your mission?** I love hyping up ordinary life. As a social worker, I witness many courageous stories of individuals living humbly, yet they were wealthy in social capital, innovation, and grit in the face of numerous complex challenges. I worked my way into development and marketing in the nonprofit field. During the pandemic—and after major job loss—I pivoted and formed Midwest Mujeres, and an opportunity came that rarely comes for women like us: Wisconsin Public Radio’s Wisconsin Life offered to do a six-part series on our group. At the time, we weren’t formally an organization. We were simply a group of creators, activists, leaders, bloggers, and website developers curious about how to grow our impact on social media. For Black and Latina women, visibility in a positive and authentic way in local and state media is rare. Through that project, we told stories of women who had lost friends, babies, and businesses—but also found purpose again through storytelling. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2025/10/F44A2839--2-.jpeg) One woman who ran a cleaning business shared her story on that program. After her episode aired, she took new headshots, doubled her business, and began confidently marketing herself on LinkedIn. Her leap inspired me. It showed how sharing our stories can transform not only our art but our livelihoods. That’s when I knew that teaching storytelling was key to people’s success. My migrant roots taught me that courage is generational. My family’s stories—like that of my great aunt, who came to Wisconsin in 1974—of walking in the snow from one farm to the next, or crossing countries without knowing the language, remind me that storytelling is our inheritance. It’s how we survive, connect, and celebrate the new paths we create for those who will follow. --- **Q2\. You wear many hats: consultant, workshop facilitator, DEI certified professional, author of the upcoming book Healing from Racial Discrimination: ¿Ahora Qué? Now, What?, City of Madison Equal Opportunities Commissioner, and founder of Midwest Mujeres. How do you balance all these roles while maintaining your own creative practice as a poet, and what’s been the biggest challenge in building a sustainable consulting business focused on healing after workplace discrimination?** I balance it through structure and sacred pauses. I use multiple mediums for quick reflections, jot notes by hand, voice memos, task apps, and a great Team who support the work I do—supporting the people that I want to work for! And of course, I keep dry-erase boards in both my home and office. Writing, for me, is physical—it’s a ritual. I also take self-imposed retreats where I disconnect completely, so I can be quiet, still, and enjoyable to be around again. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2025/10/IMG_7617_Original.jpeg) The biggest challenge has been internal—recognizing that my work is valuable. For years, I struggled to believe that healing-centered consulting, especially when rooted in art and storytelling, could be sustainable. I had to learn to walk into rooms knowing that my work holds value—that I am magical, that my gifts make a difference, and that people love to support other people’s transformational journeys. That’s why we generate supporters and members—for the betterment of our nonprofit and the community we focus on: Black and Latina women over 40 who are low-income, who didn’t go to college, who are single parents, and or who have been previously incarcerated. Building Midwest Mujeres has been about embodying the belief that our stories matter. We don’t provide direct services—we provide transformational experiences that change how women see themselves. That, to me, is sustainable impact. --- **Q3\. You’ve spent over 10 years providing diversity and inclusion training, anti-bias training for direct service providers, and outreach strategy assessments for nonprofits and corporate entities. You help organizations build authentic bridges with donors and audiences. As a Chicana woman building a consulting practice in the Midwest, what advice would you give to other women of color about pricing DEI work appropriately, positioning yourself as an expert when your lived experience is often questioned, and knowing when to walk away from organizations that want the optics of diversity work without committing to real change?** Start with pricing your worth from the very beginning—even before you have a full business plan. Include your time for research, developing curriculum, and pitching. Someone once told me, “Price your work as if you’re a white man driving a BMW.” It was meant as humor, but it carried truth. When we raise our rates, we raise the bar for everyone who comes after us. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2025/10/FA080872-DB4D-4B0D-882B-B1523F7D5781.JPG) Create a circle of trusted peers—women and men—who can give you honest feedback. And above all, get an accountant, a bookkeeper you can trust, who will teach you about the numbers. Use anonymous surveys to learn what clients truly think and collect your own data. Research and quantitative data builds credibility. And most importantly, trust your instincts. If a client or organization is more interested in optics than in real change, you will feel it in your bones. Listen to that. Not all money is good money. Even when a contract has a lot of zeros, if it compromises your peace, it’s not worth it. The inner story supports the outer story—and that’s exactly where transformation begins. When your inner story is strong, you don’t chase validation; you attract alignment. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? Founded by Women is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. Get in touch with us today! > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### Meet Talia Wolf: The CRO Pioneer Transforming Marketing Through Emotional Targeting URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/women-who-lead/meet-talia-wolf-the-cro-pioneer-transforming-marketing-through-emotional-targeting/ Last updated: 2025-10-23T10:23:54.000Z When Talia Wolf quit her job at six months pregnant to launch her first online course, she had what she calls a "jaw-dropping moment" of realization: she would never work for anyone else again. That leap of faith during one of life's most vulnerable times wasn't just about escaping an unhappy work situation. It was the beginning of a mission that would revolutionize how businesses think about conversion optimization. Today, Talia is the founder and CEO of [GetUplift](https://getuplift.co/?ref=foundedbywomen.org), a conversion rate optimization agency that has helped brands like Bitly, Amplitude, Sirva, Mercedes and Dario Health achieve dramatic results by moving beyond traditional tactics like changing button colors and headlines. Instead, she's pioneered the Emotional Targeting Framework, a customer-centric approach that digs into the psychology behind why people actually buy. Her journey to CRO expertise began in a social media agency, where she was more interested in leads and revenue than likes and comments. After becoming Marketing Director at Monday.com and co-founding the successful agency Conversioner, Talia realized that conventional optimization methods were fundamentally flawed. The "best practices" everyone followed weren't working because they missed the most crucial element: human emotion. With GetUplift, Talia has created something different. Her three-step process of meaningful research, emotional audits, and strategic testing has generated measurable revenue impact for clients by answering the fundamental question most marketers never ask: "Why do people even buy this?" Her expertise has taken her to stages at Google, MozCon, and hundreds of other conferences, earning recognition as one of the most influential voices in conversion optimization. But perhaps most importantly, Talia has redefined what success looks like as both a mother and CEO. Her journey from tying self-worth to career achievements to building a business that supports her life rather than consuming it offers valuable insights for any entrepreneur trying to balance ambitious professional goals with personal fulfillment. In this candid conversation, Talia shares the courage it took to make major life changes during pregnancy, how she discovered that emotions drive every purchasing decision, and her approach to building a sustainable business that allows her to step back while maintaining the high-level results clients expect. --- ### Question 1: The Pregnant Entrepreneur's Leap of Faith **You've shared the "jaw-dropping moment" when you were six months pregnant and pushed past imposter syndrome to quit your job, launch your first online course, and realize you'd never work for anyone else again. What gave you the courage to make such a major career leap during pregnancy, and how did that experience shape your approach to building GetUplift?** Great questions, honestly I think what gave me the courage is knowing that life was fundamentally going to change once I have my first kid and that I really don't know what will happen next, I knew that I was unhappy at my current job and that I needed to change it. So it felt like the most logical jump to make. I wanted to do something that I love and enjoy, I wanted to continue the work I'd been doing for years for brands and expand into helping entrepreneurs and founders too. I built Getuplift to do exactly that - continue to help brands with my Emotional Targeting framework and create content, courses and workshops that help founders do it themselves. As a founder to, then a small company, I really wanted to make sure I was creating a space of connection and support. ### Question 2: Revolutionizing CRO Through Emotional Targeting **You moved beyond traditional conversion optimization (changing button colors, headlines) to create the Emotional Targeting Framework, helping clients like Mercedes achieve dramatic results. What led you to realize that emotions, not just mechanics, drive conversions? How do you help businesses get into their customers' heads in a way that generates measurable revenue impact?** I built this framework because of the repeated failure I had with conventional methods. The more I tried to follow best practices, reverse engineer what my client's competitors were doing, and follow the generic advice that was out there, the less results I got for our clients. That's when I went back to my bat cave and flipped the scrip on its head. Instead of finding a page in the funnel that was leaking conversions and then asking - what changes can I make to improve it, I started with a different fundamental question - WHY DO PEOPLE EVEN BUY THIS? My "lightbulb" moment as you say was the realization that if I want to increase conversions, I need to understand how people make decisions, because every conversion is a decision. When someone buys or signs up or starts a free trial with my clients, they made a decision and what I really need to understand is how that decision was made. Once I understand the decision-making process, I can optimize my clients websites, email marketing, content, articles and all their outputs and provide their prospects with the information they care about most and need in order to feel confident in their decision and choose them. The process is based on 3 steps: Meaningful research, Emotional audit, and meaningful testing. Research is the core of everything we do in our agency. We go beyond traditional data collection that's focused on *what* customers do (metrics and demographics), and in addition focuses on *why* they do it (emotions, fears, and motivations), which are the true drivers of purchasing decisions. It helps us uncover what their audience truly feels — and what they *want* to feel, before, during, and after engaging with a brand. The process helps us understand their customers’ emotional motivations and then optimize their messaging, design, and strategy to reflect those feelings and increase conversions. Once we're fulled with meaningful insights about our client's customers we can then audit their website, emails and the content they created from a strategic stand-point to easily identify WHY people aren't converting and come up with hypotheses we can test and truly learn from. Lastly we run meaningful tests based on our research and audit that are designed to help increase conversions AND inform the entire marketing team. ### Question 3: Redefining Success as a Mother and CEO **You've openly discussed how your self-worth was initially tied to your career and how becoming a mother challenged your identity. Now you're focused on creating a business that supports your life rather than the other way around. How are you building GetUplift to allow you to step back while maintaining the high-level results your clients expect? What advice would you give to female founders about redefining success on their own terms?** For me, the biggest shift came when I accepted that it will never be *perfect,* and that’s okay. Some days I manage to find balance; other days I don’t. Things constantly change and evolve... and so do I. Unfortunately there’s no magic formula for running a business and raising a family... just ongoing adjusting, learning, and forgiving myself along the way. I have days when I worry I’m not working enough and others when I feel I’m working too much. My advice - remind yourself you're doing your absolute best, and that's what really matters. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? Founded by Women is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. Get in touch with us today! > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### From College Side Hustle to National Success: Adrienne Burgos on Growing CEA Staffing Without Losing Its Soul URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/women-who-lead/from-college-side-hustle-to-national-success-adrienne-burgos-on-growing-cea-staffing-without-losing-its-soul/ Last updated: 2025-10-23T04:18:58.000Z When Adrienne Burgos was working as a brand ambassador in college to make ends meet, she loved the energy and excitement of bringing brands to life at events. But she also saw something troubling: a disconnect between what brands expected and what they were actually getting from staffing agencies. Communication was poor, payments were late, and the people doing the frontline work were often treated as expendable rather than valuable. At 24, Adrienne decided to do something about it. Armed with five years of industry experience, a MacBook, and an entrepreneurial spirit that had been brewing since childhood, she launched [CEA Staffing](https://ceastaffing.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) in 2008\. Her mission was simple but revolutionary: create an experiential staffing agency that treated brand ambassadors as valued professionals while delivering the quality and consistency that brands desperately needed. Now, over 15 years later, CEA Staffing has become a respected nationwide agency working with major brands like Coca-Cola, Adidas, and Heineken. Based in Chicago, the company has grown from Adrienne's solo venture into a team that provides everything from brand ambassadors and trade show staff to event managers and promotional experts across the country. But Adrienne's journey hasn't just been about scaling a business. As a proud single mother and entrepreneur who got involved with organizations like the Young Entrepreneurs Association and took courses with the Illinois Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, she's had to balance the demands of growing a company with raising a family and maintaining the personal connections that set CEA apart from larger, more impersonal agencies. In this conversation, Adrienne shares how she's navigated the challenges of scaling while protecting company culture, why she believes human connection will always trump technology in experiential marketing, and how she's preparing CEA for an AI-driven future without losing the authentic, people-first approach that built her business. --- ### Question 1: Scaling Giants and Building Bridges **You started CEA Staffing at just 24 years old after working as a brand ambassador in college and gaining five years of industry experience. What were the biggest challenges you encountered when scaling CEA from a solo operation to a nationwide experiential staffing agency serving major clients like Coca-Cola, Adidas, and Heineken? How did those early experiences working in the field inform your decision to launch CEA, and what gaps did you identify in the experiential marketing and event staffing landscape that only someone who had worked both sides could truly address?** When I first started CEA Staffing, I had already seen the challenges brands and agencies faced when it came to finding reliable, passionate, and professional event staff. During my early years working in the field, I noticed a huge gap between what brands expected and what they were actually getting in terms of talent engagement, consistency, and accountability. There were incredible people out there, energetic, driven, and ready to represent brands, but the systems in place weren’t setting them up for success. As CEA began to grow, one of the biggest challenges was scaling while protecting quality and culture. We were expanding nationwide, hiring hundreds of people, and supporting major clients, but I never wanted to lose the personal connection that made us different. I learned quickly that growth doesn’t just mean hiring more people; it means investing in the right people, building strong communication systems, and creating a culture of respect, opportunity, and pride. Those experiences inspired the very foundation of CEA. I wanted to build an agency that treated brand ambassadors as valued professionals, not just gig workers, and that built bridges between brands and people. Today, our focus on training, compliance, and community sets us apart. We’ve created a platform where both brands and ambassadors can grow together, and that’s something only someone who’s lived and worked inside this industry could truly design. ### Question 2: Motherhood, Leadership, and Industry Evolution **As a mother of one 10-year-old and a business owner in the demanding experiential marketing industry, you're navigating the unique challenges many working parents face in event-driven sectors. How has motherhood influenced your approach to staffing and the way you've built CEA's culture? What changes would you like to see in the experiential marketing and event staffing industries to better support working parents, and how are you advocating for these through your involvement with organizations like the Young Entrepreneurs Association and your work with the Illinois Hispanic Chamber of Commerce?** Motherhood has completely transformed how I lead and how I’ve built CEA Staffing’s culture. Being a mom has made me more compassionate, patient, and understanding, not just with my team, but with myself. It’s also made me a stronger leader. When you’re raising a child, you learn quickly that flexibility, problem-solving, and grace under pressure aren’t optional, they’re part of daily life. I carry those same lessons into my business. I see the people who work with me and value them. I know many of them are balancing families, side passions, and personal goals just like I am. I’ve worked hard to create a culture where that’s not only respected but supported. We encourage flexibility when our teams are deciding what events to work. Choosing those that fit best with their life and schedules. We recognize that happy, balanced people perform better and bring more heart to their work. I’d love to see the events industry evolve to truly support working parents in ways that reflect the realities of our lives. Through CEA Staffing, I’ve been advocating for this by how I run my business, by creating flexible opportunities for working parents, who want to stay connected to the workforce without sacrificing family time. Many of our brand ambassadors and team leads are parents, and I’m proud that our structure allows them to choose when and how much they work, while still feeling part of something bigger. For me, motherhood isn’t something separate from my leadership, it’s the foundation of it. It reminds me every day why I built my business, to create opportunity, community, and flexibility for people who deserve to have both a career and a life they love. ### Question 3: The Future of Creative Talent in AI Era **The experiential marketing and event staffing industries are experiencing rapid technological shifts with AI and digital tools changing how brands connect with consumers. As someone who's been deeply embedded in experiential marketing for over 15 years, how are you preparing both brands and talent for this evolution? What advice do you give to brand ambassadors and event staff who are concerned about AI's impact on their careers, and how is CEA Staffing adapting its recruitment and training strategies for this new landscape while maintaining the human connection that's at the heart of experiential marketing?** The evolution of AI and technology is transforming every creative industry, and experiential marketing is no exception. I see AI as an incredible tool, not a replacement. It’s helping us analyze engagement data faster, match talent more efficiently, and personalize campaigns in ways that were impossible before. But what it can’t replace is human connection, the energy, emotion, and authenticity that brand ambassadors bring when they’re face-to-face with consumers. At CEA, we’re preparing for this shift by embracing AI in smart ways, using it to streamline staffing logistics, improve client reporting, and enhance training, while doubling down on the human side of what we do. Our goal is to help ambassadors use technology to their advantage by learning about the brand they work for in more creative ways, book out their schedules in more efficient ways, and streamlining communication before, during and after, events. When ambassadors worry about AI replacing jobs, I remind them that technology can amplify their value if they stay curious, adaptable, and people focused. Human connection will always be at the heart of marketing. At CEA, we’re not just adapting, we’re shaping what the next era of experiential staffing looks like, powered by data, driven by creativity, and rooted in people. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? Founded by Women is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. Get in touch with us today! > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### From Dinner Table Conversations to National Impact: How Katie Test Davis Built a PR Empire for Organizations That Love Kids URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/women-who-lead/from-dinner-table-conversations-to-national-impact-how-katie-test-davis-built-a-pr-empire-for-organizations-that-love-kids/ Last updated: 2025-10-21T03:03:46.000Z When Katie Test Davis moved from Washington, D.C. to Raleigh in 2019, she thought she might take another traditional in-house communications role. Instead, her phone started ringing a lot. Former colleagues and new contacts across North Carolina were calling with projects, seeking the expertise of someone who had spent two decades mastering the art of advocacy communications for children and families. What happened next wasn't just a career pivot. It was the birth of something much bigger. Today, Katie is the founder of [Forthright Advising](https://www.forthrightadvising.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org), a national PR and communications firm that works exclusively with organizations that love kids. As a member of the 2021 Forbes Next 1000 class, she leads an all-remote team with more than 115 years of combined experience, serving clients from nonprofits and foundations to innovative public school districts across the country. But this success story starts much earlier, around a dinner table in Charlotte. That’s where two UNC special education professors – Katie’s parents – raised their daughter with conversations about equity, advocacy, and doing what's right for kids. That foundation would eventually guide Katie through 20 years working in-house at public school districts, family-focused nonprofits like ASCD and Children's Law Center, and PR agencies, before she took the leap to build something entirely her own. In this candid conversation, Katie shares the pivotal moments that led her to turn freelance calls into a thriving agency, the challenges of scaling while staying true to mission-driven values, and her hard-won advice for other women building specialized firms in spaces where business strategy meets emotional labor. Her philosophy is simple but powerful: winning results come from "data-driven best practices plus a whole lot of empathy." And as you'll see, that combination has proven to be the secret sauce for creating lasting change for organizations and the children that they serve. ### **Q: What made you decide to turn those freelance calls into Forthright Advising instead of taking another traditional in-house role?** Honestly, the answer is pretty simple: the community I was serving wanted more, and I knew I had the specific skills to help. When I moved from DC to Raleigh back in 2019, I thought I might take a traditional in-house role. But then the phone started ringing. A lot. It was former colleagues from DC and new contacts in Raleigh and across North Carolina. It became clear there was a huge gap in the market. So many brilliant, passionate child-and-family advocates were doing world-changing work for kids, but they struggled to communicate their impact. They needed a partner who not only understood the nuances of their work but could translate it into powerful, effective communications. I realized I couldn't possibly say no to all the incredible opportunities to make an impact alongside amazing organizations. More importantly, I saw a path to make a bigger difference. My sweet spot has always been two things: - Making the complicated simple. I love diving into complex, wonky topics—education policy, child welfare reform, you name it—and building a brand messaging strategy that is compelling and easy for anyone to understand. It's about finding the human story in the data. - Creating an audience-centric plan. I’m a fierce believer that if you’re talking to everyone, you’re talking to no one. My entire approach to strategic communications planning is built on defining clear goals and identifying the specific audiences you need to reach to make change happen. This allows us to create targeted marketing strategies and advocacy campaigns that actually move the needle. In a traditional in-house role, I could help one organization. But by launching Forthright Advising, I could build a team to support dozens of them. Today, I live in NYC, and our team at Forthright serves clients all across the country. It was my chance to scale the impact and walk alongside so many leaders who share my values. Turning those freelance calls into an agency was a calling I couldn't ignore. ### **Q: How did your upbringing shape your decision to work exclusively with organizations that love kids?** I grew up at a dinner table where conversations about doing what was right for kids were the main course. My parents were both special education professors at UNC-Charlotte, so fighting for kids and families to have what they need is just… part of my DNA. It’s what drove my 20 years working in-house at amazing public school districts and nonprofits. I tried my hand at doing PR for different topics, but I kept coming back to wanting to support children and families. ### **Q: You're a member of the 2021 Forbes Next 1000 class, and you've built an all-remote team with more than 115 years of combined experience serving clients across the country. How did you transition from being known as a powerhouse communications strategist yourself to building a firm where you're managing senior leaders and empowering a team to deliver results?** I’ve always been just as passionate about leading teams as I have been about communications strategy. For me, they go hand-in-hand. I was lucky enough to get my first taste of leadership early. I was promoted to lead the communications department at ASCD in my mid-twenties, and I was hooked. I learned so much about how to build and empower a team of brilliant people to do their best work. I absolutely loved it. When I started Forthright, I knew from day one that my vision was always bigger than just my own work. I wanted to build a truly great place to work, full of smart, kind, and passionate people who could make a massive impact on our communities. The transition from doing the work myself to leading the team that does the work felt really natural. My job now is to hire amazing leaders and then get out of their way so they can deliver incredible results for our clients. It's a shift from being the powerhouse to building a whole house full of power. This team approach is what allows us to offer such comprehensive support to the organizations we love: - It means our nonprofit marketing isn't just one person's good idea, but a strategy built from the collective expertise of our entire team. - It lets us develop a truly collaborative communications strategy for our clients, where we can pressure-test every idea to make sure it's the right one. - Our nonprofit communications planning is stronger because it’s built by a team of specialists who know the sector inside and out. We're a whole brain trust of teammates who have worked in-house, in government, and in school districts. We get it. - When it comes to campaign management, having a full team means we can be nimble, responsive, and execute complex plans flawlessly. - And our approach to branding is all about teamwork—we bring together different perspectives to create brands that are authentic, powerful, and truly connect with the right audiences. ### **Q: What's been the hardest part about scaling while maintaining your values-driven approach?** The hardest part isn’t the temptation to compromise our values—that’s a non-starter for us. The hardest part is the discipline it takes to say “no” to good opportunities so we can say “heck yes” to the right ones. From the very beginning, I was crystal clear about who we would serve: child and family-focused nonprofits, foundations, associations, government agencies and public school districts. That’s it. That’s our entire list. And as we’ve grown, we’ve had amazing opportunities to work with organizations outside of that mission. It can be tough to turn down interesting, well-funded projects. But protecting our focus is everything. Why? Because our values-driven approach is also our competitive advantage. We have become true experts in marketing and PR for family-focused organizations. We live and breathe this work, which means we bring a level of understanding that a generalist firm simply can’t. This deep expertise is what allows us to excel at: - Developing public relations campaigns for nonprofits that need to reach busy parents, overworked educators, and distracted policymakers with messages that cut through the noise. - Crafting authentic storytelling for child advocacy groups that honors the lived experiences of families and inspires real action. - Building effective community engagement strategies for school districts that foster trust and collaboration between families and their schools. - Creating compelling brand messaging for foundations that powerfully communicates their impact on children and families. Scaling means being fiercely protective of our team's energy and expertise. If we diluted our focus, we couldn't deliver the best-in-class work that our partners deserve. That discipline is exactly why we've been able to scale successfully. It ensures we remain the go-to partner for leaders who are fighting for kids. ### **Q: Your philosophy is that winning results come from "data-driven best practices plus a whole lot of empathy," and you've said that Forthright clients "don't settle for the way things have always been done."** ### **As a female founder building a niche PR firm that only works with child and family-focused organizations, what advice would you give to other women about the decision to specialize versus staying generalist, saying no to clients who don't align with your mission, and pricing services confidently when your work involves both strategic communications and the emotional labor of advocating for vulnerable populations?** My advice for other women building a business in this space boils down to three things. **1\. Niche Down. Immediately.** The single best decision I ever made was to specialize. Being a generalist is a trap. It feels safer because you think you have a wider net, but you end up being a master of none. When you focus, you become an undeniable expert. Because we are laser-focused on the child and family sector, our strategic communications planning is just better. We’re not guessing what messages will resonate with parents, educators, or lawmakers. We know. This expertise is particularly critical when you're doing PR for foundations that need to communicate complex grantmaking strategies or when you’re deep in communication planning for nonprofits where every dollar and every minute has to count. Being a specialist is your superpower. Use it. **2\. "No" is a Complete (and Highly Important) Sentence.** In the beginning, you’ll be tempted to take any client that comes with a budget. Don’t. Every time you say "yes" to a client who doesn't align with your mission, you are stealing time and energy from the clients you were born to serve. Or from building the business. Saying "no" is clear, and clarity is kindness (shout out Brené Brown). It’s about protecting your team's passion and preventing mission drift. We turn down good work all the time because it’s not the *right* work for us. That focus is what keeps us sharp and ensures we deliver exceptional results for the partners who share our vision. **3\. Price Your Worth.** Advocating alongside our community members is specialized expertise in high-stakes advocacy. And you need to price it accordingly. Your clients aren't just paying for a communications plan. They are paying for your ability to navigate incredibly sensitive issues with grace, to tell stories that honor people's dignity, and to build campaigns that can withstand public scrutiny. The impact of your strategic communications planning is measured in policy changes, in families getting the resources they need, and in children having a brighter future. Price the outcome. Never, ever discount the immense value of doing this work with your whole heart. It's your greatest asset. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? Founded by Women is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. Get in touch with us today! > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### The Woman Who Brought Elevated Marketing to 'Urban' Artists URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/women-who-lead/the-woman-who-brought-elevated-marketing-to-urban-artists/ Last updated: 2025-10-17T04:31:25.000Z For nearly two decades, Anastasia Wright has been rewriting the rules of music marketing—not by climbing corporate ladders, but by building her own. As the founder and principal owner of [Imperial Marketing Group](https://www.theimgway.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org), a cultural programming, creative, and marketing company centered around supporting underrepresented creative voices globally, she's created the kind of agency she wished existed when she started out: Black woman-owned, inclusive by design, and unapologetically excellent. Starting Imperial Marketing Group while still a senior in college, Anastasia hustled her way from free projects at labels like Def Jam to working with A-list talent & companies from Janet Jackson, to Sony Music and Soho House & Co.. But her client roster isn't what makes her story remarkable—it's her refusal to compromise on her vision. She's built a company that brings the same elevated marketing approach to emerging artists of color that major labels reserve for mainstream acts, proving that representation isn't just good ethics; it's good business. Known for her "unyielding tenacity" and being "highly allergic to BS," Anastasia walks the walk in an industry full of talkers. Her approach is refreshingly straightforward: do the work, know your stuff, let results speak for themselves. She's expanded beyond music into hospitality and lifestyle marketing, but her mission remains the same—creating authentic, fruitful, long-term relationships between artists, fans, industry, and brand partners. In this conversation, Anastasia shares how she built credibility from scratch, why being a superstar doesn't mean you're not marginalized, her artist-first approach to marketing as relationship-building, and her advice for women entrepreneurs about respecting yourself first before commanding respect from others—because you can't command what you aren't to yourself. --- ### Question 1: Building a Cultural Programming Powerhouse **You founded Imperial Marketing Group as a "*Cultural Programming, Creative & Marketing company centered around supporting underrepresented creative voices globally*."** **What inspired you to create a company specifically focused on elevating marginalized artists?** When I started out, the workplace was pretty diverse. A lot of black, brown and women executives. However, women owners were nonexistent. I saw a greater need for better marketing around black & brown artists and women artists. It wasn’t intentional as much as it was wanting to show artists that looked like me and came from where I came from, that they can have the same professional rollout & marketing as Imagine Dragons or Ellie Goulding. I wanted to bring an elevated level of marketing to ‘urban’ artists and music. **How did your early experiences with internships at major record labels and marketing firms shape your vision for a different kind of agency?** I started Imperial while a senior in college. I worked and shaped the vision for the company simultaneously. I had a business partner at the time and we were offering to hop on any project for free at labels we’d interned, like Def Jam, to build our reputation and portfolio. Two agencies really shaped my vision for Imperial; Cornerstone Agency & Team Epiphany. Cornerstone was my first job out of college; I was a field marketing rep. for the legendary F.A.R.M Team. My internship at Alloy Media & Marketing was my first taste of major brand campaigns & lifestyle marketing. I was a sponge. Soaked up everything from how contracts were constructed, pricing to how to talk to clients. I took everything in and then added my point of view. I envisioned running a Black woman-owned agency, hiring primarily talent of color, women and working across all genres and types of accounts. Now, that did not exist & largely, still does not. ### Question 2: Working with A-List Talent and Emerging Artists **Your client roster includes incredible names like Janet Jackson, Mya, Busta Rhymes & Big Freedia, alongside emerging artists. How do you balance working with established superstars while staying true to your mission of supporting underrepresented voices?** Being a superstar doesn’t mean you’re not marginalized. Major artists of color & women go through the same challenges on the inside of not being heard, properly marketed, receiving proper marketing budgets, being properly positioned for brand deals, etc. My job doesn’t change based on the level of the artist. Whether an emerging artist or A-list, I approach with the same level of wanting to understand who they are and how they want to be marketed. **What's your approach to helping both established and emerging artists build authentic brand partnerships and meaningful cultural impact?** I always take an “artist first approach”no matter what level an artist is in their career. Authenticity starts with the artist. Who are they, what parts of their life do they feel comfortable sharing with the world, what are their passions, what’s behind the music, etc. Marketing is a fancy word for relationships. I’m here to help artists create authentic, fruitful, long-term relationships with fans, the industry and brand partners alike. And the foundations of any great relationship are clarity, communication, creativity and consistency. ### Question 3: The "I.M.G. Way" of Business Leadership **You've been described as having an "unyielding tenacity" and being "highly allergic to BS" - walking the walk while others talk the talk. As a female founder in the male-dominated music and marketing industry, how do you maintain your authentic leadership style while scaling your business?** Have I now? \[Laughs\] I stand firmly in being excellent and doing the work. I like to win. Period. I do feel you have that dog in you, or you don’t. Some of it is innate and a lot of it is practice. No one can question you, if you have done the work and you know what you’re talking about. Confidence comes from knowing, a surety. You know when you study, apply and get results. Beyond being a woman, I’m great at what I do and that’s been proven for nearly 20 years. I’m not beyond correction or criticism, but I certainly let my work speak for itself. You can’t BS the work. You either know your stuff or you don’t. You either make the money or you don’t! \[Laughs\] **What advice would you give to other women entrepreneurs about building credibility and commanding respect in competitive industries?** I don’t believe in us “having to be men.” I put that down long ago. There’s a beauty in being women and bringing femininity & civility into the workplace. We should pursue and prioritize our health, love, joy, and family goals too, as you see fit for your life. We should never lose sight of those things or feel we need to hide those aspects of who we are. However, I advise knowing the cost of what you want to achieve too and be realistic about your capacity to achieve it. Credibility comes from a reputation of continued integrity and results. Own that. Respect is internal. Do you respect yourself? We cannot command what we aren’t to ourselves. That will always backfire. We have to be brave, respect ourselves, honor our voices and have the audacity to be the woman you want to be. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? Founded by Women is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. Get in touch with us today! > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### From Campaign Trail to Co-Founders: How Two Best Friends Built All In Strategic Consulting on the Power of PR Meets Social Work URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/women-who-lead/from-campaign-trail-to-co-founders-how-two-best-friends-built-all-in-strategic-consulting-on-the-power-of-pr-meets-social-work/ Last updated: 2025-10-17T04:22:57.000Z When Anna Michaels-Boffy and Abby Leeper Gibson met in 2013 on the campaign trail, they were young idealists united by a shared passion for public service. Then they went their separate ways. Abby spent years honing her public relations expertise in the private sector as well as serving as the public information officer for the Colorado Tourism Office, mastering the art of storytelling and media relations. Anna earned her Master's in Social Work from the University of Denver, managing social service programs for various local nonprofits. For years, they tossed around the idea of starting a PR firm that could bridge the gap they both kept seeing: organizations doing meaningful work but struggling to truly connect and communicate with the people they served. Then 2020 arrived, and they were both ready for a different work-life balance. They made the leap. Today, [All In Strategic Consulting](https://allinstrategic.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) serves nonprofits, government agencies, and small businesses across Colorado, combining Anna's systems-level understanding of how policies and programs impact real people with Abby's expertise in helping communities share their stories. Their complementary skill sets have produced impressive results: they helped the Denver Basic Income Project achieve fundraising milestones that exceeded expectations and secure national media attention. As their client Mark Donovan put it, their partnership was "pivotal in turning our bold vision into a reality." As best friends and business partners, Anna and Abby have built something rare: a mission-driven firm where their different backgrounds—social work and public relations—don't just coexist but actively strengthen each other. Their tagline says it all: "Change won't happen until we come together to find common ground—until we're all in." In this conversation, Anna and Abby share how they turned years of separate experience into a unified business model, how they divide responsibilities while maintaining their friendship, and their advice for other women considering the risks and rewards of starting a business with a close friend. --- ### Question 1: You two met in 2013 on the campaign trail and then went separate ways – Abby honing public relations skills at places like the Colorado Tourism Office, and Anna earning a Master's in Social Work. What made you realize years later that you wanted to partner up and launch All In Strategic Consulting together? How do your complementary skill sets in PR and program management work together in practice, and what did each of you bring to the table that the other couldn't do alone? After spending years in the public sector, we both saw a consistent challenge—organizations were doing meaningful work but struggling to truly connect and communicate with the people they served. For years, we’d tossed around the idea of starting a PR firm that could bridge that gap, but we didn’t think it would ever become a reality. When 2020 arrived, we were ready to move on from our jobs and find a different work life balance and so we made the leap. Anna brought deep experience in social work and nonprofit management, with a systems-level understanding of how policies and programs impact real people. Abby brought expertise in public relations and media, honed through years of helping communities share their stories and strengthen their local economies. Together, we realized that combining those strengths—communication and community insight—could create something unique: a strategic communications firm designed to help mission-driven organizations, small businesses and government agencies tell their stories and connect with those they serve with authenticity and impact. ### Question 2: You've worked with high-profile clients like the Denver Basic Income Project, helping them achieve fundraising milestones that exceeded expectations and secure national media attention. Your client testimonial says your partnership was "pivotal in turning our bold vision into a reality." As co-founders, how do you divide responsibilities and decision-making, and have there been moments where your different backgrounds – PR versus social work – led to creative tension or breakthroughs in how you approach client work? We love working together because our different backgrounds naturally complement each other. As best friends and business partners, we genuinely enjoy problem-solving side by side and bringing both perspectives to every project. Over time, our roles have evolved to match our strengths: Anna tends to take the lead in grant writing, content development, and social media and marketing design, while Abby heads up media relations and crisis communications. Our differing experiences—Anna’s deep understanding of nonprofit systems and Abby’s expertise in storytelling and media—often spark creative breakthroughs. What might start as two different approaches usually turns into a stronger, more well-rounded strategy. That balance is what makes All In uniquely effective for the mission-driven clients we partner with. ### **Question 3:** Your tagline is "Change won't happen until we come together to find common ground – until we're all in." You work with nonprofits, government agencies, and small businesses in Colorado on messaging, program management, and community connections. As female co-founders building a mission-driven consulting firm, what advice would you give to other women considering starting a business with a close friend or colleague? What have you learned about maintaining both a strong business partnership and a healthy personal relationship? We knew there were risks to starting a business with your best friend, but it’s been one of the best decisions we’ve made. From the beginning, we set clear guardrails—both for how we’d work together and for the kind of projects we wanted to take on. As a strategic communications firm, we also use our own communication tools with each other: checking in regularly to stay aligned on clients, project priorities, and workload, and to address any conflicts openly and early. We’ve both worked in environments that didn’t always make us feel confident or supported, so creating a partnership rooted in trust, positivity, and mutual respect has been incredibly rewarding. We’re each other’s biggest cheerleaders, and that daily encouragement keeps our work—and our friendship—strong. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### From Writer to Strategic Communications Consultant: How Ruby Veridiano Built Gold Thread Communications on the Power of Emotionally Resonant Narratives URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/women-who-lead/from-writer-to-strategic-communications-consultant-how-ruby-veridiano-built-gold-thread-communications-on-the-power-of-emotionally-resonant-narratives/ Last updated: 2025-10-15T11:24:02.000Z Ruby Veridiano's path has never been linear, but somehow, all the dots connect. She started as a spoken word poet, arts activist, and journalist working with young women in vulnerable communities. She studied Sociology of World Development, earned a Master's in Global Communications from The American University of Paris, and became a contributing correspondent for NBC News, covering Paris and New York Fashion weeks. She worked on the Corporate Social Responsibility team at LVMH in Paris, served as Senior Manager of Storytelling & Global Content at Cascale (formerly Sustainable Apparel Coalition), and published a book of poetry called "Miss Universe." Today, Ruby is the Founder and Chief Storyteller of [Gold Thread Communications](https://www.goldthread.consulting/?ref=foundedbywomen.org), a global communications consultancy serving purpose-led brands in fashion, sustainability, and social impact. Her approach is informed by her identity as an artist and her history as an arts educator on the field. That lived experience taught her two things: the importance of building emotionally resonant narratives to inspire change, and how decisions made in head offices truly impact people on the ground. Ruby has spoken at hundreds of venues across the USA, Europe, and Asia, including Cornell University, the United Nations, and Columbia University. She facilitates storytelling workshops that help employees connect their personal mission with their work, creating spaces for belonging, inspiration, and imagination. Her client testimonials describe her as "a creative and strategic thought partner" who "skillfully adopts and refines the voice of the organizations she partners with, ensuring that every communication feels authentic and aligned." As the daughter of immigrants raised in Sacramento, California, Ruby brings a vantage point that helps her tell stories that are intersectional, inclusive, and culturally relevant. She's worked across three continents and built a business that allows her to maintain her own voice and independence while supporting organizations. She launched Gold Thread Communications shortly after turning 40, and while she used to wish things had happened earlier, she now believes the timing was absolutely right. In this conversation, Ruby shares how her early years as a poet and arts educator shape the way she approaches communications differently than traditional professionals, how taking the entrepreneurial route allowed her to reclaim her creative life while serving clients, and her advice for other women building consulting businesses about pricing workshops that involve personal transformation, doing the inner work to embrace your worth, and not being afraid to take up space and dream as big as your soul calls you to. --- **Question 1: You started your career as a poet, arts activist, and journalist before working on the Corporate Social Responsibility team at LVMH in Paris and then as Senior Manager of Storytelling & Global Content at Cascale (formerly Sustainable Apparel Coalition). That's quite a journey from spoken word poetry to corporate sustainability. What made you realize that your gift for storytelling could become a business, and how did those early years as a poet and arts educator shape the way you approach communications consulting differently than traditional Communications professionals?** It was indeed quite a journey! My path has not been linear, but somehow, all the dots connect. At the core, my storytelling approach is informed by my identity as an artist and my history working as an arts educator on the field with young women in vulnerable communities. This lived experience taught me two things: the importance of building emotionally resonant narratives to inspire change, and how decisions that get made in head offices truly impact people on the ground. The vantage point I bring helps me to tell stories that are intersectional, inclusive, and culturally relevant, which are all important in connecting with the next generation of employees, leaders, consumers, and globally connected citizens who are demanding better from their governments, the business they support, their employers, and the world at large. After completing my Master’s Degree in Global Communications, I was better able to understand (from both a technical and creative perspective) just how storytelling was being used to create narratives that power different types of organizations, from non-profits and NGOs, to media platforms, to brands. After gaining experience in all three spaces, I was confident in my ability to create value as both a writer and a narrative strategist, aligning my skillsets with my purpose. What I have built with [Gold Thread Communications](https://www.goldthread.consulting/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) is not just a career, but a calling to use my gifts in service of my mission to shape a better world by helping purpose-driven organizations tell their stories. **Question 2: You've spoken at hundreds of venues across the USA, Europe, and Asia, including Cornell University, the United Nations, and Columbia University, and you've published a book called "Miss Universe." You've also a contributing correspondent for NBC News covering Paris and New York Fashion weeks. As someone who straddles the worlds of journalism, speaking, writing, and consulting, how do you balance being both a storyteller with your own platform and a communications consultant amplifying other people's voices? Have there been moments where those roles conflicted?** I feel so seen by this question! Thank you for asking. There have absolutely been moments when those roles have conflicted, primarily when I was working in-house for employers. For many years, I felt the tension of this conflict. As an employee, my voice was very much attached to the company, and by default, an extension of their organization, so I felt a lot more limited in my ability to own and share my voice. However, as a consultant and a fractional communications executive, I get to have the best of both worlds: I get to support & collaborate with organizations, while still maintaining my own voice and independence. When I develop business, I also have the intention of co-creating and collaborating with values-aligned clients, so most of them understand and support my creative life. Taking the entrepreneurial route has really been a game-changer for me. It was definitely not easy, and it took a lot out of me. It is the road less traveled for good reason, but it has been so worth it. Thanks to my business, I was able to return to my creative life, which is the vital energy that powers my life force. It’s a win-win too: when I get to be creative, I get to show up for my clients with more energy, dedication and vibrancy. **Question 3: You facilitate storytelling workshops that help employees connect their personal mission with their work to create "a space for belonging, spark inspiration, and foster imagination." That's a vulnerable ask in a corporate setting. As a female founder and immigrant daughter raised in Sacramento who's worked across continents, what advice would you give to other women building consulting businesses about pricing workshops that involve personal transformation, maintaining boundaries while creating safe spaces, and positioning yourself as both a strategic partner and a creative thought leader?** A lot of my development as a business owner was thanks to the business coaches that mentored me to the process. So I’ll start with a practical piece of advice: if you’re building a business and you have the capacity to invest in a business coach, DO IT. It has been the smartest investment for me, because my coaches have taught me both practical business moves AND mindset shifts = two of the most important pillars of entrepreneurship. When I was pricing my services, I was afraid of charging too high. But one of my business coaches encouraged me to do market research in my field, and that’s how I realized that I was undercharging. Another coach asked me to read “The Law of Divine Compensation” by Marianne Williamson, connecting the spiritual and emotional connection to money with its practical uses, and it gave me more reinforcement that the work I do should be priced in a way that reflects not only the value I bring, but the time and energy I use to create solutions that make our work more human/humane. At the end of the day, what fuels my conviction is knowing that I’ve paid my dues. I’ve put in the work, I’ve gained the skills, I’ve acquired the knowledge, and I’m confident in my ability to provide solutions that deliver tangible results for my clients. I also did the inner work to fully embrace my worth. All of these amounted to concrete evidence that I can succeed. But this was a process acquired over 20+ years! I started my business shortly after I turned 40, and as much as I wanted things to happen at an earlier age, I think the timing was absolutely right. By the time I got to my forties, I felt much more steady in both my professional experience and personal wisdom to enforce boundaries while creating safe spaces, and a lot more solid in my ability to contribute real value to my clients & partners. I’ve learned to trust every challenge, every detour, and every delay. It truly does get greater, later. If you’re in a season of challenges, be encouraged that you are learning something in this season that will equip you to have the internal certainty that cannot be swayed by external circumstances. In work and life, there will always be ups and downs. But when your inner foundation is strong, you can anchor yourself in the conviction that you can hold yourself down and lift yourself up at the same time. Finally, as the daughter of immigrants, I want to say: **do not be afraid to take up space and allow yourself to dream as big as your soul calls you to.** Our parents made a lot of sacrifices, and many of us are taught to pursue the ‘safe routes’, but please don’t limit your possibility by deciding to only stay in the lanes that you are ‘supposed’ to be in. Poet Nikita Gil said it best when she wrote: > “Your ancestors did not survive > everything that nearly ended them > for you to shrink yourself > to make someone else comfortable. > This sacrifice is your warcry, be loud, > be everything and make them proud.” --- > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? Founded by Women is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. Get in touch with us today! > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### From Postpartum Isolation to Empowering Sustainable Brands: How Andrea Olmsted Built Sustainable Fashion PR While Raising Two Kids URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/women-who-lead/from-postpartum-isolation-to-empowering-sustainable-brands-how-andrea-olmsted-built-sustainable-fashion-pr-while-raising-two-kids/ Last updated: 2025-10-15T11:16:17.000Z Andrea Olmsted launched [Sustainable Fashion PR](https://www.sustainablefashionpr.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) shortly after her youngest child turned two. During postpartum, the majority of her time was given to her children, although she spent several nights a month freelance writing. It wasn't until her husband at the time had been laid off from the tech industry that she felt the urgency of getting her business up and running again. She was nervous, yet excited to have some sense of community after what felt like a long stretch of isolation from the outside world. At first, it took a while to get the hang of balancing motherhood with entrepreneurship. But soon she got used to waking up before her kids so she could pick up a couple hours before the morning routine. What was such a challenging transition in the beginning became a superpower of added capacity to get things done in limited timeframes. This, combined with the experience she gained in her twenties and early thirties working with inspiring people, companies, and organizations centered around making the fashion industry more sustainable and socially equitable, provided her with the insight she needed to communicate these efforts to a mainstream audience. As the former West Coast Regional Director for Fashion Revolution and co-founder of the Sustainable Fashion Alliance, Andrea spent two decades working in the ethical fashion space. She's worked with organizations like Fibershed, Good Clothing Co., and Huston Textile Co., and she's a freelance writer for Sourcing Journal covering fashion business and sustainable innovations. That dual perspective as both journalist and publicist has given her a unique advantage: she's both the receiver of pitches and the person pitching, which has taught her humility and helped her build genuine relationships rather than relying on desperate sales rhetoric. Andrea discovered a talent for becoming the bridge to help smaller sustainable brands compete with the big guys and secure press coverage in mainstream media. A common thread among her clients has been shared honesty and a desire to challenge the status quo. Many of her PR contracts have grown into genuine friendships. But Andrea didn't stop at done-for-you services. She released her own media lists online and created an online course called "Intentional PR 101" to teach sustainable fashion brands how to manage their own PR. It was a scary move at first, but as the economy shifted and clients requested discounts, she decided to create more accessible offerings to help small brands without the budget for full-service PR contracts. In this conversation, Andrea shares how she turned postpartum isolation into a business opportunity, how being both a journalist and publicist helps her navigate the ethics of avoiding greenwashing, and her advice for other women about not underselling themselves, owning their skillsets, and having the confidence to know they're worth it. --- **Question 1:** **You've spent two decades working in the ethical fashion space, including as the former West Coast Regional Director for Fashion Revolution and co-founder of the Sustainable Fashion Alliance. What led you to launch Sustainable Fashion PR as your own company, and how did your experience working with organizations like Fibershed, Good Clothing Co., and Huston Textile Co. shape your understanding of what sustainable fashion brands need from a PR partner versus what traditional fashion PR agencies were offering?** I started Sustainable Fashion PR shortly after my youngest child turned two. During postpartum, the majority of my time was given to my children, although I spent several nights a month freelance writing. It wasn’t until my husband at the time had been laid off from the tech industry that I felt the urgency of getting my business up and running again. I was nervous, yet excited to have some sense of community after what felt like a long stretch of isolation from the outside world. At first, it took a while to get the hang of balancing motherhood with entrepreneurship, but soon I got used to waking up before my kids so I could pick up a couple hours before the morning routine. What was such a challenging transition in the beginning became a super power of added capacity to get things done in limited timeframes. This, combined with the experience I am so grateful to have received, in my twenties and early thirties working with inspiring people, companies and organizations centered around making the fashion industry a more sustainable and socially equitable space, provided me with the insight I needed to communicate these efforts to a mainstream audience. I realized that all my previous roles had essentially focused on empowering smaller brands to compete with the “big guys”. I discovered a talent for becoming the bridge to help them secure press coverage in mainstream media. A common thread among my clients has been shared honesty and a desire to challenge the status quo—something very different from the social dynamic of any jobs I had had in the corporate past. With that, I’m happy to report that many of my “PR contracts” have grown into genuine friendships. **Question 2:** **You're also a freelance writer covering fashion business and sustainable innovations, which gives you insight into both sides of the media relationship. How does being a journalist in addition to running a PR agency inform the way you pitch stories and work with clients? Have there been moments where you've had to turn down a client because their sustainability claims didn't hold up, and how do you navigate the line between advocating for your clients and avoiding greenwashing?** Having the dual perspective of writer and publicist has been so helpful in navigating PR strategies and outreach that’s more than just a blast email or press release. It has given me the gift of being both the receiver of pitches and the person who, in some cases, really needs to get their client out there and written about. It’s provided me with a good dose of humility and also a reminder that at the end of the day we are all humans experiencing this life in diverse ways, but that we can all relate to challenges, traumas, joys and an overall sense of connection. Having this mentality, as opposed to a desperate, “lack” outlook, has really provided more community, relationships and opportunities into my sphere. The sales pitch rhetoric I was taught in the nineties working my first retail job is dead. Instead, coming into a pitch with how I can be helpful to these journalists, how I can make a connection, is something that provides palatability and better results. There’s also the ethics behind it. I have been very fortunate in being able to work with brands I truly believe in and I know that is certainly a privilege. If I take on someone who is greenwashing it’s not only against what I believe in and know is right, it dilutes my voice and the credibility of my business. **Question 3:** **You've released your own media lists online and have an online class to teach others how you do what you do. That's a bold move for a PR agency. What made you decide to empower brands with those connections and skills rather than keeping them as proprietary knowledge, and what advice would you give to other female founders about deciding when to productize their expertise versus selling only done-for-you services?** It was a scary thing at the beginning. I think in our society we’re taught to keep things close to the chest, but it doesn't really serve us. As the economy started to shift and I saw more clients requesting discounts, I decided to create more accessible offerings that might help small brands without the budget for a full service PR contract. I took a look at what I could share on a larger scale and the media lists I had been keeping up for years were a no brainer. Plus, it felt really good to know that maybe these lists could help other small businesses grow. I think the hardest thing about putting your own products out there is how not to under sell yourself. I worked for three months on my online course. It took multiple recordings and I ended up changing the format several times to get it right. Am I charging too little? Am I charging too much? I think in general as a woman I have undersold myself for years. This is something I’m admittedly working through in so many facets of my life: how to really own my skillsets and know that I have worked hard to be able to provide the quality work that I do now. From someone else’s eyes I may be a success, but it is a daily lesson and practice of self love to truly accept that I’m a bad ass too, and I need to be confident in that. I think more and more women are realizing this every day– yes YOU– so don’t be afraid to ask for compensation for your time, your shared skillset, your expertise. Everything we do is an exchange of time and energy. You’re worth it, and someone out there is looking for what you’re putting out there and finds value in it. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### From Agency Life to Her Own Firm at Nearly 50: How Amiee Watts Built Watts PR Group on Two Decades of Hard-Won Experience URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/women-who-lead/from-agency-life-to-her-own-firm-at-nearly-50-how-amiee-watts-built-watts-pr-group-on-two-decades-of-hard-won-experience/ Last updated: 2025-10-10T16:10:31.000Z Amiee Watts spent nearly 20 years in senior-level positions at top PR agencies, managing major financial services clients like Federated Investors, Aegon Asset Management, and Thornburg, and overseeing more than $1.8 million annually in monthly retainers. She knew the agency world inside and out, and she also knew what she wanted to do differently. After years of leading teams and driving results for others, as well as a challenging transition from an agency, Amiee felt ready to build something of her own. She remembered the clients who had valued her strategic insights and the impact her work had made. She realized: I can do this on my own, and I can do it better. At 50, she had the confidence, experience, and relationships to make it happen. In 2023, she launched [Watts PR Group](https://wattsprgroup.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org), a boutique public relations and strategic communications firm specializing in financial and professional services. What started with one client from a local introduction has grown into a firm serving wealth managers, asset managers, fintechs, startups, and entrepreneurs across the country. In just two years, Watts PR Group has secured placements in Barron's, CNBC, InvestmentNews, Schwab Network, Yahoo Finance, and AARP. The firm has achieved year-over-year revenue growth and is now expanding its team. Amiee has built a small but mighty group of five, including a senior PR partner who is a former financial journalist, and she's created a company culture rooted in respect, creativity, and integrity. As a Hermes Platinum Award winner with over 20 years of experience in financial communications, Amiee knows how to turn complex financial topics into compelling narratives. But what sets her apart isn't just her track record, it's her belief in genuine relationships, her refusal to discount her worth, and her willingness to trust her instincts when building her business. In this conversation, Amiee shares how she made the leap from agency leader to founder, how she built credibility so quickly as a boutique firm competing against the agencies she once worked for, and her advice for other women about pricing confidently, knowing when to grow, and quieting the noise when people question your path. ### 1\. What inspired you to start your business? I've always had an entrepreneurial side. When I was younger, I dreamed of creating my own magazine, being the photographer, the editor, and the storyteller all in one. I've always been drawn to human stories and creative writing, and I was naturally good at language and English. That passion for storytelling was the foundation for everything that came later. Throughout my career working at PR agencies, I often had side clients and projects, with full permission, because I loved building connections and helping people tell their stories. I met one client through my hairstylist, another through a mutual friend. I've always believed in women introducing and uplifting other women, and that spirit of collaboration has fueled much of my success. Over time, though, I realized that I needed more creative freedom. If you're entrepreneurial and driven, eventually you feel the pull to do things your own way. Working for others can start to feel limiting. After being let go from an agency, something that initially felt devastating, I realized it was actually the turning point I needed. It was time to bet on myself. My advice to anyone who feels that same pull: don't wait for the perfect time. Just do it. If you have that voice inside telling you you're ready, trust it. If I can do it, anyone can. ### 2\. What challenges have you overcome as a female founder? There are so many, financial, organizational, and emotional. When you're building a business, you wear every hat. You're deciding everything from logo design to client strategy to hiring. You have to be resourceful, figure things out as you go, and learn to ask for help in areas that aren't your strengths. For me, the biggest challenge has been learning to balance growth with quality, knowing when to say no, when to delegate, and when to hire experts to help scale the business sustainably. ### 3\. How have you scaled or built your team? We're a small but mighty team of five, including bright interns, associates, and a senior PR partner who is a former financial journalist. That journalistic background is invaluable. I rely a lot on intuition when hiring, trusting my gut about people's potential and cultural fit. I've also found incredible talent through LinkedIn, which has become an essential platform for our firm, especially given our focus on financial services. Most RIAs and financial professionals spend their time on LinkedIn, so it's also where we show up, connect, and build credibility. ### 4\. What advice would you give to other women building businesses? Believe in yourself. You will face doubters, even people who love you may question your path because they're worried about your stability or finances. But you can't let that stop you. Quiet the noise. Educate yourself. Follow your gut. I started my firm once years ago, then paused due to personal circumstances, and relaunched later. I used to wonder where I'd be if I'd stuck with it the first time, but those thoughts don't serve you. The only direction that matters is forward. Stay positive, trust yourself, and take the leap. ### 5\. You spent nearly 20 years in senior roles at top PR agencies. What made you walk away from stability to launch Watts PR Group in 2023? You learn a lot in agency life, about strategy, creativity, and teamwork, but also about what not to do. I reached a point where my ideas weren't being heard or valued. It's tough when your work or concepts are minimized or even taken by others. Over time, that kind of environment chips away at you. After one difficult job transition, I remembered all the clients who had valued my work and the impact I'd made. I realized: I can do this on my own, and I can do it better. At 50, I felt ready. I had the confidence, experience, and relationships to make it happen. I've built a firm that respects creativity, collaboration, and integrity, values that weren't always present in my earlier agency experiences. ### 6\. How did you build credibility and client trust so quickly as a boutique firm? It started with genuine relationships. My first client came through a local introduction, someone who trusted me and referred me to another business owner. That kind of credibility is priceless. Beyond that, my 20+ years of experience in financial PR gave me a deep roster of respected names, Charles Schwab, Federated Hermes, Thornburg, Hodges, Hennessy Funds, and many more. Those credentials carry weight, especially in a niche industry like financial services. Our credibility also comes from results. In just two years, Watts PR Group has secured placements in Barron's, CNBC, InvestmentNews, and Yahoo! Finance, and we've continued to grow revenue year over year. The biggest challenge has been scaling while maintaining our personalized, high-touch approach, but by hiring smart and strategic people, we've been able to grow without losing that boutique feel. ### 7\. What advice would you give to other women in service-based businesses, about positioning, pricing, and expansion? First, trust that you're the expert. You've earned it. Speak from that place of authority. Clients and peers will follow your lead when they sense your confidence. Second, price confidently. Don't discount your worth to win business. Your fee is your fee is your fee. Undervaluing yourself makes it hard to raise prices later. Know the market, know your value, and stand by it. Finally, know when to grow. If you're stretched thin or losing joy in your work, it's time to hire. Bring in bright, motivated people and invest time in teaching them your way. Culture and mentorship are everything in service-based businesses. You can do it. You really can. Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### From University Counseling Center to 1.5 Million Views: How Dr. Adia Gooden Built a Business on Unconditional Self-Worth URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/women-who-lead/from-university-counseling-center-to-1-5-million-views-how-dr-adia-gooden-built-a-business-on-unconditional-self-worth/ Last updated: 2025-10-10T14:54:36.000Z Dr. Adia Gooden knows what it feels like to tie your worth to achievement. She earned her bachelor's degree in psychology from Stanford University and her Ph.D. in Clinical Community Psychology from DePaul University. She spent four years as a staff psychologist at the University of Chicago Student Counseling Service, providing therapy to incredibly high-achieving students who struggled to feel worthy despite their accomplishments. She was particularly focused on supporting students from underrepresented groups. But she also knew that pain personally. Despite a seemingly perfect life growing up and an impressive academic trajectory, she struggled with feelings of unworthiness for as long as she could remember. Everything changed when she stopped hustling to prove her worth and turned inward to connect to the true source of her value. In 2018, she gave a TEDx talk called "Cultivating Unconditional Self-Worth" that now has over 1.5 million views. That talk kicked off her journey to leave academia and launch Unconditionally Worthy, Co., where she helps high-achieving professional women—especially women of color—embrace their worth and reclaim their greatness. She's a licensed clinical psychologist with over 16 years of experience, hosts the Unconditionally Worthy podcast, co-authored the Cambridge University Press book "Promoting Black Women's Mental Health: What Practitioners Should Know and Do," and works with clients through individual coaching, group programs, and workshops for companies and conferences. Her work addresses a crisis she sees as a root cause of mental illness: pervasive low self-worth. According to the World Health Organization, depression is the leading cause of ill-health and disability worldwide, and Dr. Adia believes that helping people connect to their unconditional self-worth is the key to breaking free from anxiety, imposter syndrome, and the exhausting cycle of proving themselves through external achievements. In this conversation, Dr. Adia shares why she left the academic track to reach a larger audience, how she balances different platforms to meet people at various stages of their self-worth journey, and how her own struggles with perfectionism and imposter syndrome shaped the way she prices her services, sets boundaries, and makes strategic decisions about growth. --- **Q1\. You left a prestigious academic track to launch Unconditionally Worthy, Co., transitioning from university counseling centers to entrepreneurship. What made you realize that building your own business was the right path to amplify your message about self-worth, especially for high-achieving women of color?** I made the decision to leave academia because I knew I wanted to share my message of unconditional self-worth with a larger audience. After years of being in academia, I understood that my desire to speak to and impact the public was not going to be valued or supported in the way I wanted it to be. Pursuing entrepreneurship has given me the freedom to prioritize what I think is most important related to my mission of helping everyone to know that they are unconditionally worthy. Further, it has enabled me to support high achieving women of color in creative ways without needing to answer to systems that might question me for prioritizing women of color. **Q2\. Your TEDx talk "Cultivating Unconditional Self-Worth" has over 1 million views, you host the Unconditionally Worthy podcast, co-authored a Cambridge University Press book, and work with clients one-on-one. How do you balance these different platforms and delivery methods to reach people at various stages of their self-worth journey? What's been most effective in creating sustainable change?** The content that I share through online platforms (including my TEDx Talk, podcast and now my new [Reclaiming Ourselves Substack](https://dradia.substack.com/?utm%5Fcampaign=profile%5Fchips)) is meant to make people think and consider their relationship to themselves and how they engage with other people and the world. The talks and workshops I give for companies and conferences help people dig more deeply into these ideas and apply them to their lives. Finally, working with me individually through coaching or therapy enables me to guide people step-by-step through the process of making lasting changes in their lives. **Q3\. As someone who personally struggled with tying self-worth to achievement during graduate school, you now coach high-achieving professionals through this same pattern. How has your own experience with imposter syndrome and perfectionism shaped the way you build your business—from pricing your services to setting boundaries to making strategic decisions about growth?** When I started my business I was working overtime to try to get everything off the ground and make it perfect. When I recognized this, I made some intentional shifts to set boundaries around my work so that I could make space for rest and play. My understanding of how perfectionism can lead to overworking and never being satisfied with what we produce has helped me to set realistic goals and focus on the process. I have certainly felt like an imposter at times especially when setting prices for my services. My understanding of how imposter syndrome functions has helped me to remember why I am qualified to help people and to focus on how I can impact others instead of trying to prove myself. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### From "You Have No Presence" to 11 Million Views: How Caroline Goyder Built The Gravitas Method by Teaching What She Had to Learn URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/women-who-lead/from-you-have-no-presence-to-11-million-views-how-caroline-goyder-built-the-gravitas-method-by-teaching-what-she-had-to-learn/ Last updated: 2025-10-10T14:36:33.000Z Caroline Goyder studied English Literature at Oxford and assumed her love of words would make her a good communicator. Then at drama school they told her, "You're in your head, you have no presence." It hurt. But it made her determined to find it. She's the classic teacher who teaches what she needed to learn. She wasn't a natural at public speaking. Her voice would vanish, her nerves took over, and she'd wish for the floor to open up. But she learned the hard way how to handle those fears, and that's why she now helps others find their voice. After completing a Masters in Voice Studies at the Central School of Speech and Drama, Caroline stayed to teach actors for ten years. Over that decade, she realized something crucial: the tools used to train actors (breath, presence, storytelling, authenticity) are exactly what business leaders and professionals need to speak with confidence and authority. In theatre you inhabit a role. In business you have to inhabit yourself. Traditional voice training focused on performance, while the corporate world needed a way to communicate with grounded presence, ease and grace under pressure. That insight became [The Gravitas Method](http://gravitasmethod.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org), which has now helped over 20,000 people, from politicians to schoolchildren and even a Queen, speak so their ideas truly land. Caroline is the bestselling author of "Gravitas: Communicate with Confidence, Influence and Authority" and "Find Your Voice," both published by Penguin Random House. Her TEDx talk, "The Surprising Secret to Speaking with Confidence," has over 11 million views. Her client list spans global brands like Netflix, Mastercard, and Balfour Beatty, as well as high-profile leaders including Cabinet Ministers and a Nation State President's team. RED magazine named her one of Britain's top coaches, but Caroline describes herself as a quiet person who for years thought the world belonged to the loud ones. Not true. Quiet people have deep gravitas. Her Northumberland Quaker grandmother always said, "You should only speak if you can improve on silence." That's her life lesson. You don't have to be the loudest, just the clearest, calmest, most you version of yourself. In this conversation, Caroline shares how she turned her own struggle into a method that bridges theatre training and corporate communication, why gravitas isn't about being loud but about being grounded, and her advice for women who have deep expertise but struggle to package and scale their knowledge: "Magnify, don't multiply." [](https://support.anthropic.com/en/articles/8525154-claude-is-providing-incorrect-or-misleading-responses-what-s-going-on?ref=foundedbywomen.org) --- ## **Question 1: From Voice Teacher to Business Pioneer** ### After working as a voice teacher at the prestigious Central School of Speech and Drama for 10 years, you created The Gravitas Method and have now helped over 20,000 people find their voice in business settings. What inspired you to transition from the theater world to helping executives, politicians, and business leaders? How did you identify the gap between traditional voice training and what professionals needed in the corporate world? I’m the classic teacher who teaches what she needed to learn! I wasn’t a natural at public speaking, my voice would vanish, my nerves took over, and I’d wish for the floor to open up. But I learned the hard way how to handle those fears, and that’s why I now help others find their voice. I’ve always loved words, I studied English Literature at Oxford, and assumed that love would make me a good communicator. Then at drama school they told me, “You’re in your head, you have no presence.” That hurt, but it made me determined to find it. Looking back, it might seem planned, but really it was a "say yes" approach. I said yes to offers that came, trusted what I enjoyed, followed that bliss. No plan, just trusting my instinct... I wasn’t a natural actor and realised the most interesting work was happening behind the scenes, including voice teaching. I did a Masters in Voice Studies at the Central School of Speech and Drama, loved it, and stayed to teach for ten years. Over that decade I realised the tools used to train actors, breath, presence, storytelling, authenticity, are exactly what business leaders and professionals need to speak with confidence and authority. In theatre you inhabit a role, in business you have to inhabit yourself. Traditional voice training focused on performance, while the corporate world needed a way to communicate with grounded presence, ease and grace under pressure. Bridging those worlds made me curious, and curiosity created [**The Gravitas Method**](https://carolinegoyder.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org). It’s now helped over 20,000 people, from politicians to schoolchildren and even a Queen, speak so their ideas truly land. ## **Question 2: Defining Gravitas for Modern Leaders** ### Your book "Gravitas: Communicate with Confidence, Influence and Authority" has become essential reading for leaders worldwide. How do you define gravitas for today's business environment, and why is this Roman virtue more important than ever? What's the biggest misconception people have about developing gravitas - that it's something you're born with rather than something you can learn? When I wrote[ Gravitas: Communicate with Confidence, Influence and Authority, ](https://www.audible.com/pd/Gravitas-Audiobook/B07H4T2Y8F?eac%5Flink=DmXPMryNvMoW&ref=web%5Fsearch%5Feac%5Fasin%5F2&eac%5Fselected%5Ftype=asin&eac%5Fselected=B07H4T2Y8F&qid=AQlv7vOkxa&eac%5Fid=130-7801559-0507957%5FAQlv7vOkxa&sr=1-2)I wanted to bring an ancient virtue into a modern world. In an age where so many voices demand attention, you can instantly tell when someone has presence and weight, they exert a magnetic pull. Newton’s concept of gravity adds to the metaphor, a downward force that grounds you and gives pilot of the plane energy. But there’s also an equal and opposite force, lightness, warmth, ease. The best leaders balance both, grounded energy with a smile. In a noisy world, that calm presence cuts through. Gravitas isn’t about being loud, it’s about being grounded. It’s when voice, body and purpose align so completely that people lean in, Michelle Obama style. The biggest misconception is that gravitas is something you’re born with. It isn’t. It’s a skill, the result of practice, feedback and awareness. I’ve seen quiet, shy leaders grow powerful simply by learning to breathe, pause and connect. Gravitas isn’t about perfection, it’s about connection, trusting your own energy, grounding yourself, tuning into shared purpose. There’s no gravitas in serving your ego, it exists in that flow state where you focus on others. When people picture gravitas, they imagine a Roman senator or Churchill and recoil. But it’s not about that, it’s about being centred in your own power and helping others. Think Michelle Obama, or the sports coach you love. Cicero called gravitas the quality that made words carry weight. For me, it’s still that, the ability to speak with weight, warmth and presence. Gravitas equals knowledge plus purpose plus passion minus anxiety. When you manage nerves and speak from your centre, your words land. Breathwork is central to this because voice is out-breath. I wish more people thought of that. I’m a quiet person, and for years I thought the world belonged to the loud ones. Not true. Quiet people have deep gravitas. My Northumberland Quaker grandmother always said,“You should only speak if you can improve on silence.”That’s my life lesson. You don’t have to be the loudest, just the clearest, calmest, most you version of yourself. ## **Question 3: Building a Method That Scales** ### You've created courses, written bestselling books, and built a business that's been recognized with "Tens Speaker awards" from Henley Business School. How did you scale your expertise from one-on-one coaching to reaching thousands through your methodology? What advice would you give to other women who have deep expertise but struggle to package and scale their knowledge into a sustainable business? Scaling **The Gravitas Method** has been a journey of turning practice into process. When I coached one to one, I saw the same patterns of fear, obstacles and breakthroughs. Writing my books was a creative challenge to turn those patterns into a method that could reach people I’d never meet. I never wanted to go big. Early on someone said, “Magnify, don’t multiply,” and it was wise advice. Managing large teams was never the goal, I love the creative process of writing books and courses. Publishing with Penguin Random House, *Gravitas* and *Find Your Voice*, became a wonderful calling card, and my **TEDx Talk**, now with over 11 million views, took my work further than I could have imagined. I’m grateful for that first decade of teaching and testing, it gave me time to learn my craft. Once you can explain it simply, you can teach it. That’s how The Gravitas Method became something bigger than me. There’s no shortcut to that kind of learning. If you’re in an expert business, don’t rush. Love what you do and keep learning. I also learned to be okay with little by little, testing as I went, launching workshops, refining content, listening carefully. The same curiosity that made me a voice teacher guides me as a founder, what lights people up, what worries them, what helps. That’s where the gold is. My advice to women founders is this: Don’t wait for perfect, go for connection. The first version is never the final one, the learning is the path. Package what you know into simple steps, clarity scales. Protect your energy, it persuades more than any pitch. Stay smaller if it keeps you strong, don’t burn out. And share your story. The fear, trial, and error, that’s what gives your work heart. Often the ideas you’re most nervous to share are the ones that land most deeply. Give your best ideas freely, more will come. That creates the kind of energy that builds your brand. Now I’m excited to keep building with new courses like [**Master Your Speaking**](https://courses.carolinegoyder.com/Master-Your-Speaking?ref=foundedbywomen.org), the sister to [**Master Your Meetings**](https://courses.carolinegoyder.com/MasterYourMeetings?ref=foundedbywomen.org). And my [Free Gravitas Course](https://courses.carolinegoyder.com/GravitasCourse?r%5Fdone=1&ref=foundedbywomen.org) offers everyone the daily tools we all need, because, as I remind clients, gravitas takes practice. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### From Invisible Patient to Powerful Advocate: How Victoria Reese Brathwaite Built We Are ILL After Her MS Diagnosis Left Her Without Answers URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/women-who-lead/from-invisible-patient-to-powerful-advocate-how-victoria-reese-brathwaite-built-we-are-ill-after-her-ms-diagnosis-left-her-without-answers/ Last updated: 2025-10-10T14:30:47.000Z When Victoria Reese Brathwaite was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis in 2012, she felt invisible. Her questions went unanswered. Her symptoms were dismissed. And she couldn't see herself reflected anywhere in the healthcare system or the MS community. As a Black woman navigating a chronic illness, she was searching for representation, validation, and practical support. She found none of it. So she created it herself. Victoria founded [We Are ILL](https://www.weareillmatic.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org), a 501(c)(3) patient advocacy organization with a mission to redefine what "sick" looks like for Black women living with multiple sclerosis and other autoimmune diseases. What started as simply sharing her own story grew into a movement to make sure Black women are seen, supported, and equipped to thrive. Today, We Are ILL champions representation in research, advocacy, and education, tackling a gap that had existed far too long in the chronic disease space. But Victoria didn't stop there. She's also the CEO of [Victor Group Creative](https://www.victorgroupcreative.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org), a strategic healthcare marketing agency that consults health and wellness organizations on how to authentically reach and connect with diverse audiences through culturally conscious marketing campaigns, brand strategy, and physical event production. As a trusted consultant, she provides expert guidance on patient involvement in publications and research projects, playing a pivotal role in reshaping how information is presented and shared in the medical community. An award-winning entrepreneur and sought-after public speaker, Victoria captivates audiences with compelling presentations that shed light on the importance of patient engagement and empowerment. Her thought-provoking talks inspire healthcare professionals, researchers, and decision-makers to reevaluate their practices and embrace patient-centered models of care. She's become a leading authority in patient engagement, showing up for her community and bringing more representation to research, advocacy, and education surrounding chronic disease. In this conversation, Victoria shares how her personal experience of feeling invisible transformed into a mission to amplify patient voices, the challenges she faced building trust in a historically overlooked community while managing her own health, and how she's built a sustainable nonprofit using a hybrid funding model that includes grants, corporate sponsorships, and earned income. --- ### What inspired you to found We Are ILL and what were the main challenges you faced? I founded **We Are ILL** after my own MS diagnosis left me feeling invisible—my questions went unanswered, my symptoms dismissed, and I couldn’t see myself reflected anywhere. What started as sharing my story grew into a movement to make sure Black women living with MS and other autoimmune diseases are seen, supported, and equipped to thrive. The biggest challenges were building trust in a community that’s historically overlooked, securing funding without a roadmap, and balancing rapid growth with my own health—but those hurdles shaped the resilient, impact-driven organization we are today. ### Did you start the venture alone? I did found **We Are ILL** on my own, but I’ve never truly built it alone. From the very beginning, incredible people and leaders have stepped in with guidance, expertise, and resources that shaped our growth. Today I’m fortunate to work with an excellent team that fully understands the vision and continues to make powerful contributions as we expand our impact. ### What's your business model, and how have you grown your revenue? Nonprofits can be funded in many ways—grants, corporate sponsorships, individual donations, membership dues, or earned income like ticketed events or trainings. Most sustainable organizations, including ours, use a hybrid approach to diversify revenue and ensure we can weather changes in the funding landscape. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### From Wall Street Journal to Strategic Advisor: How Nish Amarnath Built Lanecraft Lab on the Power of Story Architecture URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/women-who-lead/from-wall-street-journal-to-strategic-advisor-how-nish-amarnath-built-lanecraft-lab-on-the-power-of-story-architecture/ Last updated: 2025-10-07T21:38:11.000Z Most consultants follow a predictable path: MBA, big firm, corner office. Nish Amarnath's journey looks nothing like that. She's written for for the Wall Street Journal and Reuters**,** covering private markets, AI, and energy finance**.** Her work as a bestselling novelist was recognized by the U.S. State Department. She has also been a management consultant at KPMG, public diplomacy head for the UK Government, a consultant for the World Bank, and managing editor at a European publishing group. She holds degrees from the London School of Economics (as a Margot Naylor Scholar) and Columbia University (as a James W. Robins Reporting Fellow), and she's worked across three continents. For years, her career looked like a patchwork of unrelated experiences. Today, she sees it differently: each role trained her to solve the same problem from different angles—how to translate complexity into clarity and action. That realization became the foundation for [Lanecraft Lab](https://www.nishamarnath.com/lanecraft-lab?ref=foundedbywomen.org), a strategic advisory firm that **operates** at the intersection of storytelling, strategy, and systems thinking. Nish works with senior leaders and organizations navigating complex, high-stakes environments, helping them build what she calls "story architecture"—not just messaging for media campaigns, but narrative frameworks that drive decisions at multiple stakeholder levels, from boards and investors to customers and policymakers. Her clients span industries from facilities management to Fortune 500 companies, and her approach combines the investigative rigor of financial journalism, the structural thinking of consulting, and the emotional resonance of fiction writing. As a member of International Thriller Writers and author of three books including the bestselling novel "Victims For Sale," Nish brings a rare combination of creative synthesis and analytical precision to her work. She's covered everything from climate change and artificial intelligence to workers' rights and public policy for outlets including Industry Dive, S&P Global, and TheStreet.com. In this conversation, Nish shares how she distilled decades of diverse experience into a clear business model, why she had to unlearn the instinct to undervalue intellectual labor, and her advice for women building credibility in fields dominated by large consulting firms and traditional career paths. --- **Question 1:** **You've had an impressive journalism career at the Wall Street Journal, Reuters, Dow Jones, S&P Global, and Industry Dive, covering everything from climate change to artificial intelligence. You also wrote three books, including the bestselling novel "Victims For Sale" which was nominated for the Mumbai Film Festival Award and recognized by the U.S. State Department. What made you transition from journalism and authorship to founding Lanecraft Lab as a strategic advisory firm, and how does your background as both a journalist and novelist inform the way you help clients refine their narratives and positioning?** **Nish:** I see myself as a storyteller. I’ve always believed there’s a story in people, patterns, numbers, and trends. I founded **Lanecraft Lab** as a strategic advisory firm to guide organizations and senior leaders on how the right narrative can drive policy, investment, customer capture, and human behavior, beyond the media. My work sits at the intersection of storytelling, strategy, and systems thinking, focused on distilling complex information and data into compelling narratives that drive decisions at multiple stakeholder levels, including boards and investors. For example, helping building managers secure capital for large-scale HVAC and retrofit upgrades by framing the ROI and risk language in a way that resonates with executives. My background as a journalist for outlets like WSJ and Reuters grounded me in asking incisive questions and uncovering hidden structures. My work in fiction taught me to see emotional resonance and the power of language as tools that shift perception. My early management consulting roots at KPMG and my leadership of high-stakes global mandates for Fortune 500 companies and government bodies keep me focused on client realities—identifying pain points shaped by resource constraints, regulation, geopolitical uncertainty, and market dynamics. Together, these strands form the backbone of how I help clients refine their positioning, building not just a message targeting Tier-1 and trade media, but a story architecture that endures beyond trends and campaigns. **Question 2:** **You've worked in incredibly diverse roles—from public diplomacy head for the UK Government to consultant for the World Bank, from managing editor at a European publishing group to reporter covering distressed debt and bankruptcies. How did you take all these varied experiences and distill them into a clear business model for Lanecraft Lab? What was the hardest part about positioning yourself as a strategic advisor after being known primarily as a journalist and author?** **Nish:** For a long time, my career looked like a patchwork of unrelated experiences—consulting, journalism, PR, public diplomacy, and authorship. Today, I realize that each role trained me to solve the same problem from different angles—how to translate complexity into clarity and action. At KPMG, I learned the rigor of systems—how processes, incentives, and risk structures drive outcomes. As the leader of a public diplomacy mandate for the UK Government, I saw how narrative alignment shapes international trust and investment. At outlets like *The Wall Street Journal,* and Reuters, I honed my expertise in asking questions no one else was asking and distilling chaos into a story that target audiences could understand. At an editorial leader at news organizations like Institutional Investor and Industry Dive, I guided reporters and contributors to do the same. Lanecraft Lab is a driven by a lean-ops model grounded in the notion of strategy and storytelling as two sides of the same current. I use investigative depth and industry knowledge from financial journalism, structural thinking from consulting, functional skills from B2B communications, and creative synthesis from fiction to help clients grow and expand their reach with a consistent and cohesive story that resonates with target stakeholder groups. The hardest part of the transition involved unlearning old patterns, stepping out from behind the byline, and trusting my experience as a framework, not just a résumé. But once I embraced that, clients began to see the same thing I did—that clarity is gold, and stories move systems. **Question 3:** **Lanecraft Lab helps leaders navigate "complex, high-stakes environments through precision roadmaps." You hold degrees from both the London School of Economics (as a Margot Naylor Scholar) and Columbia University (as a James W. Robins Reporting Fellow), and you've worked across three continents. As a woman building a strategic advisory firm, what advice would you give to other female founders about leveraging a non-traditional career path, pricing high-level consulting services, and building credibility in a field that's often dominated by large consulting firms?** **Nish:** Strategy consulting is still male-dominated. More broadly speaking, women entrepreneurs are behind their male counterparts in many capital-raising metrics, although their companies generate more revenue per dollar raised, according to a report from Female Founders Fund. Building Lanecraft Lab as a woman founder has meant redefining what credibility looks like. I come from a non-linear background—journalism, consulting, public diplomacy—and I’ve learned that strength lies in synthesis, not conformity. Every unconventional skill or detour can become an asset if you know how to integrate it into a coherent value story. For women who’ve followed non-traditional paths, my biggest advice is this—operate from a place of alignment within yourself and never apologize for who you are. Be specific about the pain points you are addressing, how you will solve those problems, why your background makes you uniquely positioned to do so, and what measurable outcomes you’ve delivered. The consulting world often defaults to frameworks and jargon, but clients invest in resonance. They want a partner they can trust. They want someone who can see the blind spots they’ve missed. On pricing, I had to unlearn the instinct to undervalue intellectual labor. I moved from charging for time to aligning fees with scope and impact rather than hours. That shift changed everything, both financially and psychologically. Finally, credibility is cumulative. It’s built through consistent delivery and composure in high-stakes settings. Every meeting, presentation, and follow-up email contributes to the architecture of trust. Lanecraft Lab exists to show that precision, empathy, and strategy can coexist—that a woman-founded firm can operate with the rigor of sophisticated consulting while maintaining the humanity and intuition that make change sustainable. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### From Corporate Communications Strategist to Boutique Agency Founder: How Katelyn Davis Built Joyride Group on Deep Domain Expertise URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/women-who-lead/from-corporate-communications-strategist-to-boutique-agency-founder-how-katelyn-davis-built-joyride-group-on-deep-domain-expertise/ Last updated: 2025-10-07T20:33:08.000Z Most PR agencies claim they can handle any industry. Katelyn Davis built her entire business on the opposite bet: that in a sector as complex and rapidly evolving as mobility tech, startups need a partner who truly understands the space, not a jack of all trades. After spending over a decade working across every side of the automotive and transportation industry, from automakers and suppliers to startups, venture capitalists, community organizations, and government bodies, Katelyn saw a clear pattern. The companies investing early in authentic, transparent storytelling were the ones building trust and scaling successfully, especially as new technologies like autonomy and electrification reshaped the industry. But early-stage mobility startups, the ones pushing the boundaries of how we move people and goods, often didn't have access to that same level of strategic communications. They were running lean, wearing multiple hats, and focused on survival. Yet in an industry this complex and competitive, the ability to clearly articulate your story isn't a luxury. It's essential. In 2023, Katelyn founded [Joyride Group ](https://joyridepr.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org)to fill that gap. As a boutique integrated storytelling firm dedicated to the intersection of automotive and transportation tech, Joyride meets mobility innovators exactly where they are. She combines industry fluency with strategic storytelling that's authentic, trustworthy, and impossible to ignore. Less than a year after launch, Katelyn won a Hermes Creative Award for her work on the nation's first electrified roadway and was named one of the Most Influential Startup PR Professionals in the World. But those accolades came from staying laser-focused on her values: alignment over speed, impact over transactions, and championing diversity in an industry born from two notorious boys clubs: automotive and tech. Katelyn co-authored "[Women Driven Mobility: Rethinking the Way the World Moves](http://www.womendrivenmobility.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org)" with a foreword by Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer. She co-founded [Detroit Moves](http://www.detroitmoves.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org), an annual community festival connecting the local community with the mobility ecosystem, and has been recognized among Detroit's 30 in their Thirties. She's an alumni of the 2024 Change Collective cohort and a graduate of Leadership Detroit. She served on the board of the Automotive Public Relations Council for more than five years. In this conversation, Katelyn shares why she left the security of working for large global agencies to start Joyride, how she balances rapid growth with maintaining authenticity, and why her commitment to elevating women's voices and diverse perspectives isn't just about equity. It's about building better products and telling better stories. --- ### You founded Joyride Group in 2023 after over a decade working in the automotive and transportation sector—from automakers and startups to economic development organizations and global communications agencies. What was the pivotal moment that made you realize it was time to launch your own agency, and how did your experience working across every side of the industry inform the way you built Joyride's business model? The decision to start Joyride wasn’t one dramatic leap, it was the result of a lot of quiet nudges over the years. I had spent my career helping organizations big and small navigate the constantly evolving mobility landscape, and along the way, I started to see clear patterns. The companies that invested early in authentic, transparent storytelling were the ones that built trust and scaled successfully—especially as new technologies like autonomy and electrification reshaped the industry. But I also saw how early-stage startups—the ones pushing the boundaries of how we move people and goods—often didn’t have access to that same level of strategic communications. They’re running lean, wearing multiple hats, and focused on survival. Yet, in an industry as complex and competitive as mobility, the ability to clearly articulate your story, your impact, and your value proposition isn’t a luxury—it’s essential. Having worked for large global agencies, I knew their models weren’t designed for startups at this stage. They’re incredibly capable but often too expensive, too broad, and not specialized enough to meet the unique needs of emerging mobility companies. These agencies are “jack of all trades,” but when it comes to something as technical and rapidly evolving as transportation and mobility tech, you need a partner who truly understands the space.I created Joyride to fill that gap. As a boutique agency built on deep domain expertise, Joyride meets mobility innovators exactly where they are—combining industry fluency with strategic storytelling that’s authentic, trustworthy, and impossible to ignore. Our business model reflects what I’ve learned on every side of the industry: that the right story, told the right way, can be the most powerful growth engine a company has. ### Less than a year after launching Joyride, you won a Hermes Creative Award for your work on the nation's first electrified roadway, and you were named one of the most influential startup public relations professionals in the world. How do you balance the pressure to scale quickly with maintaining the "authentic storytelling" and deep domain expertise that sets Joyride apart in such a competitive industry? I often tell my clients that “innovation for innovation’s sake” isn’t impressive if it isn’t aligned with the company’s values and overarching story. The same philosophy guides how I think about Joyride’s growth. Scaling quickly only matters if we’re growing in the right direction and staying true to who we are and what we stand for. Growth is exciting, but speed for its own sake has never been my north star. For me, the priority is alignment. Alignment with our values, our clients, and our vision for how communications can shape the future of mobility. Authenticity isn’t something you tack on later, it’s the core of how we operate. Every story we tell is grounded in expertise. We’re not chasing every opportunity that comes our way; we’re intentional about the partners we work with and the impact their innovations can have. That focus allows us to scale in a way that feels sustainable rather than transactional. Winning awards and recognition is gratifying, but what really matters is when a client tells us our work helped them shift perceptions, win business, or attract investors. That’s the kind of growth worth pursuing. ### As co-author of "Women Driven Mobility" with a foreword by Governor Gretchen Whitmer, you've been vocal about elevating women's voices in an industry born from two notorious "boys clubs"—automotive and tech. How does your commitment to championing diversity influence the way you run Joyride, from the clients you take on to the narratives you help them craft? The principles surrounding diversity, equity, and inclusion are the biggest innovation drivers and competitive advantage in any tech sector. In order to create and bring to market a successful technology product or platform, you have to ensure it is scalable and, therefore, suits the needs of the greater market. To do this, you have to understand your markets inside and out. The most transformative ideas in mobility don't come from echo chambers, they are inspired by various lived experiences and developed by diverse teams who come to the table with their own unique and individual perspectives that others may overlook. At Joyride, that commitment shows up in a few ways. First, we actively seek out clients whose work reflects a broader, more inclusive vision of the future—whether that’s advancing sustainability, building safer systems, or creating access for underserved communities. Second, we’re intentional about how we craft narratives. It’s not just about telling a company’s story, it’s about asking who’s missing from the conversation and making sure their perspectives are elevated. I co-authored Women Driven Mobility because I wanted to create space for women’s voices in an industry that too often sidelines them. With Joyride, I get to put that belief into practice every day, by building an agency that doesn’t just mirror the industry as it is, but helps shape it into what it can be. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### From Corporate Operations to Empowering Broken Women: How Beth Close Built a Business on Kintsugi and Grace URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/all/from-corporate-operations-to-empowering-broken-women-how-beth-close-built-a-business-on-kintsugi-and-grace/ Last updated: 2025-10-07T11:18:13.000Z Before Beth Close was teaching women to turn "Broken to Bright," she was building global operations at Fulfillment.com—implementing quality control systems, streamlining processes, and reducing warehouse errors by 87%. She knew how to create order from chaos in the corporate world. But her own experience with divorce and dyslexia showed her a different kind of brokenness, one that couldn't be fixed with metrics and workflows. That realization became the foundation for [Whole Being Broken](https://wholebeingbroken.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org), where Beth applies the same systems-thinking approach she used in logistics to something far more personal: helping women rebuild their lives after trauma. Drawing inspiration from Kintsugi—the Japanese art of repairing broken pottery with gold—Beth teaches that our cracks aren't proof of weakness, but invitations for light to come through. As an author, speaker, and empowerment coach, Beth has created the CLOSER Bonds Method and written books including Whole Being Broken and the upcoming Grace Built series. Featured in The Los Angeles Tribune Magazine, she's building a movement around the idea that vulnerability isn't weakness—it's the bridge to trust, transformation, and true wholeness. In this conversation, Beth shares how her corporate background informs her coaching framework, why she believes broken places can become our brightest spots, and how she's learned to share her story without sacrificing her peace. ### Question 1: From Corporate Operations to Healing Others **You have an impressive corporate background, having helped build Fulfillment.com from a startup into a fully functioning operation, implementing systems that reduced errors by 87% and managing complex logistics across multiple facilities. What led you to transition from high-level operations management to founding Whole Being Broken and focusing on empowerment coaching? How do your business and systems-building skills inform your approach to helping women heal and transform their lives?** My corporate career taught me how to build systems that create order from chaos, reduce inefficiencies, and drive sustainable growth. At Fulfillment.com I learned the power of structure and how the right framework can transform not just a business but the people inside it. As much as I loved operations, my personal journey showed me another kind of brokenness, emotional, relational, and spiritual. I realized that while I could optimize warehouses and logistics networks, many women, including myself at times, were walking through life carrying unspoken pain, fragmented identities, and survival mode mindsets. That recognition lit the fire for Whole Being Broken. I approach empowerment coaching the way I approached building a global operation, with a framework. I believe transformation requires both heart and system. My business background helps me create practical, repeatable processes like the CLOSER Bonds Method that give women structure as they heal. My lived experience brings the empathy, vulnerability, and faith that make those systems deeply human. The transition was not about leaving operations for coaching. It was about taking what I knew about building sustainable systems and applying it to something even more important, helping women rebuild themselves from the inside out. ### Question 2: The "Broken to Bright" Philosophy **Your signature framework draws from the Japanese art of Kintsugi - the idea that we're not broken beyond repair, but that our cracks are where the light gets in. You've shared your own journey through divorce, dyslexia, and childhood wounds in publications like The Los Angeles Tribune Magazine. How did you develop this philosophy from your personal experiences, and what does it mean practically for women who feel completely shattered by life's challenges? How do you help them see their "broken" as beautiful?** Broken to Bright was born out of the same seasons of brokenness I write about in Whole Being Broken and the upcoming Grace Built series. Divorce and the challenges of dyslexia once left me questioning my worth and my place in the world. For years I believed that being broken meant being less than. What I eventually discovered, and what I now share through my books and coaching, is that the cracks in our stories are not proof of weakness but invitations for strength, grace, and light to come through. The Japanese art of Kintsugi captures this beautifully. When something breaks, it is repaired with gold, making the broken place the most valuable part. That became my lens for life and for the women I work with. Instead of hiding the cracks, we learn to honor them, because they tell the story of survival, resilience, and beauty. For women who feel completely shattered, Broken to Bright is about building a new relationship with their pain. We take practical steps to reclaim identity, shift the narrative from “I am broken” to “I am becoming,” and create systems that help them see progress. The transformation comes when they no longer see their broken pieces as evidence of failure but as proof of strength. Broken to Bright is not about pretending everything is fine. It is about choosing to believe that the very things that hurt us most can become the very things that make us shine. ### Question 3: Building a Business Around Vulnerability **Whole Being Broken is built on the premise of embracing vulnerability and finding strength in our most difficult moments. As an entrepreneur, how do you balance being authentically vulnerable in your messaging and leadership while also building credibility and running a successful business? What advice do you have for other female founders who want to build mission-driven businesses around personal transformation but worry about being "too personal" or sharing too much of their own struggles?** For me, vulnerability is not weakness, it is the bridge to trust. Whole Being Broken is built on the belief that when we are willing to be seen in our struggles, we create space for others to see themselves and begin their own healing. That said, vulnerability is not the same as oversharing. The balance comes from sharing scars, not open wounds. I speak from experiences I have processed, prayed through, and found meaning in, so that what I share becomes wisdom rather than raw pain. Credibility comes when people can feel both your heart and your strength. My audience knows I have lived through what I teach, but they also see the systems, tools, and results that I provide. That combination of authenticity and structure builds trust and shows that vulnerability and professionalism are not opposites. They are partners. For other women building mission-driven businesses, my advice is to honor your story but also protect your peace. You do not owe the world every detail of your pain. Share what serves, what connects, and what will help your audience move forward. Keep the parts that are still tender for your inner circle, your therapist, or your journal. Vulnerability is most powerful when it is purposeful. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### From Sales Leader to Search Maverick: How Tracy Nickell Built a 100% Success Rate by Choosing the Hard Road URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/women-who-lead/from-sales-leader-to-search-maverick-how-tracy-nickell-built-a-100-success-rate-by-choosing-the-hard-road/ Last updated: 2025-10-06T08:48:00.000Z Most recruiters play it safe. When a search gets difficult, they move on to easier placements with higher odds of a quick commission. Tracy Nickell built her reputation doing the exact opposite. After earning a Computer Science degree from Florida International University and working at PricewaterhouseCoopers, Tracy spent years as an award-winning sales leader in pharmatech and medtech startups, selling disruptive technologies across various U.S. locations. In 2012, when she relocated to the remote Rocky Mountain region, she founded [Summit Search Consultants](https://www.summitsearchconsultants.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) with a bold premise: tackle the "headache hires" that internal teams can't fill and other recruiters won't touch. Over the past decade, Tracy has built Summit Search into the go-to boutique executive search firm for MedTech and emerging tech startups, assisting over 50 companies ranging from VC-backed startups to Fortune 300 corporations. Under her leadership, the firm has achieved a remarkable 100% success rate for all retained searches and over 90% year-one retention for placements. Her recent placements include a Managing Director for a global medical equipment corporation, a VP of Engineering for a hyper-growth biotech SaaS disruptor, a VP of R&D for a disruptive medtech startup, and a VP of Sales & Marketing for a PE-backed medical device/software provider. Tracy's philosophy is simple but rare: "How we do one thing is how we do everything." While the industry average failure rate hovers around 30%, she refuses to accept that any client deserves to be in that statistic. Her secret? A hands-on approach that prioritizes human connection over AI automation, treating each search as if it were the firm's sole focus, and understanding that in the world of executive search, failure is simply not an option. In this conversation, Tracy shares why she transitioned from sales to recruitment, how her "been in their shoes" experience shapes her vetting process, and why leaning into difficult searches became her competitive advantage. ### Question 1: From Award-Winning Sales Leader to Executive Search Founder **Your career journey spans IT, pharmatech, and startup medtech ventures before founding Summit Search Consultants. You were an award-winning sales leader working with disruptive technologies before transitioning to executive recruitment. What prompted you to make that shift, and how has your experience selling cutting-edge products shaped the way you identify and place leadership talent today? What unique challenges did you face establishing credibility as a boutique firm competing against established national executive search firms?** After years in the pharmatech and medtech industries, living in various US locations, I founded Summit Search Consultants when we relocated to the remote Rocky Mountain region in 2012\. My entrepreneurial background, combined with a natural ability to connect people, led me to focus on talent acquisition. I've always been a successful connector of people, whether making employee referrals at various companies I worked with in the past or introducing friends who later married. My hands-on experience in the Pharmatech/Medtech industry deeply influences our approach to talent evaluation. Unlike many search firms, we truly understand our clients' needs because we've "been in their shoes." This unique perspective shapes our vetting process, which prioritizes a candidate's real-world performance over a simple comparison of a CV to a job description. We focus on how candidates will genuinely succeed in a role, ensuring a better fit for our clients. As a boutique firm, our client partnerships are paramount, prioritizing quality over quantity in every search. In our early years, without decades of search success, gaining prospective clients' trust was a challenge. However, our proven track record in Pharmatech and Medtech provided credibility, and we understood that failure was not an option when given an opportunity. We treated each search as if it were our sole focus, ensuring our clients felt like our top priority. This approach fostered recurring business and has led to over a decade of consistent organic growth since our inception. ### Question 2: Building a 100% Success Rate in Executive Search **Under your leadership, Summit Search Consultants has achieved a remarkable 100% success rate for all retained searches and over 90% year-1 retention for placements across VC-backed startups to Fortune 300 corporations. In an industry where failed placements are common, what specific strategies or principles have enabled you to consistently deliver these exceptional results? How do you balance the rapid scaling needs of emerging tech startups with the rigorous vetting required to ensure long-term placement success?** We believe every search is fillable provided there is a dedicated hiring team involved. You’re hearing about AI in every aspect of our day to day functions. It’s no different in the world of search. However, here at SSC, we have not fully turned our process over to technology. The automations, the InMails, the AI sourcing, I’m sure there’s some value to that. But in our firm, the human contribution is essential. Our finger is on the pulse of every stage of the process. When the talent pool is not as robust as we would like it to be, our team understands specifically where to go to achieve the results needed. We have a saying here, “how we do one thing is how we do everything”. We don’t cut corners; we don’t settle for mediocrity. The industry average failure rate is \~30%. We don’t believe any clients deserve to be in that 30%. For every search project, our goal is to deliver to our clients multiple finalists to make their selection. When the client has options, they are in a position of power to make the best possible choice. ### Question 3: Choosing the Hard Road in Recruitment **You've publicly shared that when search projects get tough, most recruiters look for "easy street" and get distracted by other projects. Yet you've built your reputation on tackling those "headache hires" that internal teams can't fill. What drives you to lean into the difficult searches rather than the easy wins? Can you share an example of a particularly challenging placement where your commitment to solving hard problems made the difference? What advice would you give to female founders in MedTech and emerging tech about partnering with recruiters who will truly commit to finding the right leadership talent?** To give you a peek behind the curtain of the recruitment industry, there are two types of partnerships a company can engage with a recruitment firm. There’s the contingent partnership: there is no obligation from the search firm nor the client. CVs are sent to the client and if there’s a match and they make a hire, a placement fee is due. This is where the “easy street” strategy comes into play. The contingent recruiting firm will accept *many* job orders and stack rank them from easy to difficult and focus on the easy searches that have the highest potential to yield a placement fee. This leaves clients with the difficult searches in a tough spot with minimal to no talent from their agencies. This also makes the clients with the difficult searches feel like they need to engage additional firms for support, but the results really don’t change. Then there’s the retained partnership: this is not an “if” a placement is made, but “when” the placement is made. There is commitment in the partnership from both parties and the recruiting firm will work with the client until the position is filled. What made us lean into those difficult searches? We knew we could fill them, and it would differentiate us from our competitors. We continued to emerge as the firm that can deliver no matter the challenges in the search. We eventually transitioned to a retained search model with a customized process to deliver repeatable results, every time. My advice to female founders is Medtech and emerging tech who are seeking partnerships with recruiters is to review our guide when selecting a search partner: [7 Questions to Ask Before Choosing an Executive Search Firm - Summit Search ConsultantsHiring for VC, PE, MedTech, or advanced tech? Ask these 7 questions to find an executive search partner who delivers results, every time.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/icon/favicon.ico)Summit Search ConsultantsNina Baker![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/thumbnail/Summit-Search-Consultants-06786.jpg)](https://www.summitsearchconsultants.com/insights/what-to-look-for-in-a-search-partner-7-questions-to-ask-before-you-sign?ref=foundedbywomen.org) We have several examples of challenging placements we’ve made due to our commitment to solving clients’ unique challenges: [Executive Search Success Stories - Summit Search ConsultantsSee why our executive search process has a 100% success rate and learn how we’ve helped companies find top-tier talent to achieve their strategic goals.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/icon/favicon-1.ico)Summit Search ConsultantsNina Baker![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/thumbnail/summit-social-sharing.png)](https://www.summitsearchconsultants.com/case-studies?ref=foundedbywomen.org) > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### From 4-Hour Workdays to 125,000 Subscribers: How Ashley R. Cummings Built Two Businesses Without Losing Her Mind URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/all/from-4-hour-workdays-to-125-000-subscribers-how-ashley-r-cummings-built-two-businesses-without-losing-her-mind/ Last updated: 2025-10-02T15:03:52.000Z Most freelance writers dream of landing clients like Uber, Shopify, Salesforce, and LinkedIn. Ashley R. Cummings did that while working just four hours a day and making six figures. But she didn't stop there. During the pandemic, when her clients needed more than she could deliver solo, she expanded into [Searchlight Content](https://searchlightcontent.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org), a boutique B2B content marketing agency that now drives results like number one Google rankings and 500,000+ website views per year for clients. Oh, and she also built Content Connect, a newsletter and community with over 125,000 active members, making it one of the most influential content marketing communities in the industry. Her clients include Fortune 500 companies, and her work has been featured everywhere from Business Insider to Inc.com. Ashley's approach is refreshingly honest about the challenges of scaling. She operates under two business models, works as both a solo freelancer and agency founder, and is actively figuring out how to balance explosive newsletter growth with demanding client work. Her content philosophy cuts through the noise: no "nothing burger" content, no following tired B2B playbooks. Instead, she creates expert-led, insight-driven work backed by original research and real perspective. In this conversation, Ashley shares how she scaled her personal expertise into a team-based agency, why she started her newsletter before thinking about branding synergy, and her advice for female entrepreneurs trying to build authority in oversaturated markets. ### Question 1: From Solo Freelancer to Agency Founder **You've built an impressive career as a freelance SaaS writer working with major brands like Uber, Shopify, Salesforce, LinkedIn, and SEMrush, often working just 4 hours a day while making six figures. What drove you to transition from successful solo freelancing to founding Searchlight Content agency? How did you scale your personal writing expertise into a team-based business that now delivers results like #1 Google rankings and 500,000+ website views per year for clients?** I actually operate under two business models, depending on what my clients need. For teams that need light writing or editing support, I work as a [freelancer](https://www.ashleyrcummings.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) under my own name. It makes it easier to slide into their operations and work as an added member of their team. But during the pandemic, many clients needed more—more content, more strategy, more coordination. That’s when I expanded into a boutique agency, [**Searchlight Content**](https://www.searchlightcontent.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org). I’ve been in content marketing for a long time and have collaborated with exceptional writers, editors, and strategists. Instead of referring work out, it made more sense to bring those trusted partners together under one roof. Now, I can scale up or down depending on the scope. Whether a client needs a sharp editor or a full content team, I’ve got them covered. ### Question 2: Building a 125,000+ Member Community **Your Content Connect newsletter has grown to over 125,000 active members, making it one of the most influential content marketing communities. Meanwhile, Searchlight Content has achieved impressive results like helping companies achieve 60% YOY growth rates and getting hired by Fortune 500 companies. How do you balance running a successful agency while building and maintaining such a large community? What role has your newsletter played in attracting high-caliber clients and establishing your expertise?** I started [**Content Connect**](https://www.contentconnect.site/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) more as a way to stay grounded and help others—not necessarily as a business tool. It was just a place to share what I was learning, thinking about, and testing in content marketing. The community side has grown quickly, and while newsletter growth has been slower, the quality of subscribers is incredibly high. They’re the people who care about what’s changing *right now* in content—and want to stay sharp and adaptable. I actually launched **Searchlight Content** before Content Connect. If I were starting over, I’d probably keep the branding consistent to tie the two together more clearly. It would make more sense with Content Connect having an agency and a newsletter.It’s becoming increasingly challenging to balance client work and the newsletter as both businesses expand. I’ve outsourced some of the newsletter growth efforts in the past, but I’m actively looking for the right partner to help scale it more sustainably. ### Question 3: The "Expert-Led, Insight-Driven" Content Philosophy **Searchlight Content promises "insight-driven content that captures attention, dazzles readers, and converts" - going beyond typical B2B content that can be a "snooze-fest." Your approach includes conducting original research studies and creating content that's "expert-led" and "rife with examples." How do you ensure your content stands out in an oversaturated market, and what's your process for turning complex B2B topics into compelling narratives? What advice do you give to female entrepreneurs about building authority through content in competitive industries?** It’s so important right now two create content that *isn’t* a nothing burger. In B2B, it’s especially easy to follow old playbooks and write content that barely hits the mark. That kind of content isn’t going to cut it anymore. Instead, you need to publish work that’s informed by original thinking, clear structure, and real perspective. At **Searchlight Content**, our approach is expert-led and insight-driven. We build content around unique POVs, backed by original research and real-world examples. I often run surveys or custom research studies to support narratives with data. I also interview subject-matter experts—both internal and external—to bring new thinking into every piece. I’m also working on new content formats. As for turning complex B2B topics into something compelling? It starts with clarity: What’s the *real* takeaway? Why does it matter now? Then we focus on examples. We always aim to answer: *Where has this been done before? What can the reader learn from it?* That’s how you turn abstract strategy into something actionable and real. For female entrepreneurs trying to build authority: **start putting your ideas out there—now**. Post on social. Start a newsletter. You don’t need a huge following to build trust—you need consistency and clarity. Share what you’re learning, what you believe, and how you think. That’s how clients find you, not just for your services, but for your perspective. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### From 24/7 C-Suite Support to Building Freedom: How Georgia Mills Created The Temp PA for Entrepreneurs Who Need Help But Aren't Used to Asking URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/all/from-24-7-c-suite-support-to-building-freedom-how-georgia-mills-created-the-temp-pa-for-entrepreneurs-who-need-help-but-arent-used-to-asking/ Last updated: 2025-10-02T14:57:29.000Z For years, Georgia Mills had the experience, the skills, and the resume. She'd supported c-suite executives across London and Dubai, mastering the art of anticipation, crisis management, and keeping high-level operations running smoothly. But she had no freedom. She was on call 24/7, tied to a single income source, and stuck in a role that didn't match what she'd signed up for when she relocated to Dubai. That tension between her London life and her new Dubai reality forced a reckoning: what did freedom actually mean to her? The answer was simple. She wanted to work from wherever she wanted, whenever she wanted, with multiple clients and multiple income streams. So she founded [The Temp PA](http://www.thetemppa.co.uk/?ref=foundedbywomen.org), a collective of skilled Virtual Assistants spread across the UK, Europe, and the Middle East, providing bespoke executive support to the clients traditional PA agencies often overlook: creatives with passion projects, early-stage founders, and entrepreneurs juggling multiple businesses. The Temp PA was built on a somewhat selfish question: what kind of work do I actually want to do, and who do I want to work with? The answer wasn't big corporations doing endless filing. It was working with people building something exciting, even if those clients weren't used to trusting someone else to take things off their plate. Georgia's approach balances accessibility with quality, training her team to work in three efficient stages that keep costs down while delivering high-standard results. In this conversation, Georgia shares how she built credibility as a new business owner with no testimonials, why she designed The Temp PA specifically for entrepreneurs on tighter budgets, and her advice for female founders building international remote teams while forgetting about the traditional 9-to-5. ### Question 1: From Supporting C-Suite to Building Your Own Business **You have experience supporting c-suite executives and entrepreneurs before founding The Temp PA. What inspired you to transition from being a virtual assistant to building a collective of VAs across the UK, Europe, and Middle East? What challenges did you face in establishing credibility as a new business competing against traditional PA agencies, and how did your experience working with high-level executives prepare you for entrepreneurship?** I’d been working with c-suite executives for years, and while the experience was invaluable, the reality was that I had no freedom. I had to be available 24/7 and with only one source of income, the pressure was very intense. I then relocated from London to Dubai for a permanent role, but quickly realised the role I’d taken on wasn’t what I’d expected. I was also struggling with feeling torn between my two lives: the one I’d built in London and the new one I was trying to create in Dubai. It made me realise that “freedom” for me meant being able to work from wherever I wanted, whenever I wanted. That wasn’t something I could get working for c-suite executives, but it’s exactly what I’ve created with The Temp PA. Now I have multiple clients, multiple income streams, and the flexibility to build a lifestyle that works for me. The hardest part at the start was credibility. I had plenty of experience as a PA, but none as a business owner, and therefore no reviews or client testimonials. What I did have were my own skills. The qualities that make a good assistant (determination, initiative, problem-solving) are among the same ones you need to be an entrepreneur. I leaned into those, built my first relationships, and grew my business quickly from there. It's still growing, but I’m proud of where I am today. ### Question 2: Making Executive Support Accessible **The Temp PA was created with the intention of "providing a more tailored service for those with personal projects, small businesses, and start-ups, in order to make personal assistance more accessible to those who really need it." Why do you think accessible executive support is particularly crucial for entrepreneurs and small business owners? How do you balance offering flexible, cost-effective services while maintaining the high-quality, bespoke support you're known for?** When I started The Temp PA, I chose my niche a little selfishly... I asked myself: *what kind of work do I actually want to do, and who do I want to work with?* The answer wasn’t big corporations, doing endless filing. I realised I loved working with creatives on passion projects, founders in the early start-up stages, and entrepreneurs with multiple businesses on the go. Those are the clients who excite me. The tricky part is that these clients often aren’t used to working with assistants. They know they can do everything themselves, so trusting someone else to take things off their plate can be tough. The first few weeks are all about proving myself and showing the value I can add. Once that trust is there, the working relationships built are amazing. Not only that, the work is fun, creative, and genuinely makes a huge difference in their businesses and lives. Of course, a lot of these start-up clients are on tighter budgets, so the balance is making sure the service is flexible and affordable, while still maintaining quality. My approach is to deliver work to the highest standard in the most efficient way possible. I’ve seen assistants spend hours over-perfecting something only for the client to wonder why it took so long. I train everyone who works with The Temp PA to work in three stages: gather as much info as possible and achieve as much as possible first, check in and ask questions second, and final touches last. That way we keep back-and-forth to a minimum, clients only pay for time that really matters, and they actually save time; which is what they really want. ### Question 3: Building a Distributed Team Across Continents **You've built a team of skilled Virtual Assistants spread across the UK, Europe, and the Middle East. What strategies do you use to ensure consistency in service quality and maintain your company culture across different time zones and countries? What advice would you give to other female founders looking to build and scale remote, international teams while preserving the personalized touch that sets them apart?** Being a VA is naturally independent work, so we don’t usually rely on other team members to get things done. The main challenge is communication with clients, so I always emphasise the importance of quick, concise updates. Even if something isn’t finished yet, letting the client know it’s in progress makes a huge difference. Therefore, even with independent working patterns, a great way to encourage great culture is ongoing learning. Through The Temp PA, I’ve created digital products to support organisation and VA skills, as well as virtual courses on becoming a high-quality assistant. I also launched *The Temp PA Associates*, a virtual space where VAs can network, ask questions, and stay connected. It’s been a great way to keep our assistants engaged, as well as keeping talented VAs connected around the world. My advice to other female founders building international teams is to forget about the traditional 9–5\. That doesn’t mean working 12-hour days, it just means structuring your day differently. I might take the morning off for coffee with a friend, then log on in the evening for US clients. Or start early if I need to connect with the Middle East. The beauty of entrepreneurship is that you get to design your schedule to suit you and your business, and that flexibility benefits both you and your clients. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### Breaking Down Barriers: How Fiona White Built a Healthcare Business That Comes to You URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/women-who-lead/breaking-down-barriers-how-fiona-white-built-a-healthcare-business-that-comes-to-you/ Last updated: 2025-09-30T11:34:50.000Z When Fiona White founded Own Body in 2010, she wasn't just launching another physiotherapy practice. She was challenging the assumption that patients should always fit around the healthcare system. As a physiotherapist who had worked in hospitals, rehabilitation centers, and community health, Fiona recognized a critical gap: personable, affordable, and reliable in-home health services for people who couldn't access traditional clinics. Today, [Own Body](https://ownbody.com.au/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) employs over 100 clinicians and staff delivering mobile physiotherapy, occupational therapy, and podiatry services across Melbourne, regional Victoria, Sydney, and South East Queensland. Fiona's leadership earned her the 2019 Telstra Victorian Small Business Women's Award, but more importantly, her team has delivered over 27,000 services annually, bringing specialized care directly into people's homes. In this conversation, Fiona shares how she scaled a values-driven business, why specializing in older adult wellness shaped her entire leadership philosophy, and what it really means to build a healthcare company where the system bends to fit the patient, not the other way around. --- ### You founded Own Body after becoming frustrated with the quality and accessibility of existing mobile health services. What specific gaps did you see that traditional clinic-based care wasn't addressing? When I started Own Body, I was seeing firsthand how difficult it was for many people, especially older adults, to get to a clinic. The barriers weren’t just about mobility or transport, but also about caring responsibilities, and the energy required to be out of the house for hours at a time. Traditional models assumed the client could “fit in” with the healthcare system, but what I saw was that the system wasn’t fitting around the client. By bringing care into people’s homes, we could reduce those barriers and meet people where they are most comfortable. That’s where the real potential for impact lies; delivering care that is accessible, personalised, and respectful of the realities of people’s lives. ### Own Body now operates across four states with over 100 clinicians. How do you maintain that personal, holistic approach you started with as the business scales? Scaling has meant being crystal clear on our values and culture from day one. For us, that means connection, holistic care, enablement, experience, and surrounding ourselves with remarkable people. Those aren’t just words on our website, they drive every hiring decision, every client interaction, and the way we support our team. We invest heavily in mentoring and training, and we build systems that allow clinicians to spend more time with clients and less time battling admin. I’ve learnt to use the language of our core values in our everyday language too - this helps us recognise when we're operating in a way to be proud of. It's important to remember that our systems have to reflect our personal approach too. Our clinicians will always be 1:1 with our clients - we can't scale that part. So hiring the right people and supporting their ability to deliver the best service possible is what drives us. ### You’ve won the Telstra Victorian Small Business Women’s Award, have over 200 contracts with aged care providers and specialize in treating older adults. How has specializing in older adult wellness shaped your business philosophy? Working with older adults has been a constant reminder that wellness is about so much more than the absence of illness - it’s about independence, dignity, and quality of life. This has shaped my leadership philosophy too. We don’t measure success only in clinical outcomes, but also in whether we’ve helped someone feel safer, more confident, or more connected in their own home. That focus on enabling people to live well where they want to live drives every decision at Own Body. It’s also influenced how I lead our team: by creating an environment where clinicians feel valued, supported, and able to bring their best selves to their work, we multiply the impact we can have in our communities. We have a habit of sharing success stories from our clients - remarkable outcomes of engaging in therapy. Each and every one of my team members are passionate about helping people live well at home. It's not about going through the motions of a rehab program - it's about getting to know people and getting the root of what makes them tick, so we can help them achieve the best outcome for their lives. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### Making Cybersecurity Human: How Kelly Allen Built Unboring to Transform B2B Marketing URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/women-who-lead/making-cybersecurity-human-how-kelly-allen-built-unboring-to-transform-b2b-marketing/ Last updated: 2025-09-24T10:26:17.000Z **Kelly Allen is proving that B2B marketing doesn't have to be boring—even in cybersecurity.** As Co-Founder of [Unboring](https://kelly-allen.co.uk/?ref=foundedbywomen.org), a specialized marketing studio revolutionizing how cybersecurity companies connect with their audiences, Kelly has spent over a decade fueling cybersecurity brands with creativity and bold ideas that deliver real results. Her approach? Making B2B marketing human again by translating complex security concepts into compelling narratives that actually resonate with decision-makers. Working with industry leaders like Pentera, Vectra, Abnormal, and Cylera, Kelly has earned first-partner rights in the UK and multiple industry awards by challenging the traditional jargon-heavy, fear-based approach that dominates cybersecurity marketing. Her strength lies in the tiny, strategic details that create massive competitive advantages—turning security companies into brands that customers don't just trust, but actually fall in love with. A powerful advocate for women in tech, Kelly's data-backed creativity consistently pushes brands into the spotlight while building more inclusive industry spaces. She's also penning a book with the wonderfully direct title "Why Should Your Customers Give a F\*ck?"—because even the most technical B2B solutions are ultimately bought by humans who want to believe in the brands they're choosing. In this Q&A, Kelly shares how she's built authority in a male-dominated tech space, why emotional marketing beats fear-mongering every time, and her advice for female founders looking to make an impact in serious technical industries. --- ### Question 1: Making Cybersecurity "Unboring" **You co-founded Unboring to revolutionize how cybersecurity companies connect with their audiences - a notoriously technical and dry industry. What inspired you to tackle the challenge of making cybersecurity marketing more engaging, and how do you translate complex security concepts into compelling narratives that actually resonate with decision-makers?** I never set out to “do marketing differently.” I set out to make marketing that actually works. Cybersecurity has always defaulted to jargon, fear, and compliance checklists — which is the fastest way to make people switch off. The truth is: security buyers are still humans. They want clarity, story, and proof that you understand their world. That’s why we created *Unboring*. We translate complex concepts into simple, punchy narratives that decision-makers can use to get buy-in internally. It’s not about dumbing down, it’s about making sure the right message cuts through at the right moment. We use frameworks like campaign autopsies and objection vaults to ensure the content is tied to real buyer problems, not fluffy creative. And once you show security leaders you “get it,” they start listening. ### Question 2: Building Authority in a Male-Dominated Tech Space **You've worked with industry leaders like Pentera, Vectra, and Abnormal, even earning first-partner rights in the UK and multiple awards. As a woman in the cybersecurity space, how did you build credibility and establish yourself as a trusted marketing strategist in such a male-dominated industry? What strategies helped you stand out and win over technical audiences?** When I first stepped into cyber, I knew I’d have to earn my seat at the table. So I didn’t try to “look” credible — I focused on *being* credible. That meant learning the tech deeply, spending time with sales engineers, shadowing calls, and understanding what actually mattered to buyers. Working with brands like Pentera, Vectra, and Abnormal gave me proof points, but the real differentiator was consistency. Showing up with ideas that worked, not just slides. Making content that sales teams actually used. And building frameworks that turned marketing from “colouring-in” to revenue-driving. Standing out wasn’t about being louder, it was about being sharper. And I think being a woman gave me an advantage: I didn’t play by the “default rules” of cyber marketing. I built my own. ### Question 3: The Art of B2B Emotional Marketing **Your approach focuses on "data-backed creativity" and making brands that customers "fall in love with" rather than just trust. In cybersecurity, where decisions are often based on fear and compliance, how do you balance emotional connection with the serious, technical nature of security products? What advice would you give to female founders in technical industries about bringing personality and creativity to traditionally corporate sectors?** Fear might close a deal once. But love builds lifetime customers. In cybersecurity, we’re often told decisions are “rational” driven by compliance and risk reduction. But behind every buying committee are humans who want to *believe* in the brand they’re choosing. They want a partner who feels like an ally, not just a vendor. That’s why we double down on emotional marketing. Data backs up the story, but the story is what creates connection. I always say: simplify the complex, then add the spark that makes people care. For female founders in technical industries, my advice is: don’t dilute your personality to fit the mould. The industry doesn’t need more grey suits and safe slides. It needs people willing to make an impact, to bring creativity into serious spaces, and to remind buyers that even the most technical solutions are bought by humans. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### Breaking Barriers: How Nadzeya Stalbouskaya is Redefining Enterprise Architecture Through Human-Centered Leadership URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/women-who-lead/breaking-barriers-how-nadzeya-stalbouskaya-is-redefining-enterprise-architecture-through-human-centered-leadership/ Last updated: 2025-09-24T09:07:35.000Z In a field traditionally dominated by technical complexity and rigid frameworks, **Nadzeya Stalbouskaya** is charting a different course. As Technology Architect at IAG Transform, she's transforming not just systems, but the very definition of what enterprise architecture can be—shifting from gatekeeping to empowerment, from complexity to clarity, and from technical silos to human-centered design. Nadzeya's journey from a rural village to leading technology transformation at one of the world's largest airline groups is anything but conventional. Starting with programming at 15, she's evolved from debugging backend code to architecting enterprise-wide transformations that serve millions of customers across multiple business domains. But her true innovation lies not in the technical solutions she designs, but in how she approaches the human element of technology leadership. Since joining IAG Transform as both Technology Lead and Enterprise Architect in November 2023, Nadzeya has established comprehensive architectural frameworks and governance models that have delivered measurable operational improvements. More importantly, she's positioned architecture as a core function in strategic decision-making—proving that the best technical leaders are those who can translate complexity into clarity and turn potential blockers into advocates. In this candid conversation, Nadzeya shares the pivotal moments that shaped her unlikely path, reveals how her philosophy of "designing clarity" solved complex business challenges during major cloud migrations, and discusses her vision for breaking down the barriers that still limit women's advancement in enterprise architecture. Her insights offer both practical wisdom for current leaders and inspiration for the next generation of women who refuse to wait for permission to transform technology. ### **Your Journey: You've written about your "unlikely path" from a rural village to leading technology transformation at IAG Transform. What were the pivotal moments that shaped your career trajectory, and what advice would you give to other women who don't see traditional pathways into technology leadership?** I often say that my career didn’t begin with a job title, it began with a belief. Growing up in a rural village, far from the resources and networks that many young people in technology take for granted, I learned early on that curiosity and persistence were my only real tools. At 15, while most of my classmates were still figuring out what they wanted to study, I made a bold decision to enroll in a programming college. It was a leap into the unknown, but one that changed the trajectory of my life. My first steps were humble: lines of backend code, long nights debugging, and the thrill of finally making something work. At that stage, technology was a puzzle something to be solved if I worked hard enough. But as I progressed, I realized it wasn’t just about code. It was about systems, scale, and, eventually, about people. That shift was pivotal. One of the most defining moments in my career came when I transitioned from engineering into enterprise architecture. I had worked on a technically advanced system that was elegant on paper but almost impossible for business users to adopt. Watching the frustration of colleagues who were supposed to benefit from it made me stop and rethink: What is technology truly for, if not to serve people? That realization reshaped my entire approach. From then on, clarity (not complexity) became my guiding principle. The statistics confirm this lesson. A study by McKinsey shows that nearly **70% of digital transformations fail**, not because the technology is inadequate, but because of poor alignment between business and IT. I saw that truth firsthand. My success came not from building the most complex solution, but from asking the simplest questions: Does this serve the business? Does it reduce friction? Does it empower people? To women who don’t see a traditional path into technology leadership, my advice is simple: don’t wait for permission. You don’t need a straight line from elite universities to executive roles to succeed. What you need is resilience, curiosity, and the courage to show up again and again, even when the room wasn’t built for you. The truth is every setback is part of your foundation. And sometimes, the “unlikely path” is exactly the one that prepares you best for leadership. ### **Leadership Philosophy: You describe architecture as "designing clarity" and bring a human-centerer approach to enterprise architecture. Can you share a specific example of how this philosophy solved a complex business challenge at IAG Transform?** When I describe architecture as “designing clarity,” I mean that our job is not just to create frameworks or diagrams, but to make sense of complexity in a way that empowers people. It’s easy to mistake architecture for control: governance boards, standards, compliance checklists. But the best architecture is invisible. It doesn’t slow people down, it accelerates them. A concrete example came during one of the most ambitious projects at IAG Transform: the migration of our systems to AWS. On the surface, it was a technical initiative: moving workloads to the cloud, modernizing infrastructure, reducing costs. But I realized early on that if we framed it purely as a technical project, it would fail. Finance leaders, procurement specialists, and HR teams didn’t care about cloud architecture; they cared about whether their systems would work on Monday morning, whether processes would be interrupted, and whether compliance risks would increase. So, I reframed the architecture around business continuity. Instead of presenting diagrams of servers and integrations, I created a simple visualization showing how employee tasks would flow more smoothly after the migration: faster reporting, reduced downtime, fewer manual handovers. By translating technology into impact, we gained trust. That trust turned potential blockers into advocates. This philosophy is not just intuition, it’s supported by data. Gartner reports that **87% of executives see digitalization as a top priority**, yet only about **40% say their digital initiatives deliver measurable value**. The gap isn’t technology it’s translation. Architects who can bridge that gap by designing clarity are the ones who unlock real business value. For me, leadership means creating environments where people can thrive without drowning in complexity. I ask sharper questions, listen before deciding, and ensure that governance frameworks are supportive, not suffocating. Elegant design, in this context, isn’t about doing less, it’s about doing the right things with purpose. And the outcome isn’t just a successful project, but a culture where clarity becomes a shared language. ### **Advocacy & Vision: As someone passionate about mentoring women in tech, what specific barriers do you see women facing in enterprise architecture, and what's your vision for the next generation of women leaders in technology?** When I began working in enterprise architecture, I quickly realized that I was often the only woman in the room. Sometimes my expertise was questioned before I even spoke; sometimes I was mistaken for someone’s assistant. In those moments, I understood how powerful and how necessary, it is to challenge assumptions. The barriers women face in enterprise architecture are both structural and cultural. Structurally, architecture is still seen as a highly technical discipline, requiring decades of coding or engineering experience. That perception excludes talented women coming from business or hybrid roles, even though their perspectives are often exactly what architecture needs. Culturally, there is still unconscious bias: women’s voices being interrupted, contributions overlooked, or leadership styles judged against male norms. A Harvard Business Review study found that women are **interrupted 33% more often** than men in professional settings. I’ve lived that statistic. Yet I’ve also learned that being underestimated can be a strength. It forced me to lead with integrity, to ask the uncomfortable questions, and to design solutions not for ego, but for impact. My leadership style is less about commanding the room and more about aligning it. Instead of competing for attention, I create frameworks where everyone can do their best work. That, I believe, is the true power of inclusive leadership. My vision for the next generation of women leaders in technology is a world where architecture is no longer seen as abstract or gatekeeping, but as strategic, human-centered design. I want women to see that they don’t have to conform to outdated molds to succeed. Empathy, system-level awareness, and collaborative design are not weaknesses, they are competitive advantages in an era of constant change. Practically, this means building mentorship pipelines, creating visible role models, and ensuring that women are part of high-stakes transformation programs, not just peripheral projects. It means measuring diversity not as a nice-to-have, but as a metric of resilience. Because resilient organizations are diverse organizations. When women lead architectural transformations, they don’t just design better systems, they design cultures of trust, clarity, and adaptability. And in a world where transformation is the new normal, that kind of leadership is not optional. It’s essential. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### Beyond the Binary: How Emmy Hernandez is Building AI Solutions with Both System and Soul URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/women-who-lead/beyond-the-binary-how-emmy-hernandez-is-building-ai-solutions-with-both-system-and-soul/ Last updated: 2025-09-22T17:07:25.000Z **In a world where AI conversations often fall into extremes—automate everything or avoid technology entirely—Emmy Hernandez is charting a third path that honors both innovation and humanity.** As co-founder of [System + Soul AI Institute](https://www.systemandsoulai.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org), Emmy brings a unique perspective to artificial intelligence that's rooted in over a decade of experience coaching leaders at Fortune 500 companies like Microsoft, AT&T, Citrix, and Lyft. Her approach isn't just about implementing cutting-edge technology; it's about ensuring that AI amplifies human potential rather than replacing it. Emmy's journey to AI leadership began far from Silicon Valley boardrooms. As a passionate educator and transformational coach, she's led international accelerator programs across Mexico, Uruguay, and Tunisia, teaching Lean Startup principles to emerging entrepreneurs while backed by UC Berkeley. She's managed a $3M NSF grant, mentored tech founders at Singularity University, and designed transformational curricula that blend neuroscience with emotional intelligence. What sets Emmy apart in the AI space is her commitment to what she calls "Principle → Process → Platform"—a methodology that starts with human values before diving into technical solutions. As a proud Latina founder, she ensures that diversity isn't an afterthought but a foundational element of every AI solution her institute creates. Through System + Soul AI Institute, Emmy is proving that the future of artificial intelligence doesn't have to choose between efficiency and humanity. Her work focuses on creating AI tools that serve as "exoskeletons" for human capability—making people stronger, more creative, and more connected to meaningful work, rather than making them obsolete. In this candid conversation, Emmy shares her vision for ethical AI implementation, the challenges of being a female founder in a male-dominated tech space, and why she believes the most important AI decisions aren't being made in Silicon Valley—but by diverse founders who refuse to sacrifice human values for technological advancement. --- ## Q1: Bridging Systems and Soul in AI **What inspired you to co-found an AI institute that focuses on both "system" and "soul"? How do you balance technical advancement with the human elements that make businesses meaningful?** You know what really got to me? I kept seeing this ridiculous either/or conversation happening around AI. On one side, you had the tech bros saying "automate everything!" On the other side, you had people so scared of AI that they wanted to avoid it completely. And I'm thinking, there's got to be a middle ground where we use technology to make work better for people, not replace them entirely. Look, I've spent years coaching leaders at places like AT&T, Lyft, and Microsoft. I've also taught Lean Startup principles at universities across Mexico, Tunisia, and Uruguay with backing from UC Berkeley. Through all of this, I've seen what happens when you scale systems without soul: people burn out, customers feel like numbers, and honestly? The business suffers. But I've also seen what happens when you're so afraid of change that you miss opportunities to actually make work better for everyone. So my co-founder Lizette Espinosa, Esq. and I built System + Soul AI Institute because we believe businesses need both to thrive. The "system" part? That's your strategy, your data, your measurable results (the stuff that keeps the lights on). The "soul" part? That's remembering there are real humans on both sides of every transaction: your team, your customers, your community. In practice, we start every AI project with what I call Principle → Process → Platform. We get clear on *why* this matters to your people first. Then we figure out *how* value actually flows through your business. Only then do we pick which shiny AI tool to use. And here's the thing: AI doesn't create your culture. You do. AI just amplifies what's already there. So if what you're amplifying isn't worthy of scale? We fix that first. ## Q2: Marketing AI Solutions with Purpose **How do you communicate complex AI concepts to business leaders while emphasizing both efficiency and humanity? How do you help organizations see AI as enhancing—not replacing—the "soul" of their operations?** I learned early on that if I can't explain something to a CFO in plain English, it's probably not ready for prime time. And if the people actually doing the work can't see how this makes their day better? It's definitely not going to stick. Here's the thing people don't get: AI is just a tool. It's a vehicle. You wouldn't hand your employees keys to a car and say "here, go make money," right? You need a plan for HOW to make money and HOW to save time. AI isn't a magic wand. There must be a strategy in place for AI to ever bring any ROI. My approach is pretty straightforward: I start with the story, not the specs. Like, "Your amazing customer service team is drowning in follow-up emails (18 hours a week of their lives they'll never get back). What if we could give them that time back to do what they're actually great at: building relationships and solving problems?" Then I show them exactly how. Every AI solution I pitch ties back to one of five business levers: growing your pipeline, speeding up your processes, cutting costs, improving customer experience, or reducing risk. If it doesn't clearly move one of those needles, we don't do it. But here's what I think sets us apart: I design everything with humans in the loop. Not because I don't trust the technology, but because the **magic happens when AI amplifies human judgment, not replaces it**. Think of it like an exoskeleton that makes you stronger, not a robot that does your job. And as a Latina founder, I make sure our solutions actually reflect the diversity of the people using them. That means bilingual interfaces when it matters, case studies from communities that look like our clients, and design processes that include voices that often get left out. The result? Leaders stop seeing AI as this scary black box and start seeing it as a tool that creates space for the work only humans can do: the trust-building, the creative problem-solving, the genuine care. ## Q3: Co-Founding in the AI Space **What challenges have you faced as a female co-founder? How do you stay ahead of AI trends while prioritizing human-centered practices? Advice for women launching AI companies?** Oh girl, let me be real with you. There's this exhausting double standard where you're expected to be both the visionary AND the proof of concept. I've walked into rooms where I had to explain AI strategy, justify every line item in the budget, AND somehow also prove that we weren't going to turn everyone into robots. It's a lot. But you know what? I've learned to turn that into my superpower. The fact that I have to think through both the technical strategy AND the human impact? That's actually what makes our solutions better. Here's how I stay ahead without getting caught up in every shiny new AI tool that drops: **Trend Triage**: Every week, I scan what's new, but I rank everything by three things: is it actually ready for business use, what are the risks, and does it solve a real problem for our clients? If a new model doesn't have clear governance standards, it sits on the bench until it does. **Pilot, Don't Promise**: I'd rather spend 30 days testing something with real users than waste months on a pretty PowerPoint. We ship small, measure what actually happens, then scale what works. **Ethics as a Feature**: Data privacy, consent flows, bias testing... these aren't afterthoughts for us. They're part of the main product story because our clients' people deserve that protection. **For women thinking about jumping into AI**, here's what I wish someone had told me: Your perspective is your competitive advantage. You see gaps and needs that others miss, so build for those. The market needs solutions that work for everyone, not just the early adopters. Get to revenue fast. I tie every proposal to concrete outcomes and real numbers. Recurring revenue gives you the freedom to say no to projects that don't align with your values. Curate your circle intentionally. Find advisors who will both challenge your thinking and open doors. Having representation in legal, security, and enterprise sales has been game-changing for us. And please, please take care of your nervous system. Building something this important requires you to be at your best. For me, that means protecting my sleep, moving my body, and making time for meditation and "no tech time." Your well-being isn't separate from your business success. It's foundational to it. At the end of the day, our north star is simple: technology should multiply human potential. The future of AI isn't being written in Silicon Valley boardrooms. It's being written by women like us who refuse to choose between innovation and humanity. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### From £1000 to Empowering Thousands: How Sabine Matharu Built an Evergreen Business Empire URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/women-who-lead/from-1000-to-empowering-thousands-how-sabine-matharu-built-an-evergreen-business-empire/ Last updated: 2025-09-22T10:53:38.000Z **Sometimes the most challenging beginnings lead to the most powerful missions.** Sabine Matharu's entrepreneurial journey began with a bold leap—moving from Austria to the UK with just £1000 in her pocket, no job, and nowhere to live. Today, she's an international bestselling author and the founder of [Evergreen Business Queens](http://skool.evergreenbusinessqueens.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org), a thriving community that has helped over 1,000 women start and grow their businesses in the past five years. What sets Sabine apart isn't just her impressive track record, but her commitment to amplifying other voices. She's published three collaborative books—*RISE: In Pursuit of Empowerment*, *Joy: Recipes for Abundance*, and *Shift: A New Era Begins*—featuring over 75 global leaders sharing their stories of resilience and transformation, with a fourth book currently in development. Her work has garnered attention from major publications including Forbes, Huffington Post, and Thrive Global. As a business strategist specializing in evergreen webinar funnels powered by YouTube ads, Sabine has built her reputation on helping female entrepreneurs escape the constant reinvention cycle that burns out so many business owners. Her philosophy is clear: build once, profit repeatedly, and create sustainable success without sacrificing your sanity or your family time. Through her signature programs and The Greatness Club community, Sabine has mastered the art of turning expertise into impact while helping other women do the same. Her approach combines the resilience she learned from starting over with nothing, the strategic thinking that built her multiple revenue streams, and the heart-centered leadership that has made her a trusted mentor to thousands of women worldwide. In this candid Q&A, Sabine shares the real lessons from building a life and business from scratch, her evolution from consultant to community builder, and her proven formula for helping working mothers create freedom and financial independence on their own terms. --- ### **Question 1: From £1000 to Empowering Thousands** **Your journey began with moving from Austria to the UK with just £1000 in your pocket, no job, and no place to stay. How did that experience of building a new life from scratch shape your approach to helping other women launch their businesses? What key lessons from those early days do you now teach in your Fast Track Business Launcher program?** When I arrived in the UK from Austria with just £1000, no job, and no place to stay, I had no choice but to get resourceful. I had to be innovative, start small, and most importantly, believe in myself. I had to quickly find a roof over my head, built connections from scratch, and step by step created opportunities that turned into a new life - including a husband and kids now :) That experience shaped how I now teach inside *Evergreen Business Queen*. I show women that you don’t need perfect circumstances to begin, you need self-belief, resilience, and the courage to take consistent action. The key lessons I pass on are the same ones I lived: start with what you have, keep it simple, and build with clarity instead of overwhelm. ### **Question 2: Creating "RISE" and Building Community** **You've published the international bestselling book "RISE - In Pursuit of Empowerment" featuring 25 entrepreneurial women's stories, and you've built communities like the Greatness Club. What motivated you to shift from traditional business consulting to creating platforms that amplify other women's voices? How do you balance running your own business while dedicating time to mentoring and publishing others?** Publishing *RISE – In Pursuit of Empowerment* opened a door to something bigger than business consulting. I went on to publish *Joy: Recipes for Abundance* and *Shift: A New Era Begins* (written during the pandemic), with a fourth book now in progress. In total, these projects have featured the voices of more than 75 leaders from around the world, women and men, entrepreneurs and professionals, sharing their stories of resilience and empowerment. My motivation has always been to show that behind every polished success story is a journey of setbacks and breakthroughs, and that we can learn from each other’s lived experiences. That work naturally evolved into creating *Evergreen Business Queens*, a community where women don’t just consume strategies but actually feel supported to implement, share, and rise together. ### **Question 3: The Success Formula for Working Mothers** **As someone who transitioned from senior management positions to entrepreneurship after having children, you understand the unique challenges working mothers face. What's your "success formula" for women who want to replace their corporate income while working around family commitments? How do you help them overcome the mindset barriers that often keep them stuck in unfulfilling jobs?** Whether you’re a working mother or a woman ready to leave corporate, the path into entrepreneurship comes with real challenges, I’ve lived them myself. I’ve made mistakes, chased shiny objects, and gone in circles before realising that **evergreen is the lifeblood of a sustainable business**. My success formula rests on three things: resilience, simplification, and mindset shifts. First, resilience to keep going when things don’t work out overnight. Second, simplifying your business model so you’re not constantly reinventing yourself. And third, shifting the mindset away from “what the gurus say” to what actually feels aligned and works long-term. I help women build businesses that last, without the constant reinvention cycle, so they can create freedom, income, and impact, without burning out. ***Resources*** Facebook: Instagram: [https://www.instagram.com/sabine.matharu/](https://www.instagram.com/sabine.matharu/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) LinkedIn: [https://www.linkedin.com/in/sabine-matharu-851821216/](https://www.linkedin.com/in/sabine-matharu-851821216/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) YouTube: [https://www.youtube.com/@reachforgreatness7502](https://www.youtube.com/@reachforgreatness7502?ref=foundedbywomen.org) > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### From PhD Research to Fintech Authority: How Dr Alice Wilson Turned Complex Finance Into Compelling Content URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/women-who-lead/from-phd-research-to-fintech-authority-how-dr-alice-wilson-turned-complex-finance-into-compelling-content/ Last updated: 2025-09-19T04:17:06.000Z When Dr Alice Elizabeth Wilson made the strategic decision to narrow her focus to alternative asset content marketing, she was betting that specialization would trump generalization in the crowded fintech space. That calculated risk has paid off spectacularly. As the founder of [Uncommon](https://weareuncommon.global/?ref=foundedbywomen.org), she has transformed her rigorous academic background—including a PhD and TEDx speaking experience—into a thriving content marketing consultancy that generates hundreds of thousands in sales for clients and achieves top Google rankings for competitive financial terms. What sets Dr Wilson apart in the marketing world isn't just her academic credentials, but her deliberate approach to building authority in a highly technical niche. Rather than positioning herself as someone who simply "works in marketing," she strategically branded herself as a specialist in alternative asset content—a distinction that immediately differentiates her when reaching out to CEOs and CMOs of investment platforms and asset managers. Her philosophy centers on treating clients as "smart people" who don't need "spammy sales techniques," instead focusing on education-first content that builds long-term partnerships. This approach has earned testimonials praising her work as "spectacular" and "essential," with clients like LiquidX seeing a 30% increase in web traffic and dozens of qualified leads. Dr Wilson's journey from academia to fintech authority demonstrates how female founders can leverage deep expertise and authentic relationship-building to succeed in technical industries. Her commitment to being "as human as possible"—sending letters and books to clients, checking in on their families—stands in stark contrast to what she calls "the morass of productivity and growth hacking diarrhea that constitutes the vast majority of neoliberal capitalist culture." In this Q&A, Dr Wilson shares insights on strategic positioning, building credibility in specialized markets, and creating content that educates while converting—valuable lessons for any entrepreneur looking to build authority in a competitive space. --- ### Question 1: From Academia to Alternative Assets Marketing **You hold a PhD and are a TEDx speaker, but chose to focus specifically on fintech and alternative asset content marketing. What drew you from academia into this niche entrepreneurial space, and how do you leverage your research background to create content that generates real business results for complex financial products?** Focussing on alternative assets in my business was an entirely strategic decision. I reasoned that the more specific our offering was, the more likely prospective clients would be to first, find us, and second, work with us. Imagine for yourself being the CEO or CMO of an investment platform or an asset manager and seeing a connection request on LinkedIn from someone who "works in marketing" versus someone who "specialises in alternative asset content". There is an immediate filtering mechanism in place that makes our offer at Uncommon stand out as highly specialist and valuable. I reasoned that companies in the alternative assets space have problems that they want solving with content and, crucially, that they have the money to spend on solving those problems with content. A lot of companies in this space need sophisticated content aimed at knowledgeable investors; institutional investors, pension fund administrators, family offices and the like. I used my data science and rigorous academic training to set a standard in Uncommon that differentiates us from marketing firms who, with the best will in the world, cannot produce content and research with the level of understanding and refinement that our clients need. ### Question 2: Building Authority in a Specialized Market **You've achieved impressive results - generating hundreds of thousands in sales for clients and earning top Google rankings for competitive terms like "How will MCAs perform during recession." In the crowded fintech marketing space, how do you differentiate your approach and establish credibility with CMOs who may have been burned by agencies that don't understand alternative assets?** I think I've covered that above, but I will add that case studies and testimonials are the most valuable assets you have in your business for earning trust with people who don't know you. Again, imagine a stranger approaching you and asserting: we can improve your business / generate sales pipeline / any of the other vague and annoying things strangers on the internet say to you. Now imagine them saying instead: We've worked with Docker, the multi-billion dollar tech giant, and their head of product marketing, Dan, said this about us: "Our writer was smart, thoughtful, a great communicator, and a pleasure to work with. Our collaboration in writing a technical white paper has been nothing short of spectacular." It's such a different proposition to show evidence that *this is what we have already done*, versus this is what I am claiming we could do for you probably. I also think that being as human as possible has been a major factor in differentiating our approach with CMOs who, like you say, often have been burned by agencies in the past. I write letters to my clients. I send them books I think they would like. I check in with "prospects" for non sales related reasons, to ask how their kids are, to genuinely forge some tender thread of human connection in amongst the morass of productivity and growth hacking diarrhea that constitutes the vast majority of neoliberal capitalist culture. ### Question 3: The Education-First Content Strategy **Your philosophy is that "your clients are smart people" who don't need "spammy sales techniques" - instead focusing on education-first content. How do you balance creating genuinely valuable educational content with driving leads and conversions? What advice would you give to female founders about building trust-based marketing in technical industries?** I think an education first approach is entirely cogent with driving leads and conversions. That is particularly the case for us at Uncommon because we are only looking for high quality long term partnerships at a highly strategic level. We are not an off the shelf agency, we do not operate on volume; we are not funnel marketing bros. Our collaboration is deep and intimate and rich with expertise, which means all of the content we create for our own marketing purposes in pretty much entirely education based - our focus is on tending the garden that will give fruits for many years to come, not the quick spikes in sales that can come from a blast of campaign activity and then end in churn and high client turnover. One of our clients, Adam, the revenue manager at LiquidX, has said this the best I think; “We’ve seen a 30% increase in web traffic and generated dozens of qualified leads. What started as a 3-month trial has become an essential long-term partnership. We see them as an integral part of the team.” Becoming an integral part of the team, an essential og-term partner, is our offer. Extremely high quality, academically rigorous, but narratively sensitive content is how we achieve this both for our clients and for ourselves. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### From Conveyancer to Marketing Maven: How Lara Squires Built Consortium and The Professionals Network Around Industry Gaps URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/women-who-lead/from-conveyancer-to-marketing-maven-how-lara-squires-built-consortium-and-the-professionals-network-around-industry-gaps/ Last updated: 2025-09-17T13:11:43.000Z Lara Squires didn't follow a traditional entrepreneurial path. After working as a conveyancer and creating her own role within a law firm for eight years, she recognized a critical gap in 2012: professional services firms needed quality marketing support but couldn't afford full-time specialists. This insight led to founding [Consortium](https://www.consortiumbiz.co.uk/?ref=foundedbywomen.org), now the UK's leading marketing agency for the professional services sector. In this candid Q&A, Lara shares her unconventional journey from estate agency to law to building an international business that recently expanded into Australia. She discusses the unique challenges of serving professional services firms, from balancing affordability with expertise to overcoming the mindset that firms either don't need marketing or require an internal resource. Consortium's success lies in its strategy-first approach and team of specialists with in-house legal marketing experience. But Lara's entrepreneurial vision didn't stop there. After running Ladies Lunch Clubs for 18 years, she identified another market gap and launched The Professionals Network—a sector-exclusive networking community that caps membership at 24 per city to eliminate competition among members. Lara offers practical advice for female founders on strategic diversification, emphasizing the importance of ensuring new ventures align with existing businesses and warning against expansion unless your main business is robust enough to withstand divided attention. Her story demonstrates how deep industry knowledge combined with entrepreneurial instinct can create lasting solutions for underserved markets, turning professional pain points into profitable opportunities. ### **Question 1: From Conveyancer to Marketing Entrepreneur** **You worked as a conveyancer at a regional law firm before founding Consortium in 2013\. What prompted your transition from practicing law to building a marketing agency, and how did your insider knowledge of the legal profession inform your approach to serving law firms and professional services?** So it all started a little before my role as a conveyancer. After leaving college I worked at an estate agents as a trainee negotiator, this was the best job ever for an 18 year old. A company car and a very fun work hard, play hard environment. After switching to recruitment then back to estate agency I decided I wanted to become a lawyer which prompted the move to a law firm. This was not an easy transition and it took me a long time to find a law firm who would take me. After working as a conveyancer for 2 years I decided I wasn't someone who could be strapped to a desk so I left to go back into recruitment again. This was short lived and I was back at the law firm within the year - However, this was in a very different role....I was very fortunate to be given a brand new role within the firm where I got to write my own job spec and be a trailblazer. This worked brilliantly for 8 years before I realised I needed and wanted more (there is a bigger story here about part time working, becoming a mum and juggling everything). This is where Consortium was born in October 2012\. ### Question 2: Solving the Professional Services Marketing Gap **You created Consortium after recognizing that many firms don't have the budget for their own marketing person but still need quality, flexible marketing support. How do you balance providing affordable services while maintaining the expertise and results that professional firms demand? What's been the biggest challenge in building a sustainable business model around this gap in the market?** By offering an outsources solution to firms marketing challenges we are able to provide a fully flexible solution based on each firms individual needs. We are able to manage the affordability of the services by having levels of seniority working with the clients and very clear agreed outputs. The 2 biggest challenges that we have are; 1\. Either firms not appreciating that they need marketing OR thinking that they need an internal resource 2\. Recruitment. All of my Account management team must have in house legal marketing experience. ### Question 3: Building Community Beyond Business **You recently launched The Professionals Network after running Ladies Lunch Clubs for 18 years and seeing the need for something different in professional networking. How do you balance growing your core agency business while expanding into community building? What advice would you give to female founders about when to diversify beyond your original business model?** The ladies lunch clubs were a passion project and never set up or built to make money. This became an issue as the agency grew as it took my time and effort in a non profitable direction. The Professionals Network was carefully scoped out before launch to ensure that it filled a gap in the market as well as creating lead gen for the agency. I would caution female founders (and indeed any business owners) against diversification unless your main business is robust enough for you to take your eye off of it for a period of time. Also try and make sure that it aligns so that they can feed one another. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### Breaking Ground in Construction Marketing: Victoria Rauch's Digital Revolution URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/women-who-lead/breaking-ground-in-construction-marketing-victoria-rauchs-digital-revolution/ Last updated: 2025-09-17T05:31:47.000Z In an industry built on steel, concrete, and tradition, Victoria Rauch is wielding a different kind of power tool: digital marketing. As the 2025 winner of the Most Influential CEO Award for Construction Digital Marketing in Georgia, Rauch has carved out a unique niche at the intersection of technology and the trades through her company, [Luna Wolf Media](http://lunawolfmedia.net/?ref=foundedbywomen.org). After 15 years in digital marketing, Rauch discovered her calling in the construction trades sector, recognizing the immense importance of educating the next generation about abundant opportunities in this field. Her mission goes far beyond traditional marketing services—she's on a quest to fill the apprentice pipeline and give the construction industry the digital presence it deserves. Luna Wolf Media operates on a philosophy that elite digital marketing shouldn't require massive budgets, offering "full service elite NON-PAID social media marketing" with customized solutions that "won't break the budget". This approach has helped her reach impressive results, including over 150,000 organic impressions on individual posts, proving that strategic thinking can outperform big spending. In this candid conversation, Victoria shares her journey from digital marketing generalist to construction industry champion, revealing how she's building bridges between tradition and technology, and why she believes the future of the trades depends on telling better digital stories. From overcoming skepticism as a female entrepreneur in a male-dominated field to developing innovative recruitment strategies that actually work, Victoria offers insights that extend far beyond marketing—touching on leadership, purpose, and the power of authentic storytelling in building tomorrow's workforce. ### **Question 1: Pioneering Digital Marketing in Construction** **After 15 years in digital marketing, you found your passion in the construction trades sector and recently won the 2025 Most Influential CEO Award for Construction Digital Marketing in Georgia. What drew you specifically to this traditionally male-dominated industry, and how did you identify the digital marketing gap that Luna Wolf Media now fills? What unique challenges did you face as a female entrepreneur entering this space, and how did you establish credibility with construction contractors and unions?** After 15 years in digital marketing, I found myself drawn to the construction trades—not just for the grit and pride of the work, but for the stories that weren’t being told. This industry builds our cities, our infrastructure, our future—and yet, its digital presence was often outdated, inconsistent, or missing altogether. That gap was glaring, and Luna Wolf Media was born to fill it. As a female entrepreneur entering a traditionally male-dominated space, I faced skepticism early on. But I didn’t try to “fit in”—I leaned into what made me different. I brought 25+ years of sales and marketing experience, a data-driven mindset, and a creative approach that resonated with contractors and unions alike. I earned trust by showing results: campaigns that drove recruitment, boosted visibility, and celebrated the trades with authenticity and respect. Winning the 2025 Most Influential CEO Award for Construction Digital Marketing in Georgia was a powerful affirmation—but the real reward is seeing our clients thrive. ### **Question 2: Mission-Driven Business with Social Impact** **Your mission goes beyond marketing services - you're focused on "educating the next generation about the abundant opportunities in the construction trades" and filling the apprentice pipeline. How did you develop this deeper purpose for your business, and how do you balance profit with social impact? Can you share a specific example of how your digital marketing efforts have successfully attracted new talent to the construction industry or helped a client build their workforce?** My mission goes far beyond marketing. I believe in educating the next generation about the abundant opportunities in the construction trades—and helping fill the apprentice pipeline with talent that’s ready to build the future. That purpose evolved naturally from working closely with unions and contractors who were struggling to recruit. I saw the disconnect between perception and reality, and I knew digital storytelling could bridge it. Balancing profit with social impact starts with intention. Every campaign we run is built on purpose and performance. One example: we launched a candidate-targeted recruiting series for a client that combined live video interviews with tradespeople, interactive giveaways, and educational content. The result? A surge in apprenticeship applications and a noticeable shift in how young people engaged with the industry. That’s the kind of impact that fuels me—and keeps Luna Wolf Media focused on outcomes that matter. ### **Question 3: Building "Digital Dominance" on a Budget** **Luna Wolf Media offers "full service elite NON-PAID social media marketing" with the philosophy of customized solutions that "won't break the budget." This approach challenges the traditional agency model. What inspired you to create this accessible pricing structure, and how do you maintain profitability while keeping costs affordable for your clients? As a female CEO competing against larger marketing firms, how do you leverage your unique positioning and personal approach to win and retain clients in the construction industry?** Luna Wolf Media was built on the belief that elite digital marketing shouldn’t be reserved for companies with massive budgets. Our “full-service, elite NON-PAID social media marketing” model is designed to be fast, flexible, and affordable—without sacrificing quality or results. We’ve reached over 150,000 organic impressions on individual posts, proving that smart strategy beats big spend. I created this pricing structure because I’ve seen too many small businesses and trade organizations priced out of meaningful digital growth. Profitability comes from efficiency, customization, and a deep understanding of what works. As a female CEO competing against larger firms, I leverage my personal approach—hands-on strategy, transparent communication, and a genuine commitment to client success. That’s what wins trust, builds long-term partnerships, and keeps our clients coming back. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### From Tech Pioneer to Restorative Investor: How Laina Greene Built Angels of Impact to End Poverty in Unity with Women URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/women-who-lead/from-tech-pioneer-to-restorative-investor-how-laina-greene-built-angels-of-impact-to-end-poverty-in-unity-with-women/ Last updated: 2025-09-17T04:37:55.000Z Laina Greene's path to impact investing began in the male-dominated tech world of Singapore, where as one of the early female techpreneurs of color, she faced significant challenges building a profitable business while struggling to raise capital and secure fair valuations. This lived experience of systemic barriers, combined with her Baháʼí Faith commitment to service and her parents' emphasis on giving back, ultimately led her to discover a powerful new approach to investing. In this revealing Q&A, Laina shares how her journey from telecommunications work at the United Nations to founding successful tech companies in Singapore and Silicon Valley prepared her for her most impactful venture yet. In 2016, she co-founded [Angels of Impact](https://www.angelsofimpact.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org), a "charitable purpose" enterprise dedicated to investing in women-led, community-based, and sustainable enterprises with the bold mission to "end poverty in unity with women." What sets Angels of Impact apart is its focus on the "missing middle" enterprises—too large for microfinance and too small for impact investing. Through their holistic, relationship-based approach, they prioritize women and Indigenous-led entrepreneurs with deep community roots and lived experiences, using restorative and regenerative models that ensure value flows back to the communities where it's created. Laina candidly discusses the biggest systemic challenge in impact investing: the fundamental misalignment between profit-seeking and meaningful impact. She explains why she often prefers the term "restorative investing" and addresses the unconscious bias that women of color face in the finance industry. Her success story of Color Silk in Cambodia—a social enterprise that has achieved financial independence while preserving cultural heritage—demonstrates the ripple effect of her approach. For women of color entrepreneurs facing similar barriers, Laina's advice is clear: don't let systemic challenges hold you back. Her story proves that with conviction and creativity, it's possible to find alternative funding paths and create business models that truly serve both people and planet. --- ### Question 1: From Tech Entrepreneur to Impact Investor **After 30+ years in telecom and clean tech, including founding your own tech company in Singapore in 1996, you pivoted to focus on impact investing and social entrepreneurship. What was the turning point that made you realize you wanted to dedicate your life to ending poverty rather than traditional business success? How did your experience as "one of the early female techpreneurs in Singapore" shape your understanding of the challenges women entrepreneurs face?** The turning point wasn't a single event, but a series of them, rooted in both my personal experiences and my upbringing. My journey culminated in the male-dominated tech world in Singapore, where, as an early female founder of color, I faced significant challenges. Despite building a profitable business, I found it incredibly difficult to raise capital and secure fair valuations. This experience cultivated a deep empathy for other women entrepreneurs struggling with the same systemic barriers. While my initial investments focused on women in tech, the actual pivot toward impact investing happened after I moved to Indonesia. Living there for two and a half years, I learned about social enterprises from organizations such as Unltd Indonesia, Ashoka, and Acumen. Reading Professor Muhammad Yunus's book, ***“Creating a world without poverty"***, solidified my new perspective on how to invest in the world I wanted to see. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2025/09/IMG_7483.jpeg) One could say that this path was paved by my own lived experience as a tech entrepreneur and the profound influence of my parents, who always emphasized giving back to society. My commitment to serving humanity is also deeply rooted in the **Baha’i Faith**. It's no surprise that when I discovered impact investing, I was immediately drawn to its mission. ### Question 2: Building Angels of Impact with a Mission **Your organization supports women and Indigenous-led community-based enterprises across the Asia Pacific, with the mission to "end poverty in unity with women." How do you identify and evaluate these enterprises for funding? Can you share a specific success story, like Vanntha Ngorn's Color Silk in Cambodia, that exemplifies the impact your model can achieve?** Angels of Impact's mission to "end poverty in unity with women" guides our investment philosophy. We identify and evaluate enterprises using a holistic, relationship-based approach that goes beyond traditional financial metrics. We focus on enterprises that are: - **Women- or Indigenous-led:** We prioritize leaders with deep community roots and lived experiences. - **Restorative and Regenerative:** Our model ensures value flows back to the communities where it's created, fostering long-term sustainability. - **Balancing Profit and Purpose:** We seek businesses with robust, sustainable models that can generate both financial and social returns. A powerful example of our model's impact is Vanntha Ngorn's **Color Silk** in Cambodia. This enterprise empowers local women weavers, providing them with fair wages, skills training, and stable market access for their traditional crafts. By supporting Color Silk, we not only help lift women out of poverty but also preserve the rich cultural heritage of Cambodian silk-making. The success of this partnership demonstrates the ripple effect of our work—strengthening livelihoods, empowering families, and restoring dignity through meaningful work. Having received two rounds of financing from us and benefited from our technical assistance programs, her business is thriving. It has expanded into other areas of Cambodia, making her no longer reliant on outside funding. ### Question 3: Overcoming Systemic Barriers as a Woman of Color **As you've noted, "women of color empowering other women of color run into the same unconscious biases." What specific systemic challenges have you encountered in the impact investing space, and how do you work to overcome them? What advice would you give to other women of color who want to create change through entrepreneurship or impact investing but face similar barriers?** The biggest systemic challenge in this space is a fundamental misalignment of priorities. While impact investing was designed to create positive change, it has primarily shifted to prioritize **scale and profit** over meaningful impact. As reports from the **Monitor Group** and the **GIIN** have shown, many 'impact investors' are still looking for market-rate returns, not solutions to poverty. For an enterprise like Color Silk, which generates a profit but doesn’t fit the traditional venture capital model, it's a challenging sell, despite the profound social impact it creates. I am often reluctant to even use the term 'impact investing,' preferring to call my work **'restorative investing,'** a term I learned from Nwamaka Agbo, who champions restorative economics. Women of color who are committed to this impact-first approach are often not taken seriously. The finance industry already has its share of unconscious bias, and these biases are just as prevalent in impact investing. It has been a significant challenge to raise funds for Angels of Impact as a woman of color, but we are grateful for the supporters who believe in our mission. My advice is simple: don't let these barriers hold you back. We need more women of color to develop more effective business models that help people and the planet thrive. If you believe in your vision, that conviction alone will help you find new ways to secure funding. In my early days as an entrepreneur, when banks wouldn't lend me money, I convinced customers to finance me instead. I had to prove the quality of my work first, but I was able to find a path forward outside the traditional system. The world is realizing that business as usual no longer works. So, be bold and create your own path. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### From NHS Nurse to Healing Guide: How One Woman's MS Diagnosis Became Her Greatest Teacher URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/wellness/from-nhs-nurse-to-healing-guide-how-one-womans-ms-diagnosis-became-her-greatest-teacher/ Last updated: 2025-09-16T12:15:52.000Z ## Exclusive Q&A with Chloe Bruce: Transforming Trauma Into Triumph Through Holistic Healing --- **In a world where chronic illness often feels like a life sentence, Chloe Bruce's story offers something more precious than hope—it offers proof that healing is possible.** At just 26 years old, Chloe was thriving as an NHS chemotherapy nurse when Multiple Sclerosis crashed into her life "like a freight train." The diagnosis didn't just challenge her physically; it shattered her sense of self, leaving her feeling like "a shadow of the person I was before." For ten years, she battled debilitating symptoms that conventional medicine couldn't fully address, watching her vibrant spirit dim as her body struggled. But sometimes our darkest moments become the catalyst for our greatest transformations. Today, Chloe Bruce is a Licensed Rapid Transformational Therapy (RTT®) Practitioner trained with Marisa Peer, a Certified Hypnotherapist, and Reiki Master who has turned her personal healing journey into a mission to help others reclaim their sparkle. Based in Amersham, Buckinghamshire, she runs [Equilibrium Body and Mind](https://equilibriumbodyandmind.co.uk/?ref=foundedbywomen.org), where she combines her medical background with transformative holistic therapies to guide women back to wholeness. Her MS is now quiet, and she describes feeling "so grateful that I have had these treatments at my fingertips as I now feel that the past is far behind me and I am the person I used to be before the illness took hold." In this candid conversation, Chloe shares the pivotal moment that changed everything—from sitting helplessly on the floor, unable to stand without help, to discovering the profound healing power of the mind-body connection. She reveals how Rapid Transformational Therapy helped her believe "I am enough just as I am," and why she believes that for women with chronic conditions, changing your subconscious beliefs is the key to reclaiming your power. This isn't just another wellness story—it's a testament to the extraordinary resilience of the human spirit and the transformative potential that lies within each of us, waiting to be awakened. ### 1\. You describe your MS diagnosis as hitting you "like a freight train" and mention becoming "a shadow of the person I was before." Can you walk us through that pivotal moment when you decided to shift from conventional treatment to exploring alternative healing modalities? What was the catalyst that made you think "there has to be another way"? The pivotal moment for me when I decided to explore alternative treatments to help the symptoms that I was experiencing - I was going through a particularly debilitating period of chronic fatigue and I was sitting on the floor with my kids. I suddenly realised that I couldn't get up on my own. My Husband had to help me get up from the floor as my legs were like jelly, which felt so undignifying and terrifying. I could see that if I didn't take action, I would end up in a wheelchair, so I made a pact to myself to find other avenues for healing. This for me was the catalyst that then started me off on my quest to find alternative therapies. ### 2\. Your path from NHS chemotherapy nurse to holistic wellness practitioner is remarkable. How did your experience as both a healthcare provider and someone living with a chronic condition shape your approach to helping others? What do you wish more people understood about the intersection between conventional medicine and alternative healing? In spite of seeing horrific suffering throughout my career as a Nurse, I am grateful for the experiences I've had, some of which are imprinted on my soul. Working as a Nurse with a chronic condition was extremely challenging but it helped me be more empathic to my patients. I understood what they were going through mentally and physically and I was able to offer them the comfort and counsel they needed. I think that conventional medicine has its place and can be incredibly beneficial. However, I think it's so important that people approach healing with an open mind and an open heart. Conventional medicine tends to focus on treating the symptoms and not necessarily the root cause of the issue. Stress was one of my triggers so it made sense to me to find therapies that helped me calm my nervous system, change my mindset and recharge my energy levels, hence why I now practice RTT, Reiki and Meditation on myself and my clients. ### 3\. You mentioned that RTT helped you believe "I am enough just as I am" – a powerful shift in mindset. For women reading this who may be struggling with chronic conditions or feeling like they've lost their spark, what would you say to them about finding their light again? What does "shining your light" mean to you, and how do you help your clients discover this for themselves? RTT has had the most powerful impact on my mindset and my self belief. When I was diagnosed with MS, I was only 26 years old. I felt like I'd been given a death sentence. I'd nursed enough people with the condition to know that it didn't always end well. I grieved the loss of the person I had been and the loss of the person I had thought I'd be in the future. It was a bleak time. My confidence was in tatters. I felt worthless, hopeless and robbed of my future and because I felt so useless, I gave my power away to the medical professionals who I thought had my best interests at heart. For women with chronic conditions who may have lost their sparkle, I would say that a condition doesn't 'define you' and that there is hope out there, you just have to pay attention to the nudges from the universe to find them. Reiki found me when I felt desperate and when I started noticing the signs. Don't give up. Be open to other routes to healing. The power of your mind on your body is phenomenal. You can actually heal your body just by changing your mindset and RTT is incredibly powerful for this. We all have our sparkle within. Sometimes it just gets buried with life. Often it's the beliefs we hold in our subconscious mind that are running our lives. Once you change them, you are free to change the trajectory of your life. Meditation helps you to become an observer of your thoughts so that they no longer control you. I would say to the women that I treat who have lost their sparkle, once you realise how amazing you are as a person, you will find the time and money to invest in your health because you will feel that you are worth it. The key is changing your subconscious beliefs so that you feel good enough and then healing will follow. Feeling good enough gives you your power and your sparkle back. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### From Family Travel Frustrations to Global SaaS Success: How Noelia Novella Built Doinn into a 20-Country Housekeeping Platform URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/women-who-lead/from-family-travel-frustrations-to-global-saas-success-how-noelia-novella-built-doinn-into-a-20-country-housekeeping-platform/ Last updated: 2025-09-16T04:25:28.000Z When Noelia Novella embarked on a round-the-world trip with her family in 2013, including two babies aged 10 and 30 months, she never imagined that her frustrations with inconsistent cleaning standards in short-term rentals would spark a global business revolution. Today, as CEO and co-founder of [Doinn](https://doinn.co/?ref=foundedbywomen.org), she leads a comprehensive SaaS platform that serves over 1,000 companies across 20 countries, transforming how property managers and cleaning companies operate in the hospitality industry. What started as a marketplace connecting property owners with professional cleaning services has evolved into an all-in-one operations platform that automates housekeeping workflows, integrates with property management systems, and uses AI to optimize task scheduling. Doinn's journey from addressing a personal pain point to becoming a trusted solution for vacation rental operators worldwide exemplifies the power of identifying real market gaps and building sustainable, scalable solutions. As a mother of two managing a global team across three continents, Noelia has navigated the challenges of scaling an international business while maintaining family priorities. Her approach combines strategic thinking with empathetic leadership, particularly evident during the COVID-19 pandemic when she pivoted Doinn's strategy, expanded into new markets like the Dominican Republic and Mexico, and successfully transitioned from a marketplace model to a SaaS platform. In this Q&A, Noelia shares her insights on turning travel frustrations into entrepreneurial opportunities, building resilient businesses during global crises, and leading distributed teams while maintaining work-life balance. Her story offers valuable lessons for female founders on recognizing market opportunities, navigating major business pivots, and scaling purpose-driven companies in the digital age. ### **Question 1: From Family Travel to Founding a Platform** **Your inspiration for Doinn came during a round-the-world trip with your family, including two babies, in 2013\. What specific experiences during that journey made you realize there was a gap in professional cleaning standards for short-term rentals?** We all grow up expecting hotel-level cleanliness when we sleep away from home. On our round-the-world trip in 2013, my children were 10 and 30 months old—still crawling and playing on the floor—so hygiene wasn’t optional. In many peer-to-peer rentals back then, we’d find traces of the host family—like hairs on the floor—along with dust bunnies, mixed linens, or sticky kitchens. There were no standardized checklists, no professional turnover teams, and no real accountability. ### How did you transition from identifying the problem as a traveler to building a SaaS solution as an entrepreneur? We didn’t start as a SaaS—we started as a marketplace. In the early days we offered not only cleaning, but also local experiences and online tickets for guests. After joining a startup accelerator in Lisbon, we narrowed the scope to the core pain: reliable, hotel-grade cleaning and operations. As the marketplace grew, something interesting happened: customers wanted our technology even when they weren’t using our providers. Property managers asked to run **their own teams** on our workflows—scheduling, checklists, vendor coordination, and proof-of-service—because that’s where the real consistency and efficiency came from. So we productized the tooling. In 2023 we launched Doinn as a SaaS, turning those marketplace operations into a platform any operator could use. That shift gave us the scalability we needed, and today we serve users in **20 countries** with a software-first approach that standardizes operations and reduces the day-to-day friction. ### **Question 2: Building in Crisis and Scaling Globally** **You launched Doinn in 2015 and have grown to serve How did you navigate the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic when the hospitality industry was devastated?** We were fortunate to close funding just before COVID—originally earmarked for our U.S. launch— and that runway became our life jacket. We paused expansion, protected our people, and focused on cash discipline while keeping the core team intact. Then we used the quiet months to **upgrade the engine**: we rebuilt workflows, tightened QA with checklists and photo proof-of-service, improved scheduling and integrations, and documented lean playbooks so we could scale efficiently when demand returned. In parallel, I doubled down on **industry education**—speaking at webinars and workshops on cleanliness and operations. With few voices specializing in cleaning for short-term rentals at the time, we earned trust and helped shape best practices. By the time travel picked up, we were **leaner, sharper, and ready**—with better processes, stronger brand recognition, and a product that operators could adopt quickly ### What strategies helped you pivot from B2B to B2C and expand into new markets like Brazil during such uncertain times? We expanded into the Dominican Republic and Mexico in 2020 because, despite global travel restrictions, both markets remained relatively open to tourism. In practice, we learned it was still early for us—operator readiness and infrastructure weren't yet aligned with our model. We re-entered Mexico in 2024, and the timing is much better: cleaners now use smartphones, operators want tighter quality control, cost savings, and fully digitized workflows—an ideal fit for our tech. We've never been B2C. Our customers are property operators and cleaning companies, and they've scaled with us: in the beginning we worked with managers of about 10 homes; today we have users overseeing portfolios of 500+ properties. ### **Question 3: Leading a Remote Team Across Continents** **As a mother of two managing a global team across three continents, how do you balance the demands of scaling an international business with family life?** I balance it by design, not by chance. First, the **team**: hiring for a remote, multi-time-zone company is a different profile—self-starters with strong written communication, clear ownership, and time-zone empathy. Then the **system**: we run async-first with documented playbooks, decision logs, and SLAs, and we minimize meetings to a few overlap windows with tight handoffs across continents. My HR background helps— I invest in **bonding rituals** (virtual coffees, peer mentoring, purposeful offsites) so distance doesn’t erode trust. On the family side, I treat time like a P&L: I **block my calendar for my kids**—school runs, dinners, weekends—and I protect those blocks as seriously as a board meeting. If a late call is unavoidable, I’ll work after bedtime, but I make that the exception and rotate coverage so it’s sustainable for the team. Clear boundaries, proactive planning, and the right people and processes let me scale the business without letting family life become an afterthought. ### What leadership lessons have you learned about building company culture and maintaining team motivation when working asynchronously across different time zones and personal challenges? We know each other extremely well. Most Doinners have been with us for over seven years, and many have even stayed a few days at our home—whether in Lisbon, Madrid, Leuven (Belgium), or Singapore. We share the same values, and Doinn’s culture isn’t about hours clocked; it’s about outcomes. We focus on hitting goals and bringing the best of ourselves not only to the company, but to our lives. With that foundation, time zones and long distances fade into the background—they don’t really matter. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### From Wynwood to the World: How Deb Mecca Built a Shopify App Marketing Empire URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/women-who-lead/from-wynwood-to-the-world-how-deb-mecca-built-a-shopify-app-marketing-empire/ Last updated: 2025-09-16T02:19:38.000Z **An exclusive conversation with Deb Mecca, founder of Causeway305 and curator of The App Collective** In the heart of Miami's vibrant Wynwood Arts District, Deb Mecca has carved out a unique niche as the founder of [Causeway305](https://www.causeway305.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org), a boutique marketing agency that works exclusively with Shopify app developers. What started as a career pivot from traditional SaaS sales has evolved into one of the most respected voices in the Shopify ecosystem. Causeway305 specializes in high-converting messaging, app store ads, and strategic consulting for Shopify app developers, helping apps boost installs and engagement through expert copy, optimized ad campaigns, and actionable marketing insights. But Deb's influence extends far beyond client work—she curates The App Collective, a weekly newsletter dedicated to Shopify app marketing professionals that delivers practical strategies, insights, and inspiration to help app founders and marketers grow smarter and faster in the Shopify ecosystem. With over 20 years of sales and marketing experience, Deb discovered her calling at the first Shopify Unite conference in 2016, where CEO Tobias Lütke's words "Opportunity is everywhere" inspired her entrepreneurial leap. Since then, she's become an industry thought leader, speaking at conferences, appearing on podcasts, and building authority through strategic content creation—all while maintaining a client roster that includes some of the fastest-growing apps in the Shopify ecosystem. Operating from her light-filled loft surrounded by Wynwood's street art and creative energy, Deb brings a unique perspective to app marketing that blends strategic expertise with artistic inspiration. In this conversation, she shares insights on building authority in a niche market, leveraging location for creative advantage, and the art of balancing client work with thought leadership. ### Question 1: From 20 Years in Sales to Shopify Specialist **After over 20 years in sales and marketing, what drew you specifically to the Shopify ecosystem?** After spending years in SaaS sales, I sought a more entrepreneurial and startup environment, so I joined an agency that develops e-commerce stores on Shopify, Magento, and WooCommerce. I immediately fell in love with the Shopify platform, its community of partners, and the company's culture. How did you identify the unique opportunity in marketing for Shopify apps, and what made you decide to launch Causeway305 as a boutique agency focused solely on this niche? After attending the very first Shopify Unite in 2016, a partner conference for developers and agencies. The CEO of Shopify said on stage, "Opportunity is everywhere," and I took that as my calling to start my own thing when I came home. At the time, most Shopify apps didn't have large teams, let alone hire agencies to help with growth. Some might say the niche found me, versus the other way around. I found my home by accident and never looked back. ### **Question 2: Building Authority in the App Collective** **You've created The App Collective newsletter and have been featured on multiple industry podcasts sharing your expertise. How important has thought leadership been to building your business?** It's been highly instrumental in building my authority in the industry. I started posting regularly on Twitter before most of Shopify's upper management, let alone the majority of partners. By the time everyone arrived around the pandemic, I already had quite a large following, so it was easy to parlay that into credibility. Participating in podcasts and speaking at conferences or on panels is mostly for fun. I enjoy talking to my friends who are all in the industry, and it allows me to reach an audience I didn't even realize was listening. It's better that way to think I'm just hanging with friends versus an open stage, with ears from people I've never even met. That allows me to have fun while remaining natural, and many business opportunities have come from it. As for the newsletter, The App Collective, it's a way to brain dump strategies, conversations, or thoughts I've had throughout the week or month with clients and colleagues. It's therapeutic in a way, and it allows me to exercise my own creativity, not just always for my app clients. ### **What's your strategy for balancing client work with content creation and industry speaking?** I have a fairly set schedule for managing my days/weeks/months. I can do this because I time-block my calendar and am also very strict about the meetings I attend. I turn down a lot of opportunities, believe it or not. The older I get, the more I trust my instincts on what to accept and what to throw back in the ocean. ### **Question 3: Scaling from Wynwood - The Miami Advantage** **Operating from the vibrant Wynwood district in Miami, how does your location influence your business approach? What advantages do you find in running a remote-friendly marketing agency from Miami, and how do you leverage the creative energy of your neighborhood in your work with Shopify app developers?** I love this line of questioning because my environment plays a significant role in how I feel about the work I'm doing, and ultimately, the quality of the work I'm producing. I'm in a very lively, artsy area that is also a city in Miami. It's nice to live in a two-story loft with tons of light, peeking out at murals and all the cool elements of my surroundings, or walking my dog around to a coffee shop mid-day to grab a matcha latte. I am constantly inspired by creativity, whether it be in art or music, or both, and energized by the energy this area brings. A lot of my work at the agency is creative. Some days, I write copy and manage creative direction for Shopify app image galleries, or write scripts and storyboards for video production. There is a vast creative component to the work I do every week, so it's nice to have this inspiration all around me, fueling my work. I'm fortunate, and I don't take it for granted. **Resources** [The App Collective | SubstackA weekly newsletter geared towards Shopify apps to help you grow. Click to read The App Collective, a Substack publication with hundreds of subscribers.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/icon/https-3A-2F-2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com-2Fpublic-2Fimages-2F5c7ccc1a-a897-4261-9c75-bd714a270b0b-2Fapple-touch-icon-180x180.png)The App CollectiveThe App Collective![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/thumbnail/https-3A-2F-2Ftheappcollective.substack.com-2Ftwitter-2Fsubscribe-card.jpg%3Fv%3D-2407964%26version%3D9)](https://theappcollective.substack.com/) > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### From Shoe Store to National Recognition: Wendy Coulter's Journey of Building Brands and Empowering Women URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/women-who-lead/from-shoe-store-to-national-recognition-wendy-coulters-journey-of-building-brands-and-empowering-women/ Last updated: 2025-09-15T03:29:40.000Z At a very young age, Wendy Coulter was selling shoes in her family's shoe store, where promotions and marketing meant going on the radio to play guitar or riding an elephant in the town parade. Those early lessons in authentic storytelling and community connection would become the foundation for a remarkable entrepreneurial journey that spans three decades. In 1995, she founded Hummingbird with a desire to put her own ideas to work, creatively solving problems for growing businesses. What began as a freelance graphic design venture in her Cary condo has evolved into an award-winning brand strategy agency that helps build business value through clear communication of brand differentiation. Almost three decades later, [Hummingbird Creative Group](https://hummingbird-creative.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) has helped thousands of brands take flight, thanks to a diverse and dedicated staff. But Wendy's impact extends far beyond her own business success. In 2018, she founded the NC Women Business Owners Hall of Fame to honor North Carolina's most successful female entrepreneurs and advocates who have made significant and enduring contributions to impact women's entrepreneurial development in North Carolina. Her dedication to lifting up other women in business has earned her national recognition, including being a NAWBO National Woman Business Owner of the Year top 3 finalist in 2023 and receiving the 2020 Enterprising Women of the Year Award. In this candid Q&A, Wendy shares how those grassroots marketing experiences shaped her approach to branding, her philosophy on building sustainable businesses that transcend their founders, and why she's passionate about creating platforms that celebrate and amplify the stories of women entrepreneurs who are driving economic impact across North Carolina and beyond. --- ### **Question 1: From Family Shoe Store to Award-Winning Agency** **Your entrepreneurial journey began in your family's shoe store, where marketing meant "going on the radio to play guitar or riding an elephant in the town parade." How did those early experiences shape your understanding of branding and storytelling? What made you decide to found Hummingbird Creative Group in 1995, and how has the agency evolved from that boutique graphic design studio in your Cary condo to a national award-winning firm?** My early experiences taught me that effective branding and marketing is about creating memorable experiences and forging genuine connections. This hands-on approach to marketing, where understanding the power of connections really defined the brand, demonstrated that branding is about a unique narrative and personality a business presents to its community. Community really drives everything I do and has been a cornerstone of my success. In 1995, while on a job hunt and using freelance graphic design work to survive, I founded Hummingbird really by accident. I walked into a Cary Chamber of Commerce expo at the NC State Fairgrounds looking for job opportunities, and picked up my first 3 clients there. I was focused on designing tshirts, ads, logos and other projects for small businesses at first. As time went by, the agency has since blossomed into a national award-winning branding firm. Over the past 30 years, I’ve truly had to adapt to an ever-changing industry, moving beyond design to offer comprehensive branding services in the areas of brand strategy, brand identity, brand awareness, brand loyalty, and branded environments. Our success today is rooted in our ability to tell compelling stories that resonate with modern audiences, a direct legacy of those grassroots marketing lessons I was exposed to as a child. We also keep a laser focus on building business value through branding, which enables our clients to see our work in a more holistic way, impacting all the different aspects of their businesses to improve valuations at the time of an acquisition or merger, or when seeking investment capital. ## **Question 2: Creating the NC Women Business Owners Hall of Fame** **Beyond building your successful agency, you founded the NC Women Business Owners Hall of Fame in 2018\. What inspired you to create this platform to honor female entrepreneurs? How do you balance running Hummingbird while championing women's entrepreneurial development, and what impact have you seen from highlighting these success stories?** Inspired by a desire to honor the often-overlooked achievements of women in business who I met early on as a founder, I founded the NC Women Business Owners Hall of Fame in 2018 to amplify their stories and shine a light on the impact they make on economic development in our state. I saw a need to create a platform that celebrates and spotlights the resilience, innovation, and leadership of female entrepreneurs, providing them with the recognition they deserve and highlighting their stories to inspire the next generation. This initiative directly complements my professional work, showcasing that brand building extends beyond a single company to uplift an entire community. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2025/09/IMG_5008.jpeg) Balancing the demands of running Hummingbird Creative Group with my advocacy for women's entrepreneurial development comes natural! I view both roles as intertwined, with my work at Hummingbird providing the expertise to help other businesses grow, and the Hall of Fame offering a public stage to highlight success. The impact has been significant, with the Hall of Fame shining a light on countless women who have built successful businesses, created jobs, and become leaders in their fields, thereby creating a powerful network of mentors and role models. ## **Question 3: From NAWBO National Finalist to Industry Leader** **You've received incredible recognition, including being a NAWBO National Woman Business Owner of the Year top 3 finalist in 2023 and the 2020 Enterprising Women of the Year Award. What's your philosophy on "shifting brand equity from the business owner to the business entity"? How do you help other entrepreneurs build sustainable brands while maintaining your own leadership presence in the industry?** My philosophy on "shifting brand equity from the business owner to the business entity" is a cornerstone of my work and guidance to other entrepreneurs. I believe that while an entrepreneur's personal brand is crucial for early success, true sustainability requires the business itself to become a strong, independent brand. This involves codifying the company's mission, core values, and unique selling proposition into a cohesive brand that can thrive beyond the founder's direct, day-to-day involvement. This isn't a simple handoff, but rather a strategic process. My team at Hummingbird helps clients define their brand's purpose, articulate their values, and build systems that maintain brand consistency. For my own leadership, I maintain a presence in the industry through speaking engagements, publications, and my work with the NC Women Business Owners Hall of Fame, positioning myself not just as the face of Hummingbird, but as a thought leader and advocate for the broader entrepreneurial community, and a champion for women business owners, which is all at the heart of many of the awards. This dual focus allows me to build a sustainable business while simultaneously being a servant leader in my local, state, and broader communities and living my own core values. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### Leading with Purpose: Cadence Willis on Strategic Philanthropy and Creating Sustainable Impact URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/women-who-lead/leading-with-purpose-cadence-willis-on-strategic-philanthropy-and-creating-sustainable-impact/ Last updated: 2025-09-12T14:01:36.000Z In our ongoing series celebrating women leaders shaping the impact landscape, we sit down with Cadence Willis, Acting Executive Director of the [Permira Foundation](https://www.permira.com/sustainability/permira-foundation?ref=foundedbywomen.org). With nearly two decades of corporate affairs experience before transitioning into philanthropy, Cadence brings a unique perspective to strategic giving and social impact leadership. At the Permira Foundation, Cadence leads efforts to scale high-potential non-profits and social enterprises addressing systemic challenges in education, employment, and health. She also serves on multiple boards including Girl Code, Zurich Community Trust, and the Collinson Group, giving her a comprehensive view of the evolving social impact ecosystem. Her approach to philanthropic leadership is grounded in the belief that funders should act as enablers rather than experts—unlocking resources and networks while allowing community-embedded partners to lead the change. In this conversation, Cadence shares insights on the evolution of corporate philanthropy, the power of blending commercial thinking with social impact, and why the future of systemic change lies in collaborative, community-centered approaches. --- **1\. You’re currently Acting Executive Director of the Permira Foundation and sit on a number of boards in the social impact space. What does your work involve, and what drives your approach to philanthropic leadership?** At the Permira Foundation, I’m currently leading our work to scale the impact of high-potential non-profits and social enterprises tackling systemic issues in education, employment, and mental and physical health. We focus on long-term partnerships with organisations that are evidence-based, scalable, and deeply embedded in the communities they serve. I also contribute to the sector through non-executive and advisory board roles with organisations such as Girl Code, Zurich Community Trust and the Collinson Group. These positions broaden my perspective on different models for delivering impact and keep me connected to what is an evolving and complex landscape. What drives me is the opportunity to help drive sustainable outcomes for the most vulnerable in our communities. For me, philanthropic leadership is about listening, acting strategically, and staying grounded in the realities of the people we’re trying to serve. We’re not the experts — our partners are. Our job is to unlock the funding, networks, and support that allow them to lead the change. **2\. You spent nearly two decades in corporate affairs before transitioning into philanthropy. How did that shift shape your leadership, and what advice would you give to others looking to make a similar move?** Moving into philanthropy felt like a natural next step. I’d spent years building strategy, navigating complex stakeholder environments, and aligning interests across global organisations—but I wanted to channel that experience toward something more directly impactful. That transition has made me a more reflective leader. It’s also reinforced my belief in the power of language and storytelling—being able to translate between the business world, governments and the social impact space is critical to building influence, aligning interests, and unlocking funding. My advice to anyone considering this move? Your background is your superpower—don’t underestimate it. But be ready for a steep learning curve. Purpose-led work often plays out against a shifting political and social backdrop, where policy changes can impact charities overnight. The most effective leaders stay connected to local issues, listen closely to those on the ground, and surround themselves with people who challenge their thinking. This work demands both prioritisation and compassion—and a willingness to keep learning and flexing your approach. **3\. What trends are shaping the future of corporate philanthropy?** Corporate philanthropy is shifting—from one-off donations to strategic, long-term engagement. The most effective foundations now see their role as far more than funders: they’re convenors, enablers, and collaborators. We’re seeing growing interest in models that blend philanthropic capital with commercial thinking—supporting organisations not just to survive but to scale. At the same time, there’s a push for more transparent, participatory approaches to giving that centre the voices of those with lived experience. At the Permira Foundation for example, we’re building long-term relationships with our partners, collaborating with other funders, and exploring ways to simplify how funding is accessed and used. Just as importantly, we’re looking beyond financial support—recognising that pro bono expertise and skills-based volunteering, when done well, can be transformational. Internally, we’re focused on embedding purpose as a shared responsibility across the firm, not just a side project—creating meaningful opportunities for colleagues to contribute their time, talents, and insights to drive impact. In the next five to ten years, I believe (and we are starting to see some green shoots) we’ll see a more blended approach to tackling systemic issues—where corporate funders, government, and philanthropy come together more intentionally to align efforts and pool resources. This will require a fundamental rethink of how we fund, collaborate, and measure success—moving away from siloed, institutional approaches and toward models that put people and communities at the centre. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### Announcing Our Inaugural FBW Quarterly Awards Winners URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/awards/announcing-our-inaugural-fbw-quarterly-awards-winners/ Last updated: 2025-09-12T15:31:51.000Z **Celebrating Excellence in Female Leadership and Women-Founded Companies** Today marks a milestone moment as we proudly announce the winners of our first-ever FBW Quarterly Awards. These trailblazing women represent exactly why we launched this program: to spotlight the exceptional leadership, innovation, and impact that happens when women are given the platform they deserve. From transforming global HR strategies to pioneering evidence-based wellness approaches, our inaugural winners demonstrate that female leadership creates measurable, lasting change across industries. --- ## 🏆 Individual Leader Award Winners ### 👑 Strategic Leadership Excellence **Saralynn Pizano** *VP, People & Culture,* [*Sanas AI*](https://www.sanas.ai/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) Saralynn has transformed People Operations at global scale, leading HR strategy for 200+ employees across four regions. Her strategic vision has delivered remarkable improvements in employee retention, engagement, and company culture. Under her leadership, Sanas was recognized as #1 Best Companies for Diversity and #2 Best Companies for Women by DataBird Journal, with significant improvements in Glassdoor ratings and employee satisfaction. With 18+ years of HR expertise and a master's in employment law, Saralynn proves that people strategy is business strategy, building inclusive, high-performing teams that drive sustainable growth. > *"I lead with empathy, accountability, and transparency—building trust through clear communication and courageous conversations."* **Nadzeya Stalbouskaya** *Technology Lead,* [*IAG Transform*](https://www.iairgroup.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) Nadzeya has driven enterprise-wide architectural transformation across multiple business domains, serving as both Technology Lead and Enterprise Architect since November 2023\. She led the creation of a comprehensive architectural framework for a global services organization, establishing standardized processes and governance models. Her strategic initiatives have delivered significant operational improvements and positioned architecture as a core function in strategic decision-making. Leading cross-functional teams, Nadzeya has demonstrated exceptional ability to align technology strategy with business objectives. > *"I lead by example and empower teams through clarity, trust, and collaboration. I foster innovation by aligning team strengths with business goals, motivating through shared purpose and recognition."* --- ### 🌟 Emerging Leader Influence **Maria Jula** *Founder & Nutritionist,* [*MJ London Nutrition*](https://mjlondonnutrition.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) Maria launched MJ London Nutrition in November 2024 with a mission to combat nutrition misinformation through evidence-based coaching. Armed with a Level 5 Advanced Nutrition Science Diploma with Distinction and personal experience overcoming PCOS, she's already helping clients achieve sustainable transformations—including one client who lost 5kg in 4 weeks. Her Workplace Wellness sessions at Imagination Technologies and University of Westminster have been praised as "engaging and relatable." Maria represents the future of health leadership: scientifically rigorous, personally authentic, and deeply impactful. > *"My work matters by promoting long-term health and body autonomy through education, directly addressing the rising health crisis."* --- ### 🌿 Health & Wellness Impact **Caroline Shola Arewa** *Founder/Director,* [*Inner Vision*](http://shola.co.uk/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) With over three decades of pioneering work in holistic wellness, Caroline has empowered thousands of women worldwide and trained more than 350 coaches across 15 countries, amplifying her work through the ripple effect of their leadership. She is the author of 5 books, including her first best-selling book which is now in its 27th year. Caroline has introduced progressive energy-based wellness programs to traditional organizations including PWC, BBC, the Police Force, and the Prison Service, opening doors for holistic approaches in structured environments. In 2023, she developed the innovative Shekem Maat Healing System, blending ancient wisdom with modern energy practices. Caroline’s work has not only transformed individual lives but also influenced organizational cultures, bringing depth and consciousness to leadership development and proving that "soft skills, rest, and purpose matter, because people matter." > "My leadership philosophy is to develop reluctant leaders and nurture conscious leadership. I lead from behind, energising, empowering, and elevating others." --- ## 🚀 Company Award Winners ### 🚀 Best Innovation **Abbe Feder** *Founder & CEO,* [*InCircle Fertility*](https://www.incirclefertility.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) Abbe created a groundbreaking model of fertility support that bridges the critical gap between clinical treatment and emotional resilience. Since founding InCircle Fertility in 2021, she's served over 1,000 clients through personalized coaching programs that blend expert guidance, trauma-informed care, and community connection. Her results speak volumes: 90% of clients report improved emotional coping and decision-making confidence, 60%+ of new clients come via referrals, and an incredible 100% say they made a good decision working with InCircle. Abbe has redefined fertility care by making emotional well-being a standard part of the process, not a luxury. > *"My work is helping redefine fertility care by making emotional well-being a standard part of the process—not a luxury or afterthought."* **Susannah Simmons** *Longevity Trainer, Coach & Founder,* [*Susannah Simmons Feel Good Hub*](https://susannahsimmons.uk/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) Susannah has pioneered a unique wellbeing framework for "third chapter solopreneurs"—helping experienced business owners build ventures that last by aligning personal wellbeing with customer experience strategy. After 12 years of building two successful coaching strands, she's now launching the Feel Good Hub app in September 2025, unifying her holistic approach. Her depth-over-scale model shows remarkable client loyalty, with several clients celebrating 10-year anniversaries with her. Her 6-week Eat Well Challenge achieved a 100% completion rate, proving that sustainable, human-centered success is possible for later-stage entrepreneurs. > *"I'm redefining what sustainable, human-centred success looks like for later-stage entrepreneurs, helping them avoid burnout while serving their customers effectively."* --- ## What Makes This Inaugural Class Special Our first cohort represents the authentic foundation of the FBW Awards—leaders who stepped forward to be recognized, not because of hype or marketing, but because they believe in the power of visibility for women's achievements. Each winner embodies a different path to excellence: - **Global HR transformation** driving engagement and diversity (Saralynn) - **Enterprise architecture** delivering millions in cost savings (Nadzeya) - **Evidence-based health entrepreneurship** solving real wellness challenges (Maria) - **Decades of pioneering holistic leadership** (Caroline) - **Innovative fertility care** bridging medical and emotional support (Abbe) - **Sustainable solopreneur success** for later-stage entrepreneurs (Susannah) These women didn't wait for permission to lead. They created change, measured impact, and built legacies that extend far beyond their individual success. --- ## Building Something Bigger The FBW Quarterly Awards aren't just about recognition—they're about building an undeniable record of female excellence that investors, boards, and partners can no longer ignore. With each quarterly cycle, we're creating a powerful network of recognized leaders whose combined achievements shift the narrative about women's capabilities in business. **For our winners:** Congratulations on this well-deserved recognition. Your stories will inspire the next generation of female leaders and entrepreneurs. **For future applicants:** Q4 2025 applications open soon. The standard has been set—bring your most compelling stories of innovation, impact, and leadership excellence. --- ## Winner Benefits Include: 📰 **Featured Profiles** \- In-depth articles on FoundedByWomen.org 📱 **Multi-Platform Promotion** \- Social media and newsletter features 🏆 **Winner Assets** \- Digital badges and certificates for marketing 🤝 **Network Access** \- Connection with other recognized leaders --- *Ready to apply for Q4 2025? Watch for applications opening October 2025\. The future of business is being shaped by women at every level—and we're here to tell that story properly.* [**Learn More About FBW Awards**](https://www.foundedbywomen.org/awards/) **|** [**Follow Us on LinkedIn**](https://linkedin.com/company/foundedbywomen?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ### From Postnatal Struggles to Franchise Success: How Suzy Sanders Built the UK's Only Family-Run VA Franchise URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/women-who-lead/from-postnatal-struggles-to-franchise-success-how-suzy-sanders-built-the-uks-only-family-run-va-franchise/ Last updated: 2025-09-12T08:28:47.000Z **After hitting rock bottom with postnatal depression, Suzy Sanders transformed her pain into purpose, building Alchemy VA into an award-winning franchise that's redefining what it means to do business with heart.** When Suzy Sanders left her corporate role as an executive assistant at a global recruitment firm after her son's birth, she had no idea that her lowest moment would become the catalyst for building something extraordinary. Today, she's the founder of [Alchemy VA](https://alchemyva.co.uk/?ref=foundedbywomen.org), the UK's only family-run virtual assistant franchise, and a recognized thought leader who's been a finalist in multiple prestigious awards including the Great British Entrepreneur Awards. What started in a makeshift home office during the depths of postnatal depression over a decade ago has grown into a values-driven franchise that's changing how businesses think about virtual assistance. With core values of integrity, kindness, family, empowerment, and flexibility at its heart, Alchemy VA represents a refreshingly human approach in an increasingly automated world. But Suzy's journey wasn't linear. Navigating the challenges of building a business while raising young children, losing herself more than once along the way, and eventually finding the courage to step into the spotlight as the face of her brand, her story is one of resilience, authenticity, and the power of staying true to your values even when the path gets difficult. We sat down with Suzy to discuss her transformation from corporate executive to franchise founder, how she's built a business that truly cares, and her advice for women entrepreneurs who want to establish thought leadership while scaling their companies. ### **Question 1: From Corporate Life to Family Business** **After leaving your corporate job as an executive assistant at a global recruitment firm following your son's birth, you built Alchemy VA from a makeshift home office into the UK's only family-run VA franchise. What gave you the courage to make that leap? How did you balance building a business while raising young children?** It was my son’s arrival earthside that ultimately gave me the courage. I consider myself very privileged to have had the most empowering birth. Not only had my body created a teeny human without having to think about it, but I had also learned to harness my mind and work with my body to deliver him peacefully and calmly at home. It was the most incredible and empowering day of my life. But I didn’t adjust to motherhood very well at all, navigating post-natal anxiety and depression with a beautiful newborn who didn’t sleep. When I decided to start the business, I was at rock bottom and I didn’t feel I had anything to lose. Balancing the business and my family hasn’t ever been easy. I’ve lost myself more than once and the challenges just keep surfacing! But I think ultimately two key things have helped me strike and maintain balance. Firstly, keeping a clear, strong connection to my vision. Secondly, knowing that I can’t, won’t and don’t have to do it all alone. Over the years I have fostered an incredible support network – both personally and professionally – and there is no way I would be where I am today without that. ### Question 2: Creating a Values-Driven Franchise **You've been finalist in multiple prestigious awards including the Great British Entrepreneur Awards and have won recognition for your "noticeably different approach" to business. How do your core values of integrity, kindness, family, empowerment, and flexibility translate into your franchise model? What makes the Alchemy VA approach unique in the crowded virtual assistant market?** Knowing what values I hold dear was the first step. You can’t build something meaningful with purpose if you’re not clear on what is truly important to you. Deep care and thought is always given to how I want to move in the business world, what I stand for and how I operate. Establishing your own personal values as well as those of your brand is a key foundation. Literally everything I do, every decision I make, every conversation I have – I strive to put through the ‘lense’ of at least one of our values. For example – I could ask myself, am I acting with integrity in this moment? Is this the kindest way forward? How is this empowering? Am I honouring or enabling flexibility here? Listening and acting on these answers is important too. Values aren’t just words on a wall. They are the holistic threads that connects and runs through everything and everyone. It’s a constant act of alignment. We’ve built, shaped and grown the Alchemy VA Franchise model with integrity, kindness, family, empowerment, and flexibility at heart. I admit that I don’t always get it right. But when I am prioritising these qualities, I know I’m honouring myself and doing the right thing by the brand and the people we serve. What makes our approach unique? One of our remarkable clients said it perfectly very recently – because Alchemy VA truly care. It’s a simple as that. We’re not a huge corporate machine, churning through data, people and numbers. We are an emerging, family run, and heart led brand. We’re small and agile enough to care and take a truly tailored, client centred approach. But we’re structured, experienced, and sized well enough to really deliver. It’s our collective vision that no one has to choose between their family and their work – whatever those things are to them. Individuals chose to partner with us and take ownership for our UK Franchise opportunities because they see and understand the value in being deeply supported on their entrepreneurial journey. They recognise the power in tapping into and leveraging all we’ve put to building the brand into what it is today. They value the training, mentorship and guidance as equally as the proven profitable business model and client opportunities we provide. Why go it alone when you can be empowered and fully supported? ### Question 3: From Solo VA to Industry Leader **You've authored "The Alchemy of Virtual Assistance" and speak at industry events while scaling your franchise across the UK. How do you balance being the face of your brand with actually running the business? What's your advice for other women entrepreneurs who want to establish thought leadership while growing their companies?** Yet another delicate balance to manage. If I am really honest, for a long time I didn’t want to be the ‘face’ of the Alchemy brand. I was quite comfortable behind the scenes. But I recognised that if I was to achieve the impact and scale I desired, things needed to change, and I needed to get comfortable with being uncomfortable. I invested in my own personal development and viewed it as work. I gave a lot of focus to my mindset alongside honing new skills. As a brand, we also invested a lot into PR, because there’s no point in building something special if no-one knows about it! Working on these foundations gave me momentum, a lot of organic opportunities started opening up and I had the support to confidently step up into them. My advice to others wanting to establish thought leadership whilst growing their companies is to firstly focus on themselves. Understand your beliefs, challenges, limitations and strengths. Getting your mindset in check makes everything easier. As well as refining and curating your workload. Delegation and outsourcing can help massively here, to ensure that no practical ‘balls’ get dropped or standards drop as you continue to expand. Then make the space to establish how to leverage and work WITH yourself and also get crystal clear about your messaging and audience. You don’t have to push yourself from zero speaking experience to TED Talk overnight – give care to mapping out an intentional, yet gentle path for yourself to take small incremental steps out of your comfort zone. This not only makes it joyful work but sustainable too. Give yourself time, grace and space to organise your life at a new level and to get to know the next version of yourself. --- --- *Ready to explore if a virtual assistant could transform your business? Take Alchemy VA's free* [*Virtual Assistant Readiness Quiz*](https://alchemyva.co.uk/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) *to receive a personalized report with insights and recommendations about optimizing your operations and getting ready to confidently delegate.* > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### Marketing from First Principles - for Startups and Scale-ups [Complete webinar recording + key insights] URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/all/marketing-from-first-principles-for-startups-and-scale-ups-complete-webinar-recording-key-insights/ Last updated: 2025-09-11T04:55:13.000Z Hey Founders, let's be real — AI isn't the future of marketing. It's already here, rewriting the playbook entirely. From writing copy in seconds to generating launch videos, from campaign planning to pricing strategy — AI is no longer a sidekick waiting in the wings. It's in the trenches with us, fundamentally changing how we approach growth, customer acquisition, and scale. **Watch our deep-dive webinar where we break down exactly how to build an AI+Human marketing engine:** **Can't see the video?** [Watch directly on YouTube →](https://youtu.be/J433RYlqfYM?ref=foundedbywomen.org) If you're building a SaaS business with ambitious goals — whether that's hitting $10M in revenue or reaching 100K users — it's time to ask yourself a critical question: **Is your marketing infrastructure actually wired for this new era?** ## The Reality Check: Speed Isn't Optional Anymore Speed to market isn't a nice-to-have anymore — it's survival. The companies that are thriving right now aren't just faster; they're fundamentally different in how they approach marketing operations. They've cracked the code on building what we call an "AI+Human marketing engine" — a system that leverages artificial intelligence while keeping human strategy and creativity at the center. ## What We Covered in Our Deep-Dive Webinar In our recent webinar, we explored the practical, no-BS approach to AI-powered marketing that's actually working for startups today. Here's what we unpacked: ### Building an AI+Human Marketing Engine That Actually Scales - The specific AI tools and workflows that are delivering measurable ROI - How to structure your marketing operations for AI integration - The human skills that become even more valuable in an AI-driven world ### Critical Pitfalls to Avoid - Ethics and transparency in AI-powered campaigns - Regulatory considerations you can't ignore - Governance frameworks that protect your brand while maximizing AI benefits ### Real Startup Success Stories - Case studies from companies already winning with AI-powered marketing - Specific tactics and tools that drove measurable growth - Lessons learned from both wins and failures ## The Bottom Line The startups that will dominate the next decade are the ones building their marketing infrastructure today with AI at the core — not as an afterthought, but as a fundamental part of how they operate. This isn't about replacing human creativity or strategy. It's about amplifying what makes us uniquely human while letting AI handle the heavy lifting on execution, analysis, and optimization. **Ready to dive deeper?** Watch the full webinar recording where we break down exactly how to implement these strategies in your business: [**🎥 Watch the Full Webinar Recording →**](https://youtu.be/J433RYlqfYM?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ## About the Speaker **Padmini Murthy** *Founder · Content Sense* Padmini Murthy is the founder of [Content Sense](https://contentsense.ai/?ref=foundedbywomen.org), where she helps startups and scale-ups find their marketing fit through her Marketing as a Service (MaaS) model. With over a decade of experience guiding 20+ companies through product pivots and growth journeys, Padmini blends strategic rigor with a deep love for messy, meaningful work. When not untangling marketing challenges, she's reflecting on life's inflection points — and brewing a really good cup of coffee or serving a fine glass of wine to her family and friends. ### Turning Setbacks into Strategy: Cristin Padgett’s Path to Leadership in Cybersecurity and Tech URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/women-who-lead/turning-setbacks-into-strategy-cristin-padgetts-path-to-leadership-in-cybersecurity-and-tech/ Last updated: 2025-09-09T19:47:15.000Z When a personal ransomware attack encrypted 150,000 of her photos, Cristin Padgett didn't just pay the ransom — she dove deep into understanding cybersecurity, ultimately launching a career that would span AI, tech, and cybersecurity leadership roles. Now a Customer Marketing & Program Architect at Palo Alto Networks with an Executive MBA from Quantic, Cristin has built scalable programs that generate massive pipeline results and reduce support costs by double digits. In this candid conversation, she shares how she turned a cyber attack into career fuel, her data-driven approach to building programs that scale across 20,000+ customers, and what it really takes for women to establish credibility and advance in male-dominated tech industries. From translating technical complexity into customer value to pursuing executive education while excelling in demanding roles, Cristin's story offers practical insights for any woman looking to build authority and drive results in the technology sector. ### **Question 1: Breaking Into Cybersecurity Leadership** **With 13 years of successful enterprise experience, you've built a career in the male-dominated cybersecurity and tech industry. What drew you to cybersecurity initially, and what challenges did you face as a woman establishing yourself in this field? How did you navigate building credibility and advancing into technical leadership roles?** A: I was introduced to cybersecurity in one of the most unexpected and personal ways — through a ransomware attack on a personal cloud I had set up to save on cloud storage costs. Overnight, every single one of my photos was encrypted, with attackers demanding $500 in Bitcoin. While the amount wasn’t staggering, the principle was clear: never pay a ransom. That experience sparked a deep curiosity. I dove into researching how ransomware works, how data can be decrypted, and what it takes to protect digital assets. Eventually, I connected with a firm that specialized in ransomware recovery. They helped me decrypt more than 150,000 of my photos — and later hired me as a GTM consultant to help expand their market share in the U.S. Breaking into a male-dominated industry wasn’t without challenges. Early on, credibility wasn’t given — it had to be earned. I learned to navigate this by combining storytelling with technical depth, showing not just what cybersecurity solutions could do, but why they mattered in the bigger picture of protecting organizations. Over time, that approach opened doors into the industry where I could influence both strategy and execution for go-to-market programs at scale. ### **Question 2: Building Scalable Programs** **You’ve led large-scale, cross-functional programs at the intersection of marketing, product, and customer success. How do you approach building scalable programs that deliver measurable outcomes?** A: For me, data isn’t just a buzzword — it’s the foundation for building scalable programs. I start by looking at where friction exists: Are customers stalling in the sales cycle? Are large volumes of support cases tied to a single issue? Is pipeline falling short of forecast? Each of these signals points to a different problem to solve. My strength is connecting those insights to action. I design customer-centric programs that address the root cause, whether that’s enablement, lifecycle engagement, or cross-functional process change. Storytelling and clear messaging are always at the core — they ensure technical complexity is translated into value customers can understand and act on. The result is programs that not only scale but deliver measurable outcomes in adoption, retention, and revenue impact. For example, at Palo Alto Networks I built a digital adoption program that scaled across 20,000+ customers and 100,000 firewalls. By analyzing TAC case trends, I designed targeted enablement and messaging that directly reduced support cases while accelerating upgrades. The result was measurable impact: 12% YOY lower support costs, 50% higher adoption, and stronger customer trust at scale. **Question 3: Pursuing an Executive MBA While Excelling in Tech** **You recently completed your Executive MBA at Quantic School of Business and Technology while maintaining your demanding role at an AI tech startup — Uniphore. What motivated you to pursue advanced business education at this stage of your career? How do you balance continuous learning with the demands of marketing and GTM program management, and what advice would you give to other women in tech about investing in their professional development?** The glass ceiling is real. An [MIT Sloan study](https://mitsloan.mit.edu/ideas-made-to-matter/women-are-less-likely-men-to-be-promoted-heres-one-reason-why?utm%5Fsource=chatgpt.com) found that women consistently received higher performance ratings than men — but 8.3% lower ratings on potential. The takeaway? Women are rarely promoted for what they *might* achieve; we’re advanced for what we’ve already proven. For me, pursuing an Executive MBA was about closing that gap. I wanted a seal of credibility that demonstrated not only my track record, but also my formal training in business acumen, leadership, and strategic decision-making. The program gave me the frameworks and tools to lead at scale with refined judgment and broader perspective — and Quantic’s global alumni network exposed me to diverse viewpoints that even traditional programs sometimes lack. One of the ways I’ve applied that learning is through [Yes, And Enablement](https://www.yesandenablement.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org), a company I founded that uses improv-based training to strengthen sales enablement, leadership, and team collaboration. It’s been a powerful proving ground for testing the business frameworks I studied, blending creativity with data-driven outcomes. Balancing it with a demanding role in tech wasn’t easy. It required ruthless prioritization, carving out learning time just like I would for a board meeting. My advice to other women in tech is this: don’t wait for someone else to validate your potential. Invest in yourself, build the credentials (certifications work too), the personal branding, and build a network to surround yourself with peers who challenge and elevate you. That’s how you create momentum that no bias can slow down. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### [Webinar] From Pet Grooming to Multi-Million Empire: My Scaling Secrets URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/webinars/webinar-from-pet-grooming-to-multi-million-empire-my-scaling-secrets/ Last updated: 2025-09-02T08:34:36.000Z ​Have you ever wondered how a single pet grooming salon can transform into a multi-million dollar empire? Join us for an exclusive conversation with Liz Illg, the powerhouse entrepreneur who built one of Arizona's most recognized pet brands and now helps other founders scale with confidence. ​In this candid session, Liz will pull back the curtain on her remarkable journey from operating a single storefront to building multiple thriving locations, and how she leveraged those lessons to launch successful ventures across four different industries. [Register](https://luma.com/kyujdxe1?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ## ​What You'll Learn ​**🎯 The Scaling Blueprint That Actually Works** - ​The exact systems Liz used to grow from one location to multiple profitable sites - ​How to identify when you're ready to scale (and when you're not) - ​Strategic delegation techniques that free you from day-to-day operations ​**💡 Smart Growth Planning Strategies** - ​How to expand without burning out or losing quality - ​The critical mindset shifts required for sustainable scaling - ​Real-world examples from Liz's multi-industry experience ​**🧠 From Head Knowledge to Documented Systems** - ​How to extract the expertise that's trapped in your head - ​Creating step-by-step processes your team can actually follow - ​Building training systems that work without your constant involvement ​**👥 Scaling Through Your Team** - ​How to delegate effectively when you're used to doing everything yourself - ​The critical systems needed before you can truly step back - ​Transforming employees from order-takers to independent operators ## ​Perfect For: ​✅ **Business owners with employees** who have all their knowledge trapped in their heads ✅ **Growing companies** struggling with inconsistent processes and training ✅ **Founders** who want to scale but don't know how to systematize their expertise ✅ **Established businesses** ready to document their operations for growth ✅ **Entrepreneurs** tired of being the bottleneck in their own company [Register](https://luma.com/kyujdxe1?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ## ​Featured Speaker ​**Liz Illg – Founder & CEO,** [**Legendary Ideas Group**](https://legendaryideasgroup.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ​Liz Illg is a dynamic, multi-passionate entrepreneur who has successfully scaled businesses across four industries—from pet care to wellness to digital consulting. As the founder and CEO of Legendary Ideas Group, she helps business owners streamline operations, clarify their brand, and scale with confidence. ​Her entrepreneurial journey began with Puff & Fluff Grooming, which she transformed from a single storefront into one of Arizona's most recognized pet brands with multiple thriving locations. Her secret? Smart systems, strategic delegation, and sustainable growth planning. ​Now, through Legendary Ideas Group, she brings that same proven blueprint to fellow founders—offering done-for-you tools, consulting support, and growth-focused strategies designed to create real momentum. ​*"You don't need to do it all—you just need the right systems and the right people. That's how I scaled, and that's how I help others scale too."* — Liz Illg ## ​Why Attend? ​This isn't just another "hustle harder" webinar. Liz will share the practical, tested strategies she used to transform her business from being entirely dependent on her personal knowledge to having systems that allowed her team to operate independently. You'll discover how to get everything that's in your head onto paper and into systems your employees can follow—without you having to micromanage every decision. ​**Reserve your spot today and discover how to move from overwhelmed to optimized—so your business can grow, and you can breathe.** [Register](https://luma.com/kyujdxe1?ref=foundedbywomen.org) --- ​*This webinar is proudly hosted by* [*FoundedByWomen.org*](http://foundedbywomen.org/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) *in partnership with* [*Databird Journal*](https://databirdjournal.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org)*, bringing together the best insights for ambitious female entrepreneurs ready to scale.* ### Breaking Barriers in Cancer Care: Toral Shah on Integrative Oncology, Health Equity, and Evidence-Based Prevention URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/wellness/breaking-barriers-in-cancer-care-toral-shah-on-integrative-oncology-health-equity-and-evidence-based-prevention/ Last updated: 2025-08-14T10:20:28.000Z *In this Women in Wellness interview, we sit down with Nutritional Scientist and Integrative Oncology Practitioner Toral Shah to explore how personal experience and scientific expertise can transform cancer care* When Toral Shah was eleven years old, she made a bold declaration: she would cure cancer. That childhood dream evolved into something even more powerful—a mission to revolutionize how we prevent, treat, and survive cancer through the lens of integrative medicine and health equity. As a Nutritional Scientist with an MSc in Nutritional Medicine and a three-time breast cancer survivor, Toral brings a unique perspective to the intersection of evidence-based medicine and holistic care. Her work bridges the often overwhelming gap between cutting-edge research and practical, culturally sensitive guidance that empowers individuals to take control of their health journey. Through her clinical practice, academic research, and advocacy work with South Asian Supernovas, Toral is addressing one of healthcare's most persistent challenges: ensuring that life-saving knowledge reaches everyone, regardless of their cultural background or socioeconomic status. Her approach recognizes that while 40% of cancers are preventable through lifestyle interventions, access to this prevention isn't equally distributed across all communities. In this candid conversation, Toral shares how her personal cancer journey shaped her professional mission, why culturally adapted care is essential for closing health disparities, and how women can navigate the often confusing landscape of cancer prevention advice. From the importance of decolonizing medicine to practical strategies for building a science-backed wellness foundation, she offers insights that could transform how we think about cancer care and prevention. ### 1\. As both a nutritional scientist and a breast cancer survivor who has navigated this journey thrice, how has your personal experience shaped your approach to integrative oncology? What would you tell women who are feeling overwhelmed by conflicting nutritional advice during their cancer journey? From a young age, cancer seemed to be my calling. As a precocious 11, I was inspired by reading a book about a cancer surgeon and resolved to cure the disease. This determination led me to pursue medical school with the intention of becoming an oncologist to support cancer patients. However, when my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer, I began to explore how nutrition and lifestyle could aid her recovery from surgery and treatment, as well as lower the chances of recurrence. This experience marked the start of my transition into nutritional medicine, focusing on cancer nutrition and lifestyle, rather than continuing solely in the fields of medicine and oncology. My personal experiences and diagnoses have shaped my approach to integrative oncology as I wanted people with a cancer diagnosis to feel whole and heard, and not just cancer patients. My approach to integrative oncology blends evidence-based medical treatments with personalised nutritional guidance, lifestyle modifications, and mind-body techniques. While most people understand that diet and exercise affect cancer outcomes, equally important are quality sleep, effective stress reduction, meaningful social connections, and environmental factors—all pieces of the complete health puzzle. When a woman sits across from me, newly diagnosed and drowning in contradictory advice, I first help her find solid ground. Rather than prescribing universal solutions, I acknowledge how cancer bloggers—though well-intentioned—often promote personal success stories that lack scientific backing or transferability across different cancer types, genetic profiles, and cultural backgrounds. Rather than adding to this noise, I help them build a foundation based on their unique circumstances: their specific cancer subtype, genetic profile, cultural food preferences, and existing health conditions. We start with evidence-based nutrition—colorful vegetables, particularly cruciferous ones like broccoli and kale, adequate fiber, and foods that support their individual metabolic needs—while acknowledging that what worked for a blogger in California ### 2\. Through your work with South Asian Supernovas and your research on health inequalities, you've highlighted how cultural background influences cancer outcomes. Can you explain why culturally adapted nutrition and lifestyle advice is so crucial for women from diverse backgrounds, and what practical steps healthcare providers can take to make cancer care more equitable? The gap in cancer care and cancer outcomes in ethnic minorities in the UK and US is linked to structural, socioeconomic, and cultural factors affecting access, trust, and treatment outcomes. Medical training mainly focuses on Western biomedical methods, providing little understanding of traditional and complementary medicine (T&CM). This gap limits healthcare providers' cultural competence and awareness of T&CM, often leading to negative attitudes. As a result, patients may avoid discussing their use of T&CM for fear of being judged. In addition, most nutrition recommendations focus on the Mediterranean diet but diets from other cultures whilst not as researched, are often as supportive of health outcomes. The integrative oncology framework, which blends conventional cancer treatments with complementary therapies, often lacks inclusivity and diversity, perpetuating health inequalities. To solve this, we must decolonize medicine by embracing indigenous healing traditions like yoga, meditation, Ayurveda, and Traditional Chinese Medicine, using them to inform modern integrative oncology rather than exploiting them. Practical steps for healthcare providers - Educate oncologists and integrative practitioners in cultural humility, sensitivity, and the colonial history of medicine. - Include education on global traditional medicine systems in medical school curricula. - Create care models that respect cultural and spiritual aspects of healing. - Encourage oncologists and health care professionals to understand nutrition and lifestyle, and how to personalise this for different ethnicities, cultures and backgrounds. ### 3\. Your research focuses on the 40% of cancers that can be prevented through nutrition and lifestyle changes. For women who want to be proactive about their health, what are the most evidence-based dietary and lifestyle strategies you recommend for cancer prevention, and how can they distinguish between solid science and wellness trends? It's crucial to acknowledge that lifestyle choices aren't made in a vacuum—they're shaped by social determinants of health. Many individuals face systemic barriers that make healthy choices nearly impossible without broader societal and structural reforms to our food and healthcare systems. The stark reality is that cancer survival rates consistently favor those with greater financial resources, highlighting how economic inequality translates directly into health inequality, making prevention strategies inaccessible to those who might benefit most. Scientific understanding evolves continuously, refining what we know about cancer prevention. To separate evidence-based approaches from costly wellness fads, seek guidance from reputable nutrition researchers and healthcare specialists who stay current with peer-reviewed literature rather than following the latest Instagram trends. The foundation of cancer prevention begins with lifestyle choices: eliminating tobacco, minimising alcohol consumption, achieving a healthy body composition, and engaging in regular physical activity and movement. Nutritionally, focus on colourful plant diversity—particularly cruciferous vegetables like broccoli and kale—to ensure adequate fibre intake. Try to include fatty fish such as salmon or mackerel twice weekly, and consume sufficient protein to support muscle maintenance. Prioritise restorative sleep and implement stress-reduction practices that connect mind and body. Cultivate gut health through fermented foods containing beneficial bacteria alongside prebiotic-rich foods that nourish your microbiome. For those living in Northern latitudes, vitamin D supplementation may be necessary to maintain optimal levels of this cancer-protective nutrient. ***Resources:*** [The Urban Kitchen | nutritionist and functional medicine![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/icon/pfavico-1.ico)Toral Shah![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/thumbnail/TORAL-20SHAH-20INTEGRATIVE-20HEALTH-20WHITE-20LOGO-20-1.png)](https://www.toralshah.co.uk/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### "People Lie, Numbers Don't": How ServiceUp's CIO is Rewriting the Rules of Insurance URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/women-who-lead/people-lie-numbers-dont-how-serviceups-cio-is-rewriting-the-rules-of-insurance/ Last updated: 2025-08-11T16:03:19.000Z *How one executive is reshaping insurance for the mobility economy while championing women in fintech* --- **Meet Stephanie Mier, Chief Insurance Officer at** [**ServiceUp**](https://www.serviceup.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org)**—a leader who has spent two decades at the forefront of insurance innovation.** From building auto claim departments to launching embedded insurance products for mobility pioneers like Turo and Fair Financial, Stephanie has witnessed and driven the fundamental transformation of how we think about vehicle ownership, sharing, and protection. Now at ServiceUp, which recently completed a $55M funding round, Stephanie is tackling the final piece of the mobility puzzle: transparent, tech-enabled vehicle repairs that benefit both carriers and consumers. Her journey through traditionally male-dominated industries—insurance and fintech—offers invaluable insights for women leaders navigating similar paths. In this conversation, Stephanie shares her strategies for establishing credibility in challenging environments, her perspective on the evolution from traditional auto insurance to embedded solutions, and her approach to maintaining culture during hypergrowth. Her advice is grounded in real-world experience: from her early mentor's wisdom that "people lie, numbers don't" to her current philosophy of celebrating small wins while maintaining transparent leadership. Whether you're interested in the future of insurtech, seeking guidance on breaking into male-dominated fields, or looking for practical leadership advice during scaling phases, Stephanie's insights offer a unique blend of industry expertise and hard-won wisdom. --- **1\. Breaking Into Male-Dominated Industries** "You've built your career in two traditionally male-dominated sectors - insurance and fintech. What strategies did you use to establish credibility and build relationships early in your career, and how do you now help other women navigate similar challenges in these industries?" Great question. I was raised by an incredibly strong, independent woman, so I had a bit of a head start. Navigating a male-dominated industry is about networking and leading conversations with confidence and data-backed insights. “Your network is your net worth” goes a long way when you’re a woman just starting out in insurance and tech. Build your resume by chasing the job, not the money; it opens doors to talented, trusted leaders. It shows you’re willing to build new things, that you can be relied on to handle the inconvenient tasks, and it gives you a chance to stand out as the go-to in any company or line of business. Women in these industries can shine by taking on the harder projects and grounding their insights in findings and data. Another mantra my mentor instilled early on: “People lie, numbers don’t.” If you can show data that supports your insights, opinions, or thesis, people have no choice but to listen, respect, and acknowledge your skill set. **2\. From Traditional Insurance to Embedded Innovation** "You've witnessed the evolution from traditional auto insurance to embedded insurance solutions in mobility platforms like Turo and Fair Financial. What fundamental shifts in customer expectations drove this transformation, and how do you balance innovation with the risk management principles that are core to insurance?" Customer expectations are ever evolving; it’s the most challenging part of insurance and also the most enthralling. It’s an instant motivator to keep pushing innovation in this sector. Take the early rideshare era as an example. Households were facing the rising cost of vehicle ownership: high interest on loans and leases, lump-sum payments, and the cost of risk, including insurance, warranties, supplemental coverages, and out-of-pocket deductibles. It became hard to justify owning a car for school, work, or family, let alone for the pride of a dream car. The question became how to share the expense and lower the monthly burden. That pressure sparked a shift in how we view and maintain car ownership, launching a new shared-ownership model. *Insurance is inseparable from that model. It protects what you’re sharing when accidents happen, and it forces larger carriers and mutuals to rethink how they underwrite and share this new kind of exposure. The theme continued: how do we share costs and reduce TCOR (total cost of repair)? Underwriters responded with new, consumer-first products, including mileage-based policies and off-app coverages, which marked a clear evolution from the traditional P&C setup of one car, one driver, and a few lines of protection.* Now you can drive the vehicle you want while sharing the cost to keep it. You have a policy that provides peace of mind on the road. Over the past two decades, I’ve watched this offering grow. One layer still needed more innovation: the repair and maintenance side of ownership. [ServiceUp](https://www.serviceup.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) uses technology to complete that trifecta by giving carriers and consumers transparent insight into TCOR, which ultimately impacts the bottom line. A crash can alter a consumer’s risk profile and spike monthly premiums. Large volumes of damage claims can stress a carrier’s loss ratios and solvency. ServiceUp closes the gap by expediting repairs, lowering out-of-pocket and rental costs for consumers, and curating loss data that supports better underwriting, which helps balance innovation with risk. **3\. Scaling Leadership Through High-Growth Moments** "As Chief Insurance Officer at ServiceUp during their recent $55M raise, you're experiencing significant scaling challenges. How do you maintain the culture and operational excellence you've built while rapidly expanding your team and capabilities? What advice would you give to other women leaders navigating hypergrowth phases?" Maintaining culture starts with principles set before you scale. They create a deeply rooted, centralized belief in the company’s goal. At ServiceUp, it’s to be the all-in-one vehicle repair platform. Every new team member plays an integral role in building toward that goal. Our job as leaders is to sustain that drive and the common thread throughout. When teams bring their talents and aspirations, and clearly see the company vision, culture and true “teamship” take root and grow. One practice women leaders can adopt right away to ensure success is to celebrate small wins and move past failures. As a company moves through the transition that follows a large raise and hypergrowth, it is critical to keep reiterating the “why” behind changes. Transparency removes the impulse to fill blank spaces with individual narratives. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### From Skepticism to Success: How Philomena Cannon-Brookes Revolutionized Children's Fitness in Singapore URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/women-who-lead/from-skepticism-to-success-how-philomena-cannon-brookes-revolutionized-childrens-fitness-in-singapore/ Last updated: 2025-08-05T09:15:52.000Z When Philomena Cannon-Brookes launched [Power Kids Gym](http://www.powerkidsgym.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) in Singapore in 2004, she was pioneering something entirely new in a market laser-focused on academic achievement. A born-and-bred Singaporean who had started her entrepreneurial journey in Hong Kong at just 23 with a recruitment business, Cannon-Brookes returned to Singapore with a bold vision: to create space for children to simply play, learn, and grow through non-competitive physical activity. Her motivation was deeply personal—her eldest child was struggling with gross motor skills, and she couldn't find engaging programs that worked for both her children and herself. What she discovered was a gap in the market that reflected a broader cultural challenge: children in Singapore were so focused on academic excellence that they were forgetting about having fun during their childhood. Twenty years later, Power Kids Gym has not only survived the initial skepticism—including predictions that the business wouldn't last six months—but has thrived as one of the pioneers in the non-competitive children's fitness industry. The company now operates from two locations and has expanded its impact beyond business success to meaningful community contributions, including creating playrooms for the Children's Aid Society and integrating special needs children into mainstream programs. In this candid Q&A, Philomena reflects on her journey as a female entrepreneur in Singapore's traditionally conservative business landscape, shares insights on turning personal challenges into business opportunities, and discusses how women leaders can build more inclusive businesses while balancing commercial success with social impact. Her story offers valuable lessons for aspiring entrepreneurs, particularly women, who are looking to challenge conventional thinking and create businesses that serve both profit and purpose. --- ### You brought Power Kids Gym to Singapore in 2004 after living abroad and noticing that children here were overly focused on academic excellence at the expense of play. What were the biggest challenges you faced as a woman entrepreneur introducing a completely new concept to the Singapore market, and how did you overcome the skepticism around non-competitive children's fitness? I have always worked for small companies but then had an opportunity to work in a multinational for 2 years in my younger days. I learnt a bit but realised that the big corporate world was not for me. It was an uphill battle in my journey as an entrepreneur -not only because I was female but I was also a minority. At that time, parents were driven to consider only programs that were focused on achieving academic excellence. I remember some people commenting that our business would not survive after 6 months. But here I am after 20 years. At the end of the day, it was the squeals of laughter from the children and how our trainers engaged with the children that our business grew purely through word of mouth. Our approach has always been to celebrate the diversity of each child and to engage them in a way that resonates with them. ### Your decision to start Power Kids Gym was partly inspired by your own child's struggles with gross motor skills and your inability to find engaging programs. How has your experience as a mother shaped your leadership style and business decisions over the past 20 years? What advice would you give to other women who want to turn their personal challenges into business opportunities? I think, women leaders generally work with a more nurturing style and we do tend to be more empathetic. Empathy does not necessarily equate to weak leadership. I think we generally tend to find solutions in a more collaborative way. When my kids were much younger, I had to manage both work and home. I just got on with it and I had an amazing support system considering my husband travelled extensively with work. My advice is to ensure that you surround yourself with people who will support you – entrepreneurship is a lonely journey and generally your family members who have never embarked on a challenging journey like this would have a lot of advice but they have never walked the talk. So it is so important for you to surround yourself with other entrepreneurs so you can share your experience and learn from each other. ### Power Kids Gym has contributed to the community by creating playrooms for Children's Aid Society and integrating special needs children into mainstream programs. How do you balance commercial success with social impact, and what role do you believe women leaders should play in building more inclusive businesses and communities? We were one of the first to include neuro divergent children into the mainstream programs. Most of the time, parents were looking for the social interaction for their children and there were not many places that were doing that. I have always been driven to start business that has personal connection to me and to my belief system. Power Kids Gym was born out of my belief that children need to play more and to interact with other children, develop both their interpersonal and intrapersonal skills – the ability to fall and pick themselves up, challenge themselves in a nurturing and fun environment. In my personal opinion, I think women leaders have been doing this without any prompting as I believe it is something that comes naturally to them but I wish they would trust their inner voice. There are a number of ways but I strongly believe the core tenet should be embracing diversity and creating work place policies that support work-life balance and anti-discrimination. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### From Harvard Labs to AI Doctor: How Sina Hartung is Revolutionizing Healthcare with Eureka Health URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/wellness/from-harvard-labs-to-ai-doctor-how-sina-hartung-is-revolutionizing-healthcare-with-eureka-health/ Last updated: 2025-08-05T05:01:31.000Z **When a close friend's life was saved by AI diagnosis, Harvard biomedical researcher Sina Hartung realized the transformative potential of artificial intelligence in healthcare. Now, as co-founder of Eureka Health, she's building an AI doctor platform that goes far beyond traditional telemedicine—offering personalized medical advice, prescription management, and lab orders through physician-reviewed AI recommendations.** [Eureka Health](https://www.eurekahealth.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) positions itself as an "AI doctor that lets patients become their own doctor," providing instant medical advice through intelligent follow-up questions and connecting users to real-world care including prescriptions and lab orders. Hartung brings a unique perspective to healthcare AI, combining her Harvard biomedical informatics background with expertise in proteomics, machine learning, and deep learning applications for medical workflows. In this conversation, Hartung discusses her transition from academic research to healthcare entrepreneurship, the life-saving potential of AI diagnostics, and how Eureka Health is addressing the gaps left by both traditional healthcare and existing telemedicine platforms. She shares insights on building trust between doctors and AI, the platform's approach to personalized medicine, and her vision for making advanced healthcare accessible to everyone. --- **1\. You moved from biomedical research at Harvard to building Eureka Health as an AI doctor platform. What convinced you that AI could fill gaps that traditional telemedicine wasn't addressing?** AI saved the life of a close friend of mine. He had some abdominal pain. His mom, a physician, advised him that it was most likely a pulled muscle. But when he typed his symptoms into an AI, it told him to go to the ER immediately. It turned out to be a life-threatening, nearly-burst appendix. We see stories like this every day at our clinic. AI is more powerful than most people realize, vastly outperforming physicians already. A study from Microsoft compared expert physicians to AI for diagnosing complex cases – the AI was correct at 4x the rate of the expert physicians. That is marvelous. Imagine if everyone had access to this kind of technology? We’d save a lot of lives. **2\. Eureka targets people who already research their health online but want better guidance. How do you prevent users from either over-relying on AI or completely bypassing human medical oversight?** The status quo isn’t a perfect medical system; the status quo is Googling and praying your symptoms don’t get worse before your doctor’s appointment in 3 months. Meanwhile, clinicians are burning out because they’re given 15 minutes to see each patient before moving onto the next one. AI is an obvious improvement to all this. We’re not replacing your doctor’s visit in 3 months, we’re replacing the anxiety, stress, and tension before that. We’re also there after the visit to help you understand and implement what your doctor said. My friend above had AI tell him to go to the ER to get treatment. That saved his life. Remember: we have a staff of doctors working for Eureka. It’s not about replacing doctors, it’s about letting doctors do what they do best. **3\. Your platform can actually send prescriptions and lab orders after physician review. What's been the hardest part about getting doctors to trust AI-generated recommendations?** You'd think that doctors are against AI, but I'm seeing the opposite. The doctors we hire use AI in their own medical practice. For example, one of our doctors is the ex-chief of endocrinology at Cleveland Clinic. He regularly uses AI to check his own thinking, rephrase complex medical jargon into easy-to-digest patient messages, and brainstorm treatment approaches. He has 20+ years of experience, and he uses AI to help him stay up to date and give him directions to explore. We don’t view it as a competition between AI and doctor, it’s a collaboration. We collect patients’ medical records and our AI ingests all of it. It highlights relevant patterns and insights from the medical history, helping physicians make faster, more informed decisions. AI is already positively transforming healthcare and it will only get better from here. We're hoping to make [Eureka](https://www.eurekahealth.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) accessible to everyone and help millions live healthier lives. Sina’s Twitter: [https://x.com/SinaHartung](https://x.com/SinaHartung?ref=foundedbywomen.org) Eureka’s website: [https://www.eurekahealth.com/](https://www.eurekahealth.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### AI-Powered Marketing from First Principles: Scale to $10M revenue or 100K users without burning cash URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/webinars/ai-powered-marketing-from-first-principles-scale-to-10m-revenue-or-100k-users-without-burning-cash/ Last updated: 2025-08-01T15:06:06.000Z Hey Founders, let’s be real — AI isn’t the future of marketing. It’s already here, rewriting the playbook. From writing copy in seconds to generating launch videos, from campaign planning to pricing strategy — AI is no longer a sidekick. It’s in the trenches with us. And if you're building a SaaS business aiming for $10M in revenue or 100K users, it’s time to ask: Is your marketing wired for this new era? In this webinar, we’ll cover: \- How to build an AI+ Human marketing engine that actually scales \- What pitfalls to avoid — ethics, regulation, and governance included \- How startups like yours are already winning with AI-powered marketing Speed to market isn’t a nice-to-have anymore — it’s survival. Let’s help you move faster, smarter, and with a hell of a lot more confidence. [Register](https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN%5Fi2KWEiSxQ1mlMqIYILrVNA?ref=foundedbywomen.org#/registration) ### SPEAKER ## Padmini Murthy Founder · [Content Sense](https://contentsense.ai/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) Padmini Murthy is the founder of Content Sense, where she helps startups and scale-ups find their marketing fit through her Marketing as a Service (MaaS) model. With over a decade of experience guiding 20+ companies through product pivots and growth journeys, Padmini blends strategic rigor with a deep love for messy, meaningful work. When not untangling marketing challenges, she’s reflecting on life’s inflection points — and brewing a really good cup of coffee or serving a fine glass of wine to her fam and friends! [Register](https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN%5Fi2KWEiSxQ1mlMqIYILrVNA?ref=foundedbywomen.org#/registration) ### Breaking Barriers with Joy: How Polina Changuleva is Revolutionizing Corporate Inclusion URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/workplace-culture/breaking-barriers-with-joy-how-polina-changuleva-is-revolutionizing-corporate-inclusion/ Last updated: 2025-08-01T15:27:45.000Z **An entrepreneur's journey from corporate DEI roles to founding the world's first joyful inclusion consultancy** In a landscape where diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives often feel performative or checkbox-driven, [Polina Changuleva](https://www.linkedin.com/in/polinachanguleva/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) is charting a different course. The founder and CEO of [Same But Different Consultancy](https://www.sbd-consultancy.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org)—which boldly bills itself as "the world's first joyful inclusion consultancy"—brings a refreshing perspective to corporate transformation work. Drawing from her multifaceted identity as a Bulgarian immigrant, neurodivergent professional, and former insider at tech giants like Yahoo and Xbox, Polina understands that meaningful inclusion requires more than policies and percentages. Her approach centers on the radical idea that creating belonging in the workplace should be both rigorous and joyful, challenging the notion that important social change must be heavy or somber. With an ambitious goal to impact one million lives globally, Polina's work represents a new generation of inclusion practitioners who are moving beyond traditional DEI frameworks. Her consultancy focuses on building what she calls "brave spaces"—environments where difficult conversations can happen alongside celebration, where discomfort and joy coexist in the learning process. In this conversation, Polina shares why she left her corporate roles to work from the outside, how her intersectional identity shapes her methodology, and what sustainable progress actually looks like in the inclusion space. --- ### You left corporate roles at DEI-forward companies like Yahoo to start Same But Different. What convinced you that working from the outside would be more effective than changing systems from within I’ve always believed that meaningful change requires both insiders and outsiders - but over time, I realised that my impact was being limited by the very systems I was trying to change. I led inclusion networks and advised global brands like Xbox and Yahoo from within, and while there were moments of progress, I kept bumping up against the same barriers in the industry: risk-aversion, slow decision-making, and performative commitments that rarely translated into long-term transformation. I created Same But Different because I wanted to work at the root, not just at the surface. As an independent partner, I now have the freedom to ask the uncomfortable questions, to hold organisations accountable, and to build brave spaces that don’t rely on hierarchy to function. That distance gives me perspective - but the relationships I build ensure the work stays close, relevant, and deeply human. ### Your experience as a Bulgarian immigrant in UK tech has clearly informed your approach to intersectionality. How do you help leaders understand that DEI isn't just about checking boxes for different identity groups? I often remind leaders: people don’t live in silos, so inclusion work can’t either. As a white, cisgender, heterosexual woman who is also neurodivergent and a first-gen immigrant, I’ve navigated privilege and marginalisation at the same time. That lived experience taught me that real inclusion starts with understanding complexity - the layers of identity that influence how someone moves through the world, and how the world responds. To move leaders away from box-ticking, I use storytelling, data, and design-thinking to help them connect emotionally and intellectually with their teams’ lived realities. We explore not just who is in the room, but how they experience it. I believe inclusion is culture work. It’s about relationships, power dynamics, and trust - not just policies or percentages. ### Same But Different aims to impact one million lives globally. How do you measure meaningful change in this space, and what does sustainable progress actually look like? Our ambition is bold - because the problem is, too. But we know that impact isn’t just about numbers; it’s about depth, ripple effects, and staying power. We measure meaningful change through a mix of qualitative and quantitative tools: pre/post programme diagnostics, lived experience surveys, storytelling outcomes, and longitudinal feedback. But beyond metrics, I always ask: Are people more connected, confident, and courageous after working with us? Are they starting new conversations with people they wouldn't usually interact with, influencing policy, or shifting culture in their teams? That’s where the magic happens. Sustainable progress looks like organisations taking ownership, not outsourcing inclusion to a single group of people - DEI or diversity champions. It looks like joy and discomfort coexisting in the learning process. It looks like a workplace where difference isn’t just tolerated - it’s celebrated. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### Castles, Debt, and Global Expansion: Simone Milasas on Building Business Through Intuition URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/women-who-lead/castles-debt-and-global-expansion-simone-milasas-on-building-business-through-intuition/ Last updated: 2025-07-31T05:05:03.000Z Most business success stories follow a familiar arc: education, planning, execution, growth. [Simone Milasas](https://www.foundedbywomen.org/wellness/enhancing-human-connection-through-ai-a-conversation-with-augusta-klingsten-peytz/) threw that script out the window—and built something extraordinary in the process. The entrepreneur and best-selling author didn't climb out of $187,000 in debt by getting an MBA or hiring consultants. Instead, she asked a radically different question: "What if I'm actually brilliant with money and just haven't acknowledged it yet?" That shift in perspective became the foundation for everything that followed. As Business Development Manager of Access Consciousness, Simone has overseen the organization's expansion from 6 countries to over 176—a 1,700% growth that happened not through traditional market research, but by following what felt "light and expansive." Her hiring philosophy rejects résumés in favor of "energy and awareness match." Her investment decisions prioritize joy over projected returns. The approach sounds impractical until you see the results: multiple revenue streams spanning continents, from Italian castles to fitness franchises, all built on the principle that "money follows joy, not the other way around." --- ### **1\.** You've shared that you were $187,000 in debt before becoming a multi-millionaire businesswoman. Can you walk us through that pivotal moment when you realized you needed to make a big change, and what were the first three concrete steps you took that shifted everything? What would you tell someone who's in a similar financial position today? When I was $187,000 in debt, the hardest part wasn’t the debt—it was the judgment. I kept telling myself I was terrible with money, which only made it worse. The moment I realized that *I* was the one creating my financial reality, I saw that I also had the power to change it. It wasn’t about fixing myself; it was about asking different questions. **The first three steps I took were:** 1. **Stopped judging the debt.** Your point of view creates your reality. If you think you’re terrible with money, you’ll prove yourself right. What if you’re brilliant with money, and you just haven’t acknowledged it yet? 2. **Looked at the numbers honestly.** I wrote down every single dollar I owed and every dollar I had. Awareness creates choice; hiding from your money creates limitation. 3. **Asked, “What revenue streams can I create today?”** Instead of shrinking, I expanded. I chose businesses that felt fun and joyful—because money follows joy, not the other way around. I embraced the adventure of living and business. Took more risks. You have to have an experience of living, not define it or limit it. **To anyone in debt now:** Stop making yourself wrong. Ask, *“What can I choose and create today that would out-create this?”* and *“What else is possible with money that I’ve never considered?”* Your willingness to choose beyond fear changes everything. ### Access Consciousness has expanded from 6 to 176 countries under your leadership as Business Development Manager. You mentioned that your approach 'cannot be found inside a textbook' and that you hire based on 'awareness and energy match' rather than education. Can you share a specific example of how this unconventional approach led to a breakthrough in entering a new market or overcoming a major business challenge?" Access Consciousness grew from 6 countries to over 176 countries, Not because we followed a formula, but because we never tried to get it ‘right.’ I don’t hire people because of their degrees or their résumés; I look for their energy and their willingness to create beyond what’s predictable. A great example of this was with one of my company’s *Good Vibes for You*. I didn’t start it with a business plan; I started with a question: *“What can I create that would make people happier?”* The business grew because I followed the energy of what felt light. When I hired people, I looked for those who could contribute their unique brilliance, not just fill a role. When it’s time to hire someone for your business, don’t just ask for an employee to show up. Ask for someone who is going to contribute beyond your wildest dreams to expand your business. ### You've built multiple revenue streams across diverse industries - from co-owning a castle in Italy to fitness franchises and antique stores. How do you practically use intuition to evaluate these vastly different business opportunities? Can you describe your decision-making process when something feels right energetically but might not make sense on paper to traditional business advisors? For me, business isn’t about getting it ‘right.’ It’s about following the energy. I’ll ask, *‘Does this choice expand my life and the world, or does it contract it?’* If it expands, I go for it—whether it makes sense on paper or not. When I invested in the castle in Italy, everyone said, “Don’t do it!” On paper, it was ridiculous. But the energy of the place was magical. I knew it would create more—not just for me, but for everyone who walked through those doors. And I was right. That choice has opened up opportunities I could never have planned or predicted. **My process is simple:** 1. **Ask questions** like, *“What will this choice create in 5, 10, or 20 years?” or “What’s possible here that I haven’t considered?”* 2. **Follow what feels light.** Relax and ask questions that allow the information to show up. Stop trying to control what shows up. Choose and BE. 3. **Be willing to choose and adjust.** Business isn’t about perfection. It’s about choice creating awareness. It’s not about being right. It’s about creating possibilities. Also, a big aspect from my book, *Joy of Business,* that I share is: *If it’s not joyful, why would you do it? Money follows joy. Joy doesn’t follow money.* **About Simone Milasas:** Simone Milasas is a global entrepreneur, international speaker, and best-selling author of *Joy of Business* and *Getting Out of Debt Joyfully*. As the Business Development Manager of Access Consciousness, she has played a key role in its expansion to over 176 countries, driving extraordinary growth through intuitive, unconventional strategies. Simone is also the host of the *Choice, Change & Action* podcast, where she shares empowering tools and conversations that inspire listeners to create business and life on their terms. Known for her dynamic approach and infectious energy, Simone empowers people to move beyond judgment, trust their awareness, and create from possibility. [www.simonemilasas.com](http://www.simonemilasas.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### Enhancing Human Connection Through AI: A Conversation with Augusta Klingsten Peytz URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/wellness/enhancing-human-connection-through-ai-a-conversation-with-augusta-klingsten-peytz/ Last updated: 2025-07-30T15:56:31.000Z In an era where mental healthcare faces unprecedented demand and chronic capacity constraints, the integration of artificial intelligence into psychiatric practice remains a topic of both promise and concern. Augusta Klingsten Peytz, Co-Founder and CEO of [Aisel Health](https://www.aisel.co/?ref=foundedbywomen.org), represents a unique perspective in this evolving landscape—a former mental health impact investor who transitioned from funding solutions to building them. Founded in 2024 in Copenhagen, Aisel Health has developed an AI-powered clinical documentation suite specifically designed for psychiatric workflows. Unlike the proliferation of AI chatbots offering direct mental health support, Aisel's approach focuses on enhancing the clinical relationship by automating administrative tasks, allowing psychiatrists to spend more meaningful time with patients. The results speak for themselves: clinics using Aisel have seen up to a 36% increase in capacity and over €100,000 in added revenue per psychiatrist annually, while saving 20-35 minutes per patient consultation. As the company prepares for its Platform 2.0 launch in July 2025, Augusta shares insights on balancing human connection with technological efficiency, the challenges of scaling AI solutions across diverse healthcare systems, and what it means to build responsibly in one of healthcare's most sensitive domains. --- ### Many people worry that AI in mental healthcare will strip away the essential human connection that makes therapy effective. Yet Aisel's approach seems to do the opposite—your data shows clinicians actually get **more** time with patients, not less. Can you walk us through how this counterintuitive outcome works in practice? What does a typical patient journey look like when they first encounter Alicia, your AI anamnesis tool, and how does that set up their psychiatrist for a deeper, more meaningful consultation? Absolutely. First, it's important to distinguish between the different business models in mental health. On one end, we see a wave of AI chatbots offering mental health support as standalone tools—without any involvement from licensed practitioners or human connection. Then there are companies like Aisel Health, which work alongside clinicians to increase patient time by automating repetitive, standardized tasks. Both models are very valid, but the discussion on whether the human connection will be stripped away is very different based on the business. At Aisel—and in particular with our tool Alicia, our AI anamnesis tool, as an example—we seek to enhance the quality of time between patient and practitioner. When a new patient first interacts with Alicia, they complete a structured digital pre-assessment covering symptoms, medical history, and relevant context. This data is synthesized into a report that the psychiatrist receives before the first session. Rather than spending the first 45–60 minutes collecting background, the clinician starts with a clear overview and can go deeper from the start. When AI handles the admin, it frees up space for a more meaningful, human conversation. ### You made a fascinating transition from being a mental health impact investor to actually founding a company in the space you were investing in. What was the "lightbulb moment" that made you realize you needed to build Aisel rather than just fund existing solutions? And now that you're on the other side of the table, how has your investor background influenced the way you're building and scaling the company—particularly when it comes to demonstrating ROI to psychiatric clinics? I wouldn't say there was a single lightbulb moment—it was rather good timing and a kind of racehorse energy. The best analogy I can give is that feeling of being in the starting box, itching to run. I loved my time in VC, met incredible founders, and worked with a fantastic team. But I also had a strong urge to build something myself and truly understand what that entails. That experience has definitely made me a better investor, too. Coming from a business and finance background—rather than healthcare—has both advantages and drawbacks. My co-founder comes from a product background, and together we lean on our analytical and commercial strengths. We focus on process, metrics, and clinic ROI before jumping into product design, because no one needs a tool that doesn't deliver value. We've also chosen the VC-backed route, and having sat on the investor side has helped us navigate that process more effectively. That said, we're acutely aware of not having the practical experience in clinical day-to-day. That's why we obsess over working closely with practitioners—both with our clinical team, users and external experts to make sure what we're building is clinically sound and genuinely helpful. ### Aisel is already being used in hundreds of psychiatric consultations across Denmark and the UK, with impressive results—36% increase in clinic capacity and over €100,000 in added revenue per psychiatrist annually. As you prepare for your Platform 2.0 launch in July 2025, what are the biggest challenges you're anticipating as you scale to new markets? How do you maintain clinical accuracy and cultural sensitivity when psychiatric practices and patient communication styles vary so significantly across different healthcare systems and cultures? Our first priority is getting the product right in our initial markets before scaling internationally. We have an ambitious roadmap to make Aisel a true AI co-pilot for psychiatrists—supporting them throughout the entire patient journey. Our clear focus is on bringing that vision to life before expanding across cultures. That said, we already work with clinics across Northern Europe and have seen clear cultural differences in how care is delivered. With Platform 2.0, we're introducing more modularity so individual users can tailor Aisel to their preferences, meaning we can adjust symptom phrasing, intake logic, and report formatting based on local norms—not just based on geography, but also on clinical expertise and personal work habits. From a regulatory standpoint, treatment guidelines are fairly aligned across Europe, and within the EU, we all follow the same overarching regulations, which we fully adhere to. The UK, although outside the EU, has recently tightened its regulatory framework through the NHS. As we prepare for Class I certification in both the UK and EU, we're experiencing those differences firsthand. Still, we welcome this clarity—it builds trust and credibility in the growing field of digital health. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### Grief as Love Transformed URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/wellness/grief-as-love-transformed/ Last updated: 2025-07-30T13:56:48.000Z In a world that often rushes to heal, fix, and move forward, Angela Grant stands as a beacon for those who need permission to pause, feel, and honor their deepest losses. As the founder of Angela's Anchor, she has created something revolutionary in the wellness space: a sanctuary where grief isn't treated as a problem to solve, but as sacred medicine that transforms us from the inside out. Angela's journey into grief work wasn't born from academic study alone—though her Master's in Applied Psychology and years as a school counselor provided essential foundations. It was forged in the crucible of profound personal loss when she lost her fiancé, shattering not just her heart but the entire future she had envisioned. From those ashes rose a calling that would touch countless lives: to help others navigate their losses with grace, gentleness, and the radical belief that grief and love can be held simultaneously. "Grief isn't linear, and it doesn't follow deadlines," Angela explains, challenging our culture's tendency to treat grief like a checkbox on a healing to-do list. "I don't believe in fixing grief because grief isn't broken—it's sacred. It's evidence that we loved deeply. Grief is simply love transformed." Through Angela's Anchor, she has pioneered an approach that honors the full spectrum of human emotion—creating space not just for tears and sorrow, but for joy, laughter, and hope to coexist with loss. Her retreats, coaching, and community events use storytelling, embodiment practices, and the power of shared experience to help people stop fighting their grief and start learning from it. What sets Angela apart in the wellness landscape is her understanding that grief extends far beyond death. Her work encompasses all forms of loss—relationships, dreams, health, identity—recognizing that life's transitions often require us to grieve what was before we can embrace what's becoming. With her signature framework L.I.F.T. (Life Is Full of Transitions), she guides people in knowing when it's time to lift their anchor and trust the next chapter of their story. In our conversation, Angela reveals how her deepest wound became her greatest gift, why she believes grief is actually a companion to joy, and how she's redefining what it means to heal in a culture obsessed with moving on. --- ### You've transformed one of life's most devastating experiences - losing your fiancé - into a mission of healing and hope through Angela's Anchor. Can you walk us through that journey of turning personal grief into a calling to serve others? What was the pivotal moment when you realized your pain could become a source of healing for others? Losing my fiancé shattered my world. I didn’t just lose him — I lost the life we planned and dreamed of. I had to learn what it meant to love, dream, and desire again. The shift came over time; I can’t say that there was a pivotal moment. There were multiple moments of confirmation that my work and lived experience were calling me forth. Such as the feedback and reviews from people who either heard or read my story. There was also the time I was helping a student, and they said to me, “Ms. Grant, it’s like you pulled back the curtain and allowed the light to come in.” That moment has stayed with me, reminding me that healing doesn’t mean erasing the pain — it means honoring it, leaning into it to let it teach us, and allowing it to make us wiser and more compassionate. Angela’s Anchor was born out of that space — a place where pain wasn’t hidden or rushed through, but held. My grief became the foundation for my calling: to help others navigate their losses with grace, gentleness, hope, and a belief that even in grief love can be held simultaneously. ### You mention that your approach is "not to fix grief, but to honor it and hold space for it." This perspective challenges how our society typically views grief. How do you help people shift from trying to "get over" their loss to moving through it with grace and finding joy again? What does this process look like in your retreats and coaching work? Our culture tends to treat grief like a problem to solve — something to “get over” or “move on from.” But grief isn’t linear, and it doesn’t follow deadlines. I don’t believe in fixing grief because grief isn’t broken — it’s sacred. It’s evidence that we loved deeply. Grief is simply love transformed. At Angela’s Anchor, we help people stop fighting their grief and start honoring it. In our retreats, events, and through coaching, we create a safe and sacred space where people can be fully themselves — messy, hopeful, angry, quiet, broken open — however they show up. We use storytelling, embodiment practices, journaling, and the appreciation of community to navigate through emotions, rather than bypassing them. Joy is a companion to grief. Some of the most powerful moments occur when someone who hasn’t laughed in a while hears themselves laugh again and feel the joy it brings — not because the grief is gone, but because they've given themselves permission to feel all the emotions unapologetically. ### With your Master's in Applied Psychology and 20+ years in education and counseling, you bring both professional expertise and lived experience to your wellness work. How do these different aspects of your background - the academic training, the counseling experience, and your personal journey through loss - come together to inform your unique approach to grief and wellness coaching? My career in education and counseling laid a strong foundation for what I do now. With a Master’s in Applied Psychology, I understand the cognitive, emotional, and physiological layers of grief. As a school counselor, I had the responsibility to help students, teachers, administration, as well as parents deal with some difficult issues. This taught me how to hold space for people of all ages — to see not just their pain, but their potential. It also helped me to recognize that grief is not simply a response to losing someone to death, but grief can find you after various losses in life. My journey through loss gave me what no classroom ever could: the lived experience of grief and what it takes to love, trust, and hope again. I blend science, soul, and story to not only honor the evidence-based tools that support healing, but to intentionally lean into the sacred, the intuitive, and the creative. I know what it’s like to feel lost — and to find beauty in the ashes. At Angela’s Anchor, this may sound contradictory to what most would consider grief to be, but we believe grief is a gift — staying present to what matters and what mattered, and teaching us how to live and love more fully. And when Life Is Full of Transitions, we help you know when it’s time to L.I.F.T. your anchor and trust the next chapter. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### From Clarity to Courage: Carma Spence on Women's Leadership and the Power of Sharing Your Voice URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/women-who-lead/from-clarity-to-courage-carma-spence-on-womens-leadership-and-the-power-of-sharing-your-voice/ Last updated: 2025-07-26T07:30:26.000Z **Strategic guide, creative catalyst, and bestselling author Carma Spence has spent her career helping visionary leaders transform their expertise into powerful, client-attracting books. But her wisdom extends far beyond the written word.** As someone who has worked with organizations ranging from the National Human Genome Research Institute to BlueShield of California, and who guides executive coaches, business leaders, and consultants in crafting books that spark change, Carma understands the unique challenges women face in stepping into thought leadership roles. Her journey began with a profound moment on Mombasa beach, where her father carved her name in the sand and ignited her understanding that "words can hold magic." Years later, after publishing multiple bestsellers and winning an award for one of her books, Carma created what she couldn't find: "A way forward that honors both message and momentum. A process that blends structure with soul. Her philosophy is rooted in the belief that "we are all born heroes. But we're not always born with the self-recognition of that hero within us." In this candid conversation, Carma shares her insights on building authentic thought leadership, conquering the "mind goblins" of self-doubt, and her commitment to lifting other women as she climbs. Whether you're hesitating to share your expertise or looking to amplify your leadership voice, Carma's wisdom offers a roadmap from uncertainty to influence—one that prioritizes clarity over credentials and courage over comfort. --- ### Q1: Many women struggle with positioning themselves as thought leaders in their industry. Can you share how you built your authority and credibility as a leader? What advice would you give to women who feel they need more credentials or experience before they can step into thought leadership roles? For me, thought leadership starts with clarity, not confidence. Clarity about who I serve, what they struggle with, and how I can help. That clarity didn’t come from stacking up credentials. It came from showing up consistently and writing things down.Writing is how I hone my ideas. Every blog, every social post, every outline, every messy draft helps me sharpen my thinking. I don't wait to be seen as a thought leader. I become one by doing the work of thinking, and then sharing those thoughts publicly.If you’re waiting until you feel like you’ve earned the right to speak, you’ll be waiting forever. The truth is, thought leadership grows out of the process of expressing and refining your ideas, not the other way around.My advice? Start writing. Start talking. Start sharing what you know. You don’t need more credentials. You need more moments of clarity shared with the people who need them. ### Q2: In your experience leading and working with other women entrepreneurs, what are the most common 'mind goblins' of self-doubt that hold women back from fully stepping into their leadership potential? How do you help yourself and others push through those limiting beliefs? The loudest goblins usually whisper things like, “You’re not ready,” “You’re not good enough,” or “What if you mess this up in front of everyone?” They disguise themselves as logic, when really they’re just fear wrapped in perfectionism.When I see this in myself or others, I come back to two things: self-forgiveness and courage. Self-forgiveness for not being perfect. For being human. For not knowing everything. And courage: not the absence of fear, but the willingness to feel it and move anyway.The truth is, fear doesn’t go away just because you’re smart, experienced, or successful. It gets quieter the more you practice not giving it the final vote. Leadership means choosing your mission over your comfort. Every time you do that, the fear gets a little less convincing. ### Q3: As someone who helps others succeed, what's your philosophy on lifting other women as you climb? Can you share a specific example of how mentoring or supporting another woman leader has also enriched your own leadership journey? It’s hard to pick one moment. There have been so many. Moments where an insight I offered helped someone shift from stuck to sparked. Where they saw not just the problem, but the possibility.That’s what lights me up. I love being the wind beneath someone’s wings. Not because I want credit, but because I believe the more people who fly, the better off we all are.My philosophy is simple: share what you know, lift as you go, and celebrate every lightbulb moment like it’s your own. When we do that for each other, we don’t just build businesses, we build a better future. *Resources*: Website: [https://carmaspence.com/](https://carmaspence.com/press-room/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### Beyond the Office: How Nature-Based Therapy is Reshaping Leadership and Wellbeing URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/wellness/beyond-the-office-how-nature-based-therapy-is-reshaping-leadership-and-wellbeing/ Last updated: 2025-07-25T12:36:42.000Z In boardrooms and corner offices across the corporate landscape, female leaders are grappling with an unprecedented convergence of complexity, pressure, and burnout. Traditional approaches to professional development and mental health support—confined to sterile meeting rooms and clinical settings—are proving inadequate for the nuanced challenges of modern leadership. Enter a radically different paradigm: one that trades the therapist's couch for coastal boardwalks, swaps corporate retreats for creative expression in nature, and replaces quick-fix wellness initiatives with deeply integrated, sustainable practices. For female leaders navigating complexity, clarity and energy are non-negotiable. Psychologist and nature-based therapist Michelle Saleeba's work at the intersection of psychology, creativity, and nature offers a grounded approach to sustaining both. Her practice challenges the conventional boundaries between therapy, coaching, and organizational development, proposing instead that our most profound insights emerge not from strategic planning sessions, but from the simple act of walking through nature while thinking aloud. This isn't wellness theater or another trendy corporate perk destined for the graveyard of abandoned initiatives. It's an evidence-informed approach that recognizes what indigenous cultures have long understood: that healing, creativity, and clear thinking flourish when we reconnect with the natural world and engage our whole selves—body, mind, and spirit—in the process of growth. This long-form Q&A goes beyond surface-level tips, offering a deeper look at the principles behind her practice and the practical ways they can be applied to work, wellbeing, and leadership. From the mechanics of walk-and-talk therapy to the organizational transformation possible when nature-based practices become embedded in company culture, Saleeba reveals how stepping outside traditional frameworks can unlock the clarity and energy that today's leaders desperately need. --- ### 1\. You mention that "deep healing often begins with a single step." For readers who might be skeptical about therapy outside traditional office settings, can you walk us through what actually happens during a walk-and-talk session? What shifts do you notice in clients when they're moving through nature versus sitting in a chair? A session might begin on a coastal boardwalk, a quiet riverside path, or a bushland trail. These are spaces I know well - consistent and chosen with care. There’s no couch, no whiteboard, no handouts. And in an age of tech-everything, there’s no recording device, no AI-generated scribe. That absence is intentional and for many people, surprisingly important. We walk, we talk, thinking aloud in real time. That shift in setting and tone changes everything. Walking side by side, people tend to drop their guard. There’s less need to manage impressions, less pressure to perform. Conversation flows more naturally, and often more reflectively, than it might in a formal office. Movement brings a different quality to the work. It helps settle the nervous system and creates space for thoughts and emotions to surface in a more fluid way. Clients might arrive feeling tense or disconnected and leave with a sense of calm or clarity. That shift doesn’t need to be dramatic. It builds quietly through rhythm, sensory grounding, and the natural containment of being outdoors. Naturally, some people have questions about privacy or safety. Walk-and-talk isn’t about heading deep into the bush or disappearing off-grid. There are usually people around, but we decide together what feels right. Some clients prefer quieter paths; others don’t mind a bit of movement and energy around them. That choice is part of the process. And for women who are used to shrinking themselves to feel safe, polished or accepted, it can be quietly powerful to take up space outdoors, to be visible and still feel secure. Over time, that starts to build a kind of embodied confidence that carries back into daily life and other roles. It’s not a one-size-fits-all model though and some presentations call for the structure of a room. But for many people, especially those feeling like it’s ground hog day in traditional therapy or coaching settings, nature offers something different, a way to move forward, literally and psychologically. And this isn’t limited to therapy. Walk-and-talk works incredibly well in coaching and mentoring contexts too. For leaders or creatives who feel overloaded or blocked, the combination of movement and open air can unlock insight quickly. It’s less formal, but no less effective and often far more energising. ### 2\. Your workshops pair guided walks with creative expression - crafting, journaling, reflection. For busy women who might feel they don't have time for "another wellness thing," how would you describe the practical benefits they might experience? What does nervous system regulation actually look and feel like in these settings? It’s a fair concern, there’s no shortage of wellness offerings out there. The women I work with aren’t lacking insight or strategy; they’re often stretched thin, with limited space to integrate what they already know. So no, this isn’t about adding something extra to an already full plate! It’s about combining what’s most supportive: movement, reflection, creativity, nervous system regulation, and connection into one intentional experience. These sessions are deliberately simple. We walk, we pause, we create. That might involve mark-making, collage, journaling, or quiet observation. There’s no pressure to produce anything polished this is about process, not product. For people used to operating in high stakes, outcome-driven environments, that shift can be unexpectedly liberating. It becomes a space where exploration matters more than achievement. Where you can follow a texture, a thought, a feeling, without having to explain or analyse it. That return to intuitive decision-making and creative play often unlocks perspectives that structured problem-solving can’t. What makes this approach effective is the way it meets people at the intersection of practices we usually try to compartmentalise. In ecological terms, the *edge*, where different environments meet, is often the most generative. That’s where diversity thrives, where growth tends to be richest. These sessions live in that space. The idea isn’t incidental. It draws on research I first explored in my psychology thesis, which looked at biophilic connection1 and our emotional responses to environmental uncertainty. That early work continues to shape how I understand the role of place, movement, and environment in mental wellbeing. This work is about creating the conditions for change, the kind that emerges naturally when the environment allows. Regulation in this setting is subtle and the impact lingers because it's not forced. I’ve had clients tell me they sleep better that night, make clearer decisions the next day, or notice they’re more present with their families. Over time, these small adjustments compound. That’s where change becomes sustainable. 1 **Biophilia**: A term popularised by biologist Edward O. Wilson, describing the innate human tendency to seek connection with nature and other forms of life. ### 3\. You've mentioned wanting this work to become embedded in how organizations care for their people, not just as a "one-off wellbeing tick-box." What would that actually look like in practice? How do you envision nature-based, creative approaches becoming part of how we work and live? This is where many workplace wellbeing initiatives miss the mark. They might sound good on paper, but without consistency or integration, they don’t make a lasting impact. To be effective, care needs to be part of the fabric of the organisation not an afterthought. Embedding this work means moving from reactive responses to a culture of proactive, ongoing support. That might include quarterly creative reflection days outdoors, regular access to walk-and-create sessions, or arts- and nature-based practices integrated into team development, project transitions, or leadership strategy. These approaches aren’t fluffy extras, they’re evidence-informed tools that support emotional regulation, perspective-taking, relational trust, and adaptability. They improve individual and team dynamics and performance, making them not only good for people, but good for business. They’re also particularly well suited to supporting neurodivergent team members. Nature based and creative practices offer a sensory-friendly, non-linear way to engage, reset, and express. For many people, especially those who don’t thrive in fluorescent-lit meeting rooms or text-heavy training modules, this kind of approach can feel more inclusive, less taxing, and genuinely bonding and restorative. What I’d love to see is a move away from quick fixes, surface-level gestures, or poorly designed programs that may look good in theory but fail to meet real needs. Instead, we need deeper, well-considered strategies that help people stay resourced over time. When these practices are embedded into the rhythm of a workplace, they’re more likely to stick and the benefits become self-sustaining. For leaders who want to foster clarity, energy, and connection in a meaningful way, the real question is: *What kind of wellbeing approach will hold up under pressure, adapt to complexity, and genuinely meet people where they are?* *Resources:* [michellesaleeba.com](https://michellesaleeba.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) [michellesaleeba.art](https://michellesaleeba.art/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### Where Music Meets Memory: A Conversation with Shaparak Malek-Morvai on Building Authentic Connections Through Lhyme URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/women-who-lead/where-music-meets-memory-a-conversation-with-shaparak-malek-morvai-on-building-authentic-connections-through-lhyme/ Last updated: 2025-07-23T15:57:26.000Z **How do you create genuine intimacy between artists and fans in an age of digital overwhelm? For Dr. Malek-Morvai, the answer lies in the universal languages of music and food.** In the bustling landscape of modern music journalism, where content often feels transactional and surface-level, Dr. Malek-Morvai has carved out something refreshingly different with [Lhyme](https://lhyme.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org), a music and food fusion platform that highlights recipes from featured artists' lives—whether they're on the road, in the studio, or navigating late-night writing sessions. Having recently graduated with her Doctorate of Education from Western Kentucky University in May 2025—with research focused on the Advancement of Women in the Workplace through sponsorship and mentorship—Dr. Malek-Morvai now operates from the scenic Tennessee countryside near the Harpeth River, where she has built a storytelling platform that transcends traditional artist profiles. Instead, Lhyme explores the deeper connections between creativity, culture, and the meals that shape our most intimate memories. The platform's mission is simple yet profound: to forge authentic connections between fans and artists through something tangible they can share beyond just the music. What distinguishes Lhyme isn't merely its innovative concept—it's Dr. Malek-Morvai's unwavering commitment to authenticity and collaborative integrity. Every feature requires artist approval before publication, ensuring that both the stories and recipes shared remain as genuine as the relationships they represent. In our conversation, Dr. Malek-Morvai reveals her approach to navigating the constant tension between artistic vision and commercial pressures, the intentional methods she employs to build community through shared culinary experiences, and how her daily walks through Tennessee's natural landscape keep her both grounded and creatively inspired. Her storytelling philosophy—one that honors both the vulnerable humanity of artistry and the profound cultural significance of food—offers a masterclass in creating meaningful content that transcends the typical boundaries of music journalism. --- ### The music and food industries are both deeply creative yet highly business-driven. How do you maintain your artistic vision while navigating the commercial pressures of your industry? Can you share a specific moment when you had to choose between creative integrity and commercial success? The music and food industries are both highly creative and deeply commercial spaces, often requiring a careful balance between artistic integrity and external pressures. I stay true to my creative vision by focusing on Lhyme's mission: to connect food and music through nostalgia. At its heart, Lhyme is a storytelling platform that provides artists with a tangible, multisensory way to reflect on their journeys through the foods and songs that have shaped them. I emphasize authenticity by making sure every feature is approved by the artist before it goes live. This process helps build trust and maintains collaborative integrity. Despite constant industry pressures—whether it's to follow trends, chase algorithms, or shift toward more commercially driven content—I intentionally stay true to my brand, my medium, and the independent artists I collaborate with. I'm not interested in chasing followers or industry fame. My goal is to preserve the platform's integrity and deliver a meaningful, immersive experience that celebrates both creative expression and personal storytelling. ### Both music and food have this incredible power to bring people together and create shared experiences. How do you intentionally use your platform to build community, whether that's connecting with fans, supporting other artists/chefs, or creating spaces where people feel they belong? I use my platform, Lhyme, to share creative experiences in a way that goes beyond the surface. In an era when music is more accessible than ever, the connection between artists and fans can often feel more distant. Fans are craving something deeper—something more personal. Traditional music journalism often feels transactional, but Lhyme is about creating a space where food and music come together to tell the untold stories—the ones that show the human side of the artist. Through each feature, we explore the artist's memories tied to food, their cultural influences, and the moments that shaped them. It's an experience rooted in collaboration and mutual respect. I'm intentional about ensuring the artist feels fully seen, and in doing so, we invite readers into a more intimate and immersive journey. Our readers don't just read about an artist—they listen to their music through embedded links, and they cook a recipe inspired by that artist's favorite meal or a dish tied to their story. That multi-sensory experience is where Lhyme thrives—building community, honoring creativity, and maintaining the integrity of what we do. ### Whether you're touring, working late studio sessions, or running a restaurant kitchen, the music and food worlds can be demanding and unpredictable. What are your go-to strategies for maintaining your well-being and staying grounded when your schedule is chaotic? Do you have any rituals—maybe a comfort food or song—that keep you centered? I live in the beautiful countryside of Tennessee, near the Harpeth River—some of the most stunning nature and views you'll find in Middle Tennessee. And while my schedule can definitely get chaotic, one daily ritual keeps me grounded: I make it a point to get outside and walk every single day, no matter what. I usually aim for two to three miles in our local park. It's my reset button—it clears my head, helps me think through ideas for upcoming features, and sparks inspiration. Even on the busiest days, that walk is non-negotiable. I'm almost always listening to music—either artists I'm about to feature or my personal favorites. It's become a core part of my creative process. Outside of that, I try to maintain a fairly consistent routine—something like 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Central, depending on meetings and deadlines. Having structure in my personal life really helps balance the unpredictability of creative work. But that daily walk? That's the anchor. It keeps me grounded, inspired, and ready to keep creating. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### From Parking Lot Panic to $10M Platform: How Joan Nguyen is Rewriting the Rules of Childcare URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/women-who-lead/from-parking-lot-panic-to-10m-platform-how-joan-nguyen-is-rewriting-the-rules-of-childcare/ Last updated: 2025-07-23T15:13:45.000Z **How Bumo's Co-Founder and CEO is Revolutionizing Childcare with a $10M Vision** Joan Nguyen knows the parking lot scramble all too well. As co-founder and CEO of [Bumo](https://book.bumo.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org), she's transforming that familiar scene of frantic phone calls between meetings—desperately trying to secure last-minute childcare—into a relic of the past. With a fresh $10M seed round and a mission to make childcare as accessible as ordering groceries, Nguyen is tackling one of working families' most persistent challenges: reliable, flexible childcare that fits modern life. But building an on-demand marketplace for something as precious as childcare isn't just about convenience—it's about earning trust at scale. In our conversation, Nguyen opens up about the pivotal moment that sparked Bumo's creation, how the company approaches the delicate balance between accessibility and safety, and what it means to scale a mission-driven business while staying true to family-first values. As a female CEO in the childcare space, she's not just building a platform; she's fighting for equity and opportunity for every working parent who's ever faced that impossible choice between career and caregiving. --- ### 1\. As a founder who's "changed everything for working families," what was the pivotal moment that made you realize traditional childcare wasn't serving modern parents' needs? How did your personal experience or observations shape Bumo's mission to make childcare as accessible as ordering groceries? There was a moment, early in my parenting journey, when I found myself sitting in a parking lot between meetings, scrambling on my phone to figure out how I was going to get care for my daughter the next day. It hit me – why is finding reliable childcare *still* so complicated, stressful, and outdated? We’ve made it seamless to order groceries or book a ride in minutes, but when it comes to our kids – our most important priority – the infrastructure hasn’t caught up. That frustration became fuel. I realized this wasn’t just *my* struggle – it was every working parent’s silent battle. I saw incredibly capable, ambitious parents – especially moms – forced to make impossible trade-offs between career and caregiving. That’s when [Bumo](https://book.bumo.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org)’s mission crystallized: to make childcare as accessible and flexible as modern life demands. We’re not just solving for convenience; we’re fighting for equity, opportunity, and peace of mind for every family. ### 2\. Creating an on-demand marketplace for childcare requires parents to trust strangers with their most precious asset - their children. What was your approach to building that foundational trust, and how do you balance the convenience factor with the safety and quality standards that parents demand? Trust is everything when it comes to children. We knew from day one that we couldn’t even *begin* to talk about convenience without first nailing trust, safety, and quality. Our approach was deeply intentional: every caregiver on our platform goes through a rigorous vetting process. But beyond processes, we listened. We brought parents into our product design, we partnered with early childhood education experts, and we never compromised on standards – no matter how tempting it was to scale faster. That’s how we’ve earned parents’ trust. It’s not just about booking childcare – it’s about knowing your child is in nurturing, qualified hands. That’s the Bumo promise. ### 3\. You just announced a $10M seed round - a significant milestone that will accelerate your vision. As a female CEO in the childcare space, how are you preparing to scale while maintaining the personal touch and family-first values that likely drove your early success? What leadership lessons have you learned about growing a mission-driven company? This raise is a milestone – but it’s just the beginning. I’m so proud that investors are backing our vision to transform childcare infrastructure at scale. As a female CEO in this space, I feel a deep responsibility to lead with empathy and integrity while growing a business with real-world impact. Scaling *doesn’t* mean losing the soul of what we’ve built. It means embedding our family-first values into every hire, every partner, every product decision. I’ve learned that leadership in a mission-driven company requires clarity of purpose – especially when the pace picks up. You have to protect your "why" like a north star. For me, that means staying close to our community, hiring leaders who live the mission, and never forgetting that every data point is a parent, a child, a story. Bumo was born out of lived experience. That’s what drives me – and that’s what will continue to ground us as we grow. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### Beyond the Standard Recipe: A Conversation with Naturopathic Medicine Expert Christine Barnes URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/wellness/beyond-the-standard-recipe-a-conversation-with-naturopathic-medicine-expert-christine-barnes/ Last updated: 2025-07-23T06:10:46.000Z In the complex landscape of women's health, some cases defy conventional treatment approaches. For Christine Barnes, M.Well. Nutritionist, Adjunct Professional Fellow at the National Centre for Naturopathic Medicine at Southern Cross University, these challenging cases have become her specialty. Rather than following standard protocols, Barnes has developed a distinctive approach that strips treatments back to fundamentals, asking "why" at every turn and working backward through a process of elimination to uncover each patient's unique underlying drivers. Her methodology was shaped not only by professional experience but also by her personal health journey with bowel cancer, which presented in an unusual way and reinforced her belief in individualized, root-cause medicine. This combination of clinical expertise and lived experience has positioned Barnes as a practitioner who attracts patients who have been searching for answers for years—often after cycling through multiple healthcare providers without lasting success. In our conversation, Barnes shares insights into the patterns she observes across her most challenging cases, her approach to helping patients navigate today's overwhelming health information landscape, and the foundational elements she believes are crucial for optimal wellness. Her perspective offers valuable guidance for women seeking more personalized, evidence-based approaches to their health concerns. --- ### 1\. What led you to focus on the challenging cases that other practitioners often can't solve? Was there a turning point in your career that shaped this direction? Yes, I had a series of cases that I felt I wasn't getting optimal results with by following the standard recipe approach/recommendations to treat. I decided to strip my treatment back to the bare bones using clinical decision making techniques based around current results of "why". As an example - Why was the zinc low, what are the possible contributing factors and exploring all the possibilities vs the first or common reasons and then work backward ruling out its potentiality one by one through a process of elimination. By discovering the patient's individual underlying driver began to bring better results. I also found that my own health history with bowel cancer that presented unusually and then working backward through my own case really confirmed my thought process works well. ### 2\. Many of your patients have been searching for answers for years before they find you. What patterns do you notice in their stories, and what would you want women to know earlier in their health journey? Stress, trauma, dehydration, lack of exercise and low intake of vegetables & quality protein. These are all common with each patient. That's why each of my self guided programs all have guidance and coaching around these core aspects included. I would like people to make these connections earlier and begin to turn the ship around by making these connections and adjusting life to fit with them and not the other way around. Early trauma is often ignored, pushed down and is quite a challenge to take those first steps to begin the journey of processing, but it's so important to do. That's been both my personal and professional experience. I am not a counsellor, I refer those in need to a professional. ### 3\. With so much conflicting health information available today, how do you help women distinguish between evidence-based approaches and trends? What questions should they be asking their practitioners? This is a great question. I strive to educate the difference between marketing, bias, tradition and formulaic approaches versus what is the right fit for them, their health status and diagnosis. A large part of my treatment includes education and critical discussion around the what, why and when. It is very confusing for the layperson to differentiate. AI is now making it even harder as people are turning to AI in desperation for medical advice instead of paying for professional advice. The problem with this is that AI does not provide reliable information and in fact, provides misinformation more often than not, and people are using this for self-treatment. As this is now becoming a common way for people to seek advice, we have tested this as a clinic and regularly do so with our own personal test results to determine the level of accuracy of the information provided. We have repeatedly been provided with incorrect diagnosis, outdated treatment information and overall misinformation, that if utilised by a patient without practitioner supervision, could end up with disastrous results. It all starts with asking the right questions. If the person is working with a practitioner and prescribed a supplement I would ask the practitioner to explain what the supplement is, what it does, what we are treating. This is a good start. What works for one person or is commonly used, may not mean that it's right for everyone. ***Resources:*** Website: [www.thebodyguard.com.au](http://www.thebodyguard.com.au/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### From Research to Real Life: Dr. Heather Malin on Youth, Purpose, and the Urgent Need for Connection URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/wellness/from-research-to-real-life-dr-heather-malin-on-youth-purpose-and-the-urgent-need-for-connection/ Last updated: 2025-07-22T16:50:01.000Z [Dr. Heather Malin](https://www.linkedin.com/in/heather-malin-3317107/%29?ref=foundedbywomen.org) has spent her career exploring how young people find meaning and purpose in their lives. As the former Director of Research at Stanford’s Center on Adolescence and now a practicing therapist, her work bridges the gap between academic theory and the lived experiences of youth. In this conversation, she reflects on her transition from research to clinical practice, the hidden crisis of teen isolation, and why today’s educational systems must move beyond grades to cultivate deeper, purpose-driven lives. From working with organizations like Wayfinder and Open Future Institute to empowering educators and students alike, Dr. Malin shares what it really takes to help the next generation lead lives of impact and intention. --- ### You've transitioned from leading research at Stanford's Center on Adolescence to providing direct therapy and counseling services. How has this shift from academic research to clinical practice changed your understanding of youth purpose development? What insights from your hands-on work have most surprised you? Adding clinical psychology to developmental has given me a more holistic understanding of how people come to face challenges to living a meaningful and purposeful life. I’ve always looked at human development, and especially purpose development, as a dynamic interaction between an individual person and their social context. My clinical lens doesn’t eliminate the social context, but it has given me the opportunity to focus very intensely on the individual person and how they are responding to their life circumstances as they develop. It’s allowed me to focus on the role of psychological flexibility in purpose development. Psychological flexibility is the ability of the person to adapt or be flexible in the face of internal (thoughts, emotions) and external obstacles, to pursue a life of meaning and purpose despite obstacles. My work as a researcher helped me understand how people develop purpose and what can support purpose development, and my clinical work helps me understand what the obstacles are and how people can overcome the obstacles. One of my biggest insights from working clinically with adolescents is that kids today are feeling very isolated, and this is a huge obstacle. The COVID pandemic is a major factor for this cohort, because they were in lockdown during middle school and they recognize the missed opportunity to develop social skills during a key time in their life. But we know there would still be widespread feelings of isolation among teens today even if the pandemic hadn’t happened. This isn’t a surprise, but working with teens who are experiencing this isolation has given me a better understanding of how it impacts them. For young people who feel this isolation, it’s impacting their ability to engage at school and keep up with their schoolwork, develop meaningful relationships, and envision a future worth working for. There has been more focus on relationships at school, but I think we need to push even further in the direction of humanizing our schools and prioritizing connection and relationships among students and between teachers and students. This is directly related to the youth purpose work, because programs that support purpose development do so by engaging students and teachers in discussions about meaningful life topics, exploring their values together, and sharing their stories with each other. If every student had access to these opportunities in school, I believe we would see a dramatic shift in social isolation and its impact on young people and society. ### Your book *Teaching for Purpose* advocates for preparing students for meaningful lives rather than just academic achievement. As a woman leader challenging traditional educational metrics, what resistance have you encountered? How do you help educators and parents shift their focus from grades to purpose? There is relentless resistance to changing educational metrics. The resistance is in the system and in our culture. School has always been a tool for maintaining society as it is, so the school system does not adapt easily to change, and parents support this by pressuring the system to not change. The biggest sources of resistance are always time and funding. The typical school day is packed, teachers and students are always overwhelmed, and it’s extremely challenging for teachers to learn about and adopt a new initiative when they aren’t provided the time to do so effectively. Funding is always an issue because it’s unpredictable. It takes a few years for a new initiative to get traction in a school, but funding cycles are capricious, and often a program is adopted when the economy is good and then dropped before teachers can really get it integrated into their program. This has been going on forever and is a very predictable outcome when starting a new initiative in a school. I think this is truer for SEL and well-being related initiatives, because they are especially vulnerable to shifts in public opinion. My recent work is focused on finding alternative approaches to prioritizing purpose in our schools. I believe we need to focus on creating professional learning communities where teachers’ can develop their capacity to support students’ purpose development and share ideas with each other about how to overcome barriers in the system and improve their practice. To that end, a lot of my work now is in networking and figuring out how to build communities for teachers to join, access resources, and learn from each other. I also provide workshops and presentations for educators and parents, to engage them in reconnecting with or rediscovering their own purpose and to learn frameworks and strategies for integrating purpose into their classroom and school culture. ### Through your work with organizations like Open Future Institute and Wayfinder, you're helping young people discover their sense of purpose. What patterns do you see in how young women versus young men approach purpose development? How can we better support girls and young women in developing authentic leadership voices? In our research with adolescents, we saw very little difference in purpose between boys and girls. But, there is some nuance in our findings that can provide direction for supporting young women to develop purpose and their authentic leadership voice. We assess purpose development by defining purpose as “an intention to accomplish something that is both personally meaningful and that contributes to the world beyond the self.” So, we look for indicators of 1) a meaningful goal or intention, 2) beyond-the-self motivation driving the intention, and 3) action taken to pursue the intention. In one study we did with young adolescents, we found that overall boys and girls were equally likely to be purposeful. But in a more nuanced analysis, girls were more likely than boys to describe beyond-the-self intentions, whereas boys were more likely to be doing things to act on their purposeful intentions. In terms of how to support girls, this suggests that we can do more to provide opportunities for girls to act on their purpose. This doesn’t simply mean more community service and internships. It means supporting girls in identifying what gives them a sense of purpose and *empowering them to shape or create opportunities* in their community or beyond through their purpose. That can be offered through community service and internships, but the important difference is the role the girl plays in shaping the opportunities that are available to her. In a study of civic purpose development, we found differences in political motivations between boys and girls that offer some evidence about the gender gap between men and women in political leadership. We conducted a survey with high school seniors and found that girls were more likely motivated to engage in political activity because they want to help others, whereas boys were motivated by a desire to act on their values. Projecting these motivations into the young person’s future, someone who is engaging in political activity to act on their values is more likely to sustain that activity, while someone who is engaging in political activity to help others is likely to find more satisfying ways to do that as an adult, in particular through caring for family, helping careers, or helping people in the local community. I don’t want to overemphasize this difference between boys and girls, both were motivated to help others and to act on their civic values. These findings suggest need for civic education that helps students develop democratic values and providing opportunities that empower young people to bring their relational and humanistic motivations to their civic and political activities. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### Leading Through SuperShifts: Insights on Transformation in the Age of Intelligence URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/women-who-lead/leading-through-supershifts-insights-on-transformation-in-the-age-of-intelligence/ Last updated: 2025-07-22T15:27:56.000Z As we stand at the threshold of unprecedented technological transformation, few voices offer the clarity and insight needed to navigate what lies ahead. In her groundbreaking book "[SuperShifts](https://www.revfactory.com/supershifts?ref=foundedbywomen.org)," co-authored with Steven Fisher, behavioral scientist and innovation leader Ja-Naé Duane explores nine transformative shifts reshaping our world as we enter the Age of Intelligence. As Managing Partner at Revolution Factory and a four-time entrepreneur, she brings a unique blend of behavioral science expertise, entrepreneurial acumen, and futurist thinking to help organizations and leaders thrive during periods of exponential change. From her early days as an award-winning public speaker at age 13 to her current mission of making life better for one billion people, Ja-Naé's journey exemplifies the power of authentic leadership and interdisciplinary thinking. Her background spans opera performance, behavioral science, and venture building—a combination that offers fresh perspectives on how women can lead transformation in an increasingly complex world. In this candid conversation, she shares insights on leveraging behavioral science for breakthrough innovation, the unique advantages of women's leadership during turbulent times, and how her unconventional path from opera singer to strategy expert has shaped her approach to making complexity navigable and transformation achievable. --- **Q: In your recent book "SuperShifts," you and Steven Fisher identify nine transformative shifts reshaping our world as we enter the Age of Intelligence. As a woman leading innovation in the futurism and venture-building space, what unique perspectives do you bring to helping organizations navigate these profound changes? How do you see women's leadership styles being particularly valuable during periods of exponential transformation?** We are entering a moment unlike any other. It's a time that allows women to lead and to embrace their true selves. To show up fully, feel comfortable in their skin, and do so without apology. When I started my first company, it was an international organization for women entrepreneurs. What I saw repeatedly were talented women waiting—waiting for a playbook, permission, or someone to say "Now's your turn." But the reality is, emerging technologies have transformed the landscape. These tools are now accessible, user-friendly, and powerful. You no longer need to wait. You have the opportunity to create your own playbook. Women's leadership thrives in complexity. It's empathetic, fluid, and grounded in relationships. That's exactly what this moment demands. We don't need to contort ourselves to fit outdated models. We can shape new ones that reflect how we see the world and how we want to change it. **Q: Your mission to "make life better for one billion people" is incredibly ambitious, and your work spans behavioral science, entrepreneurship, and future forecasting. Can you share a specific example of how you've leveraged behavioral science insights to drive breakthrough innovation at Revolution Factory? What advice would you give to other women who want to scale their impact beyond traditional boundaries?** At Revolution Factory, we embed behavioral science into the core of how we solve problems because lasting innovation isn't just about new tech. It's about changing human behavior in ways that stick. One breakthrough example involved redesigning an enterprise innovation program with behavioral nudges that encouraged more inclusive ideation. It shifted how teams approached risk, resulting in a flood of more diverse and viable ideas. By designing with human behavior in mind, we amplified both creativity and outcomes. But if you really want to scale impact, especially as a woman, your goal has to be big enough to scare you. Something that nudges you out of your comfort zone. Something that keeps you awake, not with fear, but with possibility. That stretch is where resilience is built. And it's where confidence is earned. **Q: You've had a remarkable journey from being an award-winning public speaker at age 13 to becoming a four-time entrepreneur, behavioral scientist, and now Managing Partner at Revolution Factory. What key lessons from your early speaking experiences have shaped how you communicate complex futures and innovation concepts to C-suite executives today? How do you maintain your authenticity and vision while adapting to different leadership roles throughout your career?** People are often surprised when they learn I was once an opera singer. But for me, the path from stage to strategy is not as far as it seems. I've always believed in the interconnectedness of knowledge. Years of mastering opera taught me how to approach any subject with discipline, curiosity, and deep inquiry. It's what gave me the courage to explore science, even when I doubted myself. I didn't need every concept to be neatly tied together. I could feel my way through the abstract, manipulate general concepts, and move beyond what's seen to grasp what's underneath. That mindset has served me in boardrooms just as well as it did onstage. For example, when we were mapping the foresight strategy for a multinational client, I pulled frameworks from behavioral science, improvisation, and systems design to surface patterns no one else saw. Being an abstract learner allows me to synthesize across disciplines, making complexity more navigable and transformation more achievable. And that's what it takes to lead in today's world: a willingness to draw from all parts of yourself, stay grounded in inquiry, and trust that mastery, no matter where it began, can take you anywhere. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### Bridging the Gap: From Personal Struggle to Systemic Change in Mental Healthcare URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/wellness/bridging-the-gap-from-personal-struggle-to-systemic-change-in-mental-healthcare/ Last updated: 2025-07-21T14:14:13.000Z *An Interview with Dr. Leigh Sheppard* ## Introduction Some of the most powerful advocacy emerges from the intersection of personal experience and professional expertise. When a healthcare provider also walks the path of seeking care for themselves, they gain unique insights into the gaps, barriers, and opportunities within our medical systems. In this conversation, we explore the journey of [Dr. Leigh Sheppard](https://www.ocdwa.com.au/?ref=foundedbywomen.org), a GP Registrar and OCD advocate whose late diagnoses of OCD and ADHD transformed not only her understanding of neurodiversity but her entire approach to healthcare advocacy. From founding Australia's first dedicated OCD organisation to developing training programs that reshape how clinicians understand obsessive-compulsive disorder, her story demonstrates how lived experience can become a catalyst for meaningful reform. This is about more than individual resilience—it's about using personal struggle as a foundation for building the support systems, educational resources, and community connections that others desperately need. It's about recognising that when we bridge the empathy gap between patients and providers, we create space for both better care and authentic understanding. --- ### Q1: You received your OCD and ADHD diagnoses as an adult, after already working in medicine. How did this experience shape your approach to advocating for neurodiversity in healthcare? My late diagnoses revealed how deeply stigma and systemic gaps run through healthcare. As someone who is “twice exceptional,” both gifted and disabled, I spent years misunderstood, mislabelled and struggling to fit into an inflexible system. That experience now fuels my drive for reform. I use both my clinical knowledge and lived experience to challenge outdated assumptions and close the empathy gap between patients and providers, so that others don’t face the same isolation I did. ### Q2: After struggling to access treatment and find peer support following your diagnosis, you founded OCD WA. What prompted you to take this step, and what has the journey been like building Western Australia’s first dedicated OCD organisation? When I couldn’t find the support I needed, I realised I had to build it. OCD WA began as a grassroots initiative and has grown into Australia’s first OCD-specific charity and the nation’s only IOCDF Global Partner. The journey has been challenging, rewarding and deeply meaningful. We’ve created a community grounded in evidence-based care, inclusion and shared hope— transforming isolation into connection and empowerment. Every step reflects the core belief that people with OCD deserve access, support and a true sense of belonging. ### Q3: You work as both a GP Registrar and OCD Advocate. How do you use your dual perspective — clinical training and lived experience — to improve understanding of OCD within the medical community? I act as a bridge, bringing lived experience into clinical spaces and helping peers find care that truly understands OCD. I’ve developed training resources, delivered seminars and led an education series for psychology students that significantly deepened their insight into the disorder. My next goal is to bring that impact into medical schools and specialist colleges, so current and future clinicians are better equipped to recognise and treat OCD. As an IOCDF Advocate and co-lead of international working groups, I also help shape global conversations around early intervention, evidence-based care and systems that see OCD for what it truly is. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### When Distance Becomes Dangerous: The Myfolks Solution to Modern Elder Care URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/wellness/when-distance-becomes-dangerous-the-myfolks-solution-to-modern-elder-care/ Last updated: 2025-07-21T12:45:16.000Z When personal experience meets professional expertise, transformative solutions can emerge. This is precisely what happened when a corporate leader and contracting expert faced the challenge of caring for elderly parents from 325 miles away, leading to the creation of Myfolks—an innovative service that's reshaping how families support their aging loved ones. [Myfolks](https://www.myfolks.uk/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) represents a paradigm shift in elder care, combining the convenience of on-demand technology with the warmth of human connection. Through their mobile app, families can instantly arrange visits from compassionate, DBS-checked "Myfolksers" who provide both practical assistance and emotional support to older adults. But this isn't just about convenience—it's about addressing one of the most pressing health crises of our time: social isolation among the elderly, which research shows is as dangerous as smoking 15 cigarettes per day. What sets Myfolks apart is their focus on prevention rather than reaction, connection rather than mere care provision, and their innovative use of AI to transform observations into actionable insights that help elderly clients maintain their independence longer. As the UK faces a demographic shift where one in four people will be over 65 by 2050, Myfolks is pioneering solutions that align with the NHS's strategic move toward digital, community-based, and preventive healthcare. In this exclusive interview, we explore the personal journey behind Myfolks, the technology that powers their approach, and their ambitious plans for transforming elder care across the UK and beyond. --- ### Your journey from a corporate legal career to founding MyFolks is inspiring. What personal experiences led you to create a service that offers compassionate, on-demand support for older adults? I grew up in the north east and worked at Freeman Hospital there in my teens but, like so many, I headed to London for my career after I finished my degree in law from Northumbria University in the latter part of the 90s. I worked providing the legal and commercial wrap to tech solutions for blue chip and international tech companies, such as EDS, SAP, Accenture, BT and Sopra Steria. I often worked in the teams supporting public sector organisations and I developed my interest in social value. All was well, I progressed up the ladder. Around 2017, my parents became frail and were each diagnosed with dementia. They were still in the north east, 325 miles north of me. It was a real struggle to be able to provide all the support they needed, whilst maintaining my corporate leadership role and a home life of my own. Where-ever I was, I was needed elsewhere. I needed help and googled to find it. It was clear that the support I wanted for my family didn't exist in the way I wanted to consume it. So I created it. I named it Myfolks (obviously after and in tribute to my parents). We have an app that you can use to send practical and emotional support to your elderly loved ones at the press of a button. Those we send, we call Myfolksers. They are all enhanced DBS-checked and even more importantly, they are compassionate. We visit and we make a real connection because we understand that social isolation is a killer. It is as dangerous as smoking 15 cigarettes per day. However, whilst we are there, we are also making observations and we use AI to turn those observations into insights and recommendations designed to help our elderly clients to live well at home for longer ### MyFolks combines technology with community support to provide real-time assistance to older individuals. How does this model address the limitations of traditional elder care services, and what challenges have you faced in implementing it? The ways that Myfolks is different are that firstly, using the app, you can book visits remotely, at any time to suit you. You don't have to wait until an office opens on a Monday morning. Next, you can book to suit your elderly person. You can book a visit within 4 hours or you can block book a visit every week. We aim to keep the same Myfolkser allocated to your loved one. Then, the service we offer is based on making connection and preventing deteriorating health whereas most care providers are focused on providing personal care (doing to clients) whereas our approach is much more focused on the individual needs and interests of the particular client (doing with clients). The biggest challenge a few years ago when I was building this was the cost of developing an app. It is just slightly heart-breaking that advances in technology make that easier and cheaper today. The next challenge is that we have to try to match communities of users and communities of Myfolksers, but we also have individual requests popping up. At first, when we were less well known, it was really hard to turn down individual requests but we had to balance that with registering Myfolksers on the app and being fair to them about the work that they'd get. It is getting easier now that we have been at it a while. Of course, we are happy that we are providing paid, purposeful, flexible work for our Myfolksers, in their local community. ### With MyFolks expanding across the UK, what are your plans for future growth, and how do you envision the role of MyFolks in transforming elder care in the coming years? We have focused on the edges of the England, north, south, east and west but that is expanding and we are aiming to have full UK coverage shortly. Then, of course, the challenges I faced are not unique to families in the UK and therefore there are a number of other countries we have our eye on - Canada, US, Sweden, New Zealand and then into Asia. We intend to deepen our use of AI to help us understand and help our individual clients well. We have a number of partnerships too - such as with Easology who have Myfolks preloaded on their accessible smartphones and Circadacare, for whom we are the sole business-to-consumer reseller of their circadian lighting and A&I monitoring solutions - of course, we don't just resell - we respond when the data tells us that an elderly person may be developing an infection etc. We intended to deepen these relationships and to develop others. By 2050, one in 4 of us will be over 65; the over 80s will have doubled - so there is so much work to be done. We are also keen to strengthen our geospatial monitoring to get us safely to the right place at the right time for our clients and to protect them and our Myfolksers. The NHS has recently announced its 10 year plan for the future of the NHS and its shifts - from analogue to digital; from hospital to community and from treatment to prevention, are very much in line with the work Myfolks is already doing. We are on the NHS Clinical Entrepreneur Programme, by virtue of lived my lived experience and we very much hope to strengthen our links with the NHS to have Myfolks socially prescribed and also to have a Myfolks hospital digital solution, integrated with NHS digital discharge tools. ### How is MyFolks using technology to improve access, efficiency, and trust in elder support services? We are using tech and ai as described above and it is the insights and recommendations that enable us to build trust - our insights are tailored and specific and we are helping families to keep their loved ones well and in their own homes. I can't really think of anything more important to be doing. It is a privilege, but with the pressure on public services and the huge growth in demand, it is also an imperative. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### From Athletic Legacy to Holistic Healing: A Conversation with Yelena Paul of SomaOmnia URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/wellness/from-athletic-legacy-to-holistic-healing-a-conversation-with-yelena-paul-of-somaomnia/ Last updated: 2025-07-21T09:33:19.000Z In a world saturated with conflicting wellness advice and quick-fix solutions, Yelena Paul stands apart as a practitioner who understands that true health transformation requires both scientific rigor and deeply personalized approaches. With over 25 years of experience bridging the gap between traditional fitness training, functional testing, and naturopathic nutrition, Yelena has built [SomaOmnia](https://somaomnia.co.uk/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) on a foundation that few in the wellness industry can claim: a childhood spent observing elite athletic training combined with decades of hands-on experience helping women and children achieve sustainable health outcomes. Yelena's journey began in an unconventional setting—growing up as the daughter of a dedicated athlete, where discipline, consistency, and the fundamental principle of "doing more with less" were daily lessons rather than abstract concepts. This early exposure to the raw mechanics of human performance, combined with her later specialization in women's and children's health, has shaped her unique holistic methodology that treats each client as a complex, evolving system rather than a collection of symptoms to address. What sets Yelena apart in today's crowded wellness landscape is her commitment to evidence-based personalization. Rather than promoting one-size-fits-all solutions, she employs functional testing to uncover the root causes behind health challenges, then crafts integrated protocols that combine targeted nutrition, appropriate supplementation, and adapted fitness training. Her approach recognizes a truth that many practitioners overlook: there are as many paths to optimal health as there are people seeking it. In this candid conversation, Yelena shares insights from her quarter-century of practice, revealing how her unconventional upbringing shaped her methodology, why she believes in the power of integrated approaches over isolated interventions, and her practical advice for women feeling overwhelmed by the endless stream of conflicting health information. Her perspective offers both seasoned wisdom and refreshing clarity for anyone seeking sustainable, personalized health strategies that can evolve with life's changing demands. --- ### 1\. How has this personal journey from being an athlete’s daughter to becoming a mother an entrepreneur shaped your unique holistic approach to women’s and children’s health? Needless to say, I had a very unusual upbringing in which there was little time to be a teenager. I was exposed very early on to the concepts of discipline and consistency in sports from a privileged position; from the perspective of a male athlete. I learned by following my father and the coaches who trained me, and only with time (especially that spent with clients), understood how to develop approaches from within the female body. I watched my father train in temperatures below zero, in excessive heat, in all seasons and weather conditions, and very intensively between his hours of work. The (still young) health industry in which I grew up was both classic and outdated – nutrition and supplementation were not yet established as independent branches worthy of a reputation equal to fitness. I learned a lesson then which is fundamental to holistic healing, and often overlooked: how to do a lot with only a little. The variety of food was modest compared to what now is available on supermarket shelves and online. Therefore the majority of the work consisted in what *not* to eatand maintaining a rigorous and consistent training regime. The ‘hacks’ that existed at the time, involved an understanding of *how* and *why* the body works like it does. Text-based and physical learning were the only ways forward because they were the extent of what was available. For this very reason, I developed a strong foundation in the pools of knowledge that compose physical education; biochemistry, anatomy, sports medicine, athletics. It is much easier to specialise already possessing a solid foundation in the nebula that is the human body. I drew again from this foundation when I became pregnant with my first child. The concepts of pre-post-natal were not as diffuse as they are now, and learned how to adapt the knowledge I had by tuning into my body’s response. Later, when I started to teach children’s classes and learn more about childhood physiology, psychology and energy levels, it was other mother’s who helped me through their feedback how their child’s health changed as a result of our training sessions. This encouragement was fundamental to developing my business. ### 2\. How do you integrate functional testing and naturopathic nutrition with traditional fitness training? And what has surprised you most about this integrated approach in your 25+ years in practice? All three of these categories were integrated for me from the very beginning. My father undertook various tests regularly for his training, but always with a purpose. From the start, testing was associated with specific performance-orientated goals; sometimes, the body would hit a wall, beyond which it was necessary to go deeper; beneath the skin. Much later, having moved to an environment which regularly welcomed professionals from all horizons, presenting new discoveries and breakthroughs in knowledge, I started to follow new research of independent initiative and curiosity. New tests were popping up and I was soon swimming in an abundance of resources on nutrition and private laboratory testing, which I started to use as a way of addressing specific health issues, revealing themselves through my client’s training sessions. Overtime, I learned how to use testing to detect causes and established patterns to then arrive at a protocol. Specifically, certain markers would flag a specific issue, from which I then would formulate a tailored training programme, with improved accuracy because informed by clear and tested evidence. My clients could see, for the first time, their own progress and more importantly understand what was occurring in their body and what they needed to do to achieve their goals. As for what surprised me, it is very simple; there are as many approaches to human health, at least, as there are people on the planet. There is no ideal test, workout, therapy, protocol or nutritional plan, because the complexity of the human body is infinite. ### 3\. What would you say to women who feel overwhelmed by conflicting wellness advice and how do you help them create sustainable personalised health strategies that evolve with their changing bodies and life circumstances? Think thoroughly about what it is that you want. It is futile to compare and chase other’s dreams or those created for us by a dream-factory. Be lucid with what you have already done and achieved and what has *not* worked. Where you are coming from and where you want to go, should inform the decisions you make in the present moment. Bearing in mind the complexity of the human body, it is also not always a question of methods; the devil is after all, in the details. Sometimes it’s a supplement, ingredient or habit that disrupts what otherwise is a healthy structure and induces set-backs invisibly. Other times it’s the structure itself that needs to be addressed. Once you’ve decided on your goals, surround yourself with people who will actively support and understand (perhaps even share) them. This will help you save precious time and energy. And finally, seek professionals who have the two most important attributes that are required for you to heal: qualifications *and* expertise. It is admittedly difficult to find both, especially in an era where everyone can become a nutritionist or personal trainer. But it is crucial to be selective in whom you allow to guide you and ensure you are confident in the methods your chosen health-care professional specialises in. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### From Brazil to Britain: How One Physiotherapist Revolutionized Lymphatic Drainage with Heart and Heritage URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/wellness/from-brazil-to-britain-how-one-physiotherapist-revolutionized-lymphatic-drainage-with-heart-and-heritage/ Last updated: 2025-07-21T08:13:56.000Z In a bustling London [clinic](https://flaviamorellato.co.uk/?ref=foundedbywomen.org), where wellness meets authenticity, Flavia Morellato has earned her reputation as the "Queen of Lymphatic Drainage" through an approach that's as much about emotional connection as it is about clinical excellence. As a Brazilian physiotherapist with over 13 years of experience transforming how people feel in their own skin, Flavia’s journey from Ibiraçu, Espírito Santo to Harvey Nichols represents more than a career shift—it’s a mission to bring the warmth, intuition, and holistic wisdom of Brazilian wellness culture to a London landscape hungry for authentic healing. Her signature method has been featured in Forbes, Vogue, Tatler, and Women's Health UK, and her client list reads like a who's who of British celebrities, but behind the accolades lies a deeper story of cultural bridge-building, feminine empowerment, and the courage to trust one's instincts in an industry often dominated by rigid protocols. Through her innovative approach to lymphatic drainage—one that combines precise, rhythmic movements with deep abdominal work to optimize circulation and metabolism—Flavia hasn't just built a business; she's created a movement that honors both the science of the body and the wisdom of touch. From helping women navigate chronic conditions like IBS and endometriosis to supporting post-surgery recovery and maternal wellness, Flavia's work extends far beyond the treatment table. Her story is one of following intuition, staying rooted in purpose, and proving that sometimes the most revolutionary approach is simply remembering what it means to heal with both knowledge and heart. --- ### As a Brazilian physiotherapist who pioneered bringing authentic Brazilian lymphatic drainage to the UK, what inspired you to challenge traditional European methods and establish your own signature technique? How has your cultural background shaped your holistic approach to wellness? As a Brazilian physiotherapist, I was always taught to connect with the body through intuition as well as technique. When I arrived in the UK, I realised traditional European methods often lacked that deeper, more human touch. I felt called to introduce something more authentic, more connected and that’s how my signature approach was born. My cultural background has shaped everything I do, always seeing wellness as something holistic, emotional, and deeply individual. ### Your method goes far beyond aesthetic benefits, helping with serious health conditions like IBS, endometriosis, and post-operative recovery. Can you share how you've seen lymphatic drainage transform not just bodies, but lives? What's the most rewarding aspect of your work in empowering women's health and wellbeing? I’ve been humbled by the way lymphatic drainage has changed so many lives not just bodies. From chronic conditions like IBS and endometriosis to post-surgery recovery, I’ve seen clients regain not only physical comfort but also confidence and emotional wellbeing. The the most rewarding part is watching women reclaim their health and feel empowered in their own skin again. ### You've built an incredible reputation working with A-list celebrities while also training other therapists through your certification program. What advice would you give to women entrepreneurs in the wellness space who want to scale their expertise and create lasting impact in their field? My advice to women in wellness? Stay rooted inn your purpose. You don’t need to be perfect to start, just committed. Build slowly, keep your integrity, and don’t be afraid to lead. The industry needs more women who bring both knowledge and heart to the table. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### Bridging Worlds: How One PhD Combined Ancient Wisdom with Modern Cancer Care URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/wellness/bridging-worlds-how-one-phd-combined-ancient-wisdom-with-modern-cancer-care/ Last updated: 2025-07-15T07:22:06.000Z In the evolving landscape of cancer care, where patients increasingly seek holistic approaches alongside conventional treatment, Dr. Chandrika Gibson stands as a unique bridge between worlds. With a PhD in psychosocial support for cancer patients and deep expertise in naturopathy and yoga therapy, she has dedicated her career to creating compassionate, evidence-based pathways for healing that honor both scientific rigor and ancient wisdom. As the founder of [Surya Health](http://suryahealth.com.au/?ref=foundedbywomen.org), Dr. Gibson offers cancer wellness coaching and preventive wellness services that help people navigate one of life's most challenging journeys. Her approach is neither purely biomedical nor exclusively alternative—instead, she describes herself as "bilingual" in both languages, translating complex health information for patients during their most vulnerable moments. Through two decades of research and clinical practice, Dr. Gibson has discovered that healing happens not in isolation, but in connection with compassionate others. Her work centers on providing what she calls "a gentle scaffolding of evidence-informed practices" that empowers people to safely chart their own holistic path through cancer and beyond. In this conversation, Dr. Gibson shares insights from her unique journey spanning academic research, clinical practice, and the integration of contemplative traditions with modern oncology care. --- ### 1\. You hold a PhD in psychosocial support for cancer patients and combine that with naturopathy and yoga therapy. What led you to bridge academic research with hands-on healing modalities? I feel that there's no limit to the wisdom available through contemplative traditions and nature. For me, yoga and plants contain portals into understanding the human condition, and offer pathways to healing for individuals, communities and the planet. However intuitive knowledge is only one way of understanding, and I have worked to balance that with intellectual rigour. The gems of insight I have found through my studies and practices form the foundation of my work as a therapist, and the letters after my name open doors that allow me to reach more people when they might benefit most. ### 2\. Surya Health offers cancer wellness coaching alongside preventive wellness services. How do you help people navigate the overwhelming amount of health information available online, especially when facing a cancer diagnosis? Compassion is the driver - I sincerely want to help people live as well as possible with and beyond cancer. Part of what I can offer is a balanced view - I am neither married to a biomedical nor alternative worldview. I consider myself bilingual in that I understand natural therapies modalities with their cultural traditions and energetic frameworks, and I also speak the language of oncology. I do my best to keep up to date with the latest research, and work closely with oncology health professionals, so that I can help translate health information for people during a time when they are understandably overwhelmed. While oncology treatment centres are increasingly embracing integrative therapies, it can still be hard for people to choose what will actually help them get through conventional treatment, manage side effects, and improve their long term wellbeing. As a cancer wellness coach, I walk alongside offering warm, non-judgemental support, and a gentle scaffolding of evidence-informed practices and information that empowers people to safely self-select their holistic path through cancer. ### 3\. You've spent years researching yoga interventions in cancer survivorship while maintaining a clinical practice. What's the most important thing you've learned about what people actually need during their healing journey? Healing happens in connection to compassionate others. Cancer is a traumatic and isolating experience for many people - from the shock of diagnosis, the micro-traumas and humiliations of treatment, the communication challenges with health professionals and loved ones, changes in appearance, energy, roles and lifestyle. It is a long and often tumultuous experience that alters life forever. So it is not surprising that recovery requires support. To me, the ideal is to have trusted health professionals, alongside peer support, and tailored wellness activities such as yoga, mindfulness and exercise that provide a container for integration. I hope that the programs and services I have developed over twenty years provide people living with and beyond cancer with opportunities for mindful reflection, meaningful connection, and the potential of post-traumatic growth. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### Healing from the Inside Out: How BWRT Therapy and Holistic Health Coaching Are Transforming Women's Wellness URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/wellness/healing-from-the-inside-out-how-bwrt-therapy-and-holistic-health-coaching-are-transforming-womens-wellness/ Last updated: 2025-07-14T13:36:44.000Z In a world where women are increasingly juggling multiple roles while battling rising rates of anxiety, burnout, and stress-related health issues, traditional approaches to wellness often fall short. Many find themselves caught in cycles of emotional eating, poor sleep, and overwhelming self-doubt—despite knowing what they "should" be doing to feel better. Anna Brooker, a specialist in BWRT® (BrainWorking Recursive Therapy) and holistic health coaching, offers a different path forward. Her unique approach combines cutting-edge brain-based therapy with personalized nutritional and lifestyle support, addressing both the emotional roots and physical symptoms of stress-related health challenges. What sets Anna's work apart is her understanding that mental and physical health are deeply interconnected. Rather than treating anxiety, digestive issues, or emotional eating as separate problems, she helps women address the underlying patterns that keep them stuck—often achieving significant changes in just weeks rather than years. In this conversation, Anna shares insights into how BWRT therapy works, why combining emotional and physical support creates lasting change, and what women can expect when they choose to invest in their complete wellbeing. Whether you're dealing with chronic stress, struggling with self-sabotage, or simply feeling disconnected from your own needs, this discussion offers hope and practical wisdom for reclaiming your health and vitality. --- ### 1\. You specialize in BWRT therapy and mention it can help with anxiety, trauma, and feelings of not being good enough. Could you explain how BWRT differs from traditional talk therapy, and what makes it particularly effective for addressing stress-related health issues that many women face? BWRT® (BrainWorking Recursive Therapy) is a powerful, modern approach that works directly with the brain’s response system. Unlike traditional talk therapy, which often involves revisiting the past and unpacking emotions over time, BWRT is much more focused and efficient. It helps to ‘recode’ the brain’s automatic reactions to stress, anxiety, or painful memories — often without the need to talk through every detail. For so many women I work with, stress shows up not just emotionally but physically — through things like burnout, poor sleep, digestive issues, or emotional eating. BWRT is especially effective here because it calms the nervous system from the inside out. It helps to break the cycle of stress before it spirals into health problems. And because changes can happen quickly — sometimes in just a few sessions — it gives women a real sense of hope and momentum right from the start. --- ### 2\. Your approach combines both mental health support and physical health coaching. How do you integrate BWRT therapy with nutritional and lifestyle changes? For someone dealing with stress-related symptoms like poor sleep, weight gain, or digestive issues, how do you determine which aspect to address first? I truly believe that mental and physical health are two sides of the same coin — and both deserve attention. When someone comes to me feeling tired, overwhelmed, or stuck in unhealthy patterns, I take a whole-person view. Sometimes we start with BWRT if emotional stress or self-sabotage is the main block. Other times, we begin with simple changes to food, sleep, and daily habits to help the body feel more balanced and resilient. What I love about combining BWRT with health coaching is that it creates real, lasting change. It’s not just about eating better or thinking positively — it’s about removing the *internal roadblocks* that make those things feel hard. When we calm the nervous system and support the body at the same time, women often feel clearer, more in control, and more connected to themselves — which makes it easier to build the habits that help them thrive. ### 3\. I see testimonials mentioning significant changes in just a few weeks or months. For someone new to both therapy and health coaching, what would a typical treatment plan look like? Do you usually work on the emotional/mental aspects first, or do you address physical and emotional health simultaneously? Most of my clients are juggling a lot — careers, family, responsibilities — and they’ve often spent years putting themselves last. So when they finally reach out, they’re usually looking for support that feels personal, practical, and effective. A typical journey with me blends emotional and physical support from day one. We might begin with BWRT to gently shift deep-seated patterns like anxiety, perfectionism, or low self-worth — especially if those are getting in the way of making healthier choices. Alongside that, we look at what their body needs to feel better: whether that’s more nourishing food, better sleep, or small lifestyle tweaks that make a big difference. It’s never about being perfect — it’s about starting where you are and moving forward with compassion and clarity. My goal is always to help women feel stronger, calmer, and more like themselves again — and to create changes that actually last. Resources: Website: [https://nourishedthriving.com](https://nourishedthriving.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### From Kitchen Table to Elite Athletes: The 33Fuel Founder on Disrupting Sports Nutrition and Leading with Purpose URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/wellness/from-kitchen-table-to-elite-athletes-the-33fuel-founder-on-disrupting-sports-nutrition-and-leading-with-purpose/ Last updated: 2025-07-14T12:03:31.000Z In a world where sports nutrition shelves are dominated by artificial powders and ultra-processed supplements, one entrepreneur dared to ask a simple question: what if we fueled our bodies with actual food instead? Building [33Fuel](https://www.33fuel.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) from her kitchen table into a brand trusted by Olympians, Tour de France winners, and the England football team has been one of the most challenging, liberating, and purpose-driven rides of Erica Pole's life. She tore up the rulebook, made her own fuel from real food (not lab formulas), and never compromised — and seeing that work recognized through multiple product awards from the most respected sports magazines like Runner's World, Women's Health, Evening Standard, Men's Fitness, Men's Health, and recently awarded by BBC Good Food and personally awarded as Most Influential CEO 2024 – England (Sports Nutrition) by CEO Monthly, is beyond exciting. It's proof that doing things differently isn't a risk — it's a strategy. Since 2012, Erica has been quietly dismantling industry norms, proving that peak performance doesn't require synthetic shortcuts—it requires real ingredients, authentic purpose, and the courage to challenge everything. From navigating the muddy terrain of industry disruption to maintaining personal wellness while scaling a business that serves elite athletes worldwide, her journey offers invaluable insights for women entrepreneurs ready to shake up established industries. Erica's philosophy is refreshingly direct: burn the playbook, trust your instincts, and build what should exist—not what already does. In this candid conversation, she shares hard-won wisdom about entrepreneurship, the urgent need for wellness industry reform, and why the future of health lies not in convenience culture, but in conscious, sustainable choices that fuel both performance and longevity. --- ### 1\. As the CEO and founder of 33Fuel, you've been pioneering natural sports nutrition since 2012, challenging an industry dominated by ultra-processed foods. What advice would you give to other women entrepreneurs looking to disrupt established industries? How do you maintain your own wellness while building a business that serves elite athletes worldwide? Disrupting an industry is a bit like trail running in the rain – muddy, unpredictable, but wildly rewarding. My biggest advice to women entrepreneurs? Don’t wait for permission. The “rules” you think are there? Most of them are just habits in disguise, they’re just hand-me-down thinking from an industry that forgot to evolve. At 33Fuel, we didn’t follow the sports nutrition playbook – we shredded it and built our own using real food, UPF-free ingredients, and a big scoop of rebellion. I’ve learned the hard way: burnout is not a trophy — it’s a dead end. My advice? Keep it simple. Mornings start with a HIIT session or a run in the local park — there’s no better wake-up call. Then it’s a shower and before the emails start flying, it’s me, a quiet moment, and a glass of [33Fuel daily greens](https://www.33fuel.com/collections/all/products/ultimate-greens-powder?ref=foundedbywomen.org) to keep me healthy and a light breakfast with real food (you know, the kind that actually grows). Just remember ‘Your energy is your strategy ‘ so fuel it like you mean it. Only then I dive into work: focused, fired up, and ready to make waves. ### 2\. 33Fuel's "Fuelosophy" centers on Performance, Health and a Fitter Future - moving beyond quick fixes to nutrition that supports long-term wellbeing. How do you think the wellness industry needs to evolve to prioritize genuine health over convenience? What does authentic, sustainable wellness look like in your view? The wellness industry needs a serious reset. Too much of it’s built on quick fixes, flashy packaging, and convenience-first thinking — which usually means ultra-processed junk dressed up as “healthy.” At 33Fuel, we believe genuine health doesn’t come from shortcuts. It comes from real ingredients, real habits, and a long-term mindset. Authentic, sustainable wellness isn’t about hacking your body or tracking every step — it’s about giving your body what it truly needs to thrive. That means food you can actually recognise, products made with purpose (not preservatives), and a lifestyle that supports performance and health today and 10 years from now. We built 33Fuel on that belief — no UPFs, no empty promises, just powerful, real nutrition that works with your body, not against it. Wellness isn’t about being perfect. It’s about being consistent, conscious, and connected to what truly fuels you. That’s the future we’re here to build. ### 3\. From starting at your kitchen table with friends to now supplying the England Football team, Tour de France winners, and Olympians, your journey exemplifies the power of persistence and authentic purpose. What has your entrepreneurial journey taught you about the unique strengths women bring to wellness leadership, and how do you hope to inspire the next generation of women wellness entrepreneurs? 33Fuel started with nothing more than a kitchen table, a blender, and a refusal to accept the junk the sports nutrition industry was pushing. No investors, no roadmap — just purpose, persistence, and a healthy dose of “why not us?” What this journey has taught me is that women bring something powerful to wellness leadership: we don’t just follow — we question, challenge, and rebuild. We lead with instinct and impact. We care deeply, but we’re not afraid to break things when the system’s broken. That’s not soft — that’s strength. I want the next generation of women wellness entrepreneurs to know this: you don’t need permission. You don’t need to wait until you’ve got all the answers. And you definitely don’t need to copy what’s already out there. Burn the playbook. Trust your gut. Build what should exist — not what already does. Because real change doesn’t come from playing nice. It comes from showing up, shaking things up, and refusing to settle for anything less than better. That’s what we did with 33Fuel — and we’re only just getting started. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### The Craft Revolution: How Alexandra Lunn is Transforming Corporate Wellness One Workshop at a Time URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/wellness/the-craft-revolution-how-alexandra-lunn-is-transforming-corporate-wellness-one-workshop-at-a-time/ Last updated: 2025-07-14T09:38:31.000Z In an era where workplace wellness often defaults to meditation apps and yoga sessions, Alexandra Lunn is taking a refreshingly different approach. Through [Well-Crafted](https://www.well-crafted.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org), she's bringing the ancient practice of making things by hand into modern corporate environments, creating spaces where executives trade their keyboards for clay and senior leaders discover the meditative power of lino-cutting. What started as a natural evolution from Alexandra's craft workshop business has become something much more significant: a movement that's proving creativity isn't just a nice-to-have in the workplace—it's essential for mental clarity, team connection, and genuine wellbeing. As companies grapple with burnout, disconnection, and the ongoing challenges of building authentic workplace culture, Well-Crafted offers an unexpected solution that's both ancient and urgently modern. We sat down with Alexandra to explore how she's transforming corporate wellness one workshop at a time, why getting your hands dirty might be the best thing you can do for your team, and what happens when you give busy professionals permission to slow down and create something beautiful. --- ### 1\. Tell us about Well–Crafted – what exactly happens in one of your workshops? Walk us through a typical session and what you're seeing happen with the teams. A Well–Crafted workshop is a space for slowing down. We work with skilled artists to deliver hands-on, creative sessions—anything from paper cutting and lino printing to clay work and still life drawing. A session starts with a friendly and informal introduction, enough to ease people in and explain what we’ll be doing. We always emphasise how the workshops are about the process and not the final outcome. Then it’s straight into making. There’s no pressure to get it “right”; in fact, we actively encourage experimenting and letting go of perfectionism. The transformation we see is often subtle but powerful—people arrive tense, checking their phones, unsure what to expect. But within 15–20 minutes, you can see their shoulders drop. Conversation starts to flow more naturally, and there’s a shared sense of calm and curiosity. By the end, most people are surprised at how restorative it feels to make something with their hands, especially in the company of their colleagues. ### 2\. You're bringing crafts into corporate environments, which feels pretty bold. What's been the biggest surprise about how executives and office workers react to getting their hands dirty with clay or lino-cutting? How open people are to it—especially those you might expect to resist. We’ve had senior leaders who started the session saying “I’m not creative” and ended up absorbed in their work, proudly showing off their piece. There’s something very democratic about craft—it levels everyone out. It doesn’t matter what your title is, you’re all working with the same tools and materials, often making mistakes and laughing about them together. It humanises people in a way that more traditional “team-building” exercises often don’t. What also surprises people is how meditative it can be. It’s not sold as a mindfulness workshop, but you’ll hear someone halfway through say, “I haven’t thought about work once since we started.” That, to me, says everything. [Here's what someone had to say](https://www.linkedin.com/posts/well%E2%80%93crafted%5Fwhat-jessica-had-to-say-about-yesterdays-activity-7343541341970219009-p2g4?utm%5Fsource=share&utm%5Fmedium=member%5Fdesktop&rcm=ACoAAAoK5z4BrshvopyLxTSRugaRdvGHr32Wj3g) about a taster session in June. ### 3\. How did you decide to focus specifically on craft-based wellness rather than the usual meditation or yoga approach? What's your vision for where Well–Crafted goes next? First of all I am not a yoga teacher! Since 2018 I've been delivering craft based workshops for the likes of Meta and Zendesk through my first business ([LINK HERE](https://www.alexandralunn.com/workshops?ref=foundedbywomen.org)) so my focus has naturally been art and design based. Because of first hand experience seeing how making things by hand offers a clarity and mental reset, I wanted to share that love with other craftspeople. Unlike yoga or meditation (which are incredibly valuable but not for everyone), or away days which often involve alcohol, crafting and making gives you a physical anchor. It's meditative without the fluff. You're doing something. You’re focused. And before you know it, your brain has slowed down. I also wanted to create something that felt inclusive; something people could enjoy regardless of their age, body, background, or personality type. Craft, in its many forms, offers that accessibility. Looking ahead, I’d love to see Well–Crafted become a go-to for teams looking to invest in creativity and wellbeing in a meaningful way, not just a one-off session, but a regular part of how people work and reset. We're also exploring a curated marketplace and ongoing partnerships with both artists and organisations that want to think differently about how we care for people at work. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### "I Had Everything and Nothing Left in the Tank": The Award-Winning Executive Who Rewrote the Rules URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/women-who-lead/i-had-everything-and-nothing-left-in-the-tank-the-award-winning-executive-who-rewrote-the-rules/ Last updated: 2025-07-11T14:10:10.000Z What happens when the highest achiever in the room suddenly can't breathe? When awards and accolades become hollow victories, and the very system that promised success delivers only exhaustion? Meet Bronwen Sciortino—award-winning executive turned internationally renowned author, speaker, and "Simplicity Expert." Her story isn't just another tale of corporate burnout. It's a radical reimagining of what it means to lead, succeed, and thrive as a woman in today's relentless business world. After nearly two decades climbing the corporate ladder—earning global recognition, leadership roles, and every external marker of success—Bronwen's body made the choice her mind couldn't: it shut down completely. The breakdown that followed became the breakthrough that would reshape everything she thought she knew about achievement, ambition, and authenticity. Today, Bronwen is the CEO of [sheIQ Life](https://sheiqlife.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) and the author of critically acclaimed books including "The Economy of Enough" and "Keep It Super Simple," both earning 5-star international recognition. But her real transformation lies in how she operates: writing from pure intuition, speaking without rigid preparation, and leading from a place of "enough" rather than endless more. Selected as Top Simplicity Expert of the Year 2023 by the International Association of Top Professionals and recognized by prestigious awards including the Telstra Business Women's Awards, Bronwen now helps organizations and individuals worldwide create what she calls "bespoke wellness"—customized approaches to thriving that honor both ambition and wellbeing. Her message challenges everything we've been taught about success, especially for women who've been conditioned to prove, prove, prove. What if the most powerful thing we can do is pause? What if our highest impact comes when we're nourished, not depleted? In this candid conversation, Bronwen shares the raw reality behind her breakdown, the revolutionary concept of "enough" in a world that demands more, and how she learned to trust her intuition in boardrooms where emotion is often seen as weakness. Her insights offer a lifeline to any woman leader who recognizes herself in this story but feels trapped by the very systems she's learned to navigate. This isn't about giving up ambition—it's about reclaiming it on your own terms. --- ### 1\. You went from award-winning executive to complete breakdown. What did that actually look like, and when did you realize pushing harder wasn't the answer? What would you tell women leaders who see themselves in your story but feel trapped? The reality is, we never know what’s going on for someone else. From the outside, it looked like having everything I had ‘everything’. The reality was that I had nothing left in the tank. When people looked at me, they saw a high-performing leader who was thriving—awards, leadership roles, global travel. But inside? I was shutting down. My body gave out before my mind could admit I couldn’t keep going. One minute I was running at full speed. The next, I couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think, couldn’t move. My world shattered into a million pieces around me. I left work and didn’t go back. The moment I realised pushing harder wasn’t the answer was when I couldn’t even do the basics of life. I wasn’t just tired—I was hollow. That was the wake-up call: the systems we’re told to trust—overworking, people-pleasing, self-sacrifice—don’t work. To women who see themselves in that story and feel stuck, I’d say this: you're not weak for wanting a different life. You're not broken. You’re hearing the call to change before your body makes the choice for you. You don’t have to burn your life down to rebuild. You just have to stop long enough to ask, ‘What do I actually need right now?’ Then give yourself permission to start there. --- ### 2\. Your "Economy of Enough" challenges everything we're taught about ambition. Women especially struggle with this—we're told to work twice as hard for half the recognition. How do you balance real drive with the idea of "enough"? For me, ‘enough’ is a full-body exhale. It’s not about giving up on ambition—it’s about shifting what I’m aiming for. I’m still driven. I still create. I still lead. But I no longer measure my worth by exhaustion or output. That kind of success was costing me my health, my joy, and my sense of self. In fact today, if I find myself with a period of time where my diary is overfull, I feel resentment that my peace has been invaded! Women have been conditioned to prove, prove, prove. But what if the most powerful thing we can do is *pause*? What if your highest impact comes when you’re nourished, not depleted? The balance comes from asking better questions. Instead of ‘How can I do more?’ I ask, ‘What actually matters right now?’ Instead of ‘Am I doing enough?’ I ask, ‘Am I aligned?’ It’s not a perfect process. But I’ve found that when I lead from *enough*, the right work flows, the right opportunities land and most importantly—I stay whole. --- ### 3\. You now write and speak from intuition rather than rigid planning. How did you learn to trust that inner voice in professional settings? How do you handle pushback when people think you're being ‘too emotional?’ Trusting my intuition came from falling apart and realising that the old ways weren’t working. Planning, control, over-prepping—those were my comfort zones. But when I broke down, I didn’t have the energy to fake it anymore. I started focusing and listening inwardly, even when it made no sense on paper. And the results were undeniable. The more I trusted that inner pull, the more resonant and impactful my work became. In professional settings, I lead with clarity: I know who I am and what I stand for. It’s interesting that you ask about people saying I’m ‘too emotional’ because that doesn’t happened anymore. I am who I am – no matter the situation I find myself in. And people resonate with that. It’s inspiring to sit with someone who completely embodies who they are and you can clearly see the authenticity and power that comes with that. I think it’s also important to acknowledge that emotion isn’t weakness—it’s data. And intuition isn’t fluff—it’s experience, distilled. I don’t need to defend it. I just let the results speak for themselves. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### Building Singapore's Leading Insurance Marketplace: A Top Financial Advisor's Digital Revolution URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/women-who-lead/building-singapores-leading-insurance-marketplace-a-top-financial-advisors-digital-revolution/ Last updated: 2025-07-10T14:50:31.000Z When a top 5% global financial advisor with over a decade of industry success decides to walk away from a lucrative career to build something entirely new, you pay attention. Cherie Wang, co-founder and CEO of [Planner Bee](https://plannerbee.co/?ref=foundedbywomen.org), did exactly that—launching Singapore's most comprehensive insurance comparison platform during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic with a $1 million personal investment. Today, Planner Bee compares over 500 insurance products from 29 insurers, serving as an unbiased marketplace that's transforming how Singaporeans approach financial planning. Recognized as one of Singapore's Top 100 Women in Tech in 2021, Cherie's journey from Chartered Financial Consultant to insurtech pioneer illustrates how intimate knowledge of an industry's pain points can drive revolutionary change. This conversation explores the pivotal decision to leave financial advisory success behind, the strategic thinking required to launch during unprecedented uncertainty, and the vision of making transparent, accessible financial planning available to everyone—not just the wealthy. ### 1\. You had a really successful career as a financial advisor - top 5% globally, Million Dollar Round Table member. What made you walk away from that to start something completely new? And honestly, was there a moment early on where you thought "what have I done?" Leaving a successful career as a financial advisor wasn't easy. I had built a strong reputation, was in the top 5% globally, and truly enjoyed helping my clients. But over time, I started seeing the limitations of the traditional model. Financial planning was still largely manual, opaque, and heavily reliant on individual agents. I realised that high-net-worth individuals had access to structured advice, transparency, and personalized strategies, shouldn't be reserved just for the wealthy. Regular people deserve that same level of clarity and control. I became convinced that the future of financial planning lies in digitalization and standardization. Technology can make financial advice more accessible, affordable, and unbiased, empowering people to make informed decisions on their own terms. That belief drove me to build Planner Bee. Of course, there were moments early on especially during the pandemic when I thought, "What have I done?" I had invested a significant amount of my own savings, and we were operating in complete uncertainty. But that vision of a fairer, more transparent financial future kept me grounded. I knew this was the right thing to do, not just for me, but for the everyday person trying to take control of their money. ### 2\. You launched Planner Bee in 2020 during the Circuit Breaker period and invested $1 million of your own money during a pandemic. Now you're growing the platform and expanding features. How has leading through that initial uncertainty shaped how you approach growth decisions and team building today? Launching during COVID was intense. The world was on pause, yet I was hitting "go" on this risky, untested venture. It forced me to be both bold and cautious at the same time. Every decision felt amplified, there was no room for waste, and no safety net. But that constraint made us incredibly focused. It taught me how to operate lean, stay close to our users, and adapt quickly. In terms of team building, I look for resilience and clarity. I want people who can thrive in ambiguity but stay anchored in purpose. We don't hire just for skills, we hire for conviction. And in terms of growth, I've learned not to chase every shiny opportunity. We double down on what our users actually want and what we can uniquely solve for. That discipline came directly from launching in crisis mode. ### 3\. The insurance industry in Singapore has operated the same way for decades. You're essentially telling people they don't need agents and can do this themselves. How do you convince consumers to trust your platform, especially when you're going up against the very system you used to be part of? It’s true that what we’re doing is disruptive. But it’s also overdue. People today are empowered in every aspect of life, from booking their own travel to managing investments online. Why should insurance be any different? I spent over a decade in the traditional system, so I understand both its strengths and its blind spots. Our message isn't “you don't need help,” it’s “you deserve to understand what you're buying.” Planner Bee gives users the tools to make informed, confident decisions, whether they eventually buy from us, or even elsewhere. Trust doesn't come from flashy marketing, it comes from transparency. We show users real comparisons, we educate without bias, and we never push a product just for commissions. That honesty has resonated, especially with younger users who value independence and clarity. And the fact that I came from the industry actually helps, we're not outsiders trying to tear it down. We're insiders building a better way forward. Resources: Web: [https://plannerbee.co/](https://plannerbee.co/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) Instagram: [https://www.instagram.com/plannerbeeco/](https://www.instagram.com/plannerbeeco/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) LinkedIn: [https://www.linkedin.com/company/plannerbee/](https://www.linkedin.com/company/plannerbee/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) Facebook: Tiktok: [https://www.tiktok.com/@plannerbee](https://www.tiktok.com/@plannerbee?ref=foundedbywomen.org) > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### Breaking the Silence: How Irina Sebastiao is Transforming Lives Through Financial Empowerment and Healing URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/women-who-lead/breaking-the-silence-how-irina-sebastiao-is-transforming-lives-through-financial-empowerment-and-healing/ Last updated: 2025-07-10T14:11:35.000Z Financial abuse remains one of the most insidious yet overlooked forms of domestic violence, trapping countless women in cycles of dependency and fear. For Irina Sebastiao, founder of Women in Money and Ready to Stand Academy, addressing this invisible crisis has become both her mission and her calling. Through her dual approach of education and rescue, Irina has created a comprehensive ecosystem of support that meets women wherever they are in their financial journey. [Women in Money](https://www.womeninmoney.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) focuses on prevention and empowerment, helping women build wealth and confidence from the ground up. Meanwhile, Ready to Stand Academy provides specialized, trauma-informed support for survivors of financial abuse, offering everything from emergency assistance to long-term healing resources. What sets Irina's work apart is her understanding that true financial empowerment requires more than just knowledge—it demands community, compassion, and the courage to break cycles of silence. Her approach recognizes that for many women, the path to financial independence is also a path to healing, self-worth, and reclaiming their voice. In this conversation, Irina shares her insights on recognizing financial abuse, the transformative power of financial education, and the profound moments when women move from "I don't know how to start" to "I did it." Her story illuminates not just the challenges women face, but the extraordinary resilience and strength they possess when given the right support and tools to thrive. --- ### 1\. Financial abuse is often an invisible form of control that many people don't recognise or understand. Can you walk us through some of the warning signs women should watch for, and how financial abuse typically manifests in relationships? What would you say to a woman who might be reading this and recognising these patterns in her own life? Absolutely, financial abuse is incredibly insidious because it often masquerades as care or concern. It doesn’t leave bruises, but it leaves deep scars. Some of the most common warning signs include a partner controlling all the money, restricting access to bank accounts, demanding receipts for every purchase, or sabotaging employment opportunities. Sometimes it is hidden behind statements like 'I’ll handle the finances,' but what follows is often a slow erosion of independence.To any woman reading this and recognising these patterns: You are not alone, and it is not your fault. Financial abuse thrives in silence and shame, and the most courageous first step is simply acknowledging what is happening. There is help, and there is a path forward. At Ready to Stand Academy, we have built a community of support where women can safely explore their options, heal, and rebuild. ### 2\. You have created both a business (Women in Money) and a charity (Ready to Stand Academy) to address different aspects of women's financial empowerment. How do these two organisations work together, and what made you realise that a traditional business model alone wouldn't be enough to serve all the women who need this support? Women in Money and Ready to Stand Academy are two sides of the same mission: financial freedom for all women, especially those who have been silenced by abuse or left behind by traditional systems.Women in Money focuses on prevention and empowerment we educate, coach, and equip women to take charge of their finances and build generational wealth. But through that work, I kept meeting women who were not just starting from zero they were starting from deeply traumatic experiences, often with nothing at all. That is where Ready to Stand Academy was born. It provides wraparound support for survivors of financial abuse, including access to therapy, legal guidance, basic needs, and trauma informed financial education.The business alone could not serve everyone. Empowerment is important, but when someone is in crisis, they need more than advice they need compassion, safety, and a bridge to healing. That is why both arms of the work matter. One uplifts, the other rescues. Together, they create a full circle of support. ### 3\. You mention that transformative moment when a woman goes from 'I don't know how to start' to 'I did it.' Can you share a specific example of this transformation that particularly moved you? What are the key steps or breakthrough moments you typically see in a woman's journey from financial struggle to strength? There are so many stories that stay with me, but one that stands out is a woman who came to Ready to Stand Academy after fleeing an abusive relationship with just the clothes on her back and a small child in tow. She had no income, no savings, and believed she had no future.We started with the basics helping her understand her rights, setting up a bank account, accessing emergency support. But what changed everything was when she enrolled in one of our financial confidence workshops. For the first time, she was not just surviving she was planning. She set goals, learnt how to manage her money, and started a small cleaning business with our support. Today, she is fully self employed, pays her own rent, and volunteers with us to help other survivors.The breakthrough often begins when a woman realises she can trust herself again. From there, we focus on practical steps budgeting, debt repair, career skills but the emotional journey is just as important. It is about rebuilding self worth, finding community, and knowing you are not alone.Those are the moments that keep me going. When someone who once whispered 'I don’t know how' finally says, with pride, 'I did it.' > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### The Nutritional Therapist Who Believes the Best Medicine Happens Around a Kitchen Table URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/wellness/the-nutritional-therapist-who-believes-the-best-medicine-happens-around-a-kitchen-table/ Last updated: 2025-07-10T05:45:14.000Z In a world where meal prep means grabbing whatever's quickest and eating often happens alone at a desk, Seema Vekaria is staging a quiet revolution. Armed with a diploma in nutritional therapy and memories of her family's communal cooking rituals, she's proving that food can be medicine for more than just our bodies—it can heal our communities too. As co-founder of [Batch Cook Club](http://batchcookclub.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org), a Bristol-based social enterprise, Seema has created something remarkable: a space where cooking becomes connection, where meal planning becomes joyful, and where the simple act of chopping vegetables together transforms strangers into neighbors. Since launching in 2023, she and co-founder Laurie Roche have hosted over 60 events and events across South Bristol, reaching everyone from university students living on tight budgets to families navigating the cost-of-living crisis. But this isn't just another cooking class. Batch Cook Club is officially a Community Interest Company—a social enterprise with mission baked into its very structure. With funding from organizations like Feeding Bristol CIO and Jewsons, they offer funded cooking classes for those who would otherwise be unable to attend, ensuring that good food and community connection aren't privileges reserved for those who can afford them. Seema's approach challenges everything we think we know about healthy eating. Instead of expensive superfoods and complicated meal plans, she champions the radical idea that wellness comes from gathering together, sharing skills, and taking home meals that nourish both body and soul. As a nutritional therapist, she designs recipes that are both delicious and nutritionally balanced, but always with accessibility and joy at the center. The timing couldn't be more critical. During the cost-of-living crisis, they've learned more about the challenges people face and how beneficial their sessions are, addressing the intersecting crises of food insecurity, social isolation, and burnout that define modern life. Their model proves that the answer isn't another diet plan or wellness app—it's returning to the ancient wisdom of cooking together. In this conversation, Seema shares how childhood memories of communal cooking shaped her vision, why she believes food is a tool for emotional and social wellbeing beyond nutrition, and what she's learned about building impact-led businesses that serve communities rather than just markets. Her insights offer a blueprint for women entrepreneurs who want to create change that goes far beyond profit margins. This is leadership that looks like ladling curry into containers for neighbors, like teaching students to stretch their budgets while nourishing their bodies, like proving that sometimes the most radical thing you can do is slow down and cook together. --- ### As a Nutritional Therapist who co-founded Batch Cook Club to make healthy eating more accessible and joyful, what inspired you to create a social enterprise that brings communities together through cooking, and how do you see food as a tool for wellness beyond just nutrition? The initial spark for Batch Cook Club came from my brilliant co-founder Laurie Roche. After having her first child and whilst living in rural Wales, she found herself feeling isolated and really wanted somewhere to go that was both social and practical. She imagined a space where people - especially parents - could cook some meals for the week, chat, and eat together. When she shared the idea with me, it instantly resonated. As a Nutritional Therapist, I see food not just as a tool for physical health but as a foundation for emotional and social wellbeing too. For me personally, cooking has always been about connection. Growing up, it was never a solo task. In my family, meals were often made in a group - the women sitting around a big table, chatting and chopping vegetables, with lots of children running around and laughter filling the space. That sense of togetherness, of food as a shared ritual, left a deep imprint on me. That’s what Batch Cook Club is trying to recreate: a warm, welcoming space where food becomes a way to connect, care for ourselves, and care for each other. ### Batch Cook Club focuses on making cooking "fun, social, and accessible" while addressing challenges like lack of confidence, time, and budget constraints. What strategies have you found most effective in helping people rebuild their relationship with cooking, particularly during the cost-of-living crisis? One of the most powerful strategies has been *bringing people together to batch cook*. When we work as a group, it takes away the pressure of doing it all alone. It becomes a shared, positive experience - people chat, swap tips, and go home with multiple meals ready for the week. It’s both time-saving and cost-effective. We also focus on *confidence over perfection*. Our recipes are flexible, our approach is supportive, and we’re mindful of people’s budgets, skill levels, and time constraints. Our goal is to help people feel good in the kitchen, not overwhelmed by it. In the current cost-of-living crisis, we’ve made it a priority to run fully funded and subsidised places, work with local food retailers, and tailor sessions around what’s affordable and accessible. We are helping to build food resilience and community, one session at a time. ### Your work spans different communities - from students to families - while maintaining a strong social mission. What advice would you give to women entrepreneurs building impact-led businesses? Start by getting really clear on *why* you’re doing it - and let that guide every decision you make. Purpose-led work takes time, energy, and emotional commitment. Your "why" needs to be strong enough to carry you through uncertainty and the inevitable tough days.. Next, *listen* to your community, don’t assume you know what they need. Real impact doesn’t come from offering ready-made solutions; it comes from building something alongside your community. When people feel seen, heard, and included, lasting change becomes possible. And most importantly, *find your people*. Surround yourself with mentors, collaborators, and peers who share your values and believe in your vision. Building something meaningful is much more sustainable (and joyful!) when you’re not doing it alone. And don’t wait for perfect conditions to start. If you have a clear purpose, start small, stay flexible, and let the work grow organically. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### From Corporate Burnout to Mindful Leadership: How One Executive Is Transforming Workplace Wellness From the Inside Out URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/wellness/from-corporate-burnout-to-mindful-leadership-how-one-executive-is-transforming-workplace-wellness-from-the-inside-out/ Last updated: 2025-07-09T13:05:06.000Z In a world where corporate burnout has become the norm rather than the exception, Melody Campbell saw an opportunity to create real change. Born in Paris and arriving in the U.S. through a tennis scholarship, Melody spent over a decade climbing the corporate ladder, culminating in a managing director position at a large international corporation. But it was during this time that she witnessed something troubling: the devastating effects of burnout, anxiety, and depression on both employees and companies. Rather than accepting this as an inevitable part of business culture, Melody decided to do something about it. She founded [Mindful Mob](https://www.foundedbywomen.org/wellness/from-marketing-maven-to-wellness-advocate-how-one-leader-is-bridging-brand-strategy-with-holistic-health/), an organization whose mission is to overcome mental and physical burnout by sharing simple Breathing + Stretching + Meditation + Yoga techniques designed specifically for the corporate environment. What started as a personal mission has grown into a movement that's bringing wellness and wellbeing to employees, in order to create a world where work makes you HEALTHIER, not SICKER. Mindful Mob has worked with clients like White Labs, DNAe, UCSD, Money Thumb and Vickers Venture Partners, proving that mindfulness isn't just a nice-to-have perk—it's a business imperative. Through both individual executive coaching and company-wide programs, Melody is helping organizations discover that investing in employee wellbeing isn't just the right thing to do; it's the smart thing to do. In this candid conversation, Melody shares her insights on overcoming executive skepticism, the difference between individual and organizational change, and why burnout prevention has become her non-negotiable focus in the corporate wellness space. --- ### 1\. What led you to focus specifically on corporate burnout rather than general wellness programs? Most workplace wellness initiatives cover fitness and basic stress management, but you've built Mindful Mob around mental and physical burnout prevention. What made you see this as the key problem that needed solving? At Mindful Mob, burnout prevention is definitely a major focus for us because we’ve seen first-hand how burnout impacts every aspect of a company — from productivity to morale to retention. I’d add that we do offer a pretty substantial general wellness program alongside that. For many of our clients, burnout prevention and broader wellness go hand in hand. It’s about creating a sustainable culture of well-being that supports both mental and physical health, whether through mindfulness, fitness, or stress management tools, and amazing experts who offer 1 hour, digestible classes that any company can feel make an impact in supporting their biggest asset, which is their employees. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2025/07/Mel_Floor_Yoga3.jpg) ### 2\. How do you get buy-in from executives who see mindfulness as too "soft" for business? Your client roster includes venture capital firms and major corporations. What's your approach when you're sitting across from a CFO or CEO who's skeptical about meditation having any real impact on their bottom line? For us, it starts with speaking their language. We tie mindfulness and stress reduction directly to business outcomes: lower turnover, better focus, improved decision-making, and higher employee engagement, as well as helping companies become more desirable by new talent that may have multiple offers. Executives want to see that this work has a measurable impact, so we often start with pilot programs or workshops that demonstrate quick wins. Once they see the ripple effect and feedback from their employees, rarely do they look back, they often become our biggest champions. ### 3\. What's the biggest difference between teaching mindfulness one-on-one versus implementing it company-wide? You offer both individual executive coaching and team programs. How does the dynamic change when you're trying to create cultural shift across an entire organization versus working with just one leader? Working one-on-one with executives is powerful because you can go deep, personalize practices, and help leaders model the behavior they want to see. But when you’re scaling mindfulness company-wide, it’s more about creating systems and spaces for people to connect with these practices together and making it feel accessible, not intimidating. The biggest difference is in culture-building: helping people at all levels feel like they’re part of a supportive environment that values well-being, not just a one-off training session. It’s that cultural shift that makes the real difference over time. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### From Architecture to Intimacy: Chloe Macintosh on Designing Spaces for Sexual Wellbeing URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/wellness/from-architecture-to-intimacy-chloe-macintosh-on-designing-digital-spaces-for-sexual-wellbeing/ Last updated: 2025-07-14T12:19:50.000Z In a world where conversations about sex and pleasure are often whispered behind closed doors, Chloe Macintosh is building something revolutionary: a digital sanctuary where pleasure, intimacy, and self-discovery can flourish without shame or judgment. As the founder and CEO of [Kama](https://kama.co/?ref=foundedbywomen.org), the groundbreaking sexual wellness app, Chloe brings a unique perspective shaped by her diverse career journey — from designing iconic buildings with architectural legend Norman Foster to revolutionizing home design as co-founder of Made.com, and creating immersive experiences as Chief Creative Officer at Soho House. Chloe’s path to sexual wellbeing began 20 years ago when she became pregnant with her first child and realised there was a significant gap in high-quality, science-backed resources for sexual health and intimacy. This personal discovery, combined with her expertise in creating spaces where people feel safe and inspired, led her to develop Kama — an educational platform that offers hundreds of video tips and guided practices to help us connect with pleasure as a pathway to wellbeing. The exercises she offers on the Kama app blend ancient traditions such as Daoism with neuroscience, psychosexuality, somatic awareness, breathwork, and movement. Having researched intimacy and sexuality for the past two decades — exploring the world to meet experts and facilitating her own workshops and sessions — she understands that sexual wellbeing isn’t just about how to have better sex; it’s about creating environments where vulnerability, growth, and true intimacy can coexist. The app is designed as a daily practice to optimise pleasure as a path to embodiment, helping users “have sex in your body, not in your head.” In this candid conversation, Chloe shares how her background in creating physical spaces informs her approach to digital wellbeing, the challenges of building a business in the heavily censored world of sexual wellness, and her vision for transforming how society approaches pleasure as a fundamental aspect of health and happiness. --- ### 1\. With a career spanning architecture (at Norman Foster), co-founding Made.com, and leading creative innovation at Soho House, how did these experiences shape your approach to designing not just spaces, but also digital spaces of intimacy with Kama? What design principles have translated into crafting an app centered on embodied pleasure? Working in architecture with Norman Foster taught me how people interact with physical spaces — and that good design shapes behavior. At Made.com, I learned how to make great design accessible to everyone, and at Soho House, I focused on creating spaces that feel warm and welcoming. With Kama, we created a brand that feels inviting, inclusive, and playful, thanks to our illustrative language. Not using photography in our marketing and branding helps people feel more comfortable having a sex app on their phone. Designing for embodied pleasure means guiding people to connect with their bodies step by step, without overwhelm or shame. Whether it’s a mindful touch practice or a guided self-pleasure meditation, the digital space needs to feel calm, safe, and non-judgmental. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2025/07/unnamed--19-.jpg) ### 2\. Kama is built on a multidisciplinary fusion — neuroplasticity, psychosexuality, somatic awareness, and ancient traditions such as Daoism, among others — cultivating a daily practice as a method of rewiring pleasure pathways. What have you observed is key to helping users establish these intimate self-practice habits regularly? Which methods or nudges have been most effective in encouraging sustained engagement? The biggest factor in helping people build regular pleasure practices is keeping it simple and inviting. People don’t stick with things that feel like work or make them feel bad about themselves. Short, easy practices that can fit into daily life work best. What I’ve found is that it’s not only about creating new habits — it’s also about adapting existing ones, which is much easier. It starts with being kind to yourself and staying present with sensations as they occur. This helps people stay in their bodies and not stuck in their heads. We want people to realise that pleasure isn’t just about sex; it’s about feeling safe in your own body every day. That reframing helps people treat it like a daily act of self-care, not an indulgence. Pleasure is not just the reward — it’s the process. ### 3\. In openly discussing sex and pleasure, you’ve encountered platform censorship that even restricts language and wholehearted expression of intimacy. How do you navigate these constraints while maintaining depth and authenticity in your content? What strategies are you using (or advocating) to ensure meaningful conversations can thrive despite these barriers? Building Kama means balancing what’s possible now with what we want the future to look like: open conversations about sex, love, and intimacy without shame. We’re committed to this mission, even when we can’t control how things evolve. Our relationship with the App Store has been key to our growth. By working closely with their editorial and tech teams, we helped create a new category for sexual wellbeing, which means we can be featured and supported in their ecosystem. Other platforms haven’t shifted their approach yet, which still makes it difficult to advertise or share content without risking shadow bans. While there has been real progress in the past ten years around conversations and education on these topics, there’s still a long way to go. Our focus is to find the language and practices that invite more people to connect to pleasure as a pathway to wellbeing. This is the entry point to feeling more embodied and safe, so we can better communicate our needs and wants in relationships. Improving our emotional and relational health is key to overall wellbeing. ***Ready to explore your own journey with sexual wellness? Chloe is offering our readers 50% off a yearly subscription to the Kama app. Visit*** [***www.kama.co/harvest***](http://www.kama.co/harvest?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ***to get started.*** > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### From Pet Grooming to Business Systems: How Liz Illg Discovered Her True Calling in Building Scalable Operations URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/women-who-lead/from-pet-grooming-to-business-systems-how-liz-illg-discovered-her-true-calling-in-building-scalable-operations/ Last updated: 2025-07-08T19:19:01.000Z Some entrepreneurs find their calling through years of searching. Others discover it by accident—while building something entirely different. [Liz Illg](http://lizillg.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) falls into the latter category. What started as a pet grooming business became a masterclass in operational excellence, leading her to found Legendary Ideas Group, where she now helps other entrepreneurs systematize their businesses for growth and freedom. Liz's journey from grooming pets to grooming business processes offers valuable insights for any entrepreneur struggling with the day-to-day operations that keep them trapped in their business rather than working on it. Her story is one of recognizing that sometimes your greatest expertise isn't in what you thought you were building, but in how you built it. In this conversation, Liz shares how she scaled her pet grooming business to six locations before realizing her true value lay in the systems she'd created, her philosophy on reinvesting in business growth, and how she balances mission-driven work with the practical realities of running a profitable company. For women entrepreneurs especially, her insights on investing boldly in business infrastructure—rather than defaulting to conservative financial decisions—offer a refreshing perspective on what it takes to build a business that truly serves both its owner and its clients. --- ### 1\. You went from scaling a pet grooming business to helping other entrepreneurs systematize their operations. What made you realize that your real expertise wasn't in grooming pets, but in building the systems that let businesses run without you? When I built my pet grooming business, I thought my role would always revolve around the actual service—until I realized the business ran smoother without me in the day-to-day. That shift happened when I created clear systems, manuals, and workflows to train staff and standardize operations. Suddenly, I had time, freedom, and a profitable business that didn’t rely on me being everywhere at once. I realized: *this* was the real value I had created. The grooming industry just happened to be where I learned the skill—what I truly loved was building the infrastructure that let other people thrive in their zone of genius. That’s when I knew I could help other entrepreneurs do the same in their own industries. ### 2\. You've talked about how much you reinvest in your businesses—amounts that would surprise people. Most entrepreneurs, especially women, tend to be really conservative with spending. What was the investment that scared you the most but ended up being a game-changer? The scariest investment was hiring my first full-time team member to manage operations. It felt like a massive leap—committing to a salary, training, and letting go of control. But it was also the moment everything clicked. It freed up my bandwidth to actually lead the business, not just run it. That single hire allowed us to scale, take on more clients, and serve them at a higher level. Reinvesting has become a core value for me. I believe women entrepreneurs especially deserve to build businesses that aren’t dependent on personal burnout. Sometimes the boldest move is trusting yourself enough to go “all in” on the infrastructure. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2025/07/1295LizIllg2021FullyAlivePhotography2021.jpeg) ### 3\. You've said you're "motivated by others' success" and love being part of people's growth process. There's clearly a soul-driven mission behind what you do, but you're also running a business that needs to be profitable and strategic. How do you balance staying true to that purpose of genuinely helping people with the practical realities of building a sustainable company? Have you ever had to make tough decisions where those two things were at odds? It’s definitely a balance—but one we’ve become intentional about. At Legendary Ideas Group, we’re guided by a mission to support people’s growth, and part of that means *meeting people where they are in their business*. Not every client is ready for a full-blown system overhaul, and that’s okay—we’ve built our services and offers to support entrepreneurs at different stages. That said, we also have to make strategic decisions that ensure our business is healthy and our team is supported. There have absolutely been moments where those two values were at odds—like saying no to underpriced work, or walking away from a client who wasn’t ready to implement. Those decisions are hard, but necessary. Helping people isn’t about overextending—it’s about creating sustainable solutions that truly serve them long-term. And that starts with us modeling sustainability in our own business. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### Building Community in Mental Health: A Conversation with Jennifer Larson on Leadership, Innovation, and the Future of Therapy URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/wellness/building-community-in-mental-health-a-conversation-with-jennifer-larson-on-leadership-innovation-and-the-future-of-therapy/ Last updated: 2025-07-08T19:30:49.000Z In the evolving landscape of mental health care, few practitioners have demonstrated the vision and commitment to community-building like Jennifer Larson, LCPC, NCC. As the founder and owner of [Concentric Counseling & Consulting](https://www.concentricchicago.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org), Jennifer has transformed what began as a solo private practice in 2010 into a thriving group practice that serves Chicago's downtown Loop and North/Northwest neighborhoods. Established in 2013, Concentric Counseling & Consulting emerged from Jennifer's recognition that she could "contribute and help as many people as a practitioner in a group practice" and her desire to "be a part of something bigger." The practice has since become a model for collaborative mental health care, where therapists meet regularly with one another to provide support, clinical consultation, and coordination of care – an approach that sets them apart in the field. With over 25 years of experience in the mental health industry, Jennifer is a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor (LCPC) and National Certified Counselor (NCC) who specializes in anxiety disorders, relationship issues, complex trauma, and family-of-origin work. Beyond her clinical expertise, she has emerged as a thought leader in mental health accessibility and professional development, regularly providing supervision and consultation to emerging therapists throughout the Chicagoland area. Her commitment to social responsibility extends beyond the therapy room. Concentric has donated counseling services to students at neighborhood Chicago Public Schools and partnered with The Kennedy Forum and The Chicago Community Trust to host community discussions aimed at combating mental health stigma. In this conversation, Jennifer shares insights from her journey as both a clinician and entrepreneur, discusses the systemic challenges facing mental health accessibility, and offers her perspective on preparing the next generation of therapists for an evolving field shaped by technology, social media, and changing cultural attitudes toward mental health. --- ## As a licensed psychotherapist and founder, what inspired you to establish your own practice, and how do you balance the dual roles of clinician and entrepreneur? At some point during my life, I felt a strong desire to create and own a business that reflected my life's desire and work. From a young age, I had learned to be self-reliant, and I wanted the freedom to shape my own path and build something meaningful. Since my teenage years, I have worked hard and consistently, taking on many jobs in different environments and organizations. Some of the jobs included working at a hair salon, clothing and a shoe store, restaurants and wine, dishwashing, a medical illustration department, and a large HMO. In my early 20s in Wisconsin, during my undergrad years, I began intentionally focusing on jobs in the mental health field, setting the stage for a future as a mental health provider. My graduate internship at a private practice group in Arizona reinforced my goal of eventually becoming a psychotherapist in private practice. Throughout my varied work experiences, I learned which bosses, mentors, organizations, and roles I appreciated, and which ones I did not. These experiences helped shape the characteristics and values I wanted to emulate and develop. After working at two large community-based mental health agencies and a group practice in Chicago, I opened my own solo private practice. However, I very much missed aspects of being part of a group and longed to return to that sense of community. I wanted to draw on my previous experiences by creating a group practice where everyone could learn from one another, support each other's growth, and provide a range of services, as well as enjoy a sense of community where we could get together outside of work and have fun. In 2013, I founded Concentric Counseling & Consulting, a group practice in Chicago. Earlier in my career, transitioning into the roles of caseworker and psychotherapist came more easily to me than moving from a solo private practice to establishing a group practice. My foundation as a therapist was stronger, given my education in sociology, psychology, and clinical psychology and varied work experiences in mental health, as well as my own lived experiences, including my own struggles and successes with mental health. However, I had little experience or training in leadership or business operations. I hadn't taken any college courses in those areas, so I didn't always emulate or achieve the leadership qualities I hoped for during the early days of my group practice. There were many growing pains and a steep learning curve. I have learned over the years achieving balance can require at times first experiencing imbalance. In recent years, it became clear I needed to focus more on my leadership and operational roles at my group practice. I have dedicated more time to strengthening these skills, including participating in an Authentic Leadership Training program for group practice owners and meeting regularly with other practice owners for ongoing learning and support. I look forward to continuing to learn and grow as a leader and group practice owner. ## What are the most significant challenges you've observed in mental health accessibility, and how is your practice working to address these barriers? There are several challenges in making mental health accessible, especially at the systemic level. In certain cultures and subcultures, there is still a stigma attached to mental health, discussing it openly, and seeking therapy. This stigma creates barriers to accessing services and treatment. Thankfully, there have been some positive trends. For example, some schools have incorporated social-emotional learning (SEL) into their curriculum, starting in elementary school and continuing through high school. Younger people are generally more comfortable talking about their mental health and sharing information, including on social media. The COVID pandemic brought greater awareness and more conversations about the importance of mental health. Progress has been made, but it is usually limited to smaller pockets of communities, not on a larger level. There is still significant work to be done. Cost and insurance issues are also major barriers, making it difficult for some people to access and afford healthcare, including mental health services. This is a systemic problem, as many people in our country lack access to adequate healthcare. Everyone deserves healthcare, and it's unfortunate this is not universally the case. On the provider side, at least in Chicago, insurance companies have done little to increase reimbursement rates for mental health providers since 2006, when I began working in private practice. This lack of progress is both demoralizing and unjust. Mental health providers often feel undervalued by insurance companies, especially compared to providers in other disciplines, not to mention operating expenses of our work continue to rise. Because of this, many psychotherapists limit the number of insurance companies they work with or accept only self-pay clients. I don't fault providers for making these decisions. This does though cause a ripple effect that further restricts access for those with certain insurance plans. To address stigma and barriers to mental health care, at Concentric Counseling & Consulting, we have taken several steps. We have partnered with organizations such as The Kennedy Forum Illinois and The Chicago Community Trust, hosting #BreaktheSilence OnTheTable2017 conversations at Millennium Park to encourage open dialogue about mental health and addiction. We share information and educational content through blog posts and social media, with plans to expand these efforts in the very near future. We also accept graduate students and interns, which allows us to offer sliding-scale rates to those who are uninsured or facing financial hardship. Additionally, we donated our services for one year to elementary school students at our local Chicago Public School (CPS). We support bills such as Illinois House Bill 1085 and Senate Bill 55, which aim to improve mental health and substance use disorder treatment access by addressing insurance coverage and reimbursement rates (this is still in the works and hope they get passed by IL Congress and signed by our Governor). We continue to advocate by writing to state representatives and insurance companies for increased reimbursement rates. ## In your role as a supervisor and consultant, what emerging trends do you see in mental health treatment, and how are you preparing the next generation of therapists for these changes? Mental health and therapy continue to evolve, with a growing approach on integrative therapy and getting away from a one-size-fits-all approach. This is a more personalized approach to individuals, couples, relationships, and families, and in my opinion, is essential for helping people. Social media continues to take on an influential role in the mental health space, serving as a tool for education, awareness, and connection. And more recently, AI has entered the field, bringing some understandable apprehension in our field. With any major universal and societal changes (such as the Internet, smartphones), initial resistance is natural as many want to live life as we know it and it is our primal instinct for self-preservation. I count myself among those who feel cautious (I am typically a late bloomer to certain big universal changes), but I also acknowledge that this shift is already underway and will only continue to grow and it's better to find ways to learn, adapt, and assimilate these changes while continuing to advocate for ethical, and human-centered mental health care. Undoubtedly, we will need to create space to learn and navigate how social media and AI can be both helpful and unhelpful in our industry. I feel deeply privileged to serve as a supervisor and consultant to the next generation of therapists. This new generation brings a different type of openness toward mental health. Many of them have undergone years of therapy starting in their childhood or adolescent years and many are very comfortable talking about their own mental health. In fact, several graduate programs require students to participate in their own therapy. Not only does it support personal healing and growth, but it also fosters deep empathy and understanding of what it means to sit in the client's seat. The therapists I supervise are typically self-aware and willing to explore their own vulnerabilities that naturally arise in their work with clients. This self-reflection practice is a foundational part of becoming a highly skilled and compassionate clinician. I'm continually inspired by their courage, insight, and willingness to show up fully. This generation is highly informed. They have access to more mental health information than ever before and are skilled at using and sharing it through social media. They're also strong self-advocates, a quality I greatly admire, especially having come from a generation where self-advocacy was not always encouraged. That said, I also notice an emerging challenge. Some new therapists express preferences about which populations or client groups they don't want to work with, not necessarily due to lack of training or competence, but based on what I believe may be personal preferences. While I respect and understand the importance of aligning work with one's values and understand that we do need to find clinical areas of interest (one therapist can't treat everyone and every presenting concerns and needs), I do believe in the value of a growth oriented model. Working with a wide variety of clients can be one of the most enriching and powerful experiences in a therapist's growth and development. I have concerns therapists who want to limit themselves may experience certain limitations in the work they do with clients. In some cases, I've heard about therapists who want to avoid working with clients based on their political beliefs. This is very concerning to me. As therapists, our ethical code calls us to serve people and not to discriminate. In a time when our country is highly divided, I believe our field has the potential to be a place of collective unity and healing, and I am concerned some therapists in the new generation who only want to work with people who are aligned with certain political parties, may possibly contribute to greater fragmentation. Like many therapists, I know which clinical issues and populations I tend to work with best. But I also believe that stepping outside of our comfort zones can lead to unexpected and professional growth. I worry personal preferences may unintentionally contribute to division, rather than healing. It is my hope that we can continue guiding and supporting emerging therapists to balance self-awareness with professional responsibility, and to see the power in working across lines of difference. At Concentric, we have a few supervisors, including myself. My hope is that all of us who are in a supervisory role can continue to create space to have exploratory conversations with guidance and support around this emerging trend. Ultimately, I feel honored to walk alongside this next generation. They are passionate, resourceful, and committed to mental wellness in ways that continue to inspire me. I know I learn a tremendous amount from the new generation of therapists and my hope is the younger generation of therapists will learn a tremendous amount from the older generation as well. We both bring tremendous value and it's wonderful when both generations of therapists can meet in a shared space where we learn and grow together. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### From Engineering to Growth: How Dena Nejad Bridges Technical Depth with Strategic Marketing URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/women-who-lead/from-engineering-to-growth-how-dena-nejad-bridges-technical-depth-with-strategic-marketing/ Last updated: 2025-07-08T17:32:42.000Z Some of the most compelling go-to-market leaders don't follow traditional paths. Dena Nejad, Founder, GTM and Growth Advisor at [Roya Labs](https://roya.us/?ref=foundedbywomen.org), exemplifies this perfectly. Her journey from mechanical engineer to marketing executive at high-growth companies like Bosch, HOVER and Showpad has given her a unique perspective on how technical products find their market fit. After years of scaling marketing teams through multiple funding rounds, Dena made the leap to consulting, founding Roya Labs to help early-stage founders navigate the complex terrain between having a brilliant product and building sustainable growth. Her approach combines the systematic thinking of an engineer with the strategic storytelling skills of a seasoned marketer—a combination that's particularly valuable in today's AI and emerging tech landscape. In this conversation, Dena shares insights on making unconventional career transitions, the difference between consulting and in-house marketing leadership, and the biggest mistakes she sees founders making when they're eager to scale. Her perspective on slowing down to speed up offers a refreshing counterpoint to the "growth at all costs" mentality that often dominates startup conversations. --- ### 1\. You started your career as a mechanical engineer and eventually became a marketing executive at companies like HOVER and Showpad. That’s not a typical trajectory. What drew you to marketing, and how has your engineering background shaped the way you approach go-to-market strategy? I’ve always been drawn to how things work, whether it’s a physical system or human behavior. Engineering trained me to solve complex problems with a structured, systems-based mindset, and marketing gave me a space to understand people and drive change at scale. I didn’t take a straight path from engineering to marketing, but once I realized that go-to-market strategy is really about pattern recognition, experimentation, and iteration, just like engineering, I was hooked. My background allows me to toggle between technical depth and strategic storytelling. I’m often the one translating between product, engineering, and the market, helping teams connect what they’re building to what users actually value. That combination has served me especially well in AI and emerging tech, where the products are deeply technical but the need for clarity and relevance in messaging is even greater. ### 2\. After years of leading marketing teams at high-growth companies, you decided to start Roya Labs and work with multiple clients instead of focusing on one organization. What was behind that decision? And what’s different about building growth strategies as a consultant versus being the person executing them day-to-day? After scaling teams and navigating several Series A to D journeys, I hit a point where I wanted more variety and more ownership over the kinds of problems I was solving. Roya Labs was born from a desire to help early-stage founders who had brilliant products but lacked go-to-market clarity. I wanted to bring the same level of strategic rigor I used in-house to companies that were still searching for product-market fit. Consulting shifts the dynamic. You’re not embedded, so you have to learn fast, read between the lines, and influence without authority. But it also gives you perspective. You see patterns across companies, industries, and stages that most people miss when they’re in the trenches of just one business. That altitude has made me sharper and more honest. I don’t just build growth strategies. I help teams prioritize, get unblocked, and focus on what actually moves the needle. ### 3\. Through Roya Labs, you work with a lot of early-stage companies on their go-to-market approach. What’s the biggest mistake you see founders making when they’re trying to scale their marketing and sales efforts? And how do you help them think about it differently? Founders often try to scale too soon. They want the playbook before they’ve really figured out what’s working and for whom. It’s tempting to invest in ads, hire sales reps, or redesign the website before validating the basics: who your ideal customer is, what problem you’re solving for them, and how they’re making decisions. I help founders slow down to speed up. We get crystal clear on buyer psychology and what makes their product actually different. From there, we run focused experiments to learn what converts. Once that clarity is in place, I help them build the right growth levers and scale them in a way that’s sustainable. Most early-stage go-to-market is about focus, not scale. When you nail the fundamentals, the growth follows. *Resources* Website: [https://roya.us/](https://roya.us/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) Newsletter: [Substack](https://roya.substack.com/p/food-for-thought-june-2025) Linkedin: [Dena Nejad](https://www.linkedin.com/in/denanejad/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) Email: [dena@roya.us](mailto:dena@roya.us) Instagram: [@Summittomar](https://www.instagram.com/summittomar/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### From Kitchen Table to Global Stage: How Barjis Chohan Is Redefining Success Through Purpose-Driven Leadership URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/women-who-lead/from-kitchen-table-to-global-stage-how-barjis-chohan-is-redefining-success-through-purpose-driven-leadership/ Last updated: 2025-07-08T11:03:56.000Z When Barjis Chohan was told that "high-end fashion is elitist, with very little diversity, and that there are very few designers from a Pakistani background who wear a hijab," she could have walked away. Instead, she chose to prove those voices wrong—becoming a trailblazer in modest fashion and building an award-winning multi-cultural lifestyle brand that spans from London Fashion Week to luxury hotel projects worldwide. From humble beginnings at her kitchen table in 1999 while pregnant with her first child, Barjis has grown [Barjis London](https://barjislondon.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) into a pioneering force in high-end modest fashion, bespoke luxury rugs, and sustainable design. Her journey from medical school aspirations to fashion entrepreneurship embodies the power of following your instincts over convention. "If the world is turning right, I turn left," she explains—a philosophy that has guided her through decades of building both profit and purpose. But Barjis's definition of success extends far beyond business metrics. In 2018, she launched The Barjis Initiative, a social enterprise dedicated to making the arts accessible to underrepresented communities through her BAMME (Black, Asian, Marginalised, and Minority Ethnic) leadership programme. Her work bridges the gap between commercial success and social impact, proving that businesses can be both profitable and transformative. In this candid conversation, Barjis shares how she navigated an industry that told her she didn't belong, transformed her approach to sustainability over seven years of learning, and why she believes true success means making space at the top for others. Her insights offer a roadmap for female entrepreneurs seeking to build businesses that create lasting change while staying true to their values and heritage. --- ### 1\. You've described how you were told that "high-end fashion is elitist, with very little diversity, and that there are very few designers from a Pakistani background who wear a hijab." Yet you persevered and became a pioneer in high-end modest fashion. What specific moment or realization gave you the confidence to prove those voices wrong, and how do you advise other women from underrepresented communities to navigate industries where they're told they don't belong? I always follow my gut and never the herd. If the world is turning right, I turn left. There will always be naysayers, but if you are convinced about an idea, then you must follow it through. I don't plan, I just act on it, whether it fails or is appreciated. You will never know if something is working until you put it out into the world. I knew it was working when I was getting press coverage without hiring a PR company. People were interested in my point of view. This is when I knew that I needed to continue what I was doing. I would advise everyone not to wait to figure everything out. Just put your ideas out there. So many brands are worried about people copying their ideas or the fear of failure. However, people can copy your work, but they can't copy you. We are all unique and nobody can replace you! ### 2\. Your journey spans from starting BARJIS at your kitchen table in 1999 to founding The Barjis Initiative in 2018\. How has your definition of success evolved from building a profitable business to creating social impact? What drove you to launch the BAMME leadership programme, and what tangible changes have you seen in the communities you're working to empower? I cannot do anything in life that does not have a purpose. Whatever I have done in life is with passion. I always believe that once you are in a privileged position, you must make space at the top for others. Whether it's profit-driven or social impact, everything should have an intention to make a difference. The Barjis Initiative was set up to help others from less privileged backgrounds access the arts. It comes from personal experiences of barriers to entering the elitist creative field, as so much talent is wasted due to class barriers. With TBI, I want young people from underrepresented communities to thrive in the arts. The changes I have seen are that we are seeing more people of colour enter the creative industries, but there is still a lot of work to be done as the class issue is still prevalent in the industry. ### 3\. You've spent seven years understanding and implementing sustainability in fashion - an industry known for its environmental challenges. As someone who has successfully introduced sustainable products to market, what has been your biggest learning about the gap between talking about sustainability and actually implementing it? How do you balance the pressure for immediate business results with long-term sustainable practices, especially when advising other female entrepreneurs? Transparency and being honest go a long way. Sustainability has become a buzzword, but there is no such thing as 100% sustainable. We are all striving to reduce the carbon footprint, and my sustainable notebooks are an example of an idea to reduce fabrics thrown in the landfill by making them into notebooks and journals. Your idea doesn't have to be groundbreaking; it can be a simple idea, done with a clear intention to make that little bit of a difference. These notebooks helped me stay profitable and in business during the pandemic, as nobody was buying clothes, but they wanted to send these journals to their loved ones. How do I balance profitability with sustainability? Keep the products diverse and have low-entry products that will bring frequent revenue alongside the high-end products that are focused on building relationships and loyalty. It's a balancing act, and sometimes creativity wins while at other times business wins. It's not easy to balance art, business, and sustainability. As I mentioned, it's not about using eco-friendly products, but it's about creating a sense of sentimentality so that your clients would want to pass down their valuable possessions to their loved ones and not throw them in landfills. This is sustainability for me, and this is a tradition in South Asian communities—to gift their loved possessions to their children and family. Whether it's my luxury rugs, jewellery, or clothing, a Barjis London piece is always retained and kept with love. For me, this is what you call sustainability and brand success. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### From Marketing Maven to Wellness Advocate: How One Leader is Bridging Brand Strategy with Holistic Health URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/wellness/from-marketing-maven-to-wellness-advocate-how-one-leader-is-bridging-brand-strategy-with-holistic-health/ Last updated: 2025-07-07T08:18:19.000Z In a world where wellness brands are multiplying faster than morning meditation apps, standing out requires more than just sleek packaging and aspirational messaging. It demands authentic understanding—of both the market and the deeper human need for genuine wellbeing. This month, we sit down with Florence Crush, a marketing strategist at [Wellverse](https://www.wellverse.io/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) whose journey exemplifies this evolution. With over a decade of experience helping brands find their voice in crowded markets, she's now pursuing nutritional medicine alongside her full-time marketing role—a combination that's giving her unprecedented insight into what wellness brands are getting right, and more importantly, what they're getting wrong. Her story is one of continuous learning, authentic growth, and the courage to question conventional approaches. From navigating the ever-shifting landscape of digital marketing to discovering the profound connections between mind, body, and brand messaging, she offers a refreshing perspective on how brands can show up authentically in the wellness space. In this candid conversation, she shares hard-won wisdom about agility in marketing, the importance of understanding your customers' real pain points, and why the most successful wellness brands are those brave enough to show their full journey—struggles and all. --- ### 1\. You've been in marketing for over a decade now - what's the biggest shift you've seen in how brands need to show up? Always be agile and open-minded. Digital marketing, particularly social media, is ever-changing, so it’s essential to always adopt a learning mindset. Never assume you know everything, and stay aware of what’s happening in the wider world rather than focusing only on your industry - otherwise it's easy to “put the blinkers on” and become siloed. Remember that what worked a year ago may not work now, so brands should find reliable resources so they can stay up to date with the latest announcements and algorithm updates, stay flexible and proactive, and don't forget to use your intuition. Never shy away from experimenting with new software or processes, especially with the explosion of AI tools, I think they have their place when the timing is right, but be careful not to outsource your creativity and mind to them - remember that you're marketing to humans, not robots, so the human touch is even more prevalent. My biggest tip would be to keep exploring and stay curious. ### 2\. If you had to give one piece of advice to a brand that's struggling to stand out in a crowded market, what would it be? First, understand who you are as a brand, beyond your visual identity. What do you stand for? What are you here to do? Make sure you *truly* understand your customers’ pain points; don’t just guess. Then, use creative storytelling to amplify that. Don’t limit yourself to inspiration within your own industry, if you do what everyone else does, you’ll just be another voice in the noise. Look at wider trends, research classic campaigns, and create a saved folder of posts you love from creators to fuel your inspiration. That cross-pollination of ideas can be a real game-changer. ### 3\. What's something you wish you'd known when you were starting out that no one talks about in those glossy “women in leadership” articles? And what's your take on the whole “authentic brand purpose” thing — are companies actually walking the walk, or is it mostly just good marketing? That nobody has it all figured out. Most people only share the good side of themselves, and that goes for both businesses and our everyday personal social media. The reality is that success is rarely a straight, steady upward trajectory. There are always peaks and troughs, but it’s about adopting a positive mindset and reframing the difficult moments as “what can I learn?” instead of “what went wrong?” Comparison can be your worst enemy and fuel imposter syndrome. The sooner you truly get to know yourself, e.g. what you really want and need, and become comfortable with practising the art of self-awareness and self-compassion, the more you’ll start to understand your place in the world. You’ll stop worrying about other people’s opinions, which is when it stops being a race and starts being a celebration. You know when a brand is showing up authentically when they show all sides of the business - the behind-the-scenes, the journey, the struggles, the successes, and I think that’s what truly resonates. It’s not about being slick and polished all the time any more. ### 4\. You're currently studying nutritional medicine alongside running your full-time role — that's incredibly ambitious! What drew you to dive deeper into the wellness space personally, and how has that insider knowledge changed the way you approach marketing for wellness brands? Are there any common mistakes you see wellness companies making when they try to communicate with their audiences? I’ve always been interested in movement, healthy eating, and, in some sense, spirituality, although I wasn’t always sure what that truly meant. It was a gradual journey, but things really shifted for me about three years ago when I started working with more clients in the wellbeing space. Because of their nature, I had to research everything from mindful sleeping habits and nutrition to the latest studies on medical cannabis and data on psychedelic therapy trials to treat mental health conditions. To say the least, it was varied! But it opened my eyes to the holistic connection of treating the whole person, compared to what traditional Western healthcare often does - focusing on single symptoms instead of root causes and the whole mind x body self. A helpful analogy is: if there was a leak in your house, would you mop the floor first or fix the crack? You'd fix the crack (unless you have no idea what you're doing). It's the same for your health, and the mind and body are so interconnected you need to address what's happening inside both. I became interested in functional medicine after discovering content from people like Dr Mark Hyman, Dr Jeffrey Bland, and Dr Khush Mark - and then found that Dr Mark runs her own two-year integrated nutritional medicine course here in the UK, which also includes integrative coaching. After feeling burnt out about a year ago, I booked a holistic plant medicine retreat in the Spanish mountains, which I genuinely believe rewired my brain somewhat. It finally gave me the headspace to think about how I wanted to progress in both my life and career, and how I could genuinely be of service and leave a positive impact on the world. So last summer, I signed up for Dr Mark’s course, was lucky enough to be accepted, and here I am a year later with one year to go. It’s so fascinating learning about how everything in the body and mind connects (albeit humbling at times), but I love every minute of it. As for wellness brands, my advice would be: don’t overcomplicate your proposition or your communications. Think about your end goal. It’s hard to see the label from inside the bottle, you might know your business inside out, but your audience doesn’t. So focus on their pain points and simplify your message. Can you explain what you offer in under 30 seconds? Is your communication consistent and universal? If not, you may need to revisit your positioning. That’s one of the reasons I love what I do: my [team ](https://www.wellverse.io/?ref=foundedbywomen.org)and I get to hold up a magnifying glass to a business, take a deep dive into what the audience truly wants vs what the brand needs, and build an identity system that forges genuine connections. And that's the sweet spot, where the magic happens. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### Holding Space in the Darkness: Dr. Nicole Law on Building Trust Through Vulnerability and Community Care URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/wellness/holding-space-in-the-darkness-dr-nicole-law-on-building-trust-through-vulnerability-and-community-care/ Last updated: 2025-07-06T06:46:20.000Z *In a world where mental health care often prioritizes efficiency over connection, Dr. Nicole Law has built her practice on a different foundation: the belief that everyone has a story worth holding safely, and that healing happens in the countless small moments of showing up with a fully charged flashlight.* Dr. Nicole Law's journey to founding [Aloe Integrative Psychology Group](http://aloepsychology.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) began with a powerful lesson learned in her family's small-town Michigan restaurant. When a fire swept through downtown but spared their establishment, young Nicole watched her mother make coffee and muffins for the exhausted firefighters. "I'm not a firefighter," her mother said. "I don't run into burning buildings and save people. I make coffee and muffins... Everyone has a job and everyone's job matters." This philosophy of service—of finding your unique way to care for others—now guides Dr. Law's approach to mental health care. As a licensed psychologist specializing in perinatal loss, fertility challenges, and supporting transgender youth and their families, she has built a practice that prioritizes quality over quantity, vulnerability over perfection, and community connection over individual achievement. Aloe Integrative Psychology Group, which Dr. Law founded and leads, aims to provide the highest level of care for those in the mental health sphere while empowering clinicians to model emotional wellness. Her approach is truly integrative—collaborating with fertility clinics, medical professionals, holistic practitioners, and even spiritual advisors when they're important to a client's cultural worldview. In our conversation, Dr. Law shares how COVID taught her the power of leading with vulnerability, why she keeps backup batteries for her metaphorical flashlight, and how mental health care must address not just individual healing but systemic change. Her practice serves as a model for what's possible when we prioritize the humanity of both therapists and clients, creating space for fresh fruit in the waiting room and fresh perspectives in the therapy room. --- ### 1\. As a reproductive health psychologist, your practice focuses on some unique populations such as those dealing with perinatal loss, fertility challenges, and transgender youth. How do you approach building trust with clients during such vulnerable periods? I think I’ve always felt a connection to those who felt some what invisible and overlooked. But each specialty connects to me personally in some way. Years ago my parents had a restaurant in a small town in Michigan. One day there was a fire in the downtown strip but their restaurant was spared. When I found out my mom was making coffee and muffins I thought she was in shock. Who would come eat in the middle of a fire? What she said next shaped much of the way I see my work. She said “I’m not a fire fighter. I don’t run into burning buildings and save people. I make coffee and muffins. And I think that firefighters that have been up all night working could use some coffee and muffins. Everyone has a job and everyone’s job matters.” I think about that moment often. Ever since I was young, people would approach me and share intimate details of their stories. Each person that enters my office has a story and each story is part of our collective history. I hold their stories and keep them safe. During my dissertation, I set out to do a quantitative study, but I got more information from the question “is there anything else you would like to share about your experience of pregnancy loss” than the rest of my data collection. Folks needed a place to open up where they could feel seen and heard. During COVID I learned sitting in my own vulnerability showed many of them they could be vulnerable without losing everything that made them strong. It was a “you go first” moment. I make mistakes, I misspeak and I correct myself with kindness and give them the grace they deserve without guilt. In a field dominated by western ideals such as psychoanalysis and behaviorism that present the therapist as a blank slate, this is a somewhat radical idea. In many traditional approaches to therapy, like psychoanalysis or behaviorism, therapists are taught to stay neutral and not share much of themselves. But in feminist and relational-cultural therapy, the belief is that healing happens through the connection between therapist and client. And for that connection to be felt by the clients, I have to bring my full, authentic self into the room. These vulnerable times bring up complex feelings that have clients doubting and criticizing themselves. Fertility clients question every water glass they have used, every negative thought they have had about a child or having a child. They feel guilt after conception if things get hard. They need to know that all their feelings are welcome. I have quite a few conservative parents of transgender youth that have conflicting feelings about their child’s identity. They worry I will judge them or that I will try and convince them to see things my way. I see them as parents that love their children and are worried about their safety and futures. When my work starts from that premise, we naturally trust one another. I hold the flashlight as we walk through the darkest parts of their life. I make sure they know I will not leave them alone in the darkness by showing up week after week with a fully charged light. I provide data and information when it is needed or wanted, boundaries that keep everyone safe, and unconditional positive regard for the entire family. That is not always easy when you are working with a family that doesn’t see eye to eye. When it comes to building trust, there is no substitute for time, consistency, and simply showing up. ### 2\. Aloe Integrative Psychology Group emphasizes quality over quantity in client care. How does this philosophy shape your day-to-day practice, and what does "integrative" mean in your approach to psychology? This philosophy shapes our practice in several ways. We do our best to match clients and therapists that will be the best fit for their needs and goals. In my experience, this provides a more positive experience for all and better outcomes for the clients. We build relationships with other providers in our area. If a new client is not a good fit for our providers, we can refer them to someone who can help. By staying smaller and focusing on quality over quantity, we help reduce the risk of therapist burn out (a common issue in our field). Our therapists have extensive say in their caseload. By empowering the therapists to consciously care for their cases and making it easy for them to decline cases when they feel their caseload is full, I find that sick days are greatly reduced, and therapist satisfaction is higher. The healthier the therapist, the more available they are to care for their clients. Our therapists all have a mixed load of clients that include regular clients along with sliding scale and/or pro bono clients. They are encouraged to take clients from populations/conditions that they feel passionate about helping as a means to giving back to the community. As far as the term integrative goes, we have quite a few different modalities that our therapists utilize. Trauma focused, existential-humanistic, EMDR, DBT, to name a few. In addition to that, we focus on collaborating with those in our clients lives who they find integral to their mental health. I’ve worked with fertility clinics, psychiatrists, primary care physicians, holistic practitioners, chiropractors, neurologists, endocrinologists, cardiologists, surgeons, religious workers, and even some reiki practitioners and astrologists. If it is important to the client, then we work with their cultural, medical, and psychosocial worldview to better understand what they client needs to be successful in their goals. For example we have one therapist who may use tarot as a projective tool in therapy for clients who have that as a part of their sociocultural paradigm. Other examples might be working within the framework of an individuals religion to help them identify activities that might parallel therapeutic interventions. The deepest levels of empathy are only reached when you truly step into a clients world and ask “what is going to help them reach their goals.” ### 3\. You've transitioned from working in traditional mental health settings to founding your own practice while teaching and serving on professional boards. What has this journey taught you about leadership in the mental health field? Ethics have always been important to me. I surround myself with people who challenge me in the way. My leadership style is one of service. I serve the people who are trusting me with the responsibility to lead, whether it is for their education, their mental health, or as their employer. A friend once told me the best CEOs surround themselves with others who are the best at their work. I try to surround myself with great thinkers who challenge me on questions of ethics, equality, and justice. I’m trying to help make the world better for as many people as I can. In my practice I try to do that for my therapists so they can help our clients. I have learned that mental health is not an individual issue, it’s a systemic one. We are social creatures. We did not get to the top of the food chain because we could hand wrestle a lion. We got here by working together in families and communities. We need to take care of each other even when we disagree on things. I try to provide my therapists benefits and do my best to make sure they have time for self care. When we say family and personal health come first, we prioritize those in our team. We cannot encourage our clients to make changes in their lives we would not otherwise make in our own. We provide fresh fruit whenever possible in the waiting area. Who knows when the last time some of the kids coming to our office had fresh fruit? We partner with other organizations in the community for volunteer days that are not related directly to mental health. We are not just a business, we are a part of our community. After all, if we want people to improve their mental health and well being, we need to stop putting them back into the same broken system that created the problem. In therapy we know that change does not come in big, dramatic moments. Rather it happens in millions of tiny moments built up over weeks, months, and years. That is how the change in our systems and communities is going to happen. With each of us out in the community, in millions of tiny moments built up over weeks, months, and years. In my sessions with clients I hold hope that those moments will lead to meaningful change. My growth edge is to hold hope for our communities in times where everything feels lost, that those moments will lead to great and lasting change. After all. The most important job I have ever had is to remember to bring backup batteries. The community needs a light too. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### How One Woman Is Changing the Face of Recruitment Through Community and Inclusion URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/women-who-lead/how-one-woman-is-changing-the-face-of-recruitment-through-community-and-inclusion/ Last updated: 2025-07-06T06:18:31.000Z In an industry where being "the only Black woman in the room" was once her reality, **Kianna Briggs** has become a catalyst for transformational change in recruitment and diversity, equity, and inclusion. As Head of Talent Acquisition and Inclusion at [Medialab](https://medialabgroup.co.uk/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) and Social Media Manager and co-host of the [Black Recruiters Network](https://www.blackrecruitersnetwork.co.uk/?ref=foundedbywomen.org)'s acclaimed podcast "BRN Talks," Kianna embodies the intersection of strategic talent leadership and authentic community building. From helping grow the Black Recruiters Network from a local London community to an international network of 3,000 members, to pioneering inclusive recruitment practices at one of the UK's leading independent media agencies, Kianna's journey reflects a powerful truth: that authentic leadership isn't about changing who you are to fit into existing spaces—it's about creating new spaces where everyone can thrive. Her story is one of resilience, authenticity, and intentional impact. Through her multifaceted role spanning talent acquisition, diversity strategy, podcast hosting, and community leadership, Kianna demonstrates how women can drive meaningful change while staying true to their values and lived experiences. Her approach to leadership challenges the status quo not through loud proclamations, but through consistent action, difficult conversations, and an unwavering commitment to holding doors open for those who come after her. In this candid conversation, Kianna shares insights from her unique vantage point at the intersection of recruitment and social justice, offering wisdom for women navigating leadership roles while advocating for systemic change. Her perspective on sustainable leadership, authentic allyship, and the future of diverse leadership provides both inspiration and practical guidance for women seeking to create real impact in their industries. --- ### 1\. You've contributed to growing the Black Recruiters Network from a local London community to an international network of 3000 members. As both Social Media Manager and co-host of the BRN Talks podcast, you've created platforms that amplify black voices in recruitment and talent acquisition. Can you share what initially drew you to community building, and how you've navigated the balance between creating a safe space for your members while also challenging systemic biases in the recruitment industry? Community building isn’t a new concept for me. Growing up, I was surrounded by a strong sense of connection through family and friends and never felt alone. In Caribbean culture there is always an aunt, uncle or cousin to step in and surround you with love. Being a Black, female recruiter myself, I know firsthand what it feels like to be the only one in the room. What drew me to the Black Recruiters Network was the vision our founders had to change that narrative. They were volunteering their time to help and support a community that is often overlooked, and I was inspired by it. They accidently created one of the largest HR and Recruitment communities in the UK and I wanted to help them shout about the brilliant work they have done. I’ve shared similar experiences of what our members are going through such as navigating microaggressions, questioning my place, and still trying to show up as my full, authentic self. That shared experience creates a foundation of trust, which is what makes our community so powerful. The systemic biases in recruitment aren’t going to disappear overnight and the appeal of working in recruitment isn’t what is used to be. However, what the Black Recruiters Network have done is used our skills and experience to challenge this. Our workshops educate others on how to identify their biases within a recruitment process. We’ve shown how exciting and fulfilling a career can be in the recruitment industry if you’re nurtured and do things the right way. I fell out of love of recruitment for a while because I didn’t see it being done in an inclusive way and I always said if I was to ever return, I wanted to build it from scratch. I’m fortunate enough that Medialab has given me the opportunity to come in build something. My role as Head of Talent Acquisition and Inclusion is proof that recruitment and diversity, equity and inclusion go hand in hand. Recruitment is fundamental to any business and if you embed DEI throughout the entire talent cycle, you’ll employ people with diversity of thought who want to be there. Recruitment can often feel lonely and doesn’t always have the best reputation and then you add the layer of being a minority in the space; community is something that is instrumental to succeed in this space. The Black Recruiters Network has been pivotal in my own return to recruitment. ### 2\. You wear multiple hats - from your role as Head of Talent Acquisition and Inclusion at Medialab to co-hosting a podcast that tackles tough conversations about microaggressions and imposter syndrome. In a recent LinkedIn post, you mentioned that "everyone says they're passionate about DE&I until you ask them what have you done?" How do you maintain authenticity and drive meaningful action across your various leadership roles, and what advice would you give to other women who are trying to create real impact rather than just checking diversity boxes? For me, authenticity means never compromising who I am in order to conform. Earlier in my career, I found myself code-switching and changing my South London accent because I didn’t feel I belonged. Over time, I learned that my superpower is embracing every part of my identity and bringing that into every room I enter. Whether I’m leading Talent Acquisition and Inclusion at Medialab, co-hosting a podcast, or helping build a community through the Black Recruiters Network, my message remains consistent in that I want to create spaces where underrepresented talent can thrive. That means not just talking about inclusion, but actively challenging the status quo. I ask the tough questions, I challenge leadership when needed, and I surround myself with people who push me to think differently. Although I wear multiple hats it never feels as though I’m drowning or struggling because it’s what I’m passionate about and aligns with my own personal values. Being in a leadership role doesn’t mean you have all the answers but it does mean you have the opportunity to create change for good. Change doesn’t always come with a loud announcement and often systemic change can take years. My advice I would give to women is to not change who you are or what your values are to get a seat at the table. You wouldn’t be in the room if you didn’t belong there. Yes, there will be times you’re the only woman, or in my case the only person of colour, but your lived experience is a powerful tool for influence and transformation. Sometimes progress means leaning on allies, including male allies, to help move things forward. ### 3\. Looking ahead, the Black Recruiters Network has evolved from simply connecting professionals to actively partnering with organizations to challenge recruitment processes and biases. As someone who has experienced the "highs and lows" of being a Black female recruiter (as discussed on your podcast), what does success look like for you personally, and what vision do you have for the future of diverse leadership in recruitment and beyond? Success, to me, is about having the influence and the platform to drive meaningful change. It’s not just about personal achievements but also about holding the door open for others, particularly those who have historically been shut out. I get a real high watching others succeed and have their voices heard and their talents being recognised. If I’ve been given an opportunity I will always think, how can I use it to help the next person? In my journey as a Black female recruiter, I’ve experienced the discomfort of being the “only one” in the room, often been overlooked, and faced with microaggressions. Having said that, I’ve also learned to trust my voice, advocate for myself when no one else would, and lead with humility in every space I’ve occupied. I’ve been intentional about putting my hand up for opportunities that align with my purpose, and I’ve been fortunate to learn from mentors who’ve challenged and empowered me. What keeps me grounded is the belief that DE&I shouldn't be an afterthought, it should be spoken about in every conversation. My vision is a future where diverse leadership isn’t a goal, but a norm. Whilst it’s nice seeing “The first Black woman to…” I’d love to get to stage where we see women who look like me in leadership positions and taking up space. I’ve come to realise that giving 100% doesn’t mean burning out to prove your worth, especially in spaces where you've been conditioned to feel you must work twice as hard. Sustainable leadership is about knowing when to pause and reflect on the impact you're making and who is listening. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### Breaking Barriers and Building Bridges: Katie Brooks on Mind-Body Healing and Leadership in Mental Health URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/wellness/breaking-barriers-and-building-bridges-katie-brooks-on-mind-body-healing-and-leadership-in-mental-health/ Last updated: 2025-07-05T06:39:52.000Z **Welcome to our Women in Wellness Q&A series**, where we spotlight the remarkable women who are transforming the landscape of mental health and wellness. Today, we're honored to sit down with Katie Brooks, LCSW, the visionary Clinical Director and Founder of [Good Therapy San Diego](https://www.goodtherapysandiego.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org). With over 20 years of clinical experience, Katie has built something truly special—a thriving group practice that bridges the gap between traditional Western therapeutic techniques and Eastern healing methods. As an EMDR Certified therapist and approved consultant, she's at the forefront of trauma-informed care, specializing in approaches that honor both the mind and body in the healing process. Katie's journey began at just 16 years old when a mental health crisis in her family sparked her calling to this field. What started as a personal experience of feeling helpless in the face of mental illness has evolved into a mission to reduce suffering and support others on their healing journeys. In 2012, she founded Good Therapy San Diego, which has grown from a solo practice into a collaborative group of passionate therapists serving the San Diego community across multiple locations in Encinitas, Sorrento Valley, and Oceanside-Carlsbad. Beyond her clinical expertise, Katie is a passionate advocate for women in leadership positions within the mental health field. As both a practice owner and mentor to other therapists, she brings unique insights into the challenges and gifts that come with being a woman leading in this space. Her approach combines the warmth and empathy that drew her to the field with the assertive leadership skills she's developed over 13 years of running her practice. In this conversation, Katie opens up about her personal path to mental health work, shares how her integrated mind-body approach is particularly powerful for women's healing, and offers candid insights into the complex landscape of female leadership in mental health. Her reflections on navigating double standards, building confidence, and creating cultures that honor authenticity provide valuable wisdom for women at all stages of their careers. Join us as we explore Katie's philosophy that healing happens not just through insight, but through presence and integration—and discover how she's helping to shape what leadership can look like for the next generation of women in wellness. --- ### 1\. What drew you to mental health work, and how has your personal experience shaped your approach? Thank you for asking this question. I could share stories of my own traumas or speak about the experiences of family and friends, but the truth is, these stories aren’t unique to me. They’re part of the broader human experience we all share. Pain, loss, and hardship touch everyone in some form, and it’s this deep commonality that draws me to the work. First and foremost, I love people. I find humanity to be exceptional, endlessly complex, resilient, and profoundly lovable. That genuine love for people is what drives me. I feel deeply compelled to support those who are suffering, and I consider it an incredible privilege to walk alongside someone on their healing journey. What inspires me most is our shared capacity to grow through pain. No one escapes life unscathed, but each person’s story is unique and meaningful to their emotional growth. To be trusted with those stories, to witness someone move through struggle toward strength, clarity, or relief, that’s where the joy is for me. At its core, my role as a therapist is to help reduce suffering. I’m profoundly grateful to do work that honors the strength of the human spirit, and to offer support, insight, and love along the way. ### 2\. You blend traditional therapy with Eastern Methods of Healing and EMDR - how does this mind-body approach especially help women? I’m so excited to see mind-body approaches finally gaining traction in the healing world. More and more, people are recognizing that trauma isn’t just psychological, it’s also physical. It lives in the nervous system, in our muscles, our breath, and our body memory. In my 20 years as a clinician, I’ve seen that while talk therapy can be incredibly stabilizing, it often doesn’t reach the deeper layers where trauma is stored. Without engaging the body, healing can remain incomplete. This is especially true for women, who are statistically more likely to experience relational trauma, such as emotional abuse, attachment wounds, and childhood neglect. These experiences leave more than emotional scars; they imprint on the body and often show up as anxiety, fatigue, chronic pain, digestive issues, or insomnia. Even when life appears stable on the outside, many women still feel “off” inside. That’s why I find mind-body approaches like EMDR, along with Eastern healing practices such as mindfulness, meditation, and breathwork, so powerful. EMDR allows the body to reprocess and release traumatic memories that were frozen in time. Eastern practices support energy flow, emotional regulation, and somatic awareness. Together, they offer a holistic path that heals not just what we know, but how we feel. In addition, many women get stuck in what I call the “story loop” as we have been taught to process our pain verbally. Overanalyzing pain in an effort to heal it can create insight, but insight alone doesn’t resolve trauma. In fact, often intellectualization is used as a strategy to avoid feeling and can keep the nervous system locked in distress. Mindfulness and EMDR offer a different path: one that gently invites the body into the healing process, where real transformation happens through presence and integration, not endless retelling. Lastly, what I love most about this work is how empowering it is. These client-led approaches teach women to trust their inner wisdom, to regulate rather than react, and to reconnect with themselves in a way that feels safe, grounded, and whole. When we combine the best of neuroscience with the wisdom of the body, healing becomes not just possible, but deeply transformational. ### 3\. As a practice owner training other therapists, what's the biggest challenge you see for women in mental health leadership? I’ve come to learn that there are both gifts and challenges that come with being a woman in a leadership role in the mental health field. Some of the harder moments I’ve faced include navigating double standards around leadership style, finding balance between work and home life, and facing underrepresentation in executive spaces. When I first stepped into leadership, I leaned into the qualities that felt natural to me: warmth, kindness, and nurturance. I truly believed those traits would carry me far. And in many ways, they have—but I also quickly realized that without clear, unapologetic boundaries and assertive communication, it was difficult to earn the level of respect I needed to lead effectively. Once I began showing up more firmly, I noticed something else: when I was too confident or direct, I risked being labeled as cold or too intense. And as a therapist, those labels can cut deep—they feel just as damaging as being dismissed or overlooked. What I’ve found is that being a woman in leadership often means walking a very fine line between assertiveness and empathy. I’m not sure men have to think about that balance in quite the same way. It takes an incredible amount of intention and emotional agility to manage, and honestly, even after 13 years of running Good Therapy San Diego, I’m still learning. But I’ve also grown a lot. I’ve learned that you can be both kind and firm, both nurturing and strong—that boundaries are not in conflict with compassion. They are what allow us to lead well. Work-life balance has been another area of growth for me. Like many women, I’ve wrestled with the tension of wanting to build a meaningful career while also wanting to be deeply present for my family. I have an incredibly supportive husband who’s both my partner in business and in life, but even with that support, there have been moments where I’ve felt pulled in two directions—where one part of my life needed more of me than I had to give. There’s been guilt, doubt, and exhaustion. But over time, I’ve worked hard to give myself grace. I remind myself that I’m doing my best, and that my best is enough. There is enough love in me to care deeply for my clients, my team, and my children—even if I can’t always be everything to everyone at once. Another challenge I’ve encountered is the assumption that executive leadership still belongs to men. While women make up the majority of the mental health workforce, we are still underrepresented in top leadership roles. I see this most clearly when I’m collaborating with outside companies, especially those led by male teams. More than once, I’ve been mistaken for someone’s assistant, or people have assumed my husband is the CEO. It’s subtle at times, but it’s there—eye contact directed to him instead of me, my decisions second-guessed until they're repeated by someone else. I’ve learned to meet those moments with calm, grounded confidence. I stay anchored in what I’ve built, the clarity of my voice, and the deep value of my vision. I no longer feel the need to prove my worth—I simply focus on showing up fully and authentically as myself. One of the greatest sources of strength for me has been community. Surrounding myself with other women in leadership has been vital—not only for support, but for inspiration and perspective. I’m especially grateful for my management team, who are not only incredibly skilled clinicians but also thoughtful, talented leaders. We meet monthly to challenge, encourage, and grow alongside each other. Their insight and collaboration have shaped me in profound ways—I truly wouldn’t be the leader I am today without them. Despite all the challenges, I wouldn’t trade this path. Leading in this field has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life. It’s hard and humbling and beautiful. I get to build a culture that honors healing, authenticity, and growth—not just for clients, but for our entire team. And I feel proud every day to help shape what leadership can look like—especially for the next generation of women coming up behind me. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### From Global Beauty to Holistic Wellness: Virginie Descamps Champions Cultural Wisdom and Gender Equality in Health Innovation URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/wellness/from-global-beauty-to-holistic-wellness-virginie-descamps-champions-cultural-wisdom-and-gender-equality-in-health-innovation/ Last updated: 2025-07-05T06:32:03.000Z In the rapidly evolving wellness landscape, few leaders bring the unique perspective of having launched premium cosmetic brands across 60 countries while championing gender equality and authentic cultural approaches to health. Virginie Descamps, Chief Marketing Officer at [Alurx](https://alurx.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org), represents a new generation of wellness executives who understand that true health transformation requires more than trendy products—it demands cultural sensitivity, scientific rigor, and inclusive leadership. At Alurx, founded by former restaurant industry CEO Julia Stewart, Virginie helps lead the development of personalized wellness solutions through their groundbreaking app that addresses sleep, nutrition, and stress management. The platform, guided by the Alurx Medical & Expert Council (AMEC), provides expert assessments and customized daily activities to help users build lasting healthy habits. What sets Virginie apart is her commitment to incorporating diverse cultural wisdom into modern wellness technology. Her international experience—from studying Korean multi-step beauty rituals to working with Dr. Perricone on nutraceuticals—has shaped her understanding that effective wellness solutions must honor traditional practices while leveraging cutting-edge science. As an advocate for gender equality and women's health, she's pioneered the creation of an all-women council of physicians and wellness experts and established a "Wellness Voices" circle to ensure diverse female perspectives drive product development. In this candid conversation, Virginie shares her pivotal transition from traditional cosmetics to holistic wellness, reveals how cultural insights from around the world inform modern health practices, and discusses the future of AI-powered wellness coaching through Alurx's upcoming Alura AI platform—a voice-activated wellness coach designed to make personalized health guidance accessible to all while maintaining the human connection essential for lasting transformation. --- ### As someone who has formulated and launched premium cosmetic brands in over 60 countries and now serves as CMO at Alurx, what pivotal moment led you to transition from traditional beauty into holistic wellness? First, it was a gradual awareness that grew during my travels. I discovered that culture, traditions passed down from generations, and diet had a great impact on skin health. In Korea, I studied their multi-step beauty routines. They are based on rituals that are central to your wellbeing and reinforced by social interactions such as gathering in spas/springs that provide a respite from a very hectic urban lifestyle. I adopted their face cleansing rituals and evening skincare routines before it was a trend. In Europe, nutrition is also closely associated with skin health and I was always mindful of the skin/gut connection. But I made the pivot from traditional cosmetics to wellness when I met Dr. Perricone and worked on the global expansion of his nutraceuticals, Perricone MD. I learned a great deal from him, more specifically about the connection between diet, inflammation, and aging. **How has your international experience shaped your understanding of different cultural approaches to health?** Our understanding of health is shaped by our upbringing, our education system, our culture, our socio-economic background and by the environment we live in, especially our exposure to pollution. One of the purposes of my international travels was to consult with local research and development teams and retail consultants before formulating new products, creating education modules and launching brands in a new market. My two main takeaways are that: 1\. some ingrained beliefs have damaging effects and can only be dispelled by rigorous education. An example is skin whitening, which is associated with long-held beauty standards in many countries and leads to dangerous practices. 2\. Traveling to so-called "emerging countries," I learned the importance of collective wisdom, community and natural remedies and met people who thrived even though they had less access to "state-of-the-art" medicine. It deepened my understanding of all the factors that affect our well-being and overall health. ### Given your advocacy for gender equality and women's health, how do you ensure wellness brands authentically serve women's diverse needs rather than capitalizing on trends? What advice would you give other women entrepreneurs building in the wellness space? The cosmetic industry always offered great economic opportunities for women of diverse backgrounds but the barriers to hiring, promoting and supporting women have persisted, along with the beauty stereotypes it promotes. Likewise, the wellness industry is challenged to embrace women in leadership roles, and to serve them, avoiding the gender bias pervasive in healthcare. Wellness should not focus on making us slimmer or more productive while we juggle work, caretaking, and struggle to make space for self-care. Trends are commercial in nature and perpetuate the illusion that a magic pill can make us feel and look great. Better health takes education and adjustments to our modern lifestyle. That's where habit-forming apps can be helpful in promoting healthier behaviors. There is a real need in wellness to focus back on basics: sleep, nutrition and mindfulness. Building a wellness brand, I prioritize collaborating with women whose perspectives are often ignored, such as nurses, studying and learning from experts and advocates who are pioneering a more holistic and inclusive approach to health. At Alurx, we recruited an all-women council of physicians and wellness experts, the AMEC. I also created a circle of "Wellness Voices" to include a diverse panel of women. Today, I combine their knowledge with the latest AI technology to make it accessible to all. ### With Alurx's wellness app providing custom programs and expert assessments, where do you see the intersection of technology and wellness headed? How can we leverage digital tools to make wellness accessible while maintaining human connection for lasting health transformation? These two questions are at the core of today's challenges in HealthTech. We are building a new version of our Alurx Wellness app, code name Alura AI. Alura AI is a voice-activated wellness coach that engages in human-like conversation to identify your concerns, recommend a personalized daily wellness plan, monitor your progress, and motivate you to acquire new healthy habits. Alura AI enables healthier habit-building across all dimensions of wellness, including environmental and social wellness. AI technology is a great tool to build interactive features such as journaling, to analyze data and deliver personal solutions. We ensure that the coaching advice is rooted in science and we integrate the input of our Alurx Medical & Expert Council in our tech build. HealthTech facilitates access to services and should reduce the cost of care significantly. The same way telehealth widened access to mental health practitioners, we envision that wellness apps powered by AI will help create connections beyond your device and empower everyone to make healthier lifestyle choices. Alura AI will allow its users to share their experience with others in a closed network, if they so wish, and to dial in wellness practitioners for private sessions. The more we take charge of our own health by adopting healthier habits, the more we influence the healthcare ecosystem to focus on prevention. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### Finding Your Way to "Wildly Well": A Conversation with Perimenopause Specialist Lesley Waldron URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/wellness/finding-your-way-to-wildly-well-a-conversation-with-perimenopause-specialist-lesley-waldron/ Last updated: 2025-07-04T14:08:44.000Z In the landscape of women's health, few topics are as universally experienced yet individually challenging as perimenopause. It's a transition that affects millions of women, yet many find themselves navigating it with limited support, outdated information, or the persistent belief that they should simply "push through" without prioritizing their own wellbeing. Enter [Lesley Waldron](https://www.foundedbywomen.org/wellness/breaking-free-from-binge-drinking-how-one-high-achieving-woman-transformed-her-life-and-now-helps-others-do-the-same/), an Integrative Women's Health Coach who has made it her mission to change this narrative. After her own journey from the edge of burnout while juggling a demanding career and motherhood, Lesley discovered the transformative power of putting self-care first—not as a luxury, but as a necessity for thriving through midlife and beyond. Now, as a coach specializing in supporting women through perimenopause, Lesley brings a unique blend of professional expertise and personal understanding to her work. Trained as both an Integrative Women's Health Coach and NLP practitioner, she helps women in their 40s, 50s, and beyond embrace what she calls being "wildly well"—a holistic approach to health that goes far beyond simply managing symptoms. What sets Lesley apart is her deep understanding of the "sandwich years"—that intense period when women often find themselves caring for both growing children and aging parents. As someone currently supporting her own mother with Alzheimer's while raising teenagers, she intimately knows the juggling act that defines midlife for so many women. Yet she's living proof that even in the midst of these demands, it's possible to prioritize your own wellbeing and find joy in the process. Through her work with individual clients, her role as a Master Coach for the Integrative Women's Health Institute, and her body-positive outdoor fitness classes, Lesley is helping women rewrite the story of aging. Her approach emphasizes connection—to nature, to our natural cycles, and most importantly, to ourselves. In this conversation, Lesley shares her insights on taking the first steps into perimenopause support, breaking free from the cycle of putting everyone else first, and what it truly means to live "wildly well" during life's most demanding seasons. --- ### 1\. You describe yourself as a perimenopause specialist and mention helping women through this transition. For women who are just beginning to experience perimenopause symptoms or suspect they might be entering this phase, what are the first three steps you recommend they take to start supporting their health and wellbeing during this significant life change? 1. I think the first thing that can be really helpful is to start tracking your menstrual cycle, and any symptoms you might be having to see if they are connected to your hormones, or might have a different cause. You can use apps to do this, but I prefer a simple method of using my journal to do this. I simply write the date, the day of my cycle (your first day of your period is day 1) and how I’m feeling as well as any symptoms. It can take less than a minute but is a great record of how you’re progressing through your perimenopause and a tool to create better self awareness overall. If you don’t have a cycle, or use hormonal contraception then simply taking the first day of the month, or the new moon as your day 1 can be helpful. Over three months you can start to see useful patterns too. Knowing that my mood might be low or temper short can be really helpful when it comes to delegating and rest. 2. The second thing I’d suggest is to start to focus on your foundations of wellbeing. Often women get to this phase of life having looked after everyone but themselves. So thinking about moving your body regularly, adding in more vegetables and good quality protein to your meals, getting a good sleep routine in place and managing stress are essential. I usually get my clients to focus on one thing at a time, as often getting one right can have a domino effect on everything else. Better sleep = more energy for exercise = better food choices = better stress regulation = better sleep for example! 3. The third is that it’s really helpful to feel informed so that you don’t feel like you’re losing control. There are great podcasts and books out there, but there’s a lot of social media misinformation too. Many of the most popular books are great though. I have also created evidence-based workshops to empower women with information. ### 2\. Your personal story mentions being on the edge of burnout while juggling a senior-level career and motherhood - a situation many of our readers will relate to. You've now spent 10 years helping women build sustainable health habits. What's the most important mindset shift you help women make when they're caught in that cycle of putting everyone else first, and how do you guide them toward creating lasting change rather than falling into yo-yo approaches to health? This is a big question, as every individual comes with different life circumstances and experiences and road blocks. My own route from burnout and overwhelm was through movement, meditation, and giving myself the mental space to make the decision to leave employment and do something completely different so I could live life more on my own terms. And those same tools have been very helpful in the last 5 years as I have found myself caring for my mother with dementia at the same time as my children entered their teen years! I take time to get to know my clients so that I can understand what makes them tick, and also to uncover some of the old stories they are telling themselves that hold them back. But if I had to pick one thing to share here, it’s the awareness that looking after ourselves better doesn’t have to be complex and time consuming. Starting small, with extra hydration, and a few squats while the kettle boils can add up to more energy and strength for other things. And when we feel better, it’s so much easier to keep doing it. Plus, my clients often find that as they look after themselves better, everyone around them feels better too. It’s a win-win. ### 3\. Your approach emphasizes feeling "Wildly Well" through all of life's stages and challenges. This seems to go beyond just physical health to encompass a whole-life wellness approach. Can you share what "Wildly Well" means to you and how women can start incorporating this philosophy into their daily lives, especially when they're feeling overwhelmed or disconnected from their own needs? In my view for **a woman to be wildly well** isto be nourished with good food, good conversation, loving relationships, movement, and time outside in nature. She is also connected with her family, her friends, her community, with people who share her values, with her own inner nature, and her cycles and rhythms - of the day, of the month, of the year She is strong, because she is resilient and flexible on an emotional and physical level And she has a sense of purpose and values, in what she does, in who she spends time with, in how she spends her money and other resources, and in how she measures her impact on her world. Overall there’s a sense of being well-resourced, in all ways. It’s often when we don’t have those resources that we feel disconnected and overwhelmed. As I said earlier, it’s the one step at a time that works best. Stopping and asking ourselves in the moment ‘what do I want right now’ and ‘how can I best meet my needs’. And I have to say, the answer is often, that we need more rest, more time to slow down, because when we’re well rested we can make better decisions and choices. Sometimes, even 5 deep breaths can make a big difference. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### Breaking Free from Binge Drinking: How One High-Achieving Woman Transformed Her Life and Now Helps Others Do the Same URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/wellness/breaking-free-from-binge-drinking-how-one-high-achieving-woman-transformed-her-life-and-now-helps-others-do-the-same/ Last updated: 2025-07-04T06:30:54.000Z ## Introduction When we think about alcohol problems, we often picture someone who has lost everything—their job, their family, their home. But what about the successful professional who never misses a meeting, excels at their career, and appears to have it all together? What about the woman who practices yoga, drinks green smoothies, and prioritizes self-care—yet finds herself waking up with shame and regret after another weekend binge? Meet **Kathryn Elliott**, [The Alcohol Mindset Coach](https://thealcoholmindsetcoach.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org), whose story challenges everything we think we know about problematic drinking. For over 30 years, Kathryn was a high-functioning binge drinker—a successful media and PR professional, devoted mother of three, and health-conscious woman who appeared to have her life perfectly curated. Yet beneath the surface, she was trapped in a cycle of shame, self-blame, and the exhausting effort to moderate something that felt completely out of control. Kathryn has been alcohol-free since July 1, 2019, and now supports thousands of individuals and professionals in transforming their mindset around drinking. What makes her approach unique is her deep understanding of the disconnect many high-achievers experience—excelling in every area of life except their relationship with alcohol. In 2019, life threw Kathryn a curveball that would reshape everything: she faced a breast cancer diagnosis, which deepened her commitment to raising awareness about the connection between alcohol and breast cancer. This experience didn't derail her alcohol-free journey—it strengthened her resolve and gave her an even deeper purpose. Today, Kathryn runs SipSmart corporate workshops, helping organizations create healthier workplace cultures by addressing alcohol's impact on health and productivity. Her work extends beyond individual coaching to systemic change, challenging the pervasive drinking culture that exists in professional environments and advocating for truly inclusive workplace practices. In this Q&A, Kathryn shares her insights on recognizing when drinking becomes problematic, rethinking alcohol's role in professional settings, and the profound freedom that comes from building a life where alcohol simply doesn't have a place anymore. Her message is clear: you don't need to hit rock bottom to deserve help, and you don't need to drink less—you need to think differently about why you drink in the first place. --- ### 1\. As someone who specializes in working with high-functioning professionals, you often encounter people who don't fit the traditional image of someone with a drinking problem. Can you share how you help clients recognize when their relationship with alcohol has shifted from social to problematic, especially when they're still excelling in their careers and personal lives? As someone who spent 30+ years as a high-functioning binge drinker—successful career, raising a family, ticking all the boxes—I know how deceptive alcohol can be when it’s socially acceptable and even celebrated in professional circles. I work with many women (and men) who don’t “look like” they have a drinking problem. They’re high achievers, deeply respected, but quietly struggling with internal conflict. They might not drink every day, but they’re waking up with regret, trying to moderate, feeling stuck in a cycle they can’t quite name. The first step is reframing the conversation. This isn’t about hitting ‘rock bottom.’ It’s about asking honest, powerful questions like: - “Am I drinking more than I want to?” - “Is this aligned with the version of myself I want to be?” - “What would life look like with more clarity and control?” Through mindset coaching, I help clients recognise that just because they’re performing well doesn’t mean alcohol isn’t holding them back. Often, they don’t need to drink less—they need to think differently about why they drink in the first place. When we bring awareness to the stories we tell ourselves around alcohol, real transformation begins. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2025/07/unnamed--16-.jpg) ### 2\. Through your SipSmart corporate workshops, you're addressing workplace drinking culture head-on. What are the biggest misconceptions you encounter about alcohol in professional settings, and how can organizations create more inclusive environments for employees who choose not to drink or are questioning their relationship with alcohol? One of the biggest misconceptions I see in professional environments is the assumption that alcohol equals connection, celebration, or success. Whether it’s a client dinner, Friday drinks, or a networking event, there's an unspoken pressure to drink to belong. That’s why I created *SipSmart - tailored programs* designed to help businesses foster inclusive, high-performing cultures by rethinking alcohol’s role. What surprises many leaders is that the “optional glass of wine” can feel anything but optional for those re-evaluating their relationship with alcohol. Non-drinkers often have to navigate awkward questions, assumptions, or exclusion. The good news? Forward-thinking companies are shifting. They're: - Offering zero-alcohol alternatives with equal prominence - Hosting events that don’t revolve around drinking - Encouraging leaders to model inclusive choices - Educating teams about how alcohol impacts wellbeing, leadership, and performance True inclusion means creating spaces where no one feels ‘othered’ for choosing not to drink. When alcohol isn’t the centrepiece, deeper connections and more authentic interactions emerge. ### 3\. You've been alcohol-free since July 2019 after 30+ years of binge drinking. Looking back on that transformation while now coaching others through similar journeys, what's one piece of advice you wish someone had given you earlier in your own process, and how do you use your lived experience to create breakthrough moments for your clients? I’ve been alcohol-free since July 1, 2019\. And while I wouldn’t change a thing about my journey, I do wish someone had told me earlier that *it’s not about drinking less—it’s about trusting yourself more*. For so long, I thought my only options were moderation or white-knuckling sobriety. What I didn’t realise was that I could build a life where alcohol simply didn’t have a place anymore—because I no longer needed it to relax, connect, or socialise. That shift came through deep mindset work, self-compassion, and choosing to get curious rather than judgmental. Now, as a coach, I help others find that same freedom. I walk beside them as they uncover their truth, release shame, and rewrite their narrative. The “breakthrough” moments come when they realise they’re not broken—they’ve just been stuck in a system that normalises over-drinking and shames questioning it. We do the work together. It’s powerful. It’s sacred. And it’s the kind of transformation that ripples into every area of life. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### From Hollywood to Intimacy Tech: Elizabeth Dell's Journey in Redefining Pleasure and Connection URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/wellness/from-hollywood-to-intimacy-tech-elizabeth-dells-journey-in-redefining-pleasure-and-connection/ Last updated: 2025-07-03T16:42:05.000Z **In an industry where innovation often meets resistance, Elizabeth Dell stands as a pioneering force bridging the gap between technology and human intimacy. As the co-founder of** [**Groove Thing**](https://www.trygroovething.com/launch?ref=foundedbywomen.org)**—a revolutionary internal music player that's already become the most funded insertable pleasure product in Kickstarter history—Dell brings a unique perspective shaped by her diverse background in film production, community building, and intimacy technology.** Dell's journey from producing films like *Destination Wedding* to creating groundbreaking sextech products reflects a deeper understanding of human connection and the power of storytelling. Through her Industry Mixer series, she's fostered a community of over 1,000 professionals working at the intersection of intimacy and technology, while her previous venture, the Romance app Amorus, established her as a thoughtful innovator in the space. Her latest venture, Groove Thing, represents more than just technological advancement—it's a reimagining of how music and physical sensation can combine to create entirely new experiences of pleasure. The device, which achieved remarkable crowdfunding success within its first week of launch, signals a new category in intimate wellness that goes far beyond traditional approaches. In this conversation, Dell shares insights into the challenges of building in the sextech space, the evolution of intimacy technology, and how her background in storytelling continues to shape her approach to designing products that help people connect more deeply with themselves and their partners. --- ### Your Groove Thing represents a fascinating intersection of music, technology, and intimate wellness. What inspired this specific innovation, and how do you envision internal music players changing the landscape of pleasure technology and personal wellness? My cofounder and inventor has loved music and audio improvements his whole life. He's a tinkerer, and like me, someone constantly interested in connection and intimacy. The first version of Groove Thing was invented in his garage almost two years ago and he invited me to be the first person to try it. Unbeknownst to him, I already had a deep background in sextech, having created the Romance app Amorus and started the world's first SexTech industry mixer series. So when I tried it, I KNEW how remarkable his invention truly was. I immediately felt (literally!) that this was a game-changer in physical sensation, with a wholly different approach to pleasure and music than anything on the market. Groove Thing is not a "sound-responsive" vibrator, it's a whole new category of device. Which is part of what's made our Kickstarter launch so powerful and made us the most funded insertable pleasure product in Kickstarter's history! Within our first week of launch! [Learn more about Groove Thing's launch](https://www.trygroovething.com/launch?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ### Through your Industry Mixer series, you've brought together over 1,000 people from intimacy and tech verticals. What are the biggest challenges and opportunities you've observed in building a professional community around sexuality and technology, and how has this community evolved since you started? I think the hardest thing about building sextech community is building the companies themselves. The people in sextech are incredible - giving, generous, smart, funny, and so excited to come together and support the community. But the world is tough for SexTech. Service providers regularly refuse to provide services (banking, email management, credit card processing, etc) to sextech companies, even though they are trying to help improve the world. Social Media platforms shadow-ban accounts for representing diverse audiences or using medically accurate terms. No one wants to spell sex "seggs" when giving advice on safer practices - they don't have a choice! ### You've had a remarkably diverse career path - from producing films like *Destination Wedding* to founding intimacy-focused tech companies. How has your background in film production and storytelling influenced your approach to designing products and experiences that help people connect with their sexuality and relationships? I am both a born and trained storyteller and that influences everything I do. Telling stories is all about understanding an audience, what they care about, what they fear, what they desire. This is immediately transferable to intimacy and consumer products. So much of intimacy is about the skills to communicate what we want, whether to our partner or even just to ourselves. Also, producing movies is all about welcoming in creative talent and doing something wildly ambitious without much of a roadmap - it's entrepreneurship at its cutting edge - so an incredible training ground for building companies! > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### Creating Beauty, Building Business: How Two Decades as a Pro Makeup Artist Became My Fundraising Superpower URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/women-in-vc/from-salon-chair-to-startup-how-20-years-in-beauty-became-my-fundraising-superpower/ Last updated: 2025-07-03T16:34:36.000Z While most beauty tech founders pitch investors from boardrooms, Natalie Piacun's journey began in makeup chairs and salon floors. After two decades as a professional makeup artist and co-owner of a successful salon enterprise, she's now navigating the startup world with a perspective that's both rare and invaluable—she's not just building for the beauty industry, she's lived it. Her transition from hands-on beauty professional to tech entrepreneur reveals the unique challenges female founders face when their expertise doesn't fit traditional investor expectations. In this conversation, Natalie opens up about translating creative intuition into hard data, the reality of fundraising while juggling family and multiple businesses, and why her "non-traditional" background has become her greatest competitive advantage. From learning to speak investor language without losing her authentic voice to proving that lived experience trumps theoretical knowledge, Natalie's story challenges the startup ecosystem to recognize that the best founders for consumer-facing businesses are often those who've spent years understanding their customers' real needs—not just their market segments. --- ### What specific challenges have you encountered as a woman founder during your fundraising journey, and how have you navigated or prepared to navigate them? My journey into the world of beauty tech as a female founder has been incredible, but the challenges of balancing my other business and family life have been more complex than I had anticipated. Having worked as a professional makeup artist in the beauty industry for two decades, and more recently co-owning a successful salon enterprise with a secondary beauty hub launching soon – life is full on. Fine tuning time at home whilst pushing forward with a business that demands vision, time, and energy, is something I think many female founders quietly manage every day. And that balancing act becomes even more intense during the fundraising journey. What I’ve learnt from my experience to date, has been how best to translate a creative understanding of the beauty space into a language that resonates with investors - particularly in an industry that often prioritises hard data over lived experience. I’ve had to become fluent in both: pairing consumer insight with reliable market analysis and backing my vision with metrics that show viability and scalability. Working with Block Dojo has been instrumental in that process, refining the pitch, sharpening the business model, and connecting with a support network that really gets the startup mindset. But more than anything, I’ve learned to trust the value of my background. Years of working hands-on with real people has given me an instinct for what matters, and I’ve built a product grounded in real needs - not just trends. Ultimately, it’s about owning your vision. You don’t need to come from a traditional tech or finance background to build a great company - you need to understand your market better than anyone else and be able to show where the opportunity is. ### **2\. What advice would you give to other women founders who are just starting their fundraising process, particularly around building confidence and presenting their vision?** Firstly, you don’t need to sound like anyone else to be taken seriously. Confidence doesn’t mean mimicking investor jargon, it means knowing your audience and showing how your vision solves a real problem in a commercially smart way. Speak from your heart, your experience and your “why.” Investors invest in founder conviction and teams – remember no one can tell your story better than you. Secondly, do your research and prepare. Know your numbers, market, and traction points, but don’t let perfectionism hold you back. You won’t have all the answers, it’s ok to say, ‘I’ll get back to you on that’. What matters more is that you’re adaptable but clear on your direction, and don’t blag something if you clearly don’t have the answer – investors can see straight through that! Thirdly, surround yourself with people who champion you. It’s easy to feel isolated in the early days of building a start-up and fundraising, so find other women founders, mentors, groups, or venture platforms that understand the startup journey. Your belief in your concept and brand messaging will grow stronger when you have feedback and a support system. ### **3\. How has your experience in the beauty/creative industry shaped your approach to building relationships with potential investors, and what do you wish more investors understood about women-led startups?** Working on fashion and advertising campaigns has taught me that relationships are everything. Whether it’s with models, clients, or creative directors, success comes from trust, collaboration, and the ability to really listen and come together as a team. I bring that same energy into investor conversations, I treat them like creative collaborators, not just finance. I want them to feel part of something meaningful with me and help shape the future. I also think investors sometimes underestimate just how commercially sharp women-led startups can be. We’re not just passion-driven - we’re market-driven, insight-driven, and deeply in tune with the emotional and practical needs of consumers, especially women. In beauty tech, that’s a superpower. Women founders often build with empathy and efficiency, and that leads to products with staying power. What I wish more investors understood is: if you want to back the future of consumer tech - especially in health, beauty, and wellness - you need to back women who’ve lived and worked in these worlds. We’re not just founders; we’re the customer, the operator, and the strategist rolled into one. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### From American Studies to Venture Capital: Victoria Barber's Unconventional Rise in VC Distribution URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/women-in-vc/from-american-studies-to-venture-capital-victoria-barbers-unconventional-rise-in-vc-distribution/ Last updated: 2025-07-03T15:54:20.000Z In an industry where women represent less than 10% of the venture capital workforce, Victoria Barber's journey to Sales Director at [Pembroke VCT](http://pembrokevct.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) demonstrates that there's no single route to success in venture capital. With a BA in American Studies rather than the traditional finance or economics background, Barber has carved out a distinctive career path through sales, strategic partnerships, and client relationship management. Since joining Pembroke VCT in August 2024, Barber has brought a wealth of experience from her previous roles at Octopus Investments and TIME Investments, where she honed her expertise in building relationships with financial advisers, networks, and institutional clients. Her unique perspective on fund distribution makes her an advocate for promoting female leadership in both the investment community and among the entrepreneurs seeking funding. Throughout this conversation, Barber shares insights on navigating the VC landscape, the importance of professional development and soft skills, and how women in distribution roles can help bridge the funding gap that sees female founders receive only 2% of venture capital investment globally. --- ### You brought a wealth of experience in strategic partnerships and sales from leading investment firms when you joined Pembroke VCT as Sales Director in August 2024\. Many women in venture capital come from traditional investment or finance backgrounds, but your path through sales, strategic partnerships, and client relationship management offers a unique perspective. How has your experience building relationships with financial advisers, networks, and institutional clients shaped your approach to fund distribution, and what advice would you give to other women considering non-traditional entry points into the VC ecosystem? I did not follow a traditional finance career path. I didn’t read Economics, Finance or Business; I have a BA in American Studies, so entering the financial services sector wasn’t something I had initially planned! My experience in sales and strategic partnerships has been invaluable in building a good industry network. Starting at Octopus Investments, I focused on developing central relationships with national advice firms, financial advice networks, service providers and professional bodies. I delivered CPD training across the country to educate and upskill financial advisers in recommending tax-efficient investments. This allowed me to better understand some of the challenges faced by financial advisers and their clients, while also developing skills in public speaking, particularly in communicating complex information clearly, making it easier to digest. After 4 ½ years at Octopus, I joined TIME Investments as Head of Strategic Investments, where I was responsible for establishing and leading the strategic partnerships function, building on the experience I had gained during my time at Octopus. For those considering non-traditional paths into venture capital, it is definitely attainable. I am a big advocate for professional development and taking further qualifications to deepen knowledge of the space you are operating in. Early in my career, I completed the Diploma in Financial Planning (DipPFS, Level 4), which helped provide a solid foundation of knowledge of the sector. Soft skills are also equally important. Strong communication and strategic thinking are highly relevant in any role, but particularly those with a focus on fundraising. Building teams with a diverse skillset not only strengthens capability but also nurtures diversity of thought. ### Research shows that women make up less than 10% of the venture capital workforce, with female VC partners representing just shy of 5%. As Sales Director at Pembroke VCT, you're responsible for maintaining relationships with key clients and external stakeholders in a sector where female founders receive only 2% of VC money. What specific challenges have you encountered as a woman in the VCT space, and how do you leverage your position to advocate for greater diversity in both the investment community and among the entrepreneurs seeking funding? It’s no secret that Venture Capital is a male dominated industry, but that does not mean that there is not plenty of opportunity for women in the sector. A few years ago, I volunteered with Women in Banking & Finance, where I led on media partnerships and supported younger women looking to enter the financial services industry. That experience sticks with me today and has reinforced the importance of support networks and visible role models in the workplace that you can relate to. At Pembroke, we have several exceptional female founders in our portfolio, and we’re proud to be a signatory of the Investing in Women Code. I strongly believe that *“you can only be what you can see,”* so increasing visibility of women in leadership positions is the baseline of making the industry feel accessible to young women. ### **Your role involves developing relationships with national advice firms and financial networks, putting you at the intersection of retail investors and entrepreneurial ventures. Given that startups with at least one female founder tend to outperform those with all-male teams, yet still face significant funding gaps, how can women in distribution and client-facing roles like yours help bridge this gap? What initiatives or approaches do you think could better connect female entrepreneurs with the capital they need to scale?** In a role like mine, you are uniquely positioned to influence capital allocation through shaping conversations with many different external parties. One way to help bridge the investment gap is through greater visibility and advocacy. This includes meaningfully championing success stories of female-led businesses in our communications with advisers, investors and our external communications. We also promote internal education around the value of diverse teams, not as a moral imperative, but as a commercial one too. We’re proud to spotlight the strength of the Pembroke portfolio and celebrate the achievements of our female founders. Championing that success can help to inspire continued investment in other female-led businesses from both Pembroke and the wider investment community. Ultimately, women in distribution roles can play a key part in shifting capital flows by amplifying female-led success stories, challenging bias in conversations, and ensuring great businesses get the visibility and backing they deserve. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### Finding Calm in the Chaos: A Conversation with Siobhan Elliot on Protecting Your Nervous System in Modern Life URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/wellness/finding-calm-in-the-chaos-a-conversation-with-siobhan-elliot-on-protecting-your-nervous-system-in-modern-life/ Last updated: 2025-07-03T06:43:23.000Z In a world where technology advances at breakneck speed while our human nervous systems struggle to keep pace, finding genuine wellness can feel like an uphill battle. Enter Siobhan Elliot, a holistic wellness practitioner who specializes in helping sensitive and neurodivergent women navigate the overwhelm of 21st-century living. Through her practice at [Brilliant You](https://brilliantyou.co.uk/?ref=foundedbywomen.org), Siobhan offers a refreshingly honest perspective on modern wellness challenges, particularly for women who may have spent years in survival mode, juggling endless responsibilities while their own wellbeing takes a backseat. Her approach recognizes that what works for one person may not work for another, especially when considering the unique needs of neurodivergent women who are discovering their neurotype later in life. In this candid conversation, Siobhan shares practical strategies for protecting our nervous systems from chronic overstimulation, explores the specific wellness considerations for neurodivergent women, and offers hope for those ready to transition from merely surviving to truly thriving. Her insights remind us that self-care doesn't have to be another item on our overwhelming to-do lists – instead, it can be a gentle act of self-kindness that signals safety to our nervous systems. Whether you're struggling with overwhelm, recently discovered you're neurodivergent, or simply seeking sustainable wellness practices that honor your sensitivity, Siobhan's wisdom offers a compassionate roadmap for reclaiming your wellbeing in our increasingly chaotic world. --- ### You've described 21st century living as "brutal" and note that technology has evolved faster than humans have adapted. As someone who specializes in helping sensitive people navigate overwhelm, what would you say are the three most critical wellness strategies women need to implement today to protect their nervous systems from chronic overstimulation? Having tools with which to scaffold ourselves every day, familiar supports, can really anchor and steady us when the sea feels too rough. I can’t say what will work for everyone, however here are three useful strategies. a. Have a calm morning routine, to set the tone for your day with peaceful intention. This creates focus, and aligns your energy with what matters most for you that day. You’re less likely to be pulled into stress and chaos if you start from a place of purpose and calm. Routines also bring the comfort of the familiar. b. Set boundaries to protect your time and energy. Get to know which people and environments drain you, and manage your exposure to them. You’re allowed to say no without offering a long explanation. If someone challenges you, remember that it’s not your job to make them feel good. c. Befriend your breath and your body. Taking a few minutes’ break on your own to breathe and re-centre yourself can help to recalibrate, if you’re feeling overwhelmed. You can do some Tapping (Emotional Freedom Technique) to calm your nervous system too. ### With increasing awareness around neurodivergence, particularly among women who may have been undiagnosed for years, how do you tailor your holistic approach to support women who are discovering they're neurodivergent later in life? What unique wellness considerations should they be aware of compared to neurotypical approaches? Getting a very late diagnosis can be shattering for a neurodivergent woman, especially when a diagnosis coincides with the upheaval of perimenopause or the post menopausal period (neurodivergent women often report more intense signs and symptoms). Through exploration and education, I help women to discover, accept and honour their unique needs and desires through a neurodivergent lens. Validating and normalising their experiences can also be a big step, if they’ve been carrying around layers of shame and pain their whole life. It’s useful to explore their sensory profile and get in tune with fluctuations in their energy levels, so they can develop the right tools to regulate and get their needs met. ### You mention helping women transition "from surviving to thriving" - a phrase that resonates deeply in our current wellness landscape. For women who feel stuck in survival mode, juggling multiple responsibilities while neglecting their own wellbeing, what's your recommended first step toward building a sustainable self-care practice that doesn't add to their overwhelm? Survival mode can feel like a very unsafe place to be, and when you’re feeling overwhelmed, it can feel impossible to know where to begin. Framing this first step as a small, simple act of care which you offer to yourself can stop this from feeling like it’s just one more thing on the to do list. Starting small also means that you’re likely to succeed at it, and small successes build confidence and trust in yourself. Sitting quietly with a warm drink for a few minutes when you get up in the morning, with no distractions, is a powerful act of self kindness which sends calming signals to your nervous system. This may not work for everyone, so we would look for something that would be achievable and effective for each individual. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### Building Community Through Connection: How Life Time's Jenn Bodnar Champions Inclusive Wellness Leadership URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/wellness/building-community-through-connection-how-life-times-jennifer-bodnar-champions-inclusive-wellness-leadership/ Last updated: 2025-07-02T18:14:59.000Z In the rapidly evolving wellness industry, authentic leadership isn't just about expertise—it's about connection, community, and the courage to create meaningful change. Jenn Bodnar, Studio Leader and Yoga Teacher Training Faculty at Life Time Frisco, embodies this philosophy in everything she does. At one of [Life Time](https://www.lifetime.life/?ref=foundedbywomen.org)'s busiest locations within their network of 175+ athletic country clubs serving 1.4 million members, Jenn has discovered that exceptional wellness experiences stem from a simple yet powerful truth: it all comes down to the people. As both an Inclusion Council Ambassador and board member for W.E.L.L. (Women Empowering Leadership at Life Time), she's not only delivering transformative wellness programs but actively reshaping what inclusive leadership looks like in the $1.9 billion wellness company. From her early days with Life Time in 2006 to her current role developing the next generation of yoga teachers and wellness leaders, Jenn has witnessed firsthand how the company has evolved from traditional fitness centers into comprehensive lifestyle destinations. Her unique perspective bridges the gap between ancient yoga wisdom and modern wellness innovation, while her commitment to empowering women in leadership positions reflects a broader industry shift toward more equitable representation. In this candid conversation, Jenn shares insights on maintaining quality at scale, measuring meaningful inclusion, and how yoga's core principle of self-study continues to guide both personal growth and organizational transformation in today's fast-paced wellness landscape. --- ### Life Time operates 175+ athletic country clubs serving 1.4 million members. As a Studio Leader, YTT Faculty and committee member for the Women's Leadership board at Life Time Frisco, one of the busiest locations, how do you maintain consistent, high-quality wellness experiences while still personalizing the journey? **It All Comes Down to the People** At the heart of everything we do is community. When there is true connection, success naturally follows — and it all starts with the team.Every coach, instructor, and teacher — whether leading yoga, cycle, small group training, active aging, or dance — brings not only deep expertise but also a genuine passion for creating meaningful experiences. They are not only highly skilled in their craft, but they also embody the art of connection. That’s what makes our community feel welcoming, friendly, and inclusive — values that are central to our mission.For both our members and our team, this journey is about more than exercise or physical fitness. It's a way of life. In every interview, we ask potential team members how they live a healthy way of life. Their answers speak volumes — it's in what they eat and drink, how they rest, how they move, and the ways they care for their minds and hearts.When you live it yourself, you naturally inspire others to do the same. And that's the true strength of our community. ### As an Inclusion Council and W.E.L.L. (Women Empowering Leadership at Life Time) ambassador at a $1.9 billion wellness company, what does meaningful inclusion look like? ? How are you measuring success in creating equitable wellness opportunities for women? **Empowering Women, Elevating Leadership** A few years ago, we noticed a disconnect: while a high percentage of our team members were women, that representation wasn’t reflected in leadership roles. We knew that had to change.Today, we’re proud to share that a significant shift is happening. More women are stepping into leadership positions across the company — and it’s not by accident.Our W.E.L.L. initiative (Women Empowering Leadership at Life Time) was created inn 2014 with one clear mission: to empower women within our organization. Every month, we host live-streamed meetings open to all female team members across the country. Each Life Time athletic country club has its own W.E.L.L. ambassador who hosts a local watch party to bring the experience into each community.These sessions feature inspiring guest speakers and discussions on topics like building strength and resilience — both in the workplace and in life. This year, we’re expanding our focus to include recovery, flexibility, and power — all essential aspects of sustainable performance and well-being.The growing number of women in leadership roles at Life Time is a clear sign: the work W.E.L.L. is doing is making a real and lasting impact. ### Life Time has evolved from fitness centers to lifestyle destinations with residential, coworking, and dining components. What role do you see yoga and mindfulness playing in this expanded wellness ecosystem, and how are you preparing the next generation of female wellness leaders through your teacher training programs? Yoga is, at its core, a practice of self-study — a journey of curiosity, discovery, and growth. That same spirit has guided Life Time over the years, and I’ve been fortunate to witness it firsthand since I started with the company in 2006.The adaptability I’ve seen within our teams and across our programs has been nothing short of exhilarating. Just like in yoga, growth at Life Time comes through exploration, reflection, and a willingness to evolve.Education is central to our mission. Our team members — and our members — are deeply intelligent and inquisitive. They want to understand not just *what* we do, but *why* we do it. That’s especially evident in our Yoga Teacher Training program, where the focus goes far beyond postures and sequencing.We teach life skills. We explore the 8 limbs of yoga and how they can be applied in today’s fast-paced, ever-changing world. Our trainees don’t just learn how to lead a class — they learn how to lead with authenticity, how to reflect on their personal challenges, and how to grow through adversity.In yoga, we practice the hard things. We ask difficult questions. And in doing so, we emerge more grounded, more resilient, and more connected — to ourselves and to others.That’s the real power of yoga. And that’s the kind of transformation we strive for every day at Life Time. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### From Pediatric Dietitian to Mom: How Real-Life Feeding Challenges Inspired a New Approach URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/wellness/from-pediatric-dietitian-to-mom-how-real-life-feeding-challenges-inspired-a-new-approach/ Last updated: 2025-07-02T17:14:18.000Z The gap between textbook nutrition advice and the chaos of real family mealtimes is where many parents find themselves struggling. For Natalia, a pediatric dietitian turned entrepreneur, that gap became the foundation for [Easy Bites](https://www.easybitesapp.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org)—a comprehensive feeding solution that bridges evidence-based nutrition with the emotional and practical realities of feeding families. Natalia's journey from healthcare professional to business founder wasn't planned. It was born out of necessity when her own feeding struggles as a new mother exposed a critical void in family nutrition support. Despite her extensive training in pediatric nutrition, she found herself overwhelmed and under-supported when it came to actually getting her two-year-old to eat—a revelation that would reshape not only her approach to feeding but her entire career trajectory. What sets Natalia apart in the wellness space is her unique dual perspective: she understands both the clinical science behind child nutrition and the raw, unfiltered experience of being a parent at the dinner table. This combination has enabled her to create solutions that don't just tell parents what to feed their children, but actually help them navigate the how—addressing everything from picky eating and developmental stages to family logistics and feeding psychology. In this conversation, Natalia opens up about the personal experiences that led to her entrepreneurial leap, the overwhelming challenges modern parents face at mealtime, and how motherhood fundamentally transformed her understanding of what it means to nourish a family. Her insights reveal not just the story behind a successful wellness business, but a broader conversation about supporting parents in one of their most fundamental—and frequently stressful—daily responsibilities. --- ### 1\. As both a pediatric registered dietitian and a mother, you've created Easy Bites to address the real challenges families face around mealtime. What was the pivotal moment that made you realize there was a gap between evidence-based feeding advice and what parents could actually implement in their daily lives? When my first child was two years old, she began showing signs of feeding difficulties. As a first-time mom, I felt isolated and defeated. Despite having formal training in nutrition and a solid understanding of her dietary needs, I had no idea how to actually get her to eat properly. I was following all the "right" advice on paper, but nothing was working in real life. I reached out to everyone I knew, including healthcare providers, only to be shocked by the lack of useful support. The advice I found online or received from friends and family was often contradictory, generic, or completely dismissive of the emotional and practical challenges I was experiencing. That was my lightbulb moment. I realized that while we had decades of evidence-based guidance on what children should eat, there was almost no support on how to feed them in a way that works for real families. The strategies that worked in clinical settings weren’t translating to everyday kitchen tables. Easy Bites was born out of that gap—a need for a bridge between science and lived experience, recognizing the emotions, logistics, and developmental needs behind every meal. ### 2\. Your app focuses on reducing the "mental load" of feeding families - something many women can relate to deeply. How do you help parents, especially mothers who often carry this responsibility, shift from feeling overwhelmed by meal planning to feeling confident and supported in their feeding decisions? Parents—especially mothers—often feel overwhelmed because feeding a family is a relentless task. It’s a daily job done multiple times a day, frequently without a break. Coupled with the pressure to offer a perfect variety of nutritious meals while accounting for allergies, picky eating, different developmental stages, and personal preferences, it’s no wonder many parents feel exhausted. Take one family, for example: they have a baby just starting solids, a picky toddler who only eats beige food, and a vegetarian partner. That’s three entirely different needs to juggle every single day. Many parents end up making multiple meals, and even then, there’s no guarantee that anything will be eaten. It’s not just meal planning; it’s meal guesswork—and that often leads to burnout. Easy Bites alleviates this cognitive burden. We gather information on what each child already accepts and build meal plans around those preferences, while also encouraging variety. Our shared meals are adaptable for the whole family, with accepted foods highlighted for picky eaters and modifications provided for babies or specific dietary needs. Parents introducing solids can follow our 30-day allergen roadmap, which integrates seamlessly with family meals and eliminates guesswork. We also go beyond just food. We provide tailored feeding psychology insights and child development updates based on the child's age and feeding profile. This helps parents set realistic expectations and understand that challenges like picky eating or slow transitions are not failures—they’re part of normal development. By combining nutrition, psychology, and real-life logistics, we empower families to feed with confidence rather than stress. ### 3\. You've built a team of feeding professionals who are also parents themselves. How has your personal experience as a mother informed your professional approach to pediatric nutrition, and what's one piece of advice you wish you could give to your pre-motherhood self about the realities of feeding children? Motherhood has completely transformed my perspective. Before becoming a parent, I was already a practicing pediatric dietitian, passionate about evidence-based nutrition. However, having children of my own brought a deep understanding of what feeding looks like in real life. It’s messy, emotional, and never just about the food. As a parent, feeding isn't a theory; it’s a lived reality. It's about trying to get dinner on the table after a long day while managing meltdowns, picky eating, and your own fatigue. It involves navigating pressure from family, judgment from strangers, and the guilt that can arise when meals don't go as planned. Becoming a mother taught me that we can’t discuss nutrition without also considering psychology, logistics, and emotional wellbeing. That’s why the Easy Bites team is composed of feeding professionals who are also parents. We’ve been there, and we bring empathy along with our expertise. If I could go back and tell my pre-motherhood self one thing, it would be: Let go of the idea that perfect feeding equates to perfect meals. Feeding is a relationship, not a checklist. What matters most is building trust—trust in yourself, trust in your child, and trust in the process. If I had understood that earlier, I would have spent far less time worrying and far more time connecting at the table. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### From Manchester to LA: How Nicole Farah Built a Purpose-Driven PR Agency Across Two Continents URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/women-who-lead/from-manchester-to-la-how-nicole-farah-built-a-purpose-driven-pr-agency-across-two-continents/ Last updated: 2025-07-02T12:40:34.000Z Nicole Farah is redefining what it means to lead a global communications agency in today's rapidly evolving business landscape. As the Founder and Managing Director of [Americana Communications](https://www.americanapr.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org), she has built a full-service PR powerhouse with offices spanning Manchester and Los Angeles, specializing in some of the most challenging and dynamic sectors including cannabis, health and wellness, and emerging technologies. With over nine years of integrated experience in global communications, Nicole has secured placements for her clients in prestigious outlets like BBC, Forbes, CNN, and Bloomberg—no small feat in highly regulated industries where credibility is everything. But what sets Nicole apart isn't just her impressive media wins; it's her unwavering commitment to purpose-driven storytelling and her ability to build authentic connections across continents and cultures. From navigating the complexities of male-dominated industries to fostering a mission-driven team culture while scaling internationally, Nicole has learned that true leadership requires adaptability, vulnerability, and the courage to build new doors when existing ones remain closed. Her involvement with The EmpowHer Global Cannabis Society, which now boasts over 800 members across 36 countries, exemplifies her belief in the power of community and collaboration. In this candid conversation, Nicole shares the leadership lessons she's learned from managing across time zones and cultures, her strategies for establishing credibility in traditionally challenging sectors, and how she maintains Americana Communications' personal touch and values-driven approach while meeting the demands of global growth. Her insights offer valuable guidance for any woman entrepreneur looking to make their mark in emerging markets and build something meaningful along the way. --- ### **Nicole, Americana Communications operates with offices in both Manchester and Los Angeles, which is quite unique in the PR world. With over eight years of integrated experience in global public relations, internal communications, investor relations, and brand partnerships, how has this dual-continent perspective influenced your approach to building and leading a global team? What leadership lessons have you learned from managing across different time zones, cultures, and business practices?** Having a foot in both the UK and US markets has been one of the most rewarding parts of running [Americana](https://www.americanapr.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org). Working across borders really forces you to adopt a global perspective when it comes to how you tackle communications strategies for clients. You have to think about how different media cycles work, how people do business depending on the countries they operate in, and most importantly, how they communicate with their audiences. It's helped me build a truly adaptable team that's sensitive to what's going on both within and outside of their own locales. One of the biggest leadership lessons I think I've learned is that you can't lead everyone the same way. What works for a team member in California might feel completely off for someone in the UK or Germany. So I've had to get really intentional about communication and creating space for different perspectives and ways of working. You've got to stay flexible, especially when it comes to time zones. I live and die by my calendar and world clock app. But whilst it's important to know what's going on in all the markets you operate in as a leader, I don't think that hustle culture is necessarily sustainable. I want my team to feel like they can breathe and encourage them to focus on the clients and stories that resonate most with them. ### Americana Communications works with clients in diverse sectors including regenerative agriculture, consumer wellness, and other emerging markets, and you've secured placements in major outlets like BBC, Forbes, CNN, and Bloomberg. These industries often present unique challenges and regulatory complexities. As a woman leader in this space, what strategies have you developed to establish credibility and drive results in traditionally male-dominated or heavily regulated sectors? What would you tell other women entrepreneurs considering entering these markets? Credibility comes from consistency and doing your homework. I don't look to operate in a space unless I understand the science, the policy and the landscape. And if I do my homework and still don't feel like I (or my team) have a grip on it, we network in that space and try to learn from the best! Highly regulated industries are layered and constantly changing, so it's important to gather as much information as possible. You never know what you'll find out if you don't ask. Our agency mainly works in the global cannabis space, and yeah, sometimes that can feel very male-dominated. As a woman in the space, I've kind of just stopped waiting for permission. If the door isn't open and I can't find a window, I'm probably building a new one. I'd tell anyone considering entering industries like cannabis to trust your own voice and find your people. It's so important to find like minded folks in this space because they will be your support system when/if you feel burnout creeping in. I joined an international platform last year called [The EmpowHer Global Cannabis Society](https://empowhersociety.world/?ref=foundedbywomen.org), a grassroots movement that brings together a huge network of industry professionals committed to empowering women in the cannabis sector. We have over 800 members across 36 countries now, and being part of this community has been massive for me both personally and professionally. I've met so many incredible women in the cannabis space that lead with curiosity, kindness and collaboration and I couldn't be more grateful for the support I've found there. Cannabis is an industry that thrives on education and connection, and you don't need to necessarily know everything to get started, you just need to be bold enough to show up! ### Your company's mission statement emphasizes that "our mission is more than just business - it's personal. It's about forging connections, sparking conversations, and igniting change." This suggests a very purpose-driven approach to leadership. As you've scaled Americana Communications globally, how do you maintain this personal connection and mission-driven culture while also meeting the demands of business growth and client expectations? What systems or practices have you put in place to ensure your team stays aligned with these values as the company expands? My business partner, Cassandra Dowell, and I built Americana with the belief that storytelling has to mean something. It's not just landing clients in gift guides or creating crisis communications plans (although these PR activities are part of our day to day, to be fair!). As we've grown as an agency, we've been really conscious about keeping our purpose close to our chest. That means being quite picky about the clients that we take on, building real relationships with journalists around the world and creating a culture where our team feels connected to the reason why we're doing this work in the first place. We're working to tell stories with purpose. To make sure we stay connected as a team, we've set up weekly team check-ins and we celebrate client wins together whether they're big or small. We also try to be really open with our team, especially about the messy stuff. Vulnerability builds trust and I'd rather have a team that feels personally invested in the stories they're telling than one that's just going through the motions and collecting a paycheck. It's what lets us scale without losing what makes our team special. **Resources:** Website: [https://www.americanapr.com/](https://www.americanapr.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) Company Instagram: [https://www.instagram.com/americana.pr](https://www.instagram.com/americana.pr?ref=foundedbywomen.org) Company LinkedIn: [https://www.linkedin.com/company/americana-communications/](https://www.linkedin.com/company/americana-communications/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) Personal LinkedIn: [https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicoledfarah/](https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicoledfarah/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) Personal Instagram: [https://www.instagram.com/ukcannachick](https://www.instagram.com/ukcannachick?ref=foundedbywomen.org) > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### Reclaiming Your Body's Wisdom: A Conversation with Nutritionist Rosie Tadman on Fertility, Healing, and Breaking Free from Diet Culture URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/wellness/reclaiming-your-bodys-wisdom-a-conversation-with-nutritionist-rosie-tadman-on-fertility-healing-and-breaking-free-from-diet-culture/ Last updated: 2025-07-02T10:19:41.000Z In a world that profits from women's insecurities and disconnection from their bodies, nutritionist [Rosie Tadman](https://rosietadmannutrition.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) offers a different approach. Rather than adding to the noise of conflicting health advice, she helps women cut through it—combining evidence-based science with traditional wisdom to support fertility, hormonal health, and overall wellbeing. Rosie's practice is built on a radical premise: you are not broken. Your body isn't wrong—it's simply trying to navigate a system that wasn't designed with women's biological rhythms and sensitivities in mind. As both a qualified nutritionist and a keeper of women's stories, she works to help clients reconnect with their inner wisdom while addressing the root causes of conditions like PCOS, unexplained infertility, and hormonal imbalances. What sets Rosie apart is her commitment to accessibility and authenticity. She's created affordable options like Power Hour consultations and online courses, and she's refreshingly honest about the structural barriers that prevent many women from accessing care. Her approach isn't about perfection or expensive overhauls—it's about small, sustainable changes rooted in self-compassion rather than self-punishment. In this candid conversation, Rosie shares her insights on navigating fertility struggles, supporting women through the emotional complexity of trying to conceive, and why the most foundational change might be simpler than you think. Her message is clear: you don't have to do this alone, and healing doesn't have to be complicated, costly, or perfect—it just has to come from a place of care. --- ### 1\. You often talk about combining "science with traditional wisdom" in your practice. In a world where women are bombarded with conflicting nutritional advice, especially around fertility and hormones, how do you help your clients cut through the noise and find what actually works for their individual bodies? "I hope I help women cut through the noise by first naming the system we're in." We live in a world that markets to women daily—telling us we’re not enough, not thin enough, not fertile enough, not energetic or youthful or beautiful enough. As the saying goes, *“If every woman woke up and felt good in her body, half the economy would collapse.”* This culture thrives on our disconnection from ourselves. So it’s no wonder so many women are searching for the next ‘fix’. Step one is understanding we’re not broken.That might sound simple, but feeling it in your bones is a different story. Our bodies aren’t wrong—they’ve just lost their way in a world that’s not built for them. We’re living in a system designed for speed, productivity, and dissociation. So of course we’re seeing rising levels of chronic fatigue, subfertility, hormonal imbalances, and skin issues. And we women are biologically more sensitive. That’s not a weakness—it’s a gift. Oestrogen and progesterone make us more finely attuned to stress, disconnection, and imbalance. If more people were as sensitive as women are, maybe the world wouldn’t be in such a mess. So how do I help someone reconnect? Through a mix of traditional wisdom and modern science. I listen to your story. I use tools like detailed case histories, symptom patterns, and, if appropriate, functional testing—things like bloods, hormone panels, gut tests, or hair tissue mineral analysis. All of that helps build a picture of *what your body needs right now*, in this season of life. But ultimately, my role is to become redundant. You are the expert on your body. You always were. It’s just that the world got so loud, you stopped hearing the signals. My job is to help you hear them again—to offer some ‘training wheels’ while you relearn how to trust your own inner guidance. ### 2\. Fertility struggles can be one of the most emotionally challenging experiences a woman can face. Beyond the nutritional protocols, how do you support women and couples through the emotional rollercoaster of trying to conceive, particularly when they're dealing with conditions like PCOS or unexplained infertility? "I often describe myself as a keeper of stories." When you’re navigating fertility struggles—especially conditions like PCOS or unexplained infertility—it’s rarely *just about* food or hormones. It’s about identity, grief, hope, shame, longing, and loss. Part of my role is to hold space for those stories to be shared. It’s a deep privilege—and a responsibility—to witness what lies beneath the surface. Often, the simple act of saying something out loud in a safe space is a form of healing. It’s not uncommon for clients to share things they’ve never told anyone else—stories of baby loss, sexual trauma, toxic relationships, or the sheer exhaustion of hope followed by disappointment. But I also want to be clear: I’m not a therapist. I work within my scope. I’m not a counsellor or psychiatrist, and holding that boundary protects both my clients and myself. What I can do is walk alongside someone, gently unpicking their story while also signposting them to trusted therapists, somatic practitioners, TRE (Tension & Trauma Releasing Exercises), group support spaces, or baby loss charities when that feels appropriate. ### 3\. You've created affordable options like your "Power Hour" consultations and online courses to make nutritional support more accessible. What would you say to women who feel overwhelmed by the idea of overhauling their nutrition, or those who think they can't afford professional support? What's one foundational change they could start with today? "If you’re feeling overwhelmed by the idea of overhauling your nutrition, I’d gently ask: why do you want an overhaul?" So often, it turns out the pressure isn’t coming from within, but from outside—maybe from social media, a well-meaning friend, or the constant messaging that tells women they’re not doing enough. Maybe you don’t *need* or even *want* a total overhaul—and that’s okay. There’s no morality in food. Eating differently doesn’t make you a better version of yourself. But if that desire *is* coming from within—if you’re craving more energy, ease, or connection to your body—then we start from there. From love, not punishment. From a desire to feel more free, not more controlled. Start small. Perfection is not the goal. One of the first changes I suggest? Eat real food, regularly. Try building simple meals around protein, colour, and fat. Notice how that makes you feel. Start noticing, full stop. That’s the beginning. If cost is a barrier, I get it. There are so many structural injustices that shape who gets access to care and who doesn’t. And while I do believe in investing in ourselves, I also know that can be hard. Sometimes it’s about priorities—we often spend money on looking good before we feel good—but sometimes it’s just genuinely out of reach. That’s why I offer more affordable entry points like my Power Hours and online courses. And for anyone reading this who *wants* to learn but truly can’t afford to pay—I’ve created a no-questions-asked access code for my courses: Use code: freeforclients I don’t run a business to scale endlessly. I run it to support women in a meaningful, human way—and to support myself and my family, too. My model is small-scale, regenerative, and built on care, not capitalism. I fully acknowledge that being able to do this comes from a place of white privilege and resource—and I try to use that awareness with intention. In short: you are not broken. You don’t have to do this alone. And change doesn’t have to be big, expensive, or perfect—it just has to be rooted in care. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### Leading with Clarity: A Conversation with Steph Houston on Building People-First Cultures URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/workplace-culture/leading-with-clarity-a-conversation-with-steph-houston-on-building-people-first-cultures/ Last updated: 2025-07-02T09:16:17.000Z In the fast-paced world of scaling businesses, few leaders understand the delicate balance between operational excellence and human-centered culture quite like Steph Houston. As Head of People at [Phyron](https://www.phyron.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org), a Stockholm-headquartered European company with a key hub in London that's at the forefront of automotive technology, Steph has built her reputation on turning workplace ambiguity into alignment and transforming good intentions into genuine inclusive experiences. Her approach is refreshingly pragmatic: she believes that the most impactful changes often happen in the small, unglamorous moments that no one sees coming. From implementing company-wide RACI frameworks that untangle ownership confusion to coaching managers on creating space for quieter voices in meetings, Steph's leadership philosophy centers on the idea that sustainable culture change happens through consistent, intentional action rather than grand gestures. In this conversation, Steph shares her insights on what it really takes to build inclusive cultures, offers candid advice for women aspiring to leadership in People & Culture, and demonstrates how empathy and business outcomes can coexist—even when the path forward gets uncomfortable. Her perspective challenges conventional wisdom about what it means to lead with both heart and spine in today's complex workplace landscape. *Below, Steph discusses her most impactful workplace initiatives, the realities of creating truly inclusive environments, and why she believes the future of People leadership requires less palatability and more power.* --- ### **1\. What's one workplace practice or policy you've implemented that you're particularly proud of?** Rolling out a clear, company-wide RACI framework. It might not sound flashy, and it definitely won't win any HR awards, but in a fast-moving business, clarity is everything. When I joined, there were moments where no one was quite sure who was doing what. Decisions stalled, things fell between the cracks, or - more often - people defaulted to asking HR to sort it out. So I worked with teams across every function to define who's Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, and Informed for every key process and project - not just on paper, but in a way that reflected how things actually work on the ground. This wasn't about box-ticking. It was about untangling ownership. We turned ambiguity into alignment. People stopped being looped into meetings they didn't need to be in. Decisions moved faster and maybe most importantly, managers started feeling more confident about what they owned, and where to push back. It also helped push People out of the "catch-all" bucket and reposition us as enablers, not fixers. I'm proud of it not because it was complex, but because it's one of those quiet things that changed everything downstream. ### **2\. What's the biggest challenge you've faced in creating inclusive cultures and what's worked best?** The hardest part, honestly, is closing the gap between what we say we value and what people actually experience day-to-day. Most companies talk about inclusion. It's on the website. It's in the all-hands deck. But inclusion isn't a statement; it's a feeling. And if people are getting interrupted in meetings, if decisions are being made in closed circles, if only certain voices are consistently heard… then that's the real culture, no matter what's written on the wall. And it's not always deliberate. Often, it's just habit. People default to what's comfortable, and inclusion requires you to stay conscious, even when things are busy or messy. What's worked best for me is focusing on the small things that actually change how people experience work. I've coached managers to notice whose input is being skipped. I've added nudges into meeting formats to slow things down and create space for quieter voices. I've spoken up kindly, but directly, when someone gets left out of a loop or cut off in a discussion. Not to catch people out, but to create awareness. These things are awkward at first. But the more we name them, the more normal it becomes to do better. You can have the best policies in the world, but if people don't feel safe to speak up, challenge an idea, or show up fully, what's the point? Inclusion isn't a project; it's a pattern. And it's built in the small moments when nobody's watching. ### **3\. What advice would you give to women aspiring to lead in People & Culture?** Stop trying to be palatable, start being powerful. There's this unspoken pressure, especially for women in People roles, to be the calm one, the soft one, the fixer. To absorb tension, smooth things over. Keep the emotional peace while everyone else focuses on "the business." But there is a truth that no one tells you early enough: You are the business. You see the patterns before they show up in revenue. You feel the cracks in culture before they appear in attrition. And you carry stories leadership needs to hear, even when it's inconvenient. So don't dilute your voice to make it easier to listen to, and don't over-function so others can under-lead. And definitely don't confuse "supportive" with "silent." Lead with heart, but don't apologise for having a spine. That's where the real power is. ### **4\. How do you balance empathy with business outcomes? Any examples of navigating that tension?** All the time, honestly - that's the job. A recent example: we had to scale back some of our People & Culture plans due to tighter commercial constraints. Things we'd promised, things people were excited about - career frameworks, new L&D tracks, engagement projects. The business needed us to prioritise ruthlessly. And that's a hard ask, because I know how much this stuff matters to people. So instead of quietly shelving things or ghosting the momentum, I took a different approach. I got in front of it and I named the reality. I explained the "why." And most importantly, I shared the truth: This isn't off the table, it's just not the right time. Here's what we're doing instead, and here's where we'll pick it back up when we can. Empathy doesn't mean overpromising. It means being clear, honest, and respectful of people's expectations. It's about holding people through the discomfort, not just trying to avoid it. That balance is messy. But it's also where trust lives and grows. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### Breaking the 65% Failure Rate: A Co-Founder Coach's Mission to Save Entrepreneurial Partnerships URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/women-who-lead/breaking-the-65-failure-rate-a-co-founder-coachs-mission-to-save-entrepreneurial-partnerships/ Last updated: 2025-07-02T06:45:29.000Z The statistics are stark: 65% of startups fail not because of market conditions, funding issues, or product problems, but because of co-founder fallout. Behind every failed venture is often a partnership that couldn't weather the storms of entrepreneurship together. Yet despite this critical vulnerability, the entrepreneurial ecosystem has largely overlooked the human dynamics that make or break business partnerships. Enter [Nicki Coe](https://www.nickicoe.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org), a Co-Founder Coach with a unique perspective on this challenge. As the co-founder of successful branding agency LUNA + LION, she's lived through the highs and pressures of building a business alongside a partner. Her dual experience—both as an entrepreneur navigating partnership dynamics and as a coach helping others strengthen theirs—offers rare insight into what it takes to not just survive but thrive as business co-founders. Through her "Confessions of a Co-Founder" content series and coaching practice, Nicki tackles the uncomfortable truths about entrepreneurial partnerships: the toxic work patterns, communication breakdowns, and relationship tensions that often remain hidden until it's too late. Her mission is simple yet ambitious—to dramatically reduce that 65% failure rate by equipping co-founders with the tools, awareness, and intentional practices needed to build partnerships that last. In this candid conversation, Nicki shares unconventional wisdom about choosing business partners, establishing strong foundations from day one, and why being a good co-founder starts with understanding yourself. For women entrepreneurs considering launching ventures with partners, her insights offer both practical guidance and the encouragement that with the right approach, co-founding can be "the best adventure ever." --- ### 1\. You've identified that 65% of startups fail due to co-founder fallout, which led you to create a unique niche as a "Co-Founder Coach." What drove you to recognize this critical gap in the entrepreneurial ecosystem, and how has your own experience as co-founder of LUNA + LION shaped your coaching philosophy? I'm a Co-Founder myself of branding agency LUNA + LION, so I've seen first hand how pivotal your Co-Founder dynamic is. It impacts everything. When you're aligned and in sync, the confidence, momentum and decisiveness that brings is powerful. But equally, when there's tension of any sort - it's draining, it's consuming, and it affects performance. I'm incredibly lucky that my Co-Founder, Scarlett, and I have always been a strong team. But we're human. We hit a critical point in the business where we had some big decisions to make, and I struggled to really understand how to effectively communicate and connect with that conversation. Because these discussions aren't just about business - they're about your personal relationship, finances, your career, your reputation… everything. So I looked for an expert to help me, but couldn't find what I was looking for - so here I am. My experience co-founding LUNA + LION has shaped my coaching philosophy massively. It's shown me how this is the best adventure EVER, such a life-changing experience to share with someone. But with that comes pressure, so your partnership needs intentional energy if it's going to survive and thrive. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2025/07/IMG_8476-2.JPG) And now my mission is simple - to reduce that 65% stat. So many of those ideas and missions are lost because the co-founders couldn't access the knowledge or support they needed to build a successful and sustainable partnership. ### 2\. As someone who simultaneously runs a successful branding agency and coaching practice, you're living the entrepreneurial challenges you help others navigate. What's one piece of unconventional wisdom about business partnerships that you wish more female entrepreneurs understood before they launch their ventures together? When it comes to building a business partnership, don't just think about someone who has the skills you need. Think about someone you'd be happy to work with everyday, for a really long time. Skills can be learned or outsourced, but showing up for each other as Co-Founders - that's irreplaceable. And importantly - being a good Co-Founder is your responsibility. Consider how you show up, what patterns and beliefs you bring, and commit to putting in the work. Raise your self-awareness, get good at communicating, understand how you best work as a team, and focus on your partnership like it's the most valuable asset in your business - because it is. I've got a free resource you can access on how to 'date' your potential Co-Founder and assess fit - so go check it out here. ### 3\. In your "Confessions of a Co-Founder" content, you tackle real issues like toxic work patterns and partnership tensions. For women who are considering starting a business with a partner but feel intimidated by these potential challenges, what would you say is the most important foundation they should establish from day one to set themselves up for success? Consider the value in working with a partner who's different from you, rather than the same. Because it's those different perspectives and experiences that lead to innovative ideas and better outcomes. This isn't like looking for a friend or dating - you're choosing a *business partner.* Someone who, together with you, will strengthen your chances of success. So see your differences as one of the most valuable parts of your partnership, and actively encourage positive disagreement. Get good at having your ideas questioned, and build systems from the start that enable you to do that constructively. **Resources:** [nickicoe.com](http://nickicoe.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) [LinkedIn](https://fb985d50.streaklinks.com/CfDKFhdaGt9PWfumYg7ugSAI/https%3A%2F%2Fwww.linkedin.com%2Fin%2Fnicki-coe-8574a860%2F?ref=foundedbywomen.org) > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### From Diet Culture to Self-Compassion: How Cally Jones-Brown Helps Professional Women Rebuild Trust in Their Bodies URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/wellness/from-diet-culture-to-self-compassion-how-cally-jones-brown-helps-professional-women-rebuild-trust-in-their-bodies/ Last updated: 2025-07-01T14:37:23.000Z In a world saturated with quick fixes and extreme wellness trends, Cally Jones-Brown stands apart as a beacon of sustainable, compassionate health coaching. As the founder of [Become More Coaching](https://www.becomemorecoaching.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org), Cally specializes in helping professional women in their 40s and 50s break free from the exhausting cycle of yo-yo dieting and perfectionism that has defined their relationship with health and wellness for years. Cally's journey into health and wellness coaching began with her own personal transformation. Like many of the women she now supports, she spent years following rigid diet plans, counting macros, and pushing through punishing HIIT workouts—all while her confidence, energy, and joy steadily declined. Her turning point came on a day when all she ate was a single satsuma, overwhelmed by restrictive food rules that left her undernourished and disconnected from her body's needs. This moment of clarity led Cally to completely reimagine what health and wellness could look like when approached from a place of respect rather than punishment. Today, she guides women through a revolutionary shift—from outsourcing their worth to the scale to building genuine trust in their bodies and choices. Cally's approach is particularly powerful for high-achieving professional women navigating hormonal changes, energy dips, and the unique pressures of midlife. Through mindset work, body awareness, and gentle structure, she helps clients move from perfectionism to self-connection, creating sustainable lifestyle changes that honor both their ambitious careers and their evolving bodies. In this candid Q&A, Cally shares her insights on breaking free from diet culture, the specific challenges facing professional women in their 40s and 50s, and why true success in wellness isn't measured by the number on a scale—but by the quality of the relationship you have with yourself. --- ### You mention helping women escape the 'exhausting cycle of restriction and self-doubt' when it comes to health. What was your personal turning point that led you to develop this approach, and how do you help clients rebuild trust with their bodies after years of failed diets and wellness programs? Like the women I support, I spent years of my life doing the things I thought were ‘right’ - following various diet plans, intermittent fasting, counting macros, choosing ‘low-calorie’ options, doing lots of HIIT workouts…. you’d probably look at me and say I was nailing health & wellness. But the reality was, I couldn’t keep up - everything I tried was completely unsustainable. I was stuck in a cycle of yo-yo dieting - when one method inevitably failed I was on to the next thing that promised I would *finally* ‘get into that dress.’ My confidence was on the floor, as was my energy, sleep quality and general zest for life. I just didn’t believe I was of any value unless I fit a certain aesthetic, but ultimately everything I was doing was moving me even further in the opposite direction. My turning point came when one day all I ate was a satsuma because I felt so overwhelmed by what I *couldn’t* eat that I ended up eating barely anything. I realised that this wasn’t ‘healthy’, although I’d managed to lose weight, it was coming at an unreasonable cost. It wasn’t sustainable, and more importantly, it wasn’t making me feel good in my life or my body. So, I started looking at things differently and asking questions like: *What about approaching my health from a place of respect, not punishment? What would happen if I stopped outsourcing my worth to the scale?* Once I figured out that my body *wasn’t* the problem - it’s just what I’d been taught by diet culture - and I started treating myself with compassion and respect, things started to change. I began to listen to what my body needed - I nourished my body with healthy food, I started exercising for energy and moving in ways I enjoyed rather than seeing it as a punishment to remove the guilt of eating something ‘bad’. I became a Health & Wellness coach to support women like me and guide them to rebuild trust in their bodies, in their choices, and in their ability to care for themselves without guilt or shame. Now, through mindset work, body awareness, and gentle structure, I help clients shift from perfectionism to self-connection. They start to make decisions from a place of alignment and compassion, not fear and control - and that’s where lasting change begins. ### Your work focuses specifically on professional women navigating aging and hormonal changes. What unique challenges do you see this demographic facing in maintaining their health, and how has your coaching approach evolved to address the intersection of career demands and changing bodies? There’s a very specific pressure that professional women in their 40s and 50s carry. They’ve often spent years showing up for everyone else and doing what they’ve been told is ‘healthy.’ They’ve often been high achievers their whole lives - ambitious, capable, driven, juggling work, family, and everything in between. But when their bodies start to change - whether it’s through hormonal shifts, energy dips, weight fluctuations, or disrupted sleep - they suddenly feel like strangers in their own skin. The old methods and tools stop working, and that can feel incredibly destabilising, even scary. Many of these women are used to figuring things out and pushing through, but at this stage, pushing harder often backfires. What they need is a whole new way of relating to their health - one that’s rooted in listening and supporting their bodies rather than controlling them. I also see a deeper mindset shift happening. Clients tell me they want to be a positive role model for their children - not just in terms of eating well or staying active, but in how they treat themselves. They’re starting to think more about longevity and the legacy they’re leaving behind. It’s no longer about fitting into a certain size - it’s about creating a lifestyle that feels sustainable and aligned with their values. My approach acknowledges all of that. We talk about hormones, yes - but we also talk about identity, expectations, nervous system support, and redefining what strength and health look like in this season of life. It’s not about adding more complexity or challenges to an already full plate. It’s about meeting clients where they are, creating systems that work *with* the body not against it and coming at it all from a place of deep compassion and respect. ### Rather than promoting quick fixes, you emphasize making 'wellness become a natural, effortless part of lifestyle.' How do you measure success with your clients beyond traditional metrics, and what advice would you give to other wellness professionals who want to create more sustainable, compassionate approaches to health coaching? For me, success isn’t measured by the number on a scale or ticking off a goal list - it’s about helping women create a way of living that feels supportive, energising, and sustainable for the long haul. That means shifting the focus from outcomes to consistent actions. Are they carving out time for themselves regularly? Are they nourishing their body? Are they getting quality sleep? Yes, physical outcomes can be part of the journey - more energy, feeling stronger, and often weight loss - but the more important measure of progress is the quality of their relationship with themselves. When a client begins to tune into what she needs - physically, mentally, and emotionally - and makes decisions from that place rather than from fear, or external pressures or ‘shoulds’, that’s when we know the mindset is shifting and new habits are starting to stick. It’s not always flashy or linear, but it’s powerful. It’s obviously very subjective, but that’s the point - all these women really want is to *feel* good. To other wellness professionals: your clients don’t need more discipline - they need more compassion, trust and clarity. Focus on helping people reconnect with themselves. Help them build habits they *want* to keep, not ones they feel like they’re constantly fighting against. Sustainable health coaching isn’t about micromanaging food or chasing perfection. It’s about helping people build a life that feels good to live in. **Resources:** Website: [https://www.becomemorecoaching.com/](https://www.becomemorecoaching.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) Instagram: [https://www.instagram.com/becomemore.health/](https://www.instagram.com/becomemore.health/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) LinkedIn: [https://www.linkedin.com/in/cally-jones-brown/](https://www.linkedin.com/in/cally-jones-brown/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### From Fashion to Spiritual Transformation: Caroline Shola Arewa's Journey to Wellness Leadership URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/wellness/from-fashion-to-spiritual-transformation-caroline-shola-arewas-journey-to-wellness-leadership/ Last updated: 2025-07-01T14:23:48.000Z In a world where burnout and disconnection have become all too common, [Caroline Shola Arewa](http://shola.co.uk/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) stands as a beacon of transformation. Known internationally as "the Energy Doctor," Shola has spent over three decades helping people reclaim their vitality and align with their highest purpose through her groundbreaking Energy 4 Life program. Her path to becoming a leading figure in spirituality and wellness wasn't always clear. Starting as a young entrepreneur in the fast-paced fashion industry at just 18, Shola discovered that creative fulfillment without wellbeing was ultimately unsustainable. This pivotal realization launched her on a 40-year journey that would revolutionize how she—and thousands of others—approach personal and professional transformation. Today, as a psychologist, speaker, and bestselling author of five books including "Opening to Spirit" and "Energy 4 Life," Shola has created an elegant coaching methodology that integrates energy psychology, chakra work, and quantum science. Her approach goes beyond traditional coaching to help clients understand their energetic signature and create lasting change from the inside out. In this candid conversation, Shola shares how her early challenges shaped her spiritual practice, why she believes "Energy is everything," and how the pandemic unexpectedly improved her training programs. From her core values of living "on Purpose, with Passion in Peace" to her newest offering, the Shekem Maat Healing System based on Egyptian Healing Arts, Shola's work represents a unique fusion of ancient wisdom, psychology, and modern understanding—all delivered with her signature abundance of love and laughter. --- ### Your personal journey—from overcoming early life challenges to establishing a successful fashion business and then embarking on a transformative spiritual quest—has been remarkable. How have these experiences shaped the development of the Energy 4 Life program and its core principles? What has really supported me on my journey through life, in fact, totally transformed it, has been my Spiritual Practice. I have always had a business, since the age of 18\. Nine to five never seemed to agree with me. So, I went out on my own path from being very young. My fashion business and fast paced living of the time caused me some stress and was not sustainable. Fashion is very competitive and although it satisfied my creative streak, it did nothing for my wellbeing. I had to leave it behind, and I embarked on a career in wellness that has spanned 40 years. It has been one of the best decisions I’ve made. The marriage of wellness lifestyle with business, works very well. The values I live by have been and continue to be central to my business. My number one value is integrity. Being authentic is a must. I like to live on Purpose, with Passion in Peace, and my work supports me to do that, because my work is all about helping other people live on Purpose, with Passion in Peace. These principles are central to the Energy 4 Life Spiritual Coaching Program, which helps you change your life by helping other people change theirs. ### The Energy 4 Life coaching approach integrates various disciplines, including energy psychology, chakra work, and quantum science. How do you ensure that these diverse elements cohesively support clients in achieving holistic wellbeing? Yes, the Energy 4 Life Spiritual Coaching Program, brings together several diverse areas. You may need to train in four or five disciplines to cover everything we integrate in the program. After years of study myself, I found that only 20% of what I studied was ever used with clients, and I didn’t want to ask people to train in tools they would never use. Hence E4L literally brings together the tools I have actually successfully used with clients over 20 years of practice. I bring these potent tools together in an elegant approach to change. Underlying all the modalities taught on the program is Energy. And science supports the practice. *Energy is everything*, is a popular saying, and I take this quite literally. Once you begin to understand your own [energetic signature](https://completechakratest.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) and know how to discern that of your clients, change happens. You then have additional tools to deepen the coaching experience and results you are able to get with clients. I call it becoming a Coach, because of the internal shift that happens. t’s truly transformational. ### As a pioneer in spiritual and wellness coaching, what emerging trends do you foresee in the field, and how is Energy 4 Life adapting to meet the evolving needs of individuals seeking personal and professional transformation? Great question, one of the things that shifted for **Energy 4 Life**, is the way we deliver the program. It used to be 12 full days over three months, or a 10-day residential intensive. But Covid put a hard stop to all that. We had slowly been changing, and the Goddess Rona, as I like to call Corona, who is the Goddess of Viruses, by the way, tipped us over the edge. The training is now an online training, where participants move at their own pace, with Mentoring support from us. Much better, it works so well, it’s great to see how each person’s different needs are met. It is even more effective now. I am thankful for the changes. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### Putting Health First in a Busy World: Maria Jula on Evidence-Based Nutrition and Workplace Wellness URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/wellness/putting-health-first-in-a-busy-world-maria-jula-on-evidence-based-nutrition-and-workplace-wellness/ Last updated: 2025-07-01T11:01:02.000Z For too many professional women, health becomes something that gets pushed aside in favor of work demands and daily responsibilities. Maria Jula, founder of [MJ London Nutrition](https://mjlondonnutrition.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org), understands this struggle intimately. After years of putting her own wellness on the back burner, she experienced firsthand how challenging it can be to prioritize health while managing a demanding career. With a Level 5 Advanced Nutrition Science Diploma with Distinction from Mac-Nutrition Uni and qualifications as both a nutritionist and personal trainer, Maria combines evidence-based practice with the empathy that comes from lived experience. Her approach focuses on empowering women who often find themselves putting their health on the back burner due to work demands—a challenge she knows intimately. Beyond individual coaching, Maria champions workplace wellness programs, recognizing that creating supportive environments for women's health extends far beyond the consultation room. Her multifaceted career as a nutritionist, mentoring officer, EDI advocate, and musician gives her a unique perspective on balancing multiple demanding roles while maintaining personal wellness. In this conversation, Maria shares why investing in health isn't a luxury but a foundation for success, her approach to cutting through wellness industry noise with evidence-based guidance, and how employers can better support their teams' wellbeing. For any woman feeling like health keeps getting pushed aside, Maria's insights offer both practical strategies and the encouragement to finally put yourself first. --- ### You mention dealing with your own hormonal health challenges as a busy professional. How did your personal wellness journey shape your approach to helping other women, and what advice would you give to women who feel like they're constantly putting their health on the back burner due to work demands? I was diagnosed with PCOS more than ten years after I first began experiencing symptoms. It only happened because I had private health insurance at the time, which allowed me to pursue the necessary testing. That experience showed me just how disempowering it can feel to be out of sync with your own body—never knowing if your next meal will leave you feeling bloated or uncomfortable. During lockdown, I finally had the time and space to focus on my health, and I know many others did the same. But now that we're back to our busy routines, it’s harder than ever to balance health with the demands of work and personal life. My advice to women who feel like their health keeps getting pushed aside is this: invest in yourself. Prioritising your health isn’t a luxury—it’s the foundation for a long, happy, and fulfilling life. Working with a nutritionist can help you find a clear, tailored path forward without the overwhelm of sorting through conflicting information on your own. It took me six years to get to where I am today, and I know most women simply don’t have that kind of time. The right support can fast-track your progress and empower you to take back control of your body and your wellbeing. ### The wellness industry is flooded with quick fixes and trendy diets. How do you ensure your approach remains evidence-based, and what red flags should busy women watch out for when choosing a nutrition professional or wellness program? The best rule of thumb? If something sounds too good to be true, it probably is. While weight loss can sometimes happen quickly, building a sustainable, healthy lifestyle is a longer journey that requires real habit change—not gimmicks. I’m especially cautious of programs that demonise entire food groups, like carbohydrates or fats, or promote unnecessary food intolerance testing (excluding medically necessary tests, like those for coeliac disease). These are major red flags. Every macronutrient has a role in a balanced diet, and over-restrictive approaches rarely lead to long-term success. To keep my own practice evidence-based, I regularly follow respected researchers and health professionals who are deeply rooted in science, and I rely on reputable databases like PubMed when I want to dive deeper myself. A good tip: if someone makes a bold claim online, don’t hesitate to ask for their references. Credible professionals will always be transparent about their sources. ### Beyond individual coaching, you offer workplace wellness programs. What role do you think employers should play in supporting women's health, particularly around issues like hormonal health and work-life balance? How can we create more supportive environments for women's wellness in professional settings? Considering how much of our lives are spent at work, I believe employers have a responsibility to support their teams in achieving a healthy work-life balance. For women in particular, there’s still a long way to go in recognising that we experience unique challenges—whether that’s managing hormonal conditions like PCOS or endometriosis, navigating menopause, or balancing caregiving responsibilities. The first step is awareness. From there, it’s about creating an environment where women feel supported and empowered to thrive. While workplace wellness programs have been shown to improve employee retention, reduce absenteeism, and boost productivity, I think their greatest value lies in education. When people understand how to take care of their health, they’re better equipped to make choices that lead to a longer, healthier, and more meaningful life. I'm passionate about working with businesses to build wellness cultures that support every individual—because when employees are well, everyone benefits. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### From Red Carpet to Skincare Revolution: Kristy Jones on Building Australia's Most Trusted Clean Beauty Brand URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/wellness/from-red-carpet-to-skincare-revolution-kristy-jones-on-building-australias-most-trusted-clean-beauty-brand/ Last updated: 2025-07-01T09:58:53.000Z After more than three decades backstage at Australia's most glamorous red-carpet events, makeup artist and beauty therapist Kristy Jones has built a reputation as one of the country's most trusted voices in beauty and styling. As a qualified beauty therapist, educator and hair & make up artist, Kristy holds a backstage pass to some of the most glamorous red-carpet events in Australia, working with countless clients and witnessing firsthand the transformative power of truly healthy skin. But it was during these years of working with an endless array of beauty products that Kristy noticed something troubling: despite the wealth of products available, there wasn't a lot of joy being derived from skin, with clients often experiencing frustration, resignation, and anxiety. This observation became the catalyst for her revolutionary approach to skincare—one that prioritizes skin health over quick fixes and genuine wellness over empty promises. Founded in 2020, [Skin Joy](https://www.skinjoy.com.au/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) by Kristy Jones is a unique skincare brand that has been designed to simplify your skincare routine and bring you high performing affordable products. What sets Kristy apart in the crowded beauty market isn't just her extensive professional background—she's an ABIA finalist for National Educator of the Year in both 2022 and 2024, and one of the top 6 Beauty Educators in Australia—but her unwavering commitment to creating products that serve the entire family, from tweens to adults dealing with environmental damage. Her philosophy is beautifully simple yet revolutionary: rather than compromising the performance of the most effective active ingredients by lumping them all together, Skin Joy works as a strategically designed system, delivering just what the skin needs, as it needs it. This approach, combined with her belief that skincare should be accessible, effective, and genuinely nurturing, has positioned Kristy as a wellness pioneer who understands that healthy skin is the foundation of confidence and self-care. In this candid conversation, Kristy shares the pivotal moments that led her to create Skin Joy, her passionate advocacy for establishing good skincare habits early in life, and how she's successfully maintained her wellness-focused values while building a thriving Australian-made, cruelty-free business that puts skin health first in an industry often driven by trends and quick profits. ### After decades as one of Australia's most trusted voices in beauty and styling, working backstage at glamorous red-carpet events, what was the pivotal moment that made you decide to create your own skincare line? How did your experience as a beauty therapist and educator shape the philosophy behind Skin Joy's 'strategically designed system' approach? I created *Skin Joy By Kristy Jones* to take the guesswork out of skincare. My range is thoughtfully designed to be uncomplicated, affordable, and suitable for most skin types. Powered by Australian-sourced ingredients, Skin Joy supports what your skin naturally produces—helping to replenish and restore what time gradually takes away. It’s skincare that makes sense, feels good, and brings the joy back to your daily routine. ### Skin Joy caters to everyone from 10-year-olds to adults dealing with age and environmental damage. As someone passionate about wellness, how do you believe establishing good skin habits early impacts overall wellbeing throughout life? What advice do you give to mothers wanting to introduce their tweens and teens to healthy skincare practices? I believe in *monkey see, monkey do*—our children learn by watching us. That’s why it's so important to teach them good skincare habits early. Prevention is always better than cure. By simply encouraging daily SPF use, we’re setting them up for a lifetime of healthier skin. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2025/07/unnamed--14-.jpg) The tween and teen years are a crucial time—they're impressionable, curious, and heavily influenced by what they see around them. Educating and guiding them now helps build confidence, self-respect, and long-term skin health. It's not about perfection—it's about protection, consistency, care and of course- joy! ### Your brand emphasizes being Australian-made, cruelty-free, and naturally kind with no synthetic colors, fragrances, or parabens. In today's competitive beauty market, how do you maintain these wellness-focused values while building a successful business? What challenges have you faced in staying true to your 'skin comes first' philosophy, and how has this approach resonated with your customers? As a makeup artist for over 32 years—and a qualified beauty therapist—I've always believed in *skin first, makeup second*. Healthy skin is the most beautiful foundation you can wear. When we nourish and care for our skin properly, we never feel the need to hide it under heavy makeup. Too often, makeup and skincare products are filled with harsh chemicals, preservatives, and unnecessary “nasties.” At *Skin Joy*, we proudly say no to toxic ingredients and parabens. Yes, this does come with challenges—our clean formulations have a recommended shelf life of 6 months—but that’s because we prioritise safety and skin health over shortcuts. Our packaging sizes are purposefully designed to match that shelf life, ensuring you get the most out of your products while they’re at their freshest. And the materials we use are fully sustainable and environmentally friendly.Because when it comes to your skin, quality and safety, and keeping our planet clean should never be compromised. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### From BBC Studios to Nourishing Mothers: How One Woman's Health Crisis Sparked a Mission to Transform Exhausted Mums URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/wellness/from-bbc-studios-to-nourishing-mothers-how-one-womans-health-crisis-sparked-a-mission-to-transform-exhausted-mums/ Last updated: 2025-07-01T06:31:59.000Z When [Thalia Pellegrini](https://www.thaliapellegrini.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) was just 17, a bout of glandular fever derailed her life for five years. Doctors diagnosed her with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and told her there was nothing they could do except wait and hope she'd get better with age. By her early twenties, she was struggling to hold down her first job after graduating from Cambridge, constantly battling debilitating exhaustion that seemed to have no end in sight. It was a chance encounter with a nutritional therapist that changed everything. Within four months, Thalia's energy was transformed, setting her on a path that would eventually lead her from the BBC presenting studios to becoming "The Knackered Mums Nutritionist" – a mission born from her own journey through motherhood and the crushing realization that even with all her nutritional training, she had lost herself in the chaos of caring for everyone else. Today, Thalia helps mothers navigate everything from post-natal depletion to perimenopause, championing the radical idea that when mums prioritize their own wellbeing, the benefits ripple through their entire family. Her story is one of personal transformation, professional reinvention, and the powerful truth that sometimes we must lose ourselves completely before we can find our true calling. --- ### From BBC presenter to "transforming the lives of knackered mums" - what inspired your career pivot to nutritional therapy, and how did your personal health journey shape your mission to help mothers put themselves first without the guilt? I loved working as a presenter for the BBC, but I felt a strong pull to do something completely different. The decision to study nutrition was an easy one to make. I only became a TV presenter because a nutritional therapist had changed my life in my 20s. Aged 17, I got glandular fever - but I didn’t get better. Diagnosed with Epstein Barr virus, I was told by doctors that I had Chronic Fatigue Syndrome but there was nothing they could do - I would probably just get better as I get older. Five years later, and nothing much had changed. By then I was trying (and failing) to hold down my first job after graduating from Cambridge, but I was constantly ill and struggling with debilitating exhaustion. I found the name of a nutritional therapist in the back of a book about how to beat fatigue. I started to have sessions with her and within 4 months my health had been transformed, and I had more energy than I imagined possible. I got to pursue my dream of being a TV presenter. I was so grateful. So, when I felt I needed a new direction, nutritional therapy felt like the right choice. I spent 3 and a half years studying at the renowned Institute of Optimum Nutrition in London and graduated in 2009 when I was 4 months pregnant with my first child. But motherhood exploded my wellbeing. Even with all my training, I wasn’t looking after myself. Not sleeping, barely eating, I felt isolated and ashamed that I was struggling. I poured every ounce of energy into my beautiful boy and thought that was all that mattered. I had to hit rock bottom to realise that I was short-changing him as well as myself by thinking that as long as he was thriving, that was all that mattered. When I had my second son two years later, I realised I had to do things differently, for all of us. And so, the Knackered Mums Nutritionist was born. ### Your signature programs like "The Energised Mum Method" focus on perimenopause and helping mums go from "knackered to nourished." What's the biggest mindset shift you help your clients make, and what's one practical step busy mothers can take today to start prioritizing their energy? No matter what life stage my clients are in, they all share the same devotion to their families. And that often overrides how they look after themselves – if they do it all. They feel guilty when they spend time or money on themselves. The first mindset shift is the realisation that they are the centre of the universe for their families and if they are happy, healthy and full of energy EVERYONE benefits. I invite women to hold their own wellbeing sacred. It’s always a total joy to see what follows when she does, whether she’s post-natal or in perimenopause. One practical, simple change a busy mum can make is to eat a nourishing breakfast. Doesn’t have to take long, but it needs to be filling and nutritious because it will dictate what you eat and how you feel for the rest of the day. Try it for 7 days. You’ll be amazed by the difference in your energy. You can email me at [thalia@thaliapellegrini.com](mailto:thalia@thaliapellegrini.com) for my free and exclusive Recipe Collection Breakfasts for Mums in a Hurry. ### You emphasize that "when you feel better, less hormonal, more energised, more vibrant, more YOU – the impact radiates through your life." How do you help women overcome the belief that self-care is selfish, and what does an "empowered perimenopause" look like in practice? When a woman starts to feel her energy shift in a few weeks of working with me, she gets how powerful nutritional therapy can be. Bear in mind that when women come to me, it’s almost always because they’re knackered and on some kind of hormone rollercoaster and have been for a long time. They’re finally ready for change because they just don’t want to feel this way anymore – full of rage, impatient, exhausted, teary, in pain, anxious, zero libido. It could be PMS, PMDD, PCOS, endometriosis, post-natal depletion or perimenopause – often more than 1 of the above – but she probably hasn’t felt fantastic in far, far too long. We often start with a conversation about self-compassion. Nutritional therapy isn’t just about what’s on your plate. Self-compassion is about acknowledging that we have one body and it’s our home – we get to make the choice to nourish our body with food, movement, breath and sleep. It’s not about perfection! We can only do our best each day and that’s always enough. The first step is knowing, deeply knowing, that is not selfish to cherish our own health. An empowered perimenopause is about connecting to and understanding what’s happening to our bodies. We’ll explore the stages of perimenopause and menopause and the varying hormonal shifts but far more than that, we focus on overall health - gut, skin, liver health, movement and breath, stress management, weight, as well as understanding that we are futureproofing our health too. Understanding how to support cardiovascular health, brain health and bone health is empowering. We may live 40 years after menopause. Those years should be joyful, healthy and pain free. Whether you’re on HRT or not, for some women this is a profoundly challenging time. I’m knee-deep in it myself and it’s been humbling but I’m finding my way too and learning from the amazing women that trust me with their health. Not only am I an empath, but I am also deeply intuitive. That, combined with more than ten years clinical experience means that every woman who works with me benefits from unique nutritional therapy completely bespoke to them and their life. And it works. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### From Publishing to Personalized Nutrition: How One Woman's Health Journey Became Her Mission to Transform Others' Lives URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/wellness/from-publishing-to-personalized-nutrition-how-one-womans-health-journey-became-her-mission-to-transform-others-lives/ Last updated: 2025-06-30T14:59:58.000Z Sometimes the most profound career transformations begin not with a grand plan, but with a personal health crisis that demands we pause, listen to our bodies, and chart a completely new course. This is exactly what happened to [Alex Allan](https://www.alexallannutrition.co.uk/?ref=foundedbywomen.org), a registered nutritional therapist who spent over two decades in the high-pressure world of publishing before her own health challenges—including PCOS and gestational diabetes—led her to discover the transformative power of personalized, evidence-based nutrition. What started as a quest to manage her own symptoms evolved into a passionate mission to help other women break free from the cycle of quick fixes and generic health advice that simply don't work. Today, Alex combines her background in functional medicine with her real-world understanding of what it means to juggle career, family, and health challenges, offering women a refreshingly practical approach to wellness that fits into their actual lives. In this candid Q&A, Alex shares her journey from corporate burnout to wellness entrepreneur, reveals the most common underlying issues she sees sabotaging women's health, and offers actionable advice for busy women who feel overwhelmed by conflicting health information. Her message is both empowering and reassuring: sustainable wellness isn't about perfection—it's about finding what works for your unique body and lifestyle. **Meet Alex Allan** Alex Allan BSc (Hons) NT, DipBCNH, mBANT, regCNHC is a Registered Nutritional Therapist, Certified NLP Practitioner, and Certified Health Coach specializing in women's hormonal and metabolic health. After spending over 20 years in publishing, her own health journey with PCOS and gestational diabetes inspired her career transition into functional medicine, where she now helps women move beyond symptom management to address root causes of their health challenges. --- ### After spending more than 20 years working in a corporate environment, you moved into Nutritional Therapy after diet and lifestyle changes helped you improve your own health successfully. Can you share more about that pivotal moment when you realized you needed to make a change, and how your personal health struggles with PCOS and gestational diabetes shaped your approach to helping other women navigate their own wellness journeys? I worked in publishing for over 20 year, which I absolutely loved but it came with its own pressures and demands. It was during this time that I had my own health challenges - specifically being diagnosed with PCOS and then having gestational diabetes in two pregnancies, and that really forced me to pause and rethink my approach to my health. The pivotal moment came when I realised that the advice I was being given just wasn’t enough to manage my symptoms or support my long-term health – they were often quick fix solutions or further medications. I began exploring nutrition and lifestyle changes, and discovered how powerful personalised, evidence-based strategies could be. This journey transformed not only my own health but also my career path! It shaped my belief that every woman deserves to feel empowered through understanding her unique body and what it needs to thrive. My own health experiences have made me especially passionate about helping women navigate these complex hormonal and metabolic challenges with compassion and clarity – moving beyond generic advice to things that actually work, and that busy women can put into practice. ### You emphasize digging "a little deeper to find the right answers" and getting to the root cause rather than just treating symptoms. In a healthcare system that often focuses on quick fixes, how do you help women shift from the cycle of failed diets and temporary solutions to sustainable, personalized nutrition that addresses their unique needs? What's the most common underlying issue you discover that women didn't realize was affecting their health? One of the biggest challenges I see is how women get caught in the cycle of fad diets and quick fixes, which might give temporary relief from symptoms, but don’t ever tackle the root causes of their symptoms. My approach is to dig a little deeper – with functional medicine we aim to look beyond the symptoms to identify underlying imbalances, whether that’s hormonal dysregulation, inflammation, stress, or nutrient deficiencies, to help get the person feeling better again. It’s about personalised, science-backed nutrition and lifestyle adjustments that fit into real lives, not one-size-fits-all solutions. A common underlying issue I frequently uncover is chronic stress and its impact on hormonal balance and digestion. Many women don’t realise how much stress is silently sabotaging their health, from energy crashes to weight challenges and mood shifts. By addressing stress, sleep, digestion, and personalised nutrition together, we can create sustainable change rather than sticking plaster fixes. ### As a mum of two teens with a busy household, you understand the real-world challenges women face in prioritizing their health. How do you help busy women - whether they're juggling careers, families, or both - implement lasting nutrition and lifestyle changes without adding overwhelm to their already full plates? What's your advice for women who feel guilty about investing time and energy in their own wellness? I completely understand how overwhelming life can be when you’re juggling a career, family, and everything else in between! That’s why I continue to focus on practical, manageable changes rather than drastic overhauls. It’s about finding what works for each woman’s unique rhythm and lifestyle, small steps that build up to big results without creating extra pressure and panic. For busy women, my advice is to start with the permission to prioritise themselves. Investing time in your health isn’t selfish; it’s essential. When you nurture your wellbeing, you’re better equipped to support those around you and bring your best self to all areas of life. Even small acts, like a nourishing meal, a short walk, or mindful breathing, can have a ripple effect on your energy and resilience. Ultimately, it’s about building sustainable habits that fit your life, not trying to fit your life around perfect habits. That shift alone can free women from guilt and open the door to lasting, joyful wellness. **Links:** [https://www.alexallannutrition.co.uk](https://www.alexallannutrition.co.uk/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) [https://www.instagram.com/alexallannutrition/](https://www.instagram.com/alexallannutrition/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) [https://www.linkedin.com/in/alex-allan-nutrition/](https://www.linkedin.com/in/alex-allan-nutrition/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### "Self Care Is Not Selfish": Sarah Carolides on Cutting Through Wellness Noise and Leading by Example URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/wellness/self-care-is-not-selfish-sarah-carolides-on-cutting-through-wellness-noise-and-leading-by-example/ Last updated: 2025-06-30T14:18:08.000Z In our ongoing series celebrating women leaders who are reshaping the wellness landscape, we sit down with Sarah Carolides, Head of Nutrition at [Zooki](http://www.zooki.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) and a respected functional medicine specialist. With her Cambridge University background in science and recognition by Vanity Fair as one of 'The A-List people to know in London,' Sarah brings a unique perspective to the intersection of cutting-edge nutritional science and practical wellness solutions. Sarah's journey from academic science to functional medicine leadership exemplifies the evolution of modern wellness—one that demands both scientific rigor and genuine accessibility. At Zooki, she's been instrumental in bringing pharmaceutical-grade liposomal technology to the consumer wellness market, making advanced nutritional delivery systems both effective and enjoyable. In this candid conversation, Sarah shares her insights on navigating the noisy wellness landscape, the critical importance of questioning everything in an era of social media influence, and the unique nutritional challenges women face throughout their lives. She also opens up about the personal side of wellness leadership—how she maintains balance while practicing what she preaches, the necessity of saying no, and why self-care is ultimately an act of love for those who depend on us. Whether you're a wellness professional, a woman seeking evidence-based health solutions, or simply curious about the science behind the supplements you take, Sarah's perspective offers valuable insights into the future of functional nutrition and women's health. --- > Sarah, with your Cambridge University background in science and your journey into functional medicine, what drew you to join Zooki as Head of Nutrition? How do you use your expertise to advance the company's mission with liposomal technology, and how do you bridge the gap between rigorous academic science and accessible wellness solutions? The supplements market is unfortunately populated with many companies that manufacture low grade, poor quality cheap products that are either not absorbed well or made from synthetic ingredients that the body cannot utilise. When I was approached by Zooki 4 years ago, I found a young start up that was determined to use the best ingredients possible and align that with a medically proven delivery system that means they can actually be absorbed and make a huge difference to the consumer. Liposomal technology is not new - it’s been used for over 40 years by the pharmaceutical industry as the preferred drug delivery system for medications and vaccines. But not many supplement companies had adopted it because it’s a complicated manufacturing process and can be expensive. Zooki have successfully bridged the gap between the advanced medical technology and accessible wellness by making the liquid sachets extremely tasty; which is a game changer for both nutritionists and their clients - for the first time people actually look forward to taking the supplements because they enjoy the taste so much. In terms of my expertise, we spend a lot of time on education to convey the importance of the quality of the ingredients and the delivery system so that people know they are getting value for money. > As someone who's been recognized by Vanity Fair as one of 'The A-List people to know in London' and works with high-profile clients, how do you see the wellness landscape evolving for women today? What role do you believe targeted nutrition plays in supporting women's unique health challenges throughout different life stages? The wellness landscape has evolved hugely over the last 25 years - most of it undoubtedly positive but we now have the challenge of social media. Most of the really good practitioners that I know have not had time to develop a large social media following because they are too busy seeing clients. Conversely, some of the loudest nutrition and wellness influencers are amazing at social media but not necessarily that good at the actual science! So we do have to be careful at cutting through the noise and the fads. One thing I came away with from Cambridge university was definitely the belief that you ‘question everything’ and I spend a lot of time dissecting scientific papers to see whether the research actually holds up or not. For women though, there is far more understanding now that the body is a complicated, interconnected system. Women are starting to push back if a doctor tells us that our symptoms are normal because we are women. There is still an enormous gender imbalance between the monies spent on research into male vs. female issues. Interestingly, nutrition is one area where there is perhaps more interest being taken in female issues though, perhaps because women are attracted to studying and practising nutrition. Identifying the different challenges that women face throughout their hormonal journeys and then addressing the underlying processes, supporting nutritional deficiencies and making sure they are fuelling and supporting their health can be powerful and even transformative for all ages. > In your role leading nutrition strategy at Zooki while maintaining your practice as a functional medicine specialist and contributing to research publications, how do you personally maintain balance and wellness? What advice would you give to other women in wellness leadership who are trying to 'practice what they preach'? That’s a really good question. As working women we often put ourselves last - behind family, clients and all our other responsibilities. And one thing I think many wellness practitioners find difficult is saying No as we’re programmed to help people. Something I’ve learnt in the last 5 years or so is to prioritise what I enjoy and career-wise, what I know I am good at. I make time to see friends and children and have also become stronger at turning down invitations that I know I’m not going to enjoy! But I’ve been practising wellness for so long that many of the fundamental pillars are very much part of my daily life, in terms of drinking water, going to bed early, avoiding processed foods and sugar and so on. I’m also at the age now where exercise has become a necessity rather than a luxury so I walk to work as often as I can and have started investing in 121 Pilates and PT sessions. Something I have definitely learned through nursing elderly parents and supporting hundreds of clients over the years is that Self Care is not Selfish. By looking after your own health you are actually looking after the people who will otherwise have to care for you if your health fails. One way you can show love to your children or dependents is to look after yourself so they won’t have to. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### Helen Oldham on Why Female Founders Are Smart Money—And How to Prove It with Data URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/women-in-vc/helen-oldham-on-why-female-founders-are-smart-money-and-how-to-prove-it-with-data/ Last updated: 2025-06-30T12:01:54.000Z Welcome to our Women in VC Q&A series, where we spotlight the trailblazers reshaping the venture capital landscape through innovative approaches to gender-smart investing. Today, we're thrilled to feature Helen Oldham, Co-Founder of [Lifted Ventures](https://liftedventures.co.uk/?ref=foundedbywomen.org), whose groundbreaking work is proving that backing female founders isn't just the right thing to do—it's smart business. Helen's journey represents a paradigm shift in how we think about venture capital and regional investment. Alongside co-founder Jordan Dargue, they have spent over 17 years in the regional early-stage equity environment, developing what Lifted Ventures calls the "flywheel approach"—a unique model that combines angel networks, VC connections, education, and intersectionality blueprints to systematically increase capital flow to female founders. What sets Lifted Ventures apart is their data-driven approach to dismantling the myths surrounding female founders. Through Lifted Ventures and The Lifted Project (co-led with Zandra Moore MBE and backed by Lloyds Bank), they're building comprehensive datasets that reveal the hidden potential of regional female founders. Their work demonstrates that female founders are not only more likely to exit but do so more quickly than their male counterparts, generating twice the revenue per pound invested. Lifted Ventures' impact extends far beyond individual investments. Through the Lifted Angels network, they've facilitated over £7 million in capital across 22 founders, while their Lifted Angel Academy has educated over 120 women about accessible angel investing—starting from as little as £2,000\. Their annual Athena VC conference has become a cornerstone event, bringing together over 170 women in venture capital and corporate finance to collectively amplify their voice in the industry. In this candid Q&A, Helen shares insights from their journey from talking about "barriers" to showcasing "business benefits," reveals surprising data points about regional female founders, and offers strategic advice for women in VC looking to transform their firms' investment thesis from diversity as a "nice-to-have" to diversity as a competitive advantage. --- ### Your "flywheel" model combines angel networks, VC connections, education, and intersectionality blueprints in a unique approach. Which component of this flywheel has been the most critical accelerator for change, and how do you measure its impact beyond just funding amounts? Jordan Dargue and I have spent over 17 years collectively in the regional, early stage equity environment, and over five years developing our flywheel approach to supporting regional female founders. At the very heart of our model is our lively angel network; a group of predominantly women, and advocate men who back female founders of start ups from outside of London and the South East. So far Lifted Angels have backed 22 founders and helped to raise over £7m of capital. The accessibility and tax efficiency of angel investing is vastly underplayed in women's business networks; too few women are aware that they could be investing in female founders without having to have hundreds of thousands of spare capital, our investments can start at as little as £2k, and aggregate up to significant amounts when we invest alongside each other. That's why we developed the Lifted Angel Academy, to help educate women about every aspect of effective angel investing. We've had over 120 attendees to our free to access angel programmes so far! ### As Co-Leader of The Lifted Project, you're taking a data and ecosystem approach to increasing capital for female founders in UK regional cities. What specific data points have surprised you most about regional female founders, and how might this reshape national investment strategies? The Lifted Project is an organisation we have formed in collaboration with Zandra Moore MBE, backed by Lloyds Bank, to support later stage, high growth female founders from the regions. The Lifted Project is taking a data and community led approach to creating the right environment for high growth, women led organisations to thrive in the regions. In time this will include a regional dataset on the hidden female founders who are making huge progress out of the limelight.British Business Bank research demonstrated that female founders are more likely to exit, and to exit more quickly than their male counterparts, so across both Lifted Ventures and The Lifted Project we want to make it understood that backing women isn't altruism, or a good thing to do, it makes cold business sense. ### You've moved from talking about "barriers" to showcasing "business benefits" - with female founders generating twice the revenue per pound invested. What's your advice for women in VC who want to shift their firm's investment thesis from diversity as a "nice-to-have" to diversity as a competitive advantage? The decision making process and power balance inside VCs is complex and the result of systemic barriers which have existed since the dawn of Venture Capitalism in the 1970s. Ideally what's required is greater representation at a senior level inside VC firms, and more importantly for their backers, the LPs, to have gender as a key outcome for the deployment of their funds. At Lifted Ventures we are building an ecosystem of women in Venture Capital who can come together collectively to have more of a voice, and to cheer each other on. Our Athena VC conference held in May 2025 was attended by over 170 women in VC and corporate finance. Together we can accelerate the pace of change. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### Bridging Ancient Wisdom and Modern Leadership: Anuradha Gupta's Transformative Journey from Corporate Executive to Ayurvedic Pioneer URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/wellness/bridging-ancient-wisdom-and-modern-leadership-anuradha-guptas-transformative-journey-from-corporate-executive-to-ayurvedic-pioneer/ Last updated: 2025-06-29T16:37:56.000Z From corporate boardrooms to ancient healing traditions, Anuradha Gupta has built a remarkable career that seamlessly bridges two worlds. As a a NAMACB AD Level and Certified Ayurvedic Practitioner, Engineer, MBA, and prolific writer, she exemplifies how women can honor their professional expertise while pursuing their passion for holistic wellness. Today, she serves as Guest Faculty Member, Content Specialist and AP Mentor at [Kerala Ayurveda Academy & Wellness Center](http://keralaayurveda.us/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) while running her own practice, Ayurvedic Footprints. But Gupta's impact extends far beyond individual healing. As Chapter President of PFLAG Danville-San Ramon Valley, she writes and volunteers for many LGBTQ+ nonprofits, pioneering efforts to make Ayurveda more inclusive and accessible to marginalized communities. Her recent co-authored book, "Unveiling Health, Happiness, and Longevity," represents years of work translating ancient Vedic wisdom for contemporary wellness seekers. What makes Gupta's approach particularly compelling is her understanding of Ayurveda as an integrative science that acknowledges both the gross physical and subtle energetic levels of healing. Her practice, Ayurvedic Footprints, has been serving clients since 2018, offering consultations, wellness coaching, and educational content, while her academic role involves training the next generation of Ayurvedic practitioners. In this candid conversation, Gupta shares insights on navigating career pivots, building credibility for traditional practices in contemporary settings, and her vision for creating more equitable wellness spaces where ancient wisdom meets modern social justice advocacy. ### You combine a background in engineering, MBA, and corporate leadership with your deep knowledge of Ayurveda. What advice would you give to other women in corporate careers who are drawn to holistic wellness practices like Ayurveda but feel uncertain about making such a significant career pivot? The corporate world is full of stress; in fact, there is an epidemic of stress! Productivity is overrated, and overwork and burnout are almost valued. Many women find themselves depleted in mind, body and spirit which is what led me to yoga and meditation with Art of Living and eventually, a holistic health practice like Ayurveda really helped. Studying and practicing Ayurveda helps us understand and heal the root causes of diseases through prevention and lifestyle management, manage imbalances and live to our fullest potential. For those curious about a career shift, you could test out Ayurveda in your personal life and community by attending classes, reading about it, and working with an Ayurvedic practitioner for your own healthcare before taking the plunge into a full on career shift. ### You are the Chapter President of PFLAG Danville-San Ramon Valley and write and volunteer for many LGBTQ+ nonprofits while teaching Ayurveda. How do you integrate social justice advocacy with ancient wellness practices, and what role do you see Ayurveda playing in creating more inclusive wellness spaces for all communities? Health equity and access are important for all marginalized communities. These communities face greater healthcare challenges because of stigma, unequal rights, or provider discrimination. For instance, social injustices cause greater disparities in cardiovascular health. The LGBTQ+ community deserves fair, safe, culturally competent, and inclusive wellness spaces. Ayurveda and Vedic Sciences have always espoused the philosophy of “*Vasudhaiva Kutumbhakam,*” acknowledging diversity while promoting inclusion and a ‘one-world family.’ I found a unique opportunity to bring my social justice work into Kerala Ayurveda and Art of Living. I researched and disseminated information about best practices in managing the healthcare of the LGBTQ+ community with Ayurveda. I was part of the National Ayurvedic Medical Association’s DEI committee and now teach DEI in clinical case work at Kerala Ayurveda. Ayurveda originated in India where colonization led to decades lost in the criminalization of LGBTQ+ identities. We have our work cut out to undo that harm. Health equity must be a deliberate effort and focus in all healthcare spaces, modern or traditional. ### You run your own Ayurvedic practice, Ayurvedic Footprints, and serve as faculty at Kerala Ayurveda Academy. As a woman entrepreneur in the wellness space, what has been your biggest challenge in building credibility for traditional practices in modern settings, and how do you bridge ancient wisdom with contemporary wellness needs? According to the CDC, 6 in 10 Americans suffer from a chronic disorder. The focus of wellness is shifting to *salutogenesis*, personalization, holistic health, prevention, lifestyle interventions, chronobiology, and epigenetics — these are the strengths of Ayurveda. I believe that Ayurveda is to quantum science what modern medicine is to classical science. It may be traditional, but it is cutting-edge. Ayurveda is not yet licensed in the US and we have to prove our credibility. Like Traditional Chinese Medicine, this is likely to be a long, arduous process but there are many women entrepreneurs — more power to us! Ayurveda was restricted by the British, causing the loss of lineages and knowledge. Now, our field is in a massive revival which includes experiential and evidence-based medicine. Misinformation is a challenge we face and I teach my students how Ayurveda is inclusive and not patriarchal. I also have to educate my clients about Ayurveda, the benefits of integrative medicine, and educate my students to explain Ayurveda to people so that's double work, but we for sure love it! > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### Bringing Wellness Home: How Well Reserved Co-Founders Are Redefining Self-Care for Busy Women URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/wellness/bringing-wellness-home-how-well-reserved-co-founders-are-redefining-self-care-for-busy-women/ Last updated: 2025-06-29T04:21:48.000Z Meet Tatyana Sinn and Jenniffer Willis, the dynamic co-founders behind [Well Reserved](https://www.well-reserved.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org), a revolutionary wellness service that's transforming how women approach fitness and mindfulness. Tired of wellness feeling like just another item on an endless to-do list, these entrepreneurial moms created a solution that brings certified instructors directly to your space—whether that's your living room, backyard, or vacation rental. In this candid Q&A, Tatyana and Jenniffer share the personal experiences that sparked their business idea, from navigating the logistical nightmares of childcare and packed schedules to walking into fitness spaces that didn't feel welcoming. They reveal how removing traditional barriers—commuting across town, rigid scheduling, and intimidating studio environments—has helped women rediscover joy in movement and connection. Discover how Well Reserved's carefully vetted instructors create inclusive, low-pressure experiences that prioritize emotional safety alongside physical well-being. From sound baths in cozy living rooms to strength training sessions on rooftops, learn how this innovative approach is turning wellness from a chore into a celebration of self-care. The co-founders also open up about their biggest challenge: scaling their intimate, personal touch while maintaining the human connection that makes each session feel like "a best friend showing up with a yoga mat and good energy." Get inspired by their vision of wellness that meets women where they are—literally and emotionally—and transforms strangers into friends through the power of familiar, safe spaces. *Ready to experience wellness on your terms? This is the story of how two women are making that possible, one home session at a time.* ### 1\. You've created a model that eliminates many traditional barriers to wellness - from gym intimidation to scheduling conflicts. What inspired you both to reimagine how people access fitness and mindfulness services, and how do you see this 'wellness that comes to you' model addressing the specific challenges women face in prioritizing their health? We started Well Reserved because we were tired of wellness feeling like another item on our to-do list—something that required commuting across town, squeezing into someone else's schedule, or walking into a space that didn’t feel like it was made for us. We knew there had to be a better way—one that actually met people where they are, literally and emotionally. As women, and as working moms and founders, we’ve experienced firsthand how hard it can be to prioritize ourselves. The logistics alone—childcare, packed calendars, mental load—can make carving out time for movement or mindfulness feel like a luxury instead of a necessity. That’s why we built a model that flips the script. With Well Reserved, wellness isn’t one-size-fits-all or locked behind studio walls—it comes to you, on your terms. By removing the friction—commute, scheduling hassles, and even the intimidation of walking into a traditional fitness space—we’re helping women (and their communities) access wellness in a way that’s joyful, flexible, and sustainable. Whether it’s a sound bath in your living room, strength training on your rooftop, or yoga with friends in your backyard, we want wellness to feel less like a chore and more like a celebration of self-care. ### 2\. Well Reserved emphasizes creating community and connection through fitness, even in private settings. How do you train your instructors to foster that sense of belonging and camaraderie when they're entering someone's personal space? What have you learned about how women connect differently around wellness when they're in their own environment versus a traditional studio setting? Our instructors are more than just experts in their modality—they’re warm, adaptable, and deeply attuned to the energy of the room. We look for people who lead with empathy, can read group dynamics, and prioritize emotional safety just as much as physical well-being. Whether they’re walking into a birthday celebration, a bachelorette weekend, or a quiet solo session, their role is to create a vibe that feels inclusive, low-pressure, and fun. What we’ve learned is that when women are in a space that’s familiar—whether it’s their home, a friend’s backyard, or a vacation rental—they let their guard down. There’s less comparison, less performance, and way more laughter. It becomes less about hitting a fitness goal and more about feeling good, being present, and connecting with the people around you. We’ve seen strangers become friends, group chats turn into group workouts, and wellness become something people *look forward to* instead of something they feel guilty about skipping. That shift is powerful—and it happens when the setting feels safe, personal, and real. ### 3\. As female founders in the wellness industry, what's been your biggest challenge in building a business that's both deeply personalized and scalable? How do you maintain the quality and customized experience that sets Well Reserved apart while growing your team of instructors and expanding your reach? One of our biggest challenges has been balancing intimacy with growth. From day one, we built Well Reserved to feel personal—like a best friend showing up with a yoga mat and good energy. As we scale, the question becomes: *How do we keep that same feeling at the core of every session, even as we reach more people in more places?* The key has been staying crystal clear on what makes us different: human connection. We don’t just match clients with instructors—we curate every experience with intention. That means vetting instructors not only for skill, but for warmth, adaptability, and the ability to show up with presence. We're not trying to be the biggest platform—we’re trying to be the best at creating moments that feel meaningful. We’re also looking to invest in systems behind the scenes that will allow us to scale without sacrificing the soul of what we do. From personalized onboarding to thoughtfully designed session types, we’re always asking: *Does this feel like Well Reserved?* Growth is exciting, but it only matters if the experience stays true to who we are—and that’s a standard we won’t compromise on. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### Beyond Skin Deep: How One Woman's Journey Away from Botox Led to a Revolutionary Natural Wellness Clinic URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/wellness/beyond-skin-deep-how-one-womans-journey-away-from-botox-led-to-a-revolutionary-natural-wellness-clinic/ Last updated: 2025-06-27T16:30:47.000Z In a world saturated with quick-fix beauty solutions and chemical-laden treatments, Tasja has carved out a different path entirely. As the founder of [The Natural Rejuvenation Clinic](http://www.tnrc.uk/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) (TNRC), she's built more than just a wellness practice—she's created a sanctuary for those seeking authentic transformation without compromising their health. Her story begins not with a business plan, but with a personal dilemma that many women face: the pressure to conform to beauty standards that felt fundamentally at odds with her values. At 40, despite 15 years of dedicated organic living, Tasja found herself contemplating botox and fillers. But something deeper held her back—a voice that wouldn't be silenced, reminding her that botox is "considered the most toxic biological substance known to science." That internal resistance became the catalyst for something extraordinary. Today, at 42, Tasja's skin has never looked better, and her clinic represents a growing movement of people seeking natural alternatives to conventional aesthetic treatments. TNRC offers a holistic approach that combines cutting-edge natural technologies with personalized wellness testing, nutritional therapy, and life coaching—proving that true beauty comes from regeneration, not just renovation. In this candid conversation, Tasja shares her journey from beauty industry skeptic to wellness pioneer, revealing how she's helping clients achieve remarkable results while staying true to their values and health. --- ### What inspired you to create The Natural Rejuvenation Clinic, and how does your philosophy of "delivering the future of regeneration, naturally, without toxins or harsh chemicals" differentiate your approach in the wellness industry? In all honesty, what inspired me to start TNRC, was to satisfy what I really wanted to experience in wellness myself. I wanted a beautiful, calm, nature-connected space, where I could go to get exceptional results (for me personally in relation to my skin ageing and improving my overall wellness), without just resigning myself to the so widely available toxic and harsh chemical routes. I wanted to be super conscious of what I was asking of and putting into my body. Because how I good I looked wasn’t worth compromising my health or wellness for. To also answer the growing needs of my friends, family, colleagues and all the people that I’d come across in life, that are now seeking more natural ways to successfully combat a range of skin, hair and wellness concerns, whether they had previously tried more toxic routes or not. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2025/06/unnamed--3-.png) The awareness and **demand for more natural alternatives is louder than ever**, in everything from aesthetic treatments, beauty products and cleaning detergents, supplements and nutrition, to transforming from within rather than masking concerns on the outside eg biohacking, wellness testing and regenerative treatments. The tide is turning. About 2 years prior to creating TNRC, I had started thinking about botox and fillers. They were everywhere! It was hard not to. At 40, my skin was looking tired, dull and heavily lined across my forehead, my under-eyes had hollowed and my lips had deflated. I didn’t recognise myself. There was, however, always still this nagging, negative feeling I had about botox. A voice in my head just kept saying “It’s considered **the most TOXIC biological substance known to science**”. I, by this point had been dedicated to eating and using organic products (wherever possible, in everything from food, to soap, to feminine hygiene products), for about 15yrs. Always feeling the negative effects if I deviated too far from that, ate out too much etc. And there I was, considering putting the most toxic biological substance known to science, in my face! Beauty standard pressures are *REAL*! I went for a few consultations, found an incredible practitioner, but for one reason or another I just couldn’t move forward with botox. The voice was too loud and the universe’s direction too strong. I tried lip filler for the first and last time instead and whilst they were done so well and really did look like they had naturally a few years earlier, I just knew it wasn’t the right choice for me. I’m not judging anyone else’s choices. I think everyone should be able to choose whatever means they want to look or feel “better”, but I want to offer a more natural path and a beautiful space to experience it in. Today, at 42 I microneedle my face and lips, use mostly simple, inexpensive organic skincare products and honestly, they’ve never looked better! My skin at 42 is the best it’s been in my entire life, but so is my wellness and how I feel. There are so many conversations happening now (including from very well-known people), moving away from more widely available treatments like tox and fillers. There are more and more coming forward with regrets, complications they’ve experienced or simply a change in taste of their own beauty standard. There are more people understanding that they feel acute impacts across various aspects of their life, when their wellness is compromised. More people searching for makeup and beauty products free of known carcinogens/hormone disruptors. More seeking a non-judgmental conversation to get thoughts and plans straight, in a demanding and sometimes overwhelming world. These are all fundamental threads woven through TNRC’s offering. I built **The Natural Rejuvenation Clinic** around this mission. Beyond Skin Deep, Naturally. --- ### TNRC offers a unique combination of skin rejuvenation, hair rejuvenation, wellness testing, nutritional therapy, and life coaching. How do you integrate these different modalities to create a truly holistic experience for your clients, and what role does personalization play in your treatment approach? That’s exactly the magic. There are so many synergistic elements that we can layer into treatment plans. That work in harmony with each other and your body, to deliver impressive results. We are also continually researching and evolving the offering. Keeping attuned to cutting-edge, evidence-based developments in the industry. Always leaning into the more natural alternatives. While conventional options like Botox or filler might offer short-term masking, our approach uses advanced but natural technologies that promote **true regeneration at a cellular level**. Think microneedling, biomimetic exosomes, nutrient IVs, red light therapy. All working together to literally **reverse signs of ageing, boost healing, and elevate wellness**. These treatment layers have been carefully curated for optimal results. For example our **Wellness Testing** (Sensitivities, Hormones, Gut Microbiome, DNA, Women’s Health, Men’s Health) is **an incredible way to** **empower my clients** to deeper understand their wellness and how certain aspects could be impacting other areas, like skin, hair, sleep, energy-levels, bloating. The **Life & Wellness Coaching** (Confidence, Clarity & Planning, Entrepreneurs, Ventures & Work, Relationships, Intimacy) is available because in all honesty, the most important treatment you can have is to upgrade how you treat yourself day-to-day. How you view, value, appreciate, care, set boundaries for and show-up for yourself. Also how you connect with others. Sometimes having some un-biased, non-judgemental conversations and being empowered with some new knowledge, tools and confidence, can make all the difference. For mind, body, soul, skin, hair & wellness! Empowerment and positive energy are huge in my life and ethos. --- ### As a woman leading in the wellness space, what advice would you give to other women who are passionate about helping others look and feel their best? What has been the most rewarding aspect of building your practice and seeing the impact on your clients' confidence and well-being? For me, being a woman founder in wellness means showing up ready to listen (because so many aren’t given that basic experience) and supporting my clients and wellness community however I can. Sharing the knowledge and experience I’ve gained on my unique journey. Being someone that offers empowerment and positivity, always. My advice to other women driven to elevate others would be: 1. **Trust Yourself**. Your intuition is your most important advisor. If you need to do a little work to reconnect with it, then do (TNRC can help!). If you genuinely feel your concept/product/work/experience/voice can help others, then it likely will. 2. **Build Your Vision Authentically.** Manifestation is powerful. Stay true to your vision and yourself and your community will join your journey. 3. **Learn. Iterate. Transform.** Stay open, receptive and agile. Your business isn’t just what you do; it’s how you respond to input, feedback, what is happening around you and most importantly how you connect with your community. The best founders are always learning and developing themselves and their work. The more you elevate others, the more you will be elevated. The more lives you will positively transform. That is the most rewarding part of TNRC, witnessing our clients’ transformations, not just in their skin or hair, but in their **confidence and self-worth, in how they feel about themselves physically and mentally**. Moments like that, when wellness creates deep emotional recalibration, are worth the work. Every. Time. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### From Personal Struggle to Powerful Purpose: How Mariah Quesada Transforms Lives Through Plant-Based Health Coaching URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/wellness/from-personal-struggle-to-powerful-purpose-how-mariah-quesada-transforms-lives-through-plant-based-health-coaching/ Last updated: 2025-06-27T15:49:28.000Z At just 14 years old, Mariah Quesada made a life-changing decision to become vegetarian. What she didn't anticipate was how that choice, made without proper guidance or family support, would lead to years of health challenges that would ultimately shape her entire career. Today, as the founder of [Path](https://www.takemypath.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org), Mariah has transformed her early struggles with plant-based eating into a mission to help others not just survive, but truly thrive on a plant-powered lifestyle. Mariah's approach combines transformational coaching with health and nutrition guidance, creating a holistic method that empowers individuals to take control of their lives and achieve their goals. Her journey from a teenager navigating nutritional missteps to becoming a trusted health coach illustrates the very transformation she now facilitates for her clients—moving from confusion and restriction to abundance and empowerment. In our conversation, Mariah shares the deeply personal experiences that drive her work, reveals the most common obstacles her clients face when transitioning to plant-based living, and explains her philosophy of creating lasting change through self-compassion rather than quick fixes. Her story is a testament to how our greatest challenges can become our most powerful tools for helping others. --- ### **1\. At Path, you specialize in plant-based health coaching and nutrition. What inspired you to focus specifically on helping people transition to a plant-based lifestyle, and what are the most common challenges you see clients face during this transformation?** My journey into plant-based health coaching is profoundly personal. At 14, I chose to become a vegetarian, yet without family support or adequate information at the time, I inadvertently adopted a diet heavily reliant on refined and processed carbohydrates, which unfortunately led to early health challenges. This experience propelled me to understand how to not just survive, but genuinely thrive on a plant-based diet. Today, with an increase in reliable information and the growing embrace of this lifestyle for diverse reasons—from personal health and ethical considerations to environmental stewardship—my mission at Path feels clearer than ever. I am deeply inspired by the transformative power of plant-based living, recognizing its immense benefits not only for individual physical health and overall well-being but also for its positive global impact. Many individuals are curious about this path yet feel lost or intimidated, often burdened by the misconception that it is restrictive or complicated when, in reality, it is incredibly abundant and empowering. My purpose is to bridge that gap, guiding clients through a positive, sustainable transition and helping them navigate common challenges such as information overload, social pressures, cravings, logistical hurdles in meal planning, and any lingering concerns about nutritional adequacy, regardless of what initially inspired their journey. ### 2\. Many people feel overwhelmed by conflicting information about plant-based nutrition and struggle with persistent cravings or social pressures. How do you help clients overc**ome these obstacles and develop the confidence to make informed nutritional choices?** At Path, my approach is firmly centered on empowering clients through comprehensive education, practical strategies, and unwavering support to effectively navigate the noise of conflicting information. I provide clear, evidence-based nutrition fundamentals, demystifying common concerns and establishing a strong foundation of understanding that enables clients to make informed dietary choices with confidence. We strategically address cravings by exploring their root causes and developing personalized, sustainable techniques, thereby shifting the focus from sheer willpower to effective, actionable tools. Navigating social pressure is a significant hurdle, and we practice graceful communication strategies for family meals and dining out, always emphasizing the abundance and joy inherent in plant-based eating rather than any sense of restriction. Ultimately, I guide clients to cultivate intuitive eating and self-trust, moving beyond rigid rules to genuinely listen to their bodies and make choices that truly nourish them, ensuring they emerge as their own most confident and informed health advocates. ### **3\. Your approach emphasizes developing lasting healthy habits that support long-term wellness rather than quick fixes. What's your philosophy on creating sustainable change, and how do you empower clients to maintain their plant-powered lifestyle beyond your coaching program?** My philosophy at Path on creating sustainable change is rooted in the belief that true transformation is not about deprivation or temporary efforts; it's about integration, enjoyment, and self-compassion. We are not aiming for a finish line; rather, we are building a vibrant, lifelong journey. Quick fixes rarely address the underlying behaviors and beliefs that contribute to unhealthy patterns, which inevitably leads to rebounds. Sustainable change, conversely, involves building a strong foundation, brick by brick, that consistently prioritizes genuine enjoyment and lasting well-being. I empower clients to maintain their plant-powered lifestyle beyond our coaching program by focusing on small, incremental shifts and personalized enjoyment. We establish new habits by thoughtfully integrating them into existing routines and optimizing their environment. My role is to guide, not dictate, helping clients develop robust self-efficacy and problem-solving skills so they can confidently navigate challenges independently. We ensure they conclude the program with a comprehensive toolkit of resources and a deep understanding that self-compassion and flexibility are crucial for long-term adherence. Ultimately, we reinforce their intrinsic "why," connecting daily choices to their deeper values for powerful, enduring motivation. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### From International Athlete to Women's Health Pioneer: GQ Jordan on Building Sustainable Wellness Without the Overwhelm URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/wellness/from-international-athlete-to-womens-health-pioneer-gq-jordan-on-building-sustainable-wellness-without-the-overwhelm/ Last updated: 2025-06-27T14:46:23.000Z *In our latest Women in Wellness Q&A, we sit down with GQ Jordan, a nutritionist who's transforming how women approach their health—one sustainable habit at a time.* When [GQ](http://www.instagram.com/Gqjordannutrition?ref=foundedbywomen.org) Jordan competed internationally in athletics as a teenager, she learned something that would later become the cornerstone of her nutrition practice: the power of consistency over perfection. Today, as a women’s health nutritionist specializing in hormone balance and metabolic health, she’s helping women across the UK, Ireland, and further afield break free from the cycle of restrictive diets and overwhelming health advice. GQ's journey from the athletics track to pharmaceutical work, and ultimately to founding [GQ Jordan Nutrition](http://www.instagram.com/Gqjordannutrition?ref=foundedbywomen.org), wasn't just career evolution—it was deeply personal. After losing her period and being diagnosed with PCOS, she refused to accept "come back when you want to conceive" as an answer. Instead, she dove into research, rebuilt her own health, and made it her mission to provide other women with the support and education she wished she'd had. Her approach is refreshingly straightforward: "I teach you how to listen to, trust and nourish your body so you can finally feel confident in your own skin." No extreme restrictions, no guilt—just evidence-based strategies that fit seamlessly into busy lives. In this candid conversation, GQ shares how her diverse background shaped her practice, reveals the subtle signs of hormone imbalance that women often dismiss, and explains why the simplest nutritional shifts can create the most profound changes. For women tired of choosing between health and happiness, GQ's insights offer a refreshing alternative: you can have both. ### How did your transition from being an international athlete to working in pharmaceuticals, and ultimately founding GQ Jordan Nutrition, shape your unique approach to women's wellness? I think all my experiences, from sport to science, have shaped how I work today. I competed internationally in athletics in my teens, and that really taught me the power of consistency. It gave me a deep respect for the small, daily habits that lead to meaningful change. Training at that level built a long-term mindset. I wasn't chasing quick fixes; I was focused on building a foundation. That's a huge part of the work I do now with my clients - helping them create a rhythm they can stick to. Working in pharmaceuticals, especially in the diabetes sector, was incredibly rewarding. I spent time working with patients and patient groups, and it became clear how much was missing when it came to nutritional education. I saw the gaps and knew I wanted to be part of the solution. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2025/06/GQ_BANK-1132.jpg) The final push came from my own health. I lost my period, was diagnosed with PCOS, and was told to come back when I wanted to conceive. That didn't sit right with me. I knew if my body was waving a red flag and I had to pay attention. So, I dove into the research, rebuilt my health, and made it my mission to help other women do the same - with real support, real education, and no overwhelm. At the end of the day, our health reflects our daily habits. When we learn how to build those habits in a way that supports our body, everything starts to feel a bit easier and a lot more hopeful. ### You mention that your own struggles with hormonal imbalances sparked your mission. Can you walk us through how you help busy women identify the subtle signs their hormones might be out of balance, and what are some of the most common misconceptions you encounter about hormone health? I help women tune into their bodies and start recognising the signs that might seem random at first. Things like a 3pm energy crash, bloating that comes out of nowhere, or feeling wide awake at bedtime but struggling to get out of bed in the morning. When you build that kind of self-awareness, it creates this ongoing feedback loop. You start noticing patterns, and from there, it becomes so much easier to support your body properly. It's really empowering when you begin to understand what your symptoms are pointing to. Low energy or constant cravings might be linked to blood sugar, disrupted sleep, or stress showing up in your cortisol levels. Once you know what you're looking at, you can take action that helps, rather than just guessing or pushing through. One of the most common myths I see is that hormone issues are only a problem if you've missed a period or hit menopause. But the signs are often much more subtle. Women tell me they just don't feel like themselves anymore, that's a signal worth listening to. Another big misconception is that you need to go all in with strict diets or cut out loads of food groups to get results. It's the small, steady changes that make the biggest difference. When you support your body with simple but consistent habits, everything starts working a bit more smoothly. ### Your philosophy centers on making nutrition fit seamlessly into busy schedules rather than requiring complete lifestyle overhauls. What's one simple but powerful shift you recommend to women who feel overwhelmed by conflicting nutrition advice and don't know where to start? One of the simplest shifts I recommend is building your meals around protein and fibre. It sounds basic, but when you focus on that one habit, everything else starts to feel easier. Your energy lasts longer, your cravings calm down, and you stop feeling like you're constantly reaching for snacks just to get through the afternoon. It's also about removing the pressure to be perfect. You don't need to overhaul your entire life overnight. Just start with your next meal. Can you add a source of protein? Can you throw in something with colour? That's where real change happens - in the small, consistent choices that fit into your day without stress. Because once women realise it doesn't have to be all or nothing, they stop feeling stuck. They start feeling in charge again. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### Leading with Joy: How Daisy Watts Is Redefining Workplace Culture at Denzel's URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/workplace-culture/leading-with-joy-how-daisy-watts-is-redefining-workplace-culture-at-denzel/ Last updated: 2025-06-27T08:55:05.000Z *Part of our Women Building Better Workplaces series - A conversation with Daisy Watts, Head of People and Culture at* [*Denzel's*](https://www.denzels.co.uk/?ref=foundedbywomen.org)*, about balancing transparency with strategy, scaling authentic culture, and proving that work really can be fun.* This interview is part of our ongoing Women Building Better Workplaces series, where we explore how female leaders are reshaping organizational culture, championing inclusive practices, and creating environments where everyone can thrive. Daisy Watts leads People and Culture at Denzel's, a challenger brand in the pet industry that's built around celebrating "the joy of treating dogs ridiculously." In this conversation, Daisy shares how her team navigates the balance between transparency and strategic decision-making, maintains their playful culture during rapid growth, and creates an environment where both two-legged and four-legged team members can thrive. From impromptu dog birthday parties to achieving an impressive +89 eNPS score, Daisy offers practical insights into building a people-first culture that doesn't compromise on performance. She discusses staying authentic while scaling, the importance of psychological safety in leadership, and how Denzel's predominantly female leadership team has shaped their open, empathetic approach to management. Whether you're leading a growing team, championing workplace culture, or simply curious about bringing more joy into professional environments, Daisy's experiences offer valuable lessons on creating workplaces where people genuinely want to be. ## As Head of People and Culture at Denzel's—a company driven by creating premium, all-natural products that "celebrate the joy of treating dogs ridiculously"—how do you navigate the tension between staying true to your playful, joy-focused culture and making hard strategic decisions required for business growth? This came up recently. We had to make a call that didn't totally align with how we normally operate. We're big on being open and honest - it's one of our core values - and usually that means sharing updates regularly, being transparent, and keeping everyone in the loop through our weekly 'All Paws' meetings. But when we decided to pivot strategy earlier this year, moving away from our previous focus and doubling down on our new mission to celebrate the joy of treating dogs ridiculously, it was such a big shift that we had to pause and get the positioning clear before involving the whole team. Honestly, that felt uncomfortable. Holding back didn't sit easily with me or our culture. But we knew drip-feeding half-baked updates would only create confusion and panic. So we made the call to hold off until we had something solid to share - a clear direction we could all get behind. Once we got to that point, we leaned into our value and brought it to the team properly. We were open about why the change was happening, what it meant, and how it came together. We invited questions, gave people space to react, and tried to be as transparent as we could from that moment forward. We've also made a point to keep it fun and inclusive by taking time for little launch moments, celebrating early wins, and sharing how positively customers were responding to the new direction. It was a compromise - not being as immediately open as we usually would - but in the end, it helped us stay aligned as we moved forward. The balance is definitely hard at times, but ultimately the way we handled it came from a place of care and respect for the team, which is what matters most. ## As Denzel's transitions from startup to high-growth challenger brand, how do you ensure that your commitment to both sustainability and celebrating the pure joy of spoiling our dogs translates into your people practices? What specific strategies do you use to maintain this authentic, playful company culture while scaling rapidly? When you start growing fast, it's easy for things to get lost, or become corporate when you have to bring in policies and processes. We've worked hard to keep the fun, joyful energy of the brand alive in how we work together. One thing that helps maintain our authentic, playful culture is weaving our core values throughout every stage of the employee journey. Every candidate goes through a values-focused interview during hiring, and we make sure they understand our mission from day one. Every person has proper onboarding - our "Freshers Week" - which includes a buddy system, sessions with every area of the business, and a deep dive into the brand and strategy so people feel connected to the mission early on. It's important that new joiners get a full picture of how their role fits with the wider business and team. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2025/06/DAISY-AND-PENNY-HEADSHOT_3--1-.jpg) We also make sure our values don't just sit on the wall. Everyone's performance is measured against them, so how people show up day to day really counts. Sustainability expectations are built into our values - even if it takes longer or costs more to source the right materials, that's just how we do things and is non-negotiable for us. ## The pet food industry has traditionally been dominated by large corporations that often take themselves quite seriously. As a challenger brand led by women that's chosen to embrace the playful, unashamed joy of dog parenting, what unique approaches has Denzel's taken to create psychological safety and inclusive leadership practices? The pet industry's full of big, serious players, but we've always done things differently (and are proud of that!). Our culture's intentionally less rigid and more real. The brand tone is playful, which gives people permission to be relaxed and themselves. You've got to be when you've got dogs running around the office, right? We keep that going with things like shoutouts based on our core values, peer recognition, and plenty of time together as a team. One of our values is being open and honest – and that really shapes how we lead. We share what's going on across the business and encourage people to give feedback and speak up. That only works if there's trust, so we're intentional about building that into our day-to-day activities – whether it's listening surveys, individual check-ins, or team rituals. Our leadership team is predominantly women, which I think has helped shape our open, people-first culture, and created a space where people can speak up. Psychological safety is about how people treat each other every day. It's baked into how we work, how we lead, and how we make decisions. We've also made sure our policies reflect that – including enhanced parental leave, hybrid working and plenty of flexibility so that women feel genuinely supported if they want to start or grow their families. We try to build joy into our culture too, from impromptu dog birthday parties to surprise easter egg hunts. These little moments build connection and trust, and help remind us that work can be fun. We're a challenger brand, so we get to do things our way – and for us, that means showing up with empathy, energy, and joy. I wholeheartedly believe people really respond to that and want to be recognised as individuals, not just employees. ## Denzel's mission centers on celebrating the joy we feel when we treat our dogs ridiculously, while maintaining your commitment to premium, natural products and sustainability. How do you connect individual employee development and wellbeing to this joyful, purpose-driven approach? We talk a lot about joy when it comes to the brand – and we try to carry that through to how we work and treat our people too. It's not just about making fun products for dogs (although that helps!), it's about making sure the team actually enjoys being here. We celebrate small wins too – like cake and coffee when we launched our cake-flavoured dog treats (the humans got cake too!). And every month at our All Paws meeting, we crown a Top Dog to recognise someone who's really lived our values. We've built a culture around our core values, which show up in everything from how we measure performance to how we hire and celebrate wins. One of the things we care deeply about is making work feel human, playful and purposeful. So alongside flexible working, which we fully support, we've built regular rituals that bring joy and connection to the team. We do things like monthly "pack walks" – lunchtime team walks (four-legged included!) to get people out of the office and getting fresh air together. And we've got our annual 'Team Park Day', where we head to the park with all the dogs for a picnic and competitive games. We also give the team extended time off over Christmas, fully paid, because we know how important it is to down tools properly and spend time with loved ones. It's something we've done since the beginning and it's always appreciated. That said, we do expect people to work hard in return. When you're growing fast, you have to move quickly, and we're ambitious about where we're headed. But what makes it work is the mutual respect: if we ask people to give a lot, we also want to give a lot back. At the end of the day, people want to work somewhere they feel respected, supported, and where they can have a good time doing meaningful work. For us, that means building a brand (and a business) that's as joyful and value-driven on the inside as it is on the outside. We work with dogs, after all – it should be fun! In terms of measuring impact, we use listening surveys to understand what the team want (and act on them!). Last year we maintained an eNPS score of +89, which felt like nice validation that what we're doing is resonating with the team. In a competitive market, we've found that this kind of culture helps us not just attract brilliant people, but keep them too. When people feel valued, challenged, and have fun along the way – that's what makes them stick around. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### From Boardroom to Kitchen—Building Legacy Through Authentic Leadership URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/wellness/from-boardroom-to-kitchen-building-legacy-through-authentic-leadership/ Last updated: 2025-06-27T08:50:21.000Z In our ongoing Women in Wellness Q&A series, we spotlight trailblazing entrepreneurs who are redefining what it means to build purposeful, sustainable businesses in the wellness space. This month, we're thrilled to feature [Niquenya Fulbright](https://coachniquenya.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org), a transformational leader who has masterfully woven together 26+ years of leadership coaching with her passion for intentional nourishment. Niquenya Fulbright's journey exemplifies the power of authentic integration—she didn't abandon her calling as a life strategist when she entered the culinary world in 2020\. Instead, she created something entirely new: a holistic approach to wellness that recognizes how nourishing our bodies directly impacts our capacity to lead with presence, energy, and emotional intelligence. As the creator of the SMILE Method™ and T.O.U.C.H. Management™, Niquenya Fulbright has developed people-centered frameworks that help leaders build thriving workplace cultures without sacrificing their authenticity or mental health. Her work extends beyond individual transformation to community building through her Melanated Goddess Circle, where she cultivates spaces for women to align their purpose, vision, and personal power. From launching a sauce brand during a global pandemic to coaching leaders through burnout and beyond, Niquenya Fulbright's story is one of resilience, pivoting with purpose, and building legacy through integrity. Her insights offer invaluable wisdom for women entrepreneurs navigating the evolving wellness landscape while staying true to their mission and values. ### You've uniquely combined your expertise as an Executive Chef with holistic leadership coaching. How do you see the connection between nourishing our bodies through food and nourishing our leadership capabilities? What role does this mind-body-business integration play in creating sustainable wellness for women entrepreneurs and leaders? Before I ever stepped into a commercial kitchen, I was already deep in the business of transformation, coaching leaders for over 26 years to align their purpose, vision, and personal power. Cooking professionally only came later, around 2020, right before the world turned upside down. What started as being a “ghetto gourmet” for my family became a deeper calling to fuse my passion for food with my purpose as a life strategist. Nourishing the body with intention directly impacts how we show up as leaders—grounded, energized, and emotionally present. For women entrepreneurs, this mind-body-business integration is the cornerstone of sustainable wellness and legacy-building. ### You've created The SMILE Method™ and T.O.U.C.H. Management™ frameworks for fostering inclusive workplace cultures. Can you share how these methodologies specifically support women leaders in wellness industries who are navigating the unique challenges of building heart-centered, mission-driven businesses while maintaining their own well-being? The SMILE Method™ and T.O.U.C.H. Management™ are my love letters to culture-shifting leadership. They provide practical, people-centered strategies to build workplaces that actually feel good to be in. **SMILE** is about creating connection, starting with something as simple as saying hello and ending with empowering every voice at the table. **T.O.U.C.H.** takes it further, helping leaders build structure, optimize teams, and cultivate talent—all without sacrificing authenticity or mental health. For women in the wellness space, these tools allow us to lead from the heart *and* the head, supporting growth without losing the soul of the mission. ### With over 26 years of leadership coaching experience and your background as a ServSafe Certified Instructor, you've witnessed the evolution of wellness and food industries. What key lessons have you learned about resilience and adaptability that you believe are essential for women building legacies in the wellness space, especially during times of transition or challenge? What I’ve learned across the coaching and culinary landscapes is that resilience isn’t just about pushing through—it’s about pivoting with purpose. Whether it’s launching a sauce brand during a pandemic or helping clients navigate burnout, I’ve seen firsthand that adaptability comes from alignment. When women leaders are anchored in their “why,” they can weather change with grace and turn setbacks into strategy. The wellness world is constantly evolving, but legacy isn’t built on trends—it’s built on integrity, consistency, and community. **Links:** - [https://coachniquenya.com](https://coachniquenya.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) - [https://melanatedgoddesscircle.com](https://melanatedgoddesscircle.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) - LinkedIn: [https://linkedin.com/in/coachniquenya](https://linkedin.com/in/coachniquenya?ref=foundedbywomen.org) - IG: [@coachniquenya](https://www.instagram.com/coachniquenya/?hl=en&ref=foundedbywomen.org) [@melanatedgoddesscircle](https://www.instagram.com/melanatedgoddesscircle/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### The Business That Grows With You: Why Longevity Beats Scale URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/wellness/the-business-that-grows-with-you-why-longevity-beats-scale/ Last updated: 2025-06-26T16:10:40.000Z ## Susannah Simmons on designing ventures that support your energy, health, and purpose—not just your profit margins The entrepreneurial dream often comes with a hidden cost: the relentless grind that leaves founders burned out before they've even hit their stride. But what if there was a different way? What if we could build businesses that don't just survive the test of time, but actually support us in living healthier, more fulfilling lives as we age? [Susannah Simmons](https://susannahsimmons.uk/?ref=foundedbywomen.org), longevity coach and creator of the PERMEATE™ framework, believes we can—and should. Having transitioned from fitness coaching to business mentoring, she's made it her mission to help entrepreneurs design ventures that go the distance alongside their founders. Her approach challenges the conventional wisdom that business success requires personal sacrifice, instead proposing that true sustainability comes from alignment between your business model and your life goals. In this candid conversation, Simmons shares why she's reimagined entrepreneurial success through the lens of longevity, revealing practical strategies for building businesses that support not just financial growth, but personal flourishing. For anyone questioning whether they can build something meaningful without burning themselves out, her insights offer a refreshing alternative to the hustle culture that dominates much of today's business landscape. ### 1\. How do you define “longevity” in the context of entrepreneurship, and what inspired you to make it a core part of your work? When I talk about longevity, I don’t just mean keeping a business going as long as possible, I mean keeping *yourself* going. I mean building something that supports your energy, your health, and the lifestyle you want well into your 50s, 60s, 70s and beyond. Longevity is personal. It’s about having a business, and a body, that still works for *you* as you grow older. This became a core part of my work because I’ve lived and coached through the reality of ageing. My background as a fitness coach taught me how vital it is to look after your health if you want to stay active, capable and confident later in life. And I’ve seen the same truth play out in business—if we want our business to go the distance, *we* have to go the distance too. I also know I’m not alone in not seeing retirement as a hard stop. Many of us want (or need) to keep working, but we want to do it differently: with more flexibility, more meaning, and more care. That means designing a business that not only fits this stage of life but *supports* it. And longevity doesn’t stop with us, it extends to our customers too. The longer we can provide value to them, the more impact we have, and the more sustainable our work becomes. That’s the version of success I’m most interested in helping people build. ### 2\. Many founders burn out early—what habits or mindset shifts do you recommend for building a business that supports long-term personal health and energy? One of the most helpful mindset shifts is realising you don’t have to do everything, and you definitely don’t have to do everything at once. It’s so easy to fall into the trap of thinking we should have it all figured out.. But a sustainable business evolves, over time. If you *do* choose to build it all yourself, which is a completely valid option, be honest about what that means. It will likely take longer, and that’s OK. What matters most is being clear about your capacity and setting expectations that work for you. I also encourage entrepreneurs to adopt an experimental mindset. Your business is not a fixed plan, it’s something that grows with you as you learn more about what feels good and what works. You don’t have to get it perfect. Try things. Reflect. Tweak. That’s how sustainable habits and systems are built. Finally, keep checking in with yourself, not just on progress or profit, but on energy. Are you fuelling yourself well? Getting movement in? Sleeping enough? These aren’t ‘nice-to-haves’, they’re essential foundations. The business can only flourish if the person running it is flourishing too. ### 3\. Your PERMEATE™ approach emphasizes purpose and wellbeing—how does this framework directly support long-term resilience in solo entrepreneurs? PERMEATE™ is my model for business flourishing. It’s inspired by the positive psychology definition of human flourishing and expands that thinking into a business context. In my book, I define business flourishing as *“a vision for business life in which organisations are able to realise their full potential and achieve a sense of meaningful existence, whilst also contributing to the wellbeing of others and the world around them.”* PERMEATE™ brings that vision to life, offering a human-centred framework that supports not just the entrepreneur, but also their team, clients, suppliers, and wider community. Each letter represents a pillar of resilience and wellbeing:**Positive Emotion, Engagement, Relationships, Motivation, Expectations, Accomplishment, Trust, and Empowerment.** It’s a reminder that sustainable business growth isn’t just about what we achieve: it’s about how it feels, how aligned it is with our values, and the impact it has on those we work with. Whether you’re working solo or growing a small team, PERMEATE™ encourages you to design a business that feels good *and* does good. For third chapter entrepreneurs especially, it offers a powerful lens: a way to check in with whether your business is still supporting the lifestyle and legacy you want. Because long-term resilience isn’t built on hustle—it’s built on clarity, care, and connection. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. [**Get in touch**](https://www.foundedbywomen.org/share-your-story/) **with us today!** > 👉 [**Contact Us**](https://www.foundedbywomen.org/share-your-story/) ### Nurturing the Nurturer: How One Female Founder is Revolutionizing Self-Care for Women Who Care for Everyone Else URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/wellness/nurturing-the-nurturer-how-one-female-founder-is-revolutionizing-self-care-for-women-who-care-for-everyone-else/ Last updated: 2025-06-26T15:53:05.000Z In the heart of New York City's Lower East Side, Lauren Forsch is on a mission to transform how women approach wellness and self-care. As the founder and CEO of [Popped.NYC](https://popped.nyc/?ref=foundedbywomen.org), she has created more than just another CBD boutique—she's built a sanctuary specifically designed for "The Caregivers' Caregiver," those women who dedicate their lives to caring for others while often forgetting to care for themselves. Forsch's journey into the CBD wellness space wasn't just about identifying a market opportunity; it was about addressing a deeply personal understanding of the unique challenges women face. From juggling family responsibilities to managing professional demands, women often find themselves at the bottom of their own priority lists. Through Popped.NYC, Forsch is working to change that narrative, one conversation at a time. Located in one of Manhattan's most diverse neighborhoods, her boutique serves as both a retail space and an educational hub where women can explore CBD wellness in a judgment-free environment. With a focus on science-backed information, personalized consultations, and genuine community building, Forsch is breaking down barriers and building trust in an industry that still faces significant stigma. In this candid Q&A, Lauren shares her insights on female entrepreneurship in the wellness space, the importance of inclusive health practices, and her practical advice for women ready to prioritize their own well-being—because as she firmly believes, every caregiver deserves care too. ### 1\. What inspired you to create Popped.NYC specifically for "The Caregivers' Caregiver," and how does CBD wellness intersect with the unique challenges women face when caring for others while neglecting their own self-care? At **Popped.NYC**, I was inspired by the countless women I met — friends, colleagues, mothers, daughters — who devote themselves to caring for others, yet rarely make space for themselves. I wanted to create a space and a brand that spoke directly to **“The Caregivers’ Caregiver”**, honoring women’s unique role and reminding them that their well‑being matters too. CBD became a cornerstone of that mission because it supports relaxation, tension relief, and better sleep — benefits that can make a profound difference for women who carry both emotional and physical burdens every day. At **Popped.NYC**, we guide women to rediscover self‑care rituals, making CBD an accessible, trusted part of their daily wellness routine. ### 2\. As a female founder in the CBD wellness space, what barriers have you encountered in building trust and credibility with women, especially given the stigma and misinformation that still surround CBD? Trust is everything when it comes to women’s wellness. The biggest barrier I’ve faced is skepticism rooted in stigma and misunderstanding about CBD. That’s why I built **Popped.NYC** to educate first, listen deeply, and recommend products only when I’m confident they align with a woman’s individual needs. I’m passionate about sharing **science‑backed information**, **personal stories**, and **one‑on‑one consultations** that empower women to make informed choices about their bodies. In doing so, I’ve created a space where women feel seen, heard, and supported — a space where trust naturally grows. ### 3\. Your Lower East Side location serves a diverse community — how do you approach wellness inclusively, and what advice would you give to women who are curious about incorporating CBD into their routine but don’t know where to start? The Lower East Side is a melting pot of people and stories, and I wanted **Popped.NYC** to reflect that richness. Here, every woman — regardless of background, experience, or age — is welcomed, celebrated, and treated with care. For those just starting their CBD journey, my best advice is to **begin slow, ask questions, and tune into your body**. Try a low‑dose oil, a soothing topical, or a mild edible, and notice how you feel. Most of all, approach it with an open heart — CBD can be a beautiful entry point into deeper self‑care. If you’re ready to take that first step, I’m here to listen, educate, and support you every step of the way. **You’re worth it, and your wellness deserves your attention.** > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### Beyond the Quick Fix: How Trinity Scarf Is Redefining Urban Wellness URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/wellness/beyond-the-quick-fix-how-trinity-scarf-is-redefining-urban-wellness/ Last updated: 2025-06-26T14:01:18.000Z In a wellness landscape often dominated by single-solution approaches and rigid membership models, Trinity Scarf has carved out something refreshingly different. Her South Melbourne sanctuary, [Trinity Curated Wellness](http://www.trinityco.com.au/?ref=foundedbywomen.org), challenges the conventional wisdom of what a wellness space should be – and who it should serve. Drawing from her extensive background in brand and marketing, combined with her personal journey through burnout and recovery, Scarf has created what she describes as an "urban oasis" that seamlessly blends ancient healing practices with cutting-edge modern science. From Roman-inspired hot-cold therapy circuits to LED light lounges, from rooftop yoga to personalised holistic treatments, Trinity offers a comprehensive approach to wellness that acknowledges the multifaceted nature of human wellbeing. But perhaps what sets Trinity apart isn't just its impressive range of offerings – it's the philosophy that underpins them. In an industry that often prescribes one-size-fits-all solutions, Scarf has built a space that gives people permission to be complex, to listen to what they need on any given day, and to approach their wellness journey without pressure or performance. We sat down with Trinity to explore how she's balancing the demands of building a sustainable wellness business with her mission to create genuinely supportive, integrated experiences for her community. **1\. You've created Trinity Curated Wellness as an urban sanctuary that blends ancient healing practices with modern science in a luxurious setting. As a founder in the wellness space, what inspired you to move beyond traditional wellness offerings and create something that feels more like a personalised wellness journey? How do you see people’s needs in wellness evolving?** Trinity Curated Wellness was borne from my own experience — of burnout, of seeking support that was both nurturing and sophisticated, and of feeling that the spaces I visited only addressed one part of me. I'd leave a yoga class feeling good physically but still carrying all this mental tension. Or I'd get a massage that was relaxing, but it felt disconnected from everything else going on in my life. I realised I wasn't just looking for a service – I was looking for a space that understood how complex we all are. People today are so much more informed about wellness, and they want experiences that honour that. They're not just looking for a quick fix; they want something that actually supports their whole self – physically, mentally, emotionally.That's what drove me to create something different – a place where you might start with movement, then transition into stillness, maybe experience some hot-cold therapy, and finish with a holistic treatment that speaks to exactly what you need that day. It's about giving people permission to be multifaceted in their approach to wellness. **2\. Your journal mentions that Trinity came from a very personal place — a desire for something you couldn't find. Can you share what was missing in the wellness landscape for you, and how you've designed Trinity to fill that gap? What role do you think founders play in reshaping what wellness spaces can be?** What I felt was missing was a space that felt truly integrated — one that didn’t align itself to just a single offering like Pilates or a bathhouse. I wanted a place where movement, stillness, connection, and care could all live under one roof, and where people could choose what they needed that day, without pressure or prescription. I was also averse to highly exclusive, long-term membership commitments. I wanted to create a space where people could come in a way that suited them, rather than have to sign their life away before entering. At Trinity, you can join as a member, and you can also visit casually. We've designed every element to work together – the hot-cold circuits, our movement studios, the LED lounge, our treatment rooms. But more than that, we've created a culture where there's no pressure to do it "right." You come in, you listen to what you need, and we support that. It’s a place for people to reconnect with themselves in a way that feels personal, not performative.I think as founders, we have this unique opportunity to challenge the status quo. We can create spaces that actually reflect how people live and what they need, rather than forcing them into boxes that don't quite fit. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2025/06/TCW-Reception.jpg) **3\. Trinity offers everything from Roman-inspired hot–cold therapy circuits to LED lounges, reiki, massage and movement classes — it's incredibly comprehensive. As an entrepreneur building this wellness sanctuary, how do you balance the business strategy of scaling your vision with maintaining the deeply personal, curated experience that seems central to your mission?** It’s something I think about constantly — how to grow with intention, without losing the soul of what we’ve built. I come from a long background in brand and marketing, so I understand strategy and systems — but wellness spaces aren’t just businesses, they’re relational. The energy and experience of a place matters just as much as the service menu.For me, it comes back to staying really close to our community. Every decision we make, I ask myself: "Does this serve the people who trust us with their wellness?" Sometimes that means saying no to opportunities that might look good on paper but don't align with our values.We're growing, but we're doing it thoughtfully. We're investing heavily in our team culture because the people who work here are the ones creating these experiences every day. We're being selective about partnerships. We're listening constantly to what our guests actually need, not just what we think they should want.There’s no shortcut to creating a space that feels truly supportive, but if you nurture it carefully, it becomes something people genuinely want to return to. And that’s where sustainable growth comes from. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. [**Get in touch**](https://www.foundedbywomen.org/share-your-story/) **with us today!** > 👉 [**Contact Us**](https://www.foundedbywomen.org/share-your-story/) ### "Bring Your Own Chair": A Marketing Leader's Bold Approach to Breaking Into the Boys' Club URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/marketing/bring-your-own-chair-a-marketing-leaders-bold-approach-to-breaking-into-the-boys-club/ Last updated: 2025-06-26T13:03:57.000Z In this candid Q&A, Karina Smith-Reyes, Brand & Marketing Manager at [Datum RPO](https://www.datumrpo.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org), shares her journey to marketing leadership in the traditionally male-dominated professional services sector. From establishing credibility with large corporate clients to translating complex B2B services into compelling business narratives, Karina offers practical insights on building influence, driving results, and advancing as a woman in marketing leadership. Discover her proven strategies for communicating technical expertise through powerful storytelling, the pivotal moments that shaped her career trajectory, and her direct advice for women looking to claim their seat at the leadership table. This interview provides actionable guidance on transforming marketing from a support function into a strategic business driver, while navigating the unique challenges of professional services marketing. *Part of the Women Who Lead Q&A series, featuring inspiring conversations with female leaders across industries.* ### As a marketing leader at Datum RPO, what strategies have you found most effective for establishing your voice and driving marketing initiatives in a traditionally male-dominated industry? It’s definitely been a journey, but I’ve found that being *proactive* and not waiting to be invited to the table has made a huge difference. I speak up, I back myself, and I advocate for the value marketing can bring—not just as a support function but as a strategic driver of business growth. I’ve learned not to wait to be told I *can* do something. If I see an opportunity, I go for it. Whether it’s proposing a bold new campaign or championing a more data-led, customer-centric approach, I lead with clarity and confidence—and I encourage my team to do the same. One of the things that’s helped me most is simply *asking for what I need*. That might mean asking for support, asking for investment, or just asking the right questions in the room. I think many of us, especially women, are taught to wait or be invited in—but I’ve found that being direct, while still collaborative, earns respect and gets things moving. I also build credibility internally by delivering results—when your work consistently adds value, it becomes much easier to be heard and taken seriously, regardless of the room you're in. ### How do you approach building credibility with large corporate clients who may have preconceptions about women in leadership roles? I always start by focusing on the client’s business needs and speaking their language. When you demonstrate that you *understand* their challenges, their goals, and their industry, that tends to shift any preconceived ideas pretty quickly. I also make a point of being both *authentic* and *strategic*. I don’t try to act how I think they want me to—I show up with strong insights, clear plans, and the evidence to back up what I’m saying. And I trust that performance speaks for itself. That said, I’m not afraid to challenge assumptions, either. If something needs to be said or clarified, I do it respectfully but directly. Over time, I’ve found that taking up space confidently, without apology actually helps others adjust their own expectations. And of course, I always lead with consistency. When clients know they can rely on you to deliver, communicate clearly, and act with integrity, that trust builds regardless of gender. ### What marketing approaches have been most successful in communicating complex B2B services like vendor management and compliance auditing to senior decision-makers? How do you balance technical expertise with compelling storytelling in your marketing strategy? One of the biggest challenges in our space is making complex, technical services feel accessible and valuable to senior stakeholders—many of whom don’t want jargon, they want *clarity, insight, and results*. What’s worked really well for us is leading with **business outcomes**, not just service features. We always ask: *What problem are we solving for this client?* For example, instead of just talking about “compliance auditing,” we frame it as *protecting brand reputation, reducing risk, and saving time for overstretched HR teams*. That reframing makes the service instantly more relevant and tangible to decision-makers. We also make a point of using **real client success stories**—our work with organisations like VINCI or Redrow has given us powerful examples of how effective vendor management can unlock both financial and operational value. These stories allow us to show, not just tell, what our solutions can do in real terms. That said, we always back up the narrative with **data and credibility**. Storytelling gets attention, but metrics and evidence build trust. We use stats like “£1bn+ in workforce spend managed” and detailed case studies with real-world KPIs to anchor the message. And finally, we tailor everything for the audience. A procurement director, for instance, will want something different to a CFO. So we adjust our tone, level of technical detail, and even the format—sometimes it’s a one-page dashboard-style brief, other times it’s a webinar or in-person workshop that allows for deeper discussion. It’s really about striking the balance between **insightful storytelling and commercial precision**—and showing clients that we’re not just experts, but strategic partners who understand their world. ### What pivotal moments or decisions shaped your path to becoming Brand & Marketing Manager at a rapidly growing company like Datum RPO? What advice would you give to women looking to advance in marketing leadership roles, particularly in the professional services sector? For me, the most pivotal decision was choosing to **back myself—before anyone else did**. Early in my career, I realised that waiting to be noticed or waiting to be told “you’re ready” just delays progress. So I started putting myself forward for bigger projects, speaking up in rooms where I might have felt intimidated, and owning my ideas with confidence. Another turning point was learning to view marketing not just as a creative discipline, but as a **commercial function that drives business outcomes**. That shift helped me speak the language of the boardroom, which is especially important in professional services, where credibility and trust are everything. I also made a conscious effort to **build relationships across departments**—with sales, ops, procurement, compliance. Understanding the broader business made me a stronger marketer and a more strategic leader. My advice to women aiming for leadership roles is: **be bold, ask for what you want, and stop waiting for perfect conditions**. You don’t have to tick every box on a job spec to go for the role. Learn to negotiate, speak clearly about your value, and make peace with being uncomfortable—that’s usually where growth happens. Also, **don’t be afraid to ask for help or mentorship**. Surround yourself with people who challenge and support you in equal measure. And if the seat at the table doesn’t feel made for you—bring your own chair. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### The Third Quarter Manifesto - Because Midlife Crises Need a Strategy URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/articles/the-third-quarter-manifesto-because-midlife-crises-need-a-strategy/ Last updated: 2025-06-26T16:04:35.000Z ## Trust the Mess: Finding Ourselves in the Iterations *Ah, the elusive “fit.”* A few days ago, I read a post comparing product-market fit to people-role fit — and honestly, it hit home. When the fit lands, it’s electric. Like Ikigai with confetti. Everything clicks into place. But let’s be real — that click rarely happens on the first try. It takes **iterations**. (And sometimes, those iterations feel like you’re auditioning for a reality show called “Pivot or Perish.”) But here’s the truth: **it’s in the messy middle where the magic brews.** The passionate few who stick with it — through the 1.0s, 2.7s, rewrites, relaunches, identity crises, and existential caffeine binges — often come out not only with a clearer product but a clearer sense of self. As someone who's worked with many founders, I can confidently say: a) They’ve iterated their products — and themselves — into relevance. b) They’ve stuck around longer than logic sometimes permitted. c) They’ve built something the world actually wanted. Eventually. Parents will resonate too. Raising a child and raising a product? Same vibes. Fewer diapers, more dashboards. ## Tuning in for the Signals: In the Pauses and Inflections So why this reflection? Well, the most profound inflection point in my life-career-family journey showed up unexpectedly when Aditya (my son) was 6, and fate hit the brakes on my corporate path. I took a sabbatical and launched an agency — and surprise! It thrived. By my definition, at least. Then came the boomerang: I returned to corporate life and scaled the ladder, as one does. Fast-forward: the pandemic. Aka, *The Great Rethink*. It nudged many of us to re-evaluate what we’re doing (besides baking banana bread). I leaned back into agency work, especially with non-profits. And it felt… good. Messy-good. Meaningful-good. Then came **the third wave of reflection** earlier this year. (Turning 50 on the horizon might have something to do with it — my bestie reminded me, lovingly but firmly, that my “half-century innings” were approaching.) Cue: a reflective audit of my life and work. Travel, new experiences, journaling on napkins — the whole soul-searching shebang. ## At the Drawing Board: Fitting the Puzzle Together Here’s what surfaced: When you’ve spent decades doing something, it stops being “just work.” It becomes **who you are.** It’s your rhythm, your reflex. And so, when you pause to reflect, you see the whole canvas — the wins, the stumbles, the what-was-I-thinking moments, the resilience, the reinvention. You also see how you kept going — juggling parenthood, career, carpool duty, sick days, deadlines, and dinners. Through all of that, **the love for what I did only grew stronger.** As Leonard Cohen once said: *“There is a crack in everything. That’s how the light gets in.”* I now see those cracks not as flaws, but as entry points — for light, learning, and yes, the next chapter. ## The Raison d’être: Content Sense and the Road from Here Here’s the twist: while I returned to corporate, the agency work never really left me. It stuck — in the background, on weekends, through passion projects, global collaborations, and conversations with brilliant humans trying to build something from scratch. Turns out, that “side hustle” was quietly becoming **a calling**. Over the last decade, I’ve helped 20+ companies shape their story, find their voice, refine their product-market fit, and make bold pivots. And I realized: *this is it*. The work that feels like breathing. The kind that marries intuition, strategy, and sweat. ## The Third Quarter Pivot: Marketing-as-a-Service (MaaS) So here we are. A new chapter. Not a reset — a **refinement**. Not retirement — a **realignment**. I’m launching **Content Sense’s Marketing-as-a-Service (MaaS) model** — to partner with startups and scaleups as they navigate the messy magic of growth. Because sometimes what you need isn't a bloated team or a 50-slide deck. You need a sharp, nimble partner who gets it, rolls up their sleeves, and helps you turn chaos into traction. This is purpose-built marketing for companies that are: - Trying to crack product-market fit (and still sleeping with one eye on retention dashboards) - In need of fractional leadership to guide and galvanize an in-house or offshore team - Looking to launch, pivot, or tell a more compelling story - Ready to experiment with new growth models — and scale what works - In transition and seeking clarity on brand, voice, or positioning - Wanting full-stack marketing execution without the corporate baggage And maybe some who just want someone to **ask the right questions** — the ones that help you see the forest, the trees, and the north star. --- *“Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?”* – Mary Oliver Mine, for now, is this. If you're in the thick of building, scaling, or rethinking your go-to-market — let's grab a coffee or a Zoom. Reach me at **padmini@contentsense.ai**. So here’s to the glorious mess and to the pivots and pauses — the late-night brainstorms, the “what-was-I-thinking” moments, and the chaos of piecing it all together one imperfect iteration at a time. Because if life and marketing have taught me anything, it’s this: the magic isn’t in getting it perfect on the first try (spoiler alert: that never happens), but in trusting the mess, embracing the pauses, and showing up for the next pivot — coffee in hand, grit engaged, and a twinkle of stubborn optimism in the eye. Who’s ready to pivot with me? ### About the Author: *Padmini Murthy* is the founder of [Content Sense](https://contentsense.ai/?ref=foundedbywomen.org), where she helps startups and scale-ups find their marketing fit through her Marketing as a Service (MaaS) model. With over a decade of experience guiding 20+ companies through product pivots and growth journeys, Padmini blends strategic rigor with a deep love for messy, meaningful work. When not untangling marketing challenges, she’s reflecting on life’s inflection points — and brewing a really good cup of coffee or serving a fine glass of wine to her fam and friends! ### Walking the Walk: How Wiser's Head of People Champions Real Cultural Change URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/workplace-culture/walking-the-walk-how-wisers-head-of-people-champions-real-cultural-change/ Last updated: 2025-06-26T10:43:38.000Z In this candid Q&A, Ellie Farnfield, Head of People at award-winning employer brand agency [Wiser](http://www.wearewiser.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org), shares her unfiltered perspective on what authentic workplace inclusion really looks like beyond the polished policies and social media slogans. From the everyday details that make employees feel they truly belong—like period products in bathrooms and creating space for different leadership styles—to dismantling the misconception that you need to "perform" for young talent, Ellie reveals how Wiser has 61% female representation not through quotas, but by building an environment where women don't have to earn the right to be taken seriously. She explores the evolution of People teams from administrative functions to strategic culture drivers, the false tension between data-driven strategy and human intuition, and why "soft skills" like empathy are actually power skills in disguise. This is essential reading for anyone looking to move beyond surface-level diversity initiatives toward creating workplaces where authentic inclusion happens in the moments when no one's watching. ### 1\. As a woman leading people strategy at an employer branding agency, you're constantly advising clients on building authentic workplace cultures. How do you ensure Wiser 'walks the walk' when it comes to creating an inclusive environment where women can thrive, and what advice do you give clients about this? ‘Authentic culture’ is something a lot of companies talk about - often packaging it up into a polished policy or into a snappy slogan for social. But for me, as someone leading people strategy *and* as a woman navigating work and life, it’s never really been about the words. It’s about the everyday moments, the stuff you feel in your gut when you walk into a room. It’s how people behave when no one’s watching. The quiet signals that tell you it’s safe to speak up, to say “I’m not okay,” to lead in your own way. It’s the little things that let people show up fully, not just the polished, professional version of themselves, but the real one. At the heart of that is emotional honesty and mutual respect. Without those, nothing real sticks. Yes, we advise clients on building inclusive cultures. But the harder, more important work is turning that mirror inward, and at Wiser, we do. Regularly. Deliberately. With humility. Inclusion isn’t just a bold statement or a pulse survey (though they have their place). It’s in the day to day details: period products in the bathrooms, care items for different skin and hair types, and thoughtful touches that quietly say, *you belong here*. It’s in creating space for women to be and lead how they want - with quiet confidence, loud ambition, or anything in between. And it’s about recognising that not everyone works the same way. Some thrive in chaos; others need calm and structure. We make space for both. Culture isn’t one-size-fits-all. It’s shaped by the choices you make when it would be easier not to. In who and how you celebrate, how you pay attention to different needs and perspectives, and how willing you are to evolve. It shows up in how you onboard people, mentor them, set expectations, and call things out when they’re not right. And crucially, it’s never finished. Culture isn’t a checkbox. It’s a conversation… one we’re committed to continuing, even when it’s uncomfortable. ### 2\. What's the biggest misconception you see companies making when trying to attract early talent, particularly young women entering the workforce? How do you help organizations shift from selling jobs to building genuine connections that address what the next generation of female professionals really wants? It’s the assumption that you need to ‘perform’ for them. Over-package the opportunity. Shout about “female-friendly” benefits without actually creating an environment where women can grow, lead, and feel like they belong. Too often, campaigns are built on assumptions rather than insight. They paint women as a single persona - caring, collaborative, confident (but not *too* confident). But women aren’t a monolith. They’re multifaceted, messy, contradictory, and brilliant. But their needs aren’t complicated. They want clarity, opportunity, and to be seen and supported as individuals with different ambitions, working styles, and ways of showing up. For me, it’s never been about attraction strategies that *sell*. It’s about building roles and environments that genuinely *serve*. That means putting real thought into progression, mentorship, flexibility, fairness, and who gets to be in the room, consistently not occasionally. At Wiser, that shows up in the way we hire. We’ve built a structured evaluation process to reduce bias, using behavioural questions and scorecards instead of relying on ‘gut feel’. It’s how we’ve ended up with 61% women across the business. Not because of a target or quotas, but because people stay and grow when they’re seen and supported. It’s not about selling roles. It’s about building an environment where women don’t have to earn the right to be taken seriously. Where they’re backed early, stretched often, and trusted to lead in a way that feels true to them. ### 3\. As a woman in leadership, how have you seen the role of People teams evolve from traditional HR to becoming champions of workplace equity and culture change? What unique perspective do women bring to this transformation? The most progressive companies have reimagined their People teams - not as back-office administrators, but as strategic, cultural drivers. We’ve moved from managing process to shaping experience. From admin to advocacy. Wiser is a brilliant example of that shift: a business that values health, happiness and humanity just as much as performance and policies. Of course, I still hold the HR foundations - the necessary but not always headline-grabbing stuff. But the real impact comes from shaping the culture those systems sit within. We’re no longer behind the scenes. We’re at the table, helping to define what the workplace *feels* like. That means I don’t just write policy, I help shape how people experience work, every day. Whether it’s through our Purple Stories video series or the way we listen through pulse surveys, we focus on the voices of the people actually living the culture, not just measuring it. Because meaningful change doesn’t come from paperwork. It comes from making space for people to be seen, heard, and real. And from valuing lived experience > surface-level labels. ### 4\. In your role, you're constantly balancing data-driven people strategies with the more intuitive, human side of leadership. As a woman leader, how do you merge the soul of understanding what truly motivates people with the strategy of delivering measurable outcomes - and how has your gender influenced your approach to this balance? Balancing data-driven people strategies with human intuition isn’t a tension - it’s a partnership. Data gives clarity and direction; empathy gives context and depth. Relying on both to make meaningful decisions enables our culture to become intentional, our moves to be meaningful and our company to scale. It’s not gendered. It’s just smart leadership. ### 5\. Looking back at your career path as a woman in People leadership, what's some pieces of advice you wish you’d been given when you were starting out? What would you tell other women aspiring to build better workplaces? I’d tell anyone aspiring to build a better workplace… **“You’re not too empathetic - you’re emotionally intelligent. Don’t trade that in.”** Early in my career, I thought leadership meant being rigid, detached, or the loudest voice in the room. I wish someone had told me that quiet strength, deep listening, and compassion are absolutely not soft skills - they’re power skills. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### Leading with Love and Light: A Conversation with Dr. Alfiee Breland-Noble URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/wellness/leading-with-love-and-light-a-conversation-with-dr-alfiee-breland-noble/ Last updated: 2025-06-25T10:11:11.000Z Dr. Alfiee Breland-Noble—known professionally as [Dr. Alfiee](https://dralfiee.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org)—is a force of nature in the mental health field. As a pioneering psychologist, scientist, author, and founder of the innovative nonprofit The AAKOMA Project, she has dedicated over 25 years to championing mental health equity for Youth and Young Adults of Color, including LGBTQAI+ individuals and those with disabilities. Her groundbreaking work has not gone unnoticed. Dr. Alfiee has been tapped as a Melinda French Gates 2024 World Leader, championing innovative solutions to advance the health and wellbeing of women and girls worldwide as lead of a 20-million-dollar fund. She serves as Chief Mental Wealth Officer/Senior Advisor to Charlamagne Tha God's Mental Wealth Alliance and hosts the mental health podcast "Couched in Color with Dr. Alfiee." With academic roots at Duke and Georgetown Universities' Psychiatry departments, Dr. Alfiee has become a respected voice in media outlets including The Grio, Today Show, The Breakfast Club, and The New York Times. She co-hosts the Audacy Radio suicide prevention special "I'm Listening" with Carson Daly and Katie Neal, and has collaborated with Lady Gaga on Born This Way Foundation projects. At The AAKOMA Project, she envisions a world where EVERY child, teen, and young adult (inclusive of all points of diversity) feels the freedom to live unapologetically and authentically within an environment that allows them to rise and thrive. In this candid conversation, Dr. Alfiee shares her wisdom on navigating leadership as a woman of color in academic medicine, building culturally responsive wellness practices, and inspiring the next generation of advocates to find and share their unique gifts with the world. ### 1\. As a woman who has navigated leadership roles in academic medicine at Duke and Georgetown while building a groundbreaking organization, what advice would you give to other women entering the wellness and mental health space? How do you maintain your own wellness while advocating for systemic change? Know your worth, never compromise your integrity and learn the rules of the system you are operating in. Every system has unwritten rules that will make or break your career, you need to know what they are to have a chance at success. Expect to work longer hours than others, to pick your battles and to watch people less qualified and with less experience move up the ladder faster. When these things happen, it is not an indicator of your value, expertise or worth, recognize that it is systemic and has nothing to do with you. Above all else, learn to be your own strongest advocate and center the care of your emotional wellbeing as a priority. Build a large support system. You will need others on your journey. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2025/06/Hs92BzWI.jpeg) ### 2\. The AAKOMA Project envisions a world where EVERY child, teen, and young adult feels the freedom to live unapologetically and authentically. How do you think the wellness industry needs to evolve to truly serve all communities? What does authentic, culturally-responsive wellness look like in practice? The AAKOMA Project envisions a world where EVERY child, teen, and young adult feels the freedom to live unapologetically and authentically as the best version of themselves. That last part is critical because it speaks to the uniqueness, we each possess. Cultural responsiveness starts with self-awareness and self-reflection. Providers must examine their personal biases and privileges before they try to help others. We cannot assume that we don’t have unconscious biases, this is in part why it’s called unconscious, because it exists outside our line of sight. The real question is: are we willing to confront our biases? Authentic culturally responsive care looks like understanding that no single treatment modality works for everyone and that traditional Western models are not the only option. It looks like embracing the idea that cultural healing practices can come from many places unfamiliar to us and it means we must involve diverse community leaders in mental health care because they are expert in engaging their communities. As providers we have a lot to offer (and sometimes that offering is solely to be a good listener for those who rarely have people actually stop and listen for understanding) and as cultural beings, we have even more to share. Cultural responsiveness helps us tap into our own experiences and those of the people we care for to find solutions that resonate with the people we treat. It reminds people that who they are is ok; that they are seen, heard and valued. ### 3\. You recently received a $20 million grant from Melinda French Gates – a recognition of women supporting women in creating change. What has your journey taught you about the unique strengths women bring to wellness leadership, and how do you hope to inspire the next generation of women wellness entrepreneurs and advocates? I want to clarify that I did not receive a grant (this is important). I have a Donor Advised Fund designed for me to donate to deserving organizations working to uplift, center and amplify the needs of girls, women and gender expansive people globally. My journey has taught me that my journey is unique to me. I learned a very long time ago from my mother and grandmothers that perseverance is a requirement for Black women and Women of Color, I learned from my dad and forefathers that I have a duty to help others as I have been helped. My dad always told me when I was little to keep doing what has been put on my heart to do, even if no one understands it, because one day someone will get it and that person will change my life. My dad was absolutely right, and I love him for that. The strengths I bring to this work are those forged from years working in environments that were apathetic at best and antagonizing at worst to the values I hold deeply regarding mental health; that EVERYONE deserves the chance to achieve optimal mental health and that one size does not fit all. So my message has always been the same for the people coming behind me: “You have a gift that is unique to you, and you have a responsibility to those who came before you (those who made enormous sacrifices so you could be here) to find, develop, honor and share that gift with the world. Do not let anyone deter you, the world needs what you have to offer.” > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### From Soul Whispers to Divine Union: A Conversation with Spiritual Guide Gwenda Smith URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/wellness/from-soul-whispers-to-divine-union-a-conversation-with-spiritual-guide-gwenda-smith/ Last updated: 2025-06-24T07:27:14.000Z In a world that often pulls us away from our inner wisdom, spiritual guide and healer [Gwenda Smith](https://www.healwithgwenda.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) offers a profound pathway back to our authentic selves. Through her transformative G.W.E.N.D.A Method and the Spiritual School of W.E.S.H (Wisdom, Enlightenment & Self-Healing), Gwenda has dedicated her life to helping women and men connect with their divine essence and live in what she calls "Divine Union"—a harmonious alignment between heart, soul, and daily existence. With years of experience walking between the physical and spiritual realms, Gwenda understands the deep yearning many feel for genuine spiritual connection and lasting transformation. Her approach goes beyond surface-level spiritual practices, offering instead a complete framework for awakening that transforms not just how we think about spirituality, but how we embody it in every moment of our lives. In this illuminating conversation, Gwenda shares the inspiration behind her unique six-step spiritual awakening pathway, reveals practical techniques for building trust in our intuitive wisdom, and offers guidance for creating sacred sanctuary within our everyday lives. Whether you're just beginning your spiritual journey or seeking to deepen your existing practice, Gwenda's insights provide a roadmap for living with greater alignment, peace, and authentic power. Join us as we explore how to move from spiritual seeking to spiritual being, and discover what it truly means to live in Divine Union with your highest self. ### You've created The G.W.E.N.D.A Method - a 6-step spiritual awakening pathway for divine alignment. Can you share what inspired you to develop this specific framework, and how it helps women awaken, empower, and align with their highest self? Absolutely, I’d be honoured to share. The G.W.E.N.D.A Method was born from my own lived experiences of walking between worlds—anchored in this physical realm while deeply attuned to the spiritual dimensions. Over the years, I have met so many women searching for answers outside themselves, trying many things to heal an illness or di-ease, piecing together bits of teachings that never quite took them to the depths of their truth. What inspired me was actually a strategist who said he loved my name and that it suited my work perfectly, he asked if he could share what he meant. I loved what he presented to me, and I went deeper with it to create a soul-deep calling to offer a complete and embodied pathway—a map for spiritual awakening that didn’t just sound good on paper but activated real, lasting transformation. Each step in the G.W.E.N.D.A Method is intentionally designed to guide women and men through releasing old imprints, igniting their inner power, and aligning with their divine essence. Each step holds specific practices that open the heart and calm the mind so that the mind becomes the servant not the master. ### How it helps women awaken, empower, and align with their highest self? This method isn’t a surface-level feel-good fix—it’s a multidimensional framework that helps women *remember* who they are, to claim their energetic sovereignty, and walk as the embodiment of their highest self. It brings clarity, courage, and deep connection—so that they don’t just do the spiritual work, they *live it*. It is living it that brings you to awakening, empowerment and being aligned. Reading books, attending seminars and taking courses is the beginning of the journey. In my experience it is only when the practices are embodied as a way of life that true awakening, alignment and empowerment happens. ### Your work focuses heavily on "Divine Union" and living life aligned with heart and soul guidance. For women who struggle to trust their intuition or feel disconnected from their inner wisdom, what are some key practices from your School of W.E.S.H (Wisdom, Enlightenment & Self-Healing) that can help them connect? Yes, I do focus heavily on being in Divine Union, because it is how you can live a life of harmony, calm, peace and richness. It is to live in alignment with your heart and soul. The ways of this world are focused on creating distraction from the true self, the inner wisdom and intuitive self, the guidance of the soul. We are taught from our early years to silence our inner voice or override the intuitive nudges in favour of logic, obligation, or fear. The feeling of not being connected and not trusting stem from our beliefs, perceptions and perspectives of self and the world around us. The practices and teachings I offer in the Spiritual School of W.E.S.H, and the G.W.E.N.D.A method brings you into alignment, to live in Divine Union with one's Divinity and the Almighty Divine; creator which it me is GOD. You may call it a different name. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2025/06/Shabo-Gwenda-Fav-Top-1.jpg) W.E.S.H stands for Wisdom, Enlightenment, and Self-Healing—and it’s built around practical, sacred practices that help women and men align and awaken their intuitive connection and live from their soul’s guidance. Our foundations in life are what give us solid, inner strength, and resilience. A foundation key practice from the Spiritual School of W.E.S.H is to learn the art of grounding and centering one's energy, to know the importance of this is vital to being in Divine union and to be able to hold one's energy throughout the day, no matter what comes your way. Another of my key foundational practices is to really know and live one's personal values and ethics, this is a game changer for everyone. And it is vital if you want to be in alignment to know and hear the guidance from your intuitive self. And a third practice is to learn to be with yourself in silence. These are just 3 of the practices however the most powerful and important ones that bring you into being attuned to your intuition. There is one aspect of this that encapsulates the ability to be attuned to your intuition and that is trust. Our trust in others can be broken very early in life but it is our trust in ourselves that is the greater hurdle for many people and one that is an anchor for being in Divine union. To build trust with yourself I like the practice of choosing a personal value each day and applying it to everything you do in the day. At the end of the day journaling how you went, it can be an eye opener and very insightful for how you let yourself down, and to hold your word, these are the ways that we create a lack of trust towards ourselves and guess what it flows out to everything around us. ### You describe your community as a "transformative sanctuary" where women can embrace their divine self. For busy women who can't physically join a spiritual community, how can they create their own sacred sanctuary and maintain practices for soul expansion and inner peace in their everyday lives? This is a beautiful question, thank you. I do indeed describe The Spiritual School of W.E.S.H as a transformative sanctuary where women and men can embrace their Divine self and the reason I say that is because of the transformations I have seen with our members. Both W.E.S.H and the G.W.EN.D.A method are online which makes them available to those who can't be at a physical location. However there may be beautiful souls who are not able to access these things. To walk through creating your own sacred sanctuary I would like to take you on a journey. To begin, I will write about the words we use either create freedom and flow or congested restriction, and one such word is busy. Busy is a way to pardon yourselfs from anything we do not see as a priority. Busy is a word that keeps us from being in Divine Union and creates restriction in all aspects of our lives. Can't is another of those words, as is don't. Did you know that the soul has no awareness of these words, but the mind certainly does and it works them in such a way that you become bound by them. The words we speak are powerful,a key aspect of aligning with your soul's guidance is to become aware of the words that you speak and the thoughts you hold onto. To create your own sacred sanctuary is not to go outside of yourself but to go inward. To cultivate a close relationship of heightened awareness of your physical body, and with your emotions, to know the feelings to be able to feel but not become them. It is through these insights that you develop the alignment with your soul which is in itself a beautiful sacred sanctuary and it awaits you to arrive. Soul expansion and deep inner peace, harmony is what you have when you meet your soul and open to its guidance, let it lead the way for you every day.Here are my favourite simple practices; \* Give yourself at least 10 minutes everyday to sit in silence. \* Walk in bushland or by the ocean or a river in silence. ( No headphones and no phone!) \* Do a body sweep, scan every morning \* Greet the day with vigour and joy \* Set your energy ground and centre \* Set your intention, what do you want to bring to all whom you meet in the day and what do you wish to receive. \* Ask your soul, and The Divine to guide you throughout the day for all that is of your highest good. I like simple things, as does the soul. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### Breaking the Mold: How Femmi is Revolutionizing Fitness for Women Through Cycle-Aligned Training URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/wellness/breaking-the-mold-how-lydia-odonnell-is-revolutionizing-fitness-for-women-through-cycle-aligned-training/ Last updated: 2025-06-23T16:05:22.000Z In a fitness industry built by and for men, elite runner and coach Lydia O'Donnell ([@lydiaodo](https://www.instagram.com/lydiaodo/?hl=en&ref=foundedbywomen.org)) is leading a quiet revolution. As co-founder of [Femmi](http://femmi.co/?ref=foundedbywomen.org), she's addressing a stark reality: 50% of women decrease or stop exercising entirely, often because generic training plans completely ignore female physiology. O'Donnell's journey to founding Femmi wasn't just professional—it was deeply personal. After years of over-training and underfueling as a young athlete, she developed RED-s (relative energy deficiency syndrome in sport), lost her period, and ended up hospitalized. It wasn't until age 27 that she learned about her own menstrual cycle and female hormones—knowledge that transformed not only her athletic performance but her entire relationship with her body and training. Today, Femmi's cycle-aligned training approach has generated remarkable results, with 85% of users reporting increased performance. But O'Donnell's mission extends far beyond individual metrics. She's building a movement where women learn to "move in their own way," challenging decades of fitness culture that told women they needed to train like men to succeed. In this conversation, Lydia shares how understanding female physiology became the foundation for sustainable fitness, why community and empowerment are just as crucial as the science, and her vision for how women can continue reshaping the wellness landscape—one cycle-informed workout at a time. **1\. You co-founded Femmi to address a huge gap in the fitness industry — the fact that 50% of women decrease or stop exercise completely, often because generic training plans ignore female physiology. As a woman entrepreneur in wellness, what was the moment you realized this needed to change, and how has building Femmi shaped your understanding of what women really need from wellness and fitness?** Femmi was founded by my best friend, Esther, and myself based on our own lived experiences as female athletes. We both very much struggled in a system built for men by men, and unknowingly fell into over-training and underfueling behaviors at a young age, due to two major factors. One being the lack of education we had on our own female physiology, including the impact of our menstrual cycles, and the second being the narrative that the sports and fitness industry was feeding women - this narrative being that our performance (and worth) was tied to our appearance. After many years of disordered eating and body image issues, I fell into a state of RED-s (relative energy deficiency syndrome in sport), lost my period completely and ended up in hospital. Having to step away from my sport I realized that the way I was training was unsustainable and change needed to be made. I learnt about my menstrual cycle and my female hormones when I was 27 years old and this learning changed my life. I learnt that having a regular cycle and period was actually incredibly beneficial for both my health and my performance as an athlete, and that in order to run I needed to fuel accordingly to my training. > At Femmi we have proven that confidence comes from showing up and doing hard things over and over again. At that time, as a coach of 8 years, I teamed up with Esther and we built Femmi as a way to educate and coach women to the unique needs of their female physiology, including their psychology, and began our mission to empower women all over the world through sustainable movement. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2025/06/Coached_3.jpg) What we have witnessed over the last 5 years with Femmi has been incredibly eye-opening, not just to us, but to the running world, and the fitness industry as a whole. No longer do women think they need to train like a man to be successful, no longer do women think that ignoring their cycle is going to benefit their performance, and no longer do women think that counting calories is going to improve their self worth. At Femmi we have proven that confidence comes from showing up and doing hard things over and over again. But the consistency can only come from training that is personalized to the individual women with adaptations to her physiology. **2\. Femmi's cycle-aligned training approach is revolutionary, with 85% of users reporting increased performance. As an elite runner yourself, how do you balance the scientific, evidence-based side of female physiology with the community and empowerment aspects that seem equally central to your mission? What role do you think women play in redefining fitness culture?** Our entire mission is about empowering more women to have a sustainable relationship with exercise, and with running in particular. We understand that every woman is different, and their motivation to exercise is all driven by various internal and external factors. We have women in the community who are incredibly self driven and are focused on race results and times, whereas we have a huge audience of women who are purely driven to run to connect to others and feel like they are part of a much bigger movement. Sustainability comes through finding that motivation and honing into it. > I believe there is no better feeling than being connected to an army of women who are simply there to support you. Our community who is driven by constantly chasing performance progress is able to access the most personalized and female centered running programming in the world, giving them the best guidance to run consistently and reach their goals. We have run plans for those wanting to chase 5k-marathon startlines, as well as more fluid goals, such as wanting to get stronger or build a stronger base. At Femmi, and even as an elite athlete, I believe there is no better feeling than being connected to an army of women who are simply there to support you. Traditionally women have been pinned up against one another due to the limited opportunities we have had in the past, but times have changed and now there is space for everyone. This shift in pushing each other forward as women is evident at the Femmi communities, as we all support one another's ambitious goals and celebrate one another's successes. As we have become such a collective, not only do we feel more empowered, we have a much bigger voice to drive change in the fitness industry. We call out when things aren’t fair, we push back on gender inequalities and we crush down ‘once-thought-of-as-taboo’ conversations. **3\. You've created more than just a running app — you've built a movement where women are "learning to move in their own way." As a female founder in the wellness space, how do you see technology's role in empowering women's relationship with their bodies and fitness? What advice would you give to other women looking to challenge the status quo in wellness and sport?** The impact of technology on our relationship with both ourselves, our sport and our bodies is deeply under-estimated. We are living in a world where we are constantly connected to a digital realm, yet most of that digital landscape, including social media tools and fitness platforms, have been designed for and by men. Technology that gives women the space to explore, express, and understand themselves, and their needs - has the power to transform how we see ourselves and our place in the world. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2025/06/Lydia-x-Esther-1.jpg) When we understand what truly makes a woman feel confident in her own skin, from how she trains to the words she needs to hear to stay motivated, we can help her to build a stronger, more positive relationship with herself. And that confidence doesn't stay isolated; it radiates into every part of her life, reshaping how she shows up in the world. This is even more so why a technology like Femmi is needed and why I hope to see more women-led innovation shaping the future. Innovating in an industry long shaped by a male mindset, one rooted in competition, comparison, aesthetics, and toughness, is no easy task. Challenging the traditional, male-centric approach to training felt risky at first. But the thousands of women who have backed Femmi from the beginning have given us the confidence to keep pushing forward - to keep creating tools that truly support how women want to feel in their training, and in themselves. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. **Get in touch with us today!** > 👉 **hi@foundedbywomen.org** ### Building Connection at Scale: How Rhiannon Barr is Redefining People Leadership in Tech URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/workplace-culture/building-connection-at-scale-how-rhiannon-barr-is-redefining-people-leadership-in-tech/ Last updated: 2025-06-23T13:41:49.000Z In the fast-paced world of tech startups, balancing rapid growth with authentic human connection can feel like an impossible challenge. But for Rhiannon Barr, Head of People at [Hire Space](https://hirespace.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org), this balance isn't just achievable—it's essential to building a thriving organization. Hire Space, a leading platform in the events industry, helps people find and book unique venues for meaningful gatherings. Under Rhiannon's leadership, the company has applied this same philosophy of meaningful connection to its internal culture, proving that people-first approaches can drive both engagement and performance. From reimagining professional development to creating intentional moments of connection, Rhiannon has championed innovative people practices that honor both the agility of startup culture and the structured support that growing teams need. Her approach demonstrates how intuition and analytics can work together, how authentic leadership can overcome imposter syndrome, and why building relationships from day one is crucial for any people leader. In this candid conversation, Rhiannon shares insights from her journey leading people strategy at a scaling tech company, offering practical wisdom for women building careers in people leadership and anyone interested in creating workplaces where authenticity and performance go hand in hand. ### 1\. How do you ensure your internal people practices reflect the same innovation and connection that Hire Space brings to the events industry? At Hire Space, we’re in the business of helping people connect in meaningful ways, so it’s important that our people practices reflect that too. Internally, we focus on creating the right environment for our team to grow, collaborate and feel like they belong. One of the most impactful changes we’ve made recently is evolving how we approach professional development. We’ve moved away from static goal-setting and introduced regular, more fluid, employee-lead monthly check-ins between team members and their managers. The focus is on the journey, not just the end result. We want growth to feel continuous and human, not like a box-ticking exercise. Alongside that, we’ve recently made some fantastic improvements to our benefits, including a generous health cash plan and the launch of a workplace nursery scheme, with the aim of supporting our people in both their personal and professional lives, particularly with the economic challenges we’ve all seen over the last few years. Our culture is something we consistently score highly on in our engagement surveys. Our people tell us they feel they can bring their authentic selves to work, and that they’re encouraged to share ideas and continuously push for the best. That openness to innovation is what makes the team so special. Our values: continually self-improving, keen to help, and action-oriented, are woven into the way we work together every day. ### 2\. How do you balance startup agility with the more structured people processes needed as you grow? What challenges have you faced as a female leader in tech? One of the biggest challenges in a growing company is building structure and processes without losing the culture that made it successful in the first place. At Hire Space, we’re always trying to protect the things that make us feel like a startup; pace, ownership, creativity, while building in the consistency that helps people feel supported as we grow. A good example of that is how we’ve changed our approach to development. We knew we needed a more consistent structure, but we didn’t want it to feel too dictated, overly rigid or formal. So we revisited our framework, we focused on creating space for meaningful, employee-lead conversations each month. It’s light-touch but really intentional, and it gives everyone ownership of their own growth. It’s focused on the journey, not just the destination. In terms of my own leadership journey, I’m very lucky to be part of a senior team that has always backed me fully and trusted me to act in the best interests of the team. That said, I’ve definitely experienced imposter syndrome, which I think a lot of women in leadership roles can relate to. It’s something I’ve had to work on, and the support of my peers and colleagues has been so important in helping me build confidence and trust my instincts. ### 3\. How do you merge care for your people with the strategic demands of scaling a tech company? What does it look like when intuition meets analytics in your role? People-first decisions can still be strategic ones. I’ve always believed that if you build the right environment, performance follows. You don’t have to choose between the two. That said, data plays an important role. We use engagement surveys, 1:1 feedback and regular conversations to understand what’s working and where we need to shift. When we spotted in our last survey that development was an area people wanted more consistency and structure around, we didn’t just tweak a few templates. We rethought the whole approach and rebuilt it to focus more on continuous conversations and shared responsibility. At the same time, intuition matters. Sometimes you can feel that something’s off before the numbers show it. Whether it’s a drop in energy, team dynamics or someone disengaging quietly, being close to the day-to-day and building real relationships helps you pick up on things that data alone can’t show. It’s about listening to both, and acting on what you hear. ### 4\. How do you apply the philosophy of meaningful connection to your people strategy? What role do physical and virtual spaces play in building culture? We talk a lot about connection at Hire Space, and we try to bring that to life in the way we work together too. Connection doesn’t just happen by accident, it takes intention and consistency. We’ve recently introduced two 10 minute in-person team standups each week, which have been a brilliant way to build energy, alignment and belonging. On Tuesdays we set our goals for the week, share progress against monthly targets, and recognise team members who’ve lived our values. On Thursdays we celebrate wins and review how the week went. They’re short and simple, but they’ve made a real difference and in May we had our most successful month ever! We also have a fantastic social committee who bring real creativity and energy to building community; organising everything from breakfasts to sports days, summer parties and cultural celebrations. They create moments that help the team connect on a more personal level, which is so important in a fast-paced environment, along with encouraging constant real-time feedback in our company-wide #recognition channel. These kinds of shared experiences and public recognition of the great things our team are doing every day play a big role in shaping the culture and keeping it vibrant as we grow. ### 5\. What advice would you give to women building a career in people leadership? What do you wish you’d known earlier in your own career? Build relationships with everyone, and start doing it from day one. In smaller teams or standalone roles, you can’t do anything meaningful without trust. Make space to understand people, follow through on your commitments, and show that you’re there to help them succeed, not just to tick HR boxes. I’d also say, seek out senior leaders who genuinely empower you. I’ve been lucky to work with leaders who’ve given me the freedom and confidence to push boundaries and shape things from the ground up. That support has been game-changing. If you’re in a space where you don’t feel that kind of backing, it’s okay to ask for it, or to move towards something better. And finally, to my younger self: don’t wait until you feel ready. You’ll probably never feel 100% ready, and that’s okay. Say yes, trust yourself, and know that your perspective has value, even if you’re still figuring things out. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. [**Get in touch**](https://www.foundedbywomen.org/share-your-story/) **with us today!** > 👉 [**Contact Us**](https://www.foundedbywomen.org/share-your-story/) ### Beyond the Bottom Line: How Empathetic Leadership Drives Real Business Results URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/wellness/beyond-the-bottom-line-how-empathetic-leadership-drives-real-business-results/ Last updated: 2025-06-23T13:29:56.000Z In a corporate landscape where 67% of Australia's workforce has quietly disengaged, one leadership expert is challenging the age-old belief that empathy and profit are mutually exclusive. Meet Leanne Butterworth, founder of [Empathy First](https://www.empathyfirst.com.au/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) and creator of the transformative WISER framework—a proven approach that's helping leaders across Australia discover that genuine care for their people isn't just morally right, it's strategically smart. As both a TEDx speaker and university lecturer, Leanne has positioned herself as an "Empathy Realist," advocating for what she calls "healthy empathy"—a practice that goes far beyond simply "being nice" to create measurable business outcomes. Her work challenges the traditional profit-at-all-costs mentality, demonstrating instead how empathetic leadership enhances what she terms the ART of business: the ability to Attract, Retain, and help teams Thrive. From her base on Australia's wellness scene, Leanne has been quietly revolutionizing how leaders think about human connection in the workplace. Her approach isn't about emotional overwhelm or abandoning accountability—it's about creating psychological safety that unlocks peak performance. Through her signature WISER framework, she teaches leaders to make their teams feel "heard, valued, and visible" while maintaining crucial boundaries that prevent burnout. In this exclusive interview, Leanne shares her insights on why empathy has become a business imperative, how to distinguish between healthy empathy and emotional overwhelm, and what unique challenges women leaders face when implementing empathetic leadership styles in environments that still mistake compassion for weakness. **You've positioned yourself as an "Empathy Realist" and argue that empathetic leadership isn't just nice-to-have but a business imperative. With 67% of Australia's workforce reportedly quiet quitting, how do you help skeptical leaders move beyond the traditional "profit-at-all-costs" mindset to embrace empathy as a genuine competitive advantage, especially when they may view it as a sign of weakness?** There is a lot of misunderstanding about empathy. Many assume it’s ‘just being nice’ or ‘feeling all the feelings’ which might seem to put it at odds with ‘profit-at-all-costs’. But this traditional thinking often results in micromanagement, burnout and stress which actually reduce productivity and profitability. Healthy empathy is “the ability to, or the genuine attempt to, share and understand the feelings and perspectives of your people and respond in a way that makes them feel heard, valued, visible and safe.” When leaders do this well, people don’t just comply through fear, they engage through trust and belonging. In fact, empathetic leadership has been shown to enhance work engagement which then improves wellbeing and performance because people feel like they *matter*. When understood and practiced with self-awareness and consideration, healthy empathy strengthens what I call the ART of leadership – businesses enhance their ability to Attract, Retain and Thrive. Empathy isn't the opposite of profit — it's the *path* to it. **Your signature WISER framework teaches people to make others feel "heard, valued and visible" while maintaining personal boundaries to prevent burnout. Can you walk us through what healthy empathy looks like in practice? How do you help leaders and teams distinguish between compassionate empathy that energizes versus emotional overwhelm that depletes?** One of the biggest misperceptions about empathy is that it means *feeling all the feelings of everyone all the time*. Understandably, that sounds overwhelming — and it *is*. That kind of unfiltered emotional absorption often leads to burnout and doesn’t serve the other person either. I teach that empathy has three forms, however, not all empathy is *healthy* empathy. **Emotional empathy** is also known as emotional contagion — we “catch” others’ feelings, but without good boundaries, we can become emotionally drained. That’s why healthy empathy requires us to develop *emotional regulation, self-empathy, boundaries,* and *emotional literacy* — so we can stay present *without losing ourselves*. **Cognitive empathy** is about perspective-taking, but if we don’t question our assumptions, we risk projecting our own values, experiences, privilege and judgements onto the other person instead of truly listening. Healthy cognitive empathy requires us to *challenge our first impressions* and get *curious*. **Compassionate empathy** is the goal — it’s about creating a safe, non-judgmental space where the other person feels heard, valued, and not alone. That means turning off distractions, asking thoughtful questions, acknowledging emotions, and building trust. It’s *not* about fixing, advising, or emotionally spiralling with them but holding space with intention and self-awareness. **As both a TEDx speaker and university lecturer who's contributed to "Women Making a Difference," you're clearly passionate about systemic change. What's been your most rewarding moment seeing empathy training actually transform a workplace culture? And for women leaders specifically, what unique challenges do they face in implementing empathetic leadership styles, and how can they navigate these while still being taken seriously?** Belinda was a leader in a large Not-For-Profit organisation whose team was becoming fractured, stressed, and disengaged. She cared deeply about her people and mission but felt torn — caught between pressure to deliver the numbers and her own belief that human-centred leadership was the right path. Through our sessions, she learned to challenge her assumptions and insecurities, to lead with healthy empathy without losing sight of accountability. She said, *“Understanding healthy empathy allowed me to unlock another side of myself at work. I’ve learned that I can still have boundaries without being reactive, and still show empathy to others.”* That shift not only reduced stress for her and her team, but it also improved outcomes for the business and their clients. This is a common challenge, especially for women leaders. There’s a persistent myth that empathy is “soft,” or that it undermines authority. Practicing healthy empathy strengthens leadership. It allows you to hold people accountable while showing that they matter. The key is knowing that empathy and performance are not at odds. You can care deeply for your team and deliver results. In fact, when you do, people thrive and so does the bottom line. ### Follow Leanne on socials: **Instagram**: [https://www.instagram.com/empathyfirsthq/](https://www.instagram.com/empathyfirsthq/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) **LinkedIn**: [https://au.linkedin.com/in/leannebutterworth](https://au.linkedin.com/in/leannebutterworth?ref=foundedbywomen.org) > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. [**Get in touch**](https://www.foundedbywomen.org/share-your-story/) **with us today!** > 👉 [**Contact Us**](https://www.foundedbywomen.org/share-your-story/) ### Good Therapy San Diego URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/partners/founding/good-therapy-san-diego/ Last updated: 2025-12-29T06:52:45.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2025/07/images--1-.png) #### **Good Therapy San Diego* is a premier counseling center dedicated to providing high-quality mental health care. [Visit website](https://www.goodtherapysandiego.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ### Beyond the Mat: How Satorii Yoga + Wellness is Redefining Community and Growth in Los Angeles URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/wellness/beyond-the-mat-how-satorii-yoga-wellness-is-redefining-community-and-growth-in-los-angeles/ Last updated: 2025-06-13T18:25:23.000Z In a city where yoga studios can often feel formulaic and disconnected, Satorii Yoga + Wellness stands as a beacon of authentic practice and genuine community. Founded with the revolutionary idea that both teachers and students deserve freedom to explore and grow, this Los Angeles studio has carved out a unique space in the wellness landscape—one that honors yoga's traditional roots while embracing individual expression and diverse teaching styles. We sat down with Ashby Drake, the visionary behind [Satorii](https://www.satorii.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org), to explore how her decade-long journey as a yoga teacher led her to create something different: a studio where stagnation gives way to continuous discovery, where teachers feel empowered to share their authentic selves, and where practitioners of all levels find not just physical challenge, but spiritual depth and genuine connection. From combating the burnout she witnessed in both instructors and students to building a team of diverse educators who each bring something unique to the mat, Drake's approach to yoga studio ownership reflects a deeper understanding of what modern practitioners truly need. In this conversation, she shares the philosophy that drives Satorii's mission and reveals how the fusion of movement, breath, and community creates space for profound personal transformation. ## Satorii emphasizes the fusion of movement and breath to foster personal growth. How does this philosophy influence the design of your classes and the overall studio experience? When I first started dreaming of opening satorii, I wanted to create a space where teachers would feel empowered to express themselves and their personal teaching styles. I never wanted to enforce set sequences, strict rules regarding music, specific structure etc. instead, I wanted to build a team of highly experienced teachers that each bring something special to the space. My reason behind this was that I noticed a consistent theme in conversations surrounding yoga in Los Angeles- that students would practice for a few months, or even YEARS, and feel as though they weren’t really progressing or finding much depth in their personal practices beyond the foundational asanas. Simultaneously, teachers were expressing that they felt uninspired or burnt out. Through personal reflection and investigating various pockets of the community, I started to gather that this was largely due to a lack of freedom for the teachers to fully express their knowledge in the classroom as well as a lack of encouragement for students to explore and be curious. In order to combat a feeling of stagnation that’s become so consistent in the yoga community, we began building a team of diverse teachers that each offer unique knowledge and skills to the community to cultivate a culture for learning and growth. Each of us, as teachers and members at Satorii, get incredibly excited when we see each other going deeper in our practices. Hitting milestones with specific asanas, implementing new breathwork techniques in our daily practices, becoming more consistent with our meditations, whatever it is. Having roots in traditional yoga philosophy while still allowing self expression in the space allows students to connect to their teachers on a deeper, more authentic level and allows our teachers to share the best versions of themselves and their craft every time they step on the mat. ## In what ways does Satorii strive to create an inclusive and welcoming environment for practitioners of all backgrounds and experience levels? Creating an inclusive and welcoming environment is one of the core intentions behind Satorii Yoga + Wellness. From the beginning, we envisioned Satorii as a sanctuary where people from all walks of life could feel seen, supported, and inspired to grow—whether they’re stepping onto the mat for the first time or deep into their journey as a seasoned practitioner. While we offer many intermediate/advanced classes (as we noticed there were many more accommodations for beginners at most studios than there were for those that had been practicing for years and wanted to get out of the typical, repetitive routine) we also love the opportunity to be a practitioners starting point. This way, we can ensure they have the best, most stable foundation possible with plenty of room to grow in all directions! ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2025/06/Facetune_26-01-2025-21-18-25.jpeg) We offer a variety of classes, like Satorii Slow (a yin inspired slow flow) as well as Origins, our “foundational flow” which are both perfect for those that are new to the practice or even seasoned practitioners looking to revisit the basic building blocks, refine their alignment, and/or increase their flexibility - all the way to strong vinyasa classes (satorii 60 & satorii 75) rocket classes, inversion flow (a flow class designed to improve your inversion practice like handstands, arm balances, etc) and condition, a strength focused class to help condition the body for more “advanced” postures. Lastly, if someone’s looking to deepen their spiritual practices but isn’t quite ready/interested in asana based classes, we even offer Breathwork and sound bath meditations. So there’s truly something for every body and every experience level. > If you have a body and a breath, you belong here. Inclusivity for us also means honoring diversity in the way we represent yoga. We’re mindful not to water down its roots—we acknowledge and respect yoga’s cultural origins while making the practice accessible and relevant for people living modern, often very complex lives. Finally, community is everything to us. Whether it’s through our mentorships, sliding scale offerings, or free events for underserved groups, we’re always looking for new ways to reduce barriers to access and make sure Satorii feels like home. We truly believe that yoga is for everyone—not just the flexible or the experienced or the “spiritually fluent.” If you have a body and a breath, you belong here. ## What inspired you to establish Satorii, and how has your personal journey shaped the studio’s mission and offerings? After teaching yoga for almost a decade, I knew it was time to build a physical space to help people grow, connect, and become a part of something bigger than themselves alone. For me, yoga has had such an incredible impact on my life and of course my spiritual journey. Allowing me to express myself more clearly and authentically, regulate my nervous system naturally, connect with God and my community more deeply and so much more. Therefore, I realized at a young age that part of my life’s purpose is to share this practice with others. But I’ve never felt that my way was the only way or that I’m anywhere close to having all the answers. Which is why it was so important to me that Satorii’s team was made up of highly diverse, intelligent, well trained teachers. So that our community would have access to various mentors that each offered something unique to their practice and overall spiritual journey. Thus why Satorii is now so rooted in deep exploration, self-discovery, connection to community and access to incredible, well-rounded yoga education. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. [**Get in touch**](https://www.foundedbywomen.org/share-your-story/) **with us today!** > 👉 [**Contact Us**](https://www.foundedbywomen.org/share-your-story/) ### From Burnout to Breakthrough: How Neuroenergetic Leadership is Transforming Workplace Wellbeing URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/wellness/from-burnout-to-breakthrough-how-neuroenergetic-leadership-is-transforming-workplace-wellbeing/ Last updated: 2025-06-12T15:04:46.000Z ## A Conversation with Samantha Tremlin, Founder of Kuutch In an era where workplace burnout has reached epidemic proportions and high-pressure industries struggle to balance performance with human sustainability, a new approach to leadership is emerging. Samantha Tremlin, founder of [Kuutch](https://www.kuutch.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org), is pioneering a revolutionary framework that integrates neuroscience, energy management, and holistic wellbeing into the very fabric of organizational culture. After experiencing her own devastating burnout in a toxic workplace environment, Samantha embarked on a transformative journey that led her to develop the OneBeing Framework™ and Neuroenergetic Leadership™ approach. Her work challenges the traditional separation between life, work, and wellbeing, proposing instead that sustainable performance can only be achieved when we understand these elements as one interconnected system. Through Kuutch, Samantha works with leaders and organizations to move beyond surface-level wellness initiatives toward a fundamental shift in how we understand energy, presence, and human-centered leadership. Her approach is particularly relevant for STEM and tech industries, where the demand for innovation often clashes with environments that inadvertently stifle the very creativity they seek to cultivate. In this candid conversation, Samantha shares how her personal experience with burnout shaped her revolutionary approach to workplace wellbeing, explains the science behind sustainable performance, and reveals why the future of leadership lies in understanding the energetic dimension of human potential. ## Your personal experience with burnout led you to create Kuutch. How did that journey shape the core philosophy behind your approach to workplace wellbeing? Early in my career, I burned out in a toxic, bullying environment. It was my first senior role, one I’d worked hard for and was proud to have earned. On the outside, I was performing. Inside, I was just trying to survive. Micromanaged, bullied, undermined, pushed to prove myself, until my body and mind gave out. It wasn’t just tiredness anymore. It was a fog. I was getting through the days, but I wasn’t really there. That experience taught me something I’ll never forget: **who we are is how we work**. And when something breaks us down, whether it’s a toxic workplace or challenges at home, it doesn’t stay neatly contained. It impacts everything. It also taught me that burnout isn’t about individual resilience. It’s about the system people are in. No amount of wellbeing apps or resilience training would have fixed that culture. What needed to change was leadership, how people showed up, how energy was managed, what behaviours were allowed and rewarded.That experience led me into holistic health, not as a career move, but because I needed to heal myself. To understand energy. To rebuild my nervous system. To reconnect to who I was underneath it all. That journey runs through everything I do now. And that’s why I created Kuutch. We work at the intersection of **science and spirit**, helping leaders understand that wellbeing isn’t an add on. It’s embedded in how we lead, how we show up, and the energy we create. Because when the system is draining people, no initiative will fix it. And I know the cost when it isn’t addressed, that’s why I do this work. ## Kuutch emphasises ‘Neuroenergetic Leadership™’ and the ‘OneBeing Framework™’. Could you explain how these concepts help organisations move from burnout to sustainable performance? If we want sustainable performance, we have to manage energy. And not just in individuals, but in the whole system. Most leaders miss this. They’re pushing for outcomes, but ignoring what fuels them. That’s where the OneBeing™ philosophy comes in. The future of leadership isn’t about separating life, work and wellbeing. It’s about understanding they are one system. The energy people bring to work is shaped by all of it, and what happens inside organisations shapes life far beyond the workplace. Our OneBeing equation is this: High Performance = Fuel + Focus + Flow. But the reality is, most workplaces expect flow. Deep work. Innovation. Creativity. Yet people are running on empty. Back to back meetings, huge workloads, they are distracted and exhausted. Without the space or fuel they need to truly perform. Over time, that doesn’t drive performance. It drives burnout. Neuroenergetic Leadership™ is about helping leaders shift that. It teaches them that leadership isn’t just operational, it’s energetic. How you show up, your tone, your pace, your presence, directly shapes the emotional and energetic climate around you. Humans don’t just follow strategy. They attune to energy. And when leaders manage that energy with awareness, drawing on both neuroscience and ancient wisdom, everything changes. That’s why we support leaders and organisations through coaching, team workshops, mental health and wellbeing labs, helping them build energy aware, human centred leadership at every level. Performance becomes sustainable. Culture becomes human. And life, work and wellbeing can finally integrate, not compete. That’s the future of leadership. And that’s the shift we help leaders make. ## In high-pressure industries like STEM and tech, how does Kuutch balance the drive for innovation with the need for psychological safety and energy management? The future of work isn’t just about AI, hybrid working or wellbeing apps. It’s about how we create environments where people can think, create and thrive, not just survive the day. It’s the great irony. STEM and tech industries want creativity, problem solving and innovation. But they often create conditions where innovation can’t happen. Neuroscience shows us that under chronic stress, the brain moves into survival mode. Creativity, empathy and long-term thinking shut down. It’s simple biology, and you can’t force a stressed brain, or an exhausted spirit, to innovate. Ironically, these are the very skills we look for in our leaders. Yet most leadership programmes don’t prepare them for this reality. They teach strategy and performance, but not energy, presence or the ability to create safe, regenerative cultures.This is where leadership makes the difference. You can’t delegate energy or culture. You have to model it. And at Kuutch, that’s what we teach. Our OneBeing™ Framework and Neuroenergetic Leadership™ approach help leaders and organisations embed wellbeing, energy awareness and presence into leadership, culture and ways of working, not as an add on, but as a foundation. Because when people feel safe, connected and energised, they don’t just perform. They create. They evolve. They expand and contribute from a deeper place. **Links:** [https://www.linkedin.com/in/samantha-tremlin/](https://www.linkedin.com/in/samantha-tremlin/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. [**Get in touch**](https://www.foundedbywomen.org/share-your-story/) **with us today!** > 👉 [**Contact Us**](https://www.foundedbywomen.org/share-your-story/) ### Reframing Sleep Paralysis: From Threshold States to Transformation URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/wellness/reframing-sleep-paralysis-from-threshold-states-to-transformation/ Last updated: 2025-06-12T14:15:51.000Z "If you've ever woken up unable to move, felt a presence in the room, or experienced strange night-time events, you're not alone." These words from Dr. Sheila Pryce Brooks speak to millions who have encountered sleep paralysis, yet found little understanding beyond clinical explanations that often leave experiencers feeling isolated and misunderstood. [Dr. Pryce Brooks](https://www.sheilaprycebrooks.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org)—researcher, experiencer, and speaker—has spent over three decades exploring sleep paralysis as something far more profound than a neurological glitch. Through her groundbreaking development of the Threshold Contact Experience (TCE) framework, she bridges research, personal story, and clinical insight to reframe what sleep paralysis truly is. Working at the intersection of neuroscience, altered states, and culture, her approach offers research-grounded insights while honoring the deeper, often spiritual dimensions of these threshold states. What began as episodes "marked by presence, contact, and a deep sense of initiation" has evolved into a mission to support others navigating these profound liminal spaces. In this conversation, Dr. Pryce Brooks shares how her academic research is helping reshape our understanding of sleep paralysis, moving beyond pathology toward possibility. Through her platform and [Substack *Transcend*](https://sheilaprycebrooks.substack.com/), she continues to demonstrate how lived experience, rigorous science, and spiritual wisdom can work together to transform our relationship with these mysterious threshold states—proving that what once overwhelmed can become a bridge to deeper understanding. ## What personal experiences led you to focus on sleep paralysis and spiritual wellbeing? For over 30 years, I experienced sleep paralysis in ways that defied clinical explanation — episodes marked by presence, contact, and a deep sense of initiation. For much of that time, I navigated alone, until my doctoral research helped me recognise these experiences as a kind of threshold, not pathology. What began as a private ordeal evolved into a public mission: to reframe sleep paralysis as a **Threshold Contact Experience (TCE)** and guide others through these unseen states. Today, I write about this work on my Substack, [*Transcend with Sheila Pryce Brooks*](https://sheilaprycebrooks.substack.com/), and continue supporting others through my research and platform at [https://www.sheilaprycebrooks.com/](https://www.sheilaprycebrooks.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org). ## How do you integrate science and spirituality in your approach to healing and transformation? My work bridges lived experience with consciousness research and the science of human experience. Through academic structures, psychical inquiry, and public scholarship, I develop language and frameworks that honour the deeper, often unseen dimensions of these states, while remaining grounded in rigour. Science gives us the structure; meaning gives us the depth. I bring the two together through my writings, talks, and platforms, offering insight not only to individuals but also to institutions exploring new ways of understanding anomalous experience. My aim is to make the invisible intelligible — not by reducing it, but by reverently naming it. ## What advice would you give to someone currently struggling with sleep-related spiritual experiences? You’re not broken. You’re not alone. And you’re not imagining it. Many sleep-related states — from paralysis to contact — are signs that your awareness is opening to subtle realms. The first step is not to dismiss or suppress the experience, but to begin asking deeper questions. On my Substack, *Transcend*, I often remind readers that these threshold states can carry both challenge and invitation. Learn to listen without fear. Seek those who walk this path with integrity. And above all — remember that what overwhelms you now may one day become your gift to others. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. [**Get in touch**](https://www.foundedbywomen.org/share-your-story/) **with us today!** > 👉 [**Contact Us**](https://www.foundedbywomen.org/share-your-story/) ### From Frazzled to Flourishing: How Club Synergy Transforms Working Parents Through Movement and Community URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/wellness/from-frazzled-to-flourishing-how-club-synergy-transforms-working-parents-through-movement-and-community/ Last updated: 2025-06-11T16:14:02.000Z In a world where working parents—especially solo entrepreneurs—often feel pulled in countless directions, finding the time and energy for self-care can seem impossible. Yet what if the very thing you think you don't have time for could be the key to unlocking greater productivity, creativity, and joy in both your personal and professional life? Kelly Houston, founder of [Club Synergy](https://clubsynergy.co.uk/?ref=foundedbywomen.org), discovered this transformative truth during her own journey as a lone parent struggling to keep her consultancy business afloat. What began as a reluctant commitment to run a 10K race became the foundation for a unique approach to supporting working parents and small business owners through the powerful combination of movement, accountability, and community. Club Synergy isn't just another fitness program—it's a reimagining of how we can integrate well-being into our busiest seasons of life. By combining exercise with business accountability and peer support, Kelly has created a space where parents can invest in themselves without guilt, knowing that every step, every shared challenge, and every moment of connection is actually enhancing their capacity to show up fully for their families and their work. In this candid Q&A, Kelly shares the personal struggles that sparked her mission, the science behind why exercising with others boosts productivity, and the remarkable transformations she's witnessed in members who've gone from overwhelmed to empowered. Whether you're a solo parent juggling business deadlines and school runs, or simply someone seeking a more sustainable approach to work-life integration, Kelly's insights offer both inspiration and practical wisdom for finding your own path from frazzled to flourishing. ## What inspired you to create Club Synergy, and how does your personal experience as a lone parent and small business owner influence the club’s approach? In 2006, I was a lone parent to three daughters, trying to make enough money through my small learning and development consultancy to put food on the table. This was in stark contrast to my early years in business which, given the household income at the time, was truly a “lifestyle” one. Perhaps rather ironically, while I wasn’t worried about money, work flooded in and I could pick and choose projects. A change of circumstances and I HAD to make my business work… Once money, or rather lack of, came strongly into focus for me, work began to dry up. I was transmitting an air of desperation, cutting my fees to secure work, and grabbing anything available. The result – a frazzled, broke, joyless mum and business owner – maybe this resonates with you? I discovered the power of exercise as a “reluctant” runner… In 2006 I was challenged to enter a local 10K race and help fund-raise for our local cancer treatment facility. As someone who struggled to run after three lively young children, this was a big ask. But who can refuse a request like that? That day my life changed for the better. Training for the 10k I discovered something that drives the Club Synergy model today. I didn’t know what was happening at a neurological level, I just knew that the headspace and me-time I was gaining while out running was having an amazing effect. Positively impacting focus, productivity, creativity and ultimately my personal and business fitness. This allowed me to ditch the guilt I had been carrying about taking time out for myself. Something that is shared by many working parents. Talking to people about the positive impact of running on my mind, body and business led to the creation of an activity-based charity in 2012…and a new husband! Running changed my life and the lives of thousands of others through the 5×50 Challenge… The 5×50 Challenge was undertaken by thousands of people across the globe and raised £250,000 for various charities. Mark, now my husband, got a 4 for the price of 1 bundle and a shed! For 7 years my learning and development business, a personal commitment to exercise and developing the charity existed side by side until in September 2019 we had to take the difficult and upsetting decision to bring the 5×50 Challenge to an end. That provided a great business learning experience you can ask me about later! Perhaps unsurprisingly, while out for a run as we were winding down the Charity, my mind connected a few dots and the Club Synergy concept was born. Today, membership is largely made up of women raising children and building small businesses. As a 54 year old with a grown up family, I no longer have the same pressures and can enjoy more autonomy in how I shape my day, but I fully remember the juggle. The Club Synergy way is, and always has been to make movement accessible, fun and enjoyable while providing opportunities for business building and development to save precious time. We encourage members to bring their pre-school children (and dogs!) to our in-person events and our activities are hosted in the window between 'school runs' ## Can you describe how Club Synergy’s unique blend of fitness, accountability, and community support enhances productivity for freelancers and small business owners? Exercising with others boosts your productivity, there is scientific research to support this. We know from the data that: - Exercise releases endorphins - Connection releases Oxytocin - Achieving something releases Dopamine Exercising with others combines 3 of the 4 feel good hormones (the 4th serotonin can be found in chocolate 🍫...yay!) Feeling good boosts creativity and productivity At Club Synergy we combine accountability (dopamine), connection (oxytocin) and exercise (endorphins) in each of our sessions. Whether that is: - being held accountable for an online workout and clearing last month's book-keeping during an Active Accountability Session - or celebrating reaching the top of a hill that felt like too much of a stretch in the company of others on a Fresh Air Friday hike. - or having a real business break-through as a result of really observing the natural world during a 1 to 1 micro adventure. ## What impact have you observed in your members’ work-life balance and overall well-being since they began integrating exercise into their daily routines through Club Synergy? I've had the privilege of witnessing many members grow and change from being frazzled to embracing fitness (in a way that works for them) in their daily lives. Take Amy, a Financial Advisor and lone parent who has gone from complete overwhelm to achieving more by doing less AND running three times a week. Or Katie, mum of 2, who is about to run her 2nd 10k race less than 12 months after joining us with low energy, feeling very isolated and demovatived working from home. She's an Active Accountability regular and swears by the peer accountability to help her clear the 'big frogs' in her day early on, leaving room for that all important lunchtime run. She loves that her big tasks and exercise commitments are ticked off before the kids get in from school so that she can be fully present with them in the evenings. *Socials* [https://www.linkedin.com/in/kelly-houston-clubsynergy/](https://www.linkedin.com/in/kelly-houston-clubsynergy/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) [https://www.instagram.com/myclubsynergy/](https://www.instagram.com/myclubsynergy/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. [**Get in touch**](https://www.foundedbywomen.org/share-your-story/) **with us today!** > 👉 [**Contact Us**](https://www.foundedbywomen.org/share-your-story/) ### From Fear to Summit: How One Woman's Health Crisis Sparked a Movement to Reclaim the Body URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/wellness/from-fear-to-summit-how-one-womans-health-crisis-sparked-a-movement-to-reclaim-the-body/ Last updated: 2025-06-11T14:56:32.000Z In 2018, a cardiac diagnosis changed everything for one entrepreneur. What began as a life-threatening health scare evolved into something unexpected: a complete shutdown of movement, followed by a profound awakening about the relationship between women and their bodies. This journey from medical trauma to physical empowerment became the foundation of [Women Move Mountains](https://www.womenmovemountains.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org), a company that's redefining how women approach fitness, leadership, and self-ownership. The story isn't about overcoming illness—it's about reclaiming agency. In a world where women are constantly told how to look, feel, and move through space, Women Move Mountains offers something radical: the permission to discover what your body can actually do, mess and sweat included. Through challenging mountain retreats that prioritize "grit over glamour," participants learn that strength isn't about perfection—it's about trust, capability, and the profound empowerment that comes from truly inhabiting your own skin. This is leadership development stripped of corporate speak and polished presentations. Instead, it's found in the raw honesty of steep terrain, wild weather, and the very literal outcomes of decision-making on the trail. Where other programs talk about resilience, Women Move Mountains teaches it through the simple act of putting one foot in front of the other, even when everything in your body wants to stop. ## Your personal health journey in 2018 was pivotal in founding Women Move Mountains. How did that experience shape the core philosophy of your retreats and coaching programs? My diagnosis was what I might call a ‘good shock’ as it came out of nowhere and explained a lifetime of undiagnosed symptoms. It was pretty quickly sorted out and thanks to the brilliance of modern medicine (I have a cardiac pacemaker) I now live symptom free and what was otherwise a very dangerous heart condition is completely under control. What was in many ways more surprising and more difficult to notice though, was how my body reacted to being unwell over many years. I’d developed a kind of health anxiety which I’d had on and off through my adult life but following the trauma of my operation, which didn’t go smoothly, it worsened dramatically and over the next six months I sort of stopped moving. My body shut down in a fear response to something terrible happening and I became very inactive. When I gradually started moving again and built my strength back up the contrast between before and after was immense. I realised how I’d completely lost control of my own body and now here I was learning to live in it properly, to care for it and to respect it. So at the core of WMM is this idea about reclaiming your body. For many women this will be following an illness, surgery or after giving birth. But even without that experience women too often feel like their body isn’t theirs. They lack the connection to this thing we walk around in which is simultaneously incredibly fragile and immensely robust. But it’s ours, it’s who and what we are. My experience showed me just how empowering it is to have agency over your body, not in the pursuit of perfection, but to feel strong and capable and to be healthy. That philosophy now runs through every aspect of our retreats and coaching programs. ## Your retreats emphasize ‘grit over glamour’ and ‘authenticity over appearances.’ How do you cultivate this mindset among participants, especially those new to outdoor adventures? My aim is to create an atmosphere of ‘realness’. No pressure or pretence, no expectations. The pressure on women to look, behave and even feel a certain way is as intense and ubiquitous in 2025 as ever. The so-called body positivity movement doesn’t help in my view, it’s still telling women how they should feel about their own bodies. With Women Move Mountains I want to offer women a chance to leave that all behind and think about their body in an entirely different way. Moving your body in the environment on challenging terrain, sometimes in wild weather, and testing your limits is messy, sweaty and provocative, you feel all sorts of things both when you’re getting started and when you’re super experienced. Some of the major barriers to exercise and adventure are the things women feel while they’re doing it that are scary or unpleasant. I work with women to notice these feelings, understand they’re normal, and help them learn to be ok with them, to be comfortable with discomfort. For example; “Yes that’s hard, that’s my muscles working”. “Yes I’m sweating, fantastic!” “Why do I feel frustrated? I probably need to eat!” By noticing how we feel, talking about it, understanding those feelings and either accepting them or tackling them, we can take control of our bodies, trust them, and learn what we’re really capable of. ## With offerings like the ‘Live to Lead’ retreat in the Lake District, how do you integrate leadership development into the physical and emotional challenges of mountain experiences? There are so many powerful parallels between leadership and moving in mountains. I draw on the physical and emotional demands of mountain experiences to develop leadership qualities like resilience, adaptability, communication, decision-making and self-awareness. Take communication as an example: If a leader sets off with a team towards a summit but fails to explain the route, the expected conditions, what to bring, or even the motivation behind the mission, how can that team possibly be prepared to succeed? The same applies to leadership in life and work. Clarity, trust and shared understanding are essential. On our *Live to Lead* retreats, we intentionally design the time on the trail to foster both personal insight and leadership growth. We don’t overload participants with ‘thinking work’ while moving, but let the experience itself do the teaching with some guidance along the way. Then, we pair those experiences with facilitated reflective sessions, coaching, and leadership frameworks in the evenings so that lessons from the mountains translate directly into leadership practice. By integrating leadership development with physical experiences where the outcomes are very literal, women leave with a greater sense of self-awareness alongside practical tools to take back to their professional and personal lives. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. [**Get in touch**](https://www.foundedbywomen.org/share-your-story/) **with us today!** > 👉 [**Contact Us**](https://www.foundedbywomen.org/share-your-story/) ### Inside the Line: Sophie Cohen on Art, Authenticity, and the Stories We're Not Supposed to Tell URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/all/inside-the-line-sophie-cohen-on-art-authenticity-and-the-stories-were-not-supposed-to-tell/ Last updated: 2025-06-11T14:51:57.000Z Most artists spend their careers trying to cross boundaries. Sophie Cohen has spent hers living comfortably within them—transforming the spaces society deems "delicate" or "difficult" into art that reveals their full humanity. The writer, director, and creative provocateur has built her career in the territories others avoid: strip clubs, underground theatre, the complex intersections of sex, power, and performance. What emerges from Cohen's work isn't the tragedy or victimhood that mainstream narratives typically assign to these worlds, but something far more subversive: joy, humor, and authentic human connection. From her early days as a dancer to her current role developing film and television projects, Cohen approaches her craft with an unusual combination of insider knowledge and artistic distance, creating stories that challenge audiences not through shock value, but through recognition of shared humanity. In this revealing conversation, Cohen discusses why she doesn't find her artistic territory "delicate," how different mediums have shaped her creative voice, and her mission to populate screens with characters who refuse to be reduced to their circumstances. Her perspective offers a rare glimpse into how authenticity—rather than sensationalism—becomes the most powerful tool for shifting cultural narratives around sexuality, power, and the stories we're not supposed to tell. ## Your work navigates the delicate territory between performance, intimacy, and power dynamics. How do you establish and maintain ethical boundaries when crafting stories from such deeply personal and stigmatized experiences – both your own and those of your collaborators? I don’t really feel that the territory I’m in is particularly delicate — it’s just somewhere I’ve been for such a long time, so it feels very comfortable to me. As far as ethical boundaries go, I always make sure the people I work with feel confident and comfortable where they are, and that we’re doing things everyone feels good about.For me personally, I can kind of mercurially float between different boundaries quite easily. I don’t find it challenging — it just comes to me as an instinct rather than something I need to clearly define. I know that for other people, these spaces might feel delicate or difficult, but they just don’t feel that way to me.Because the areas I work in are often stigmatised — mostly because people project very negative assumptions onto them — I try to make sure that humour, fun, love, and all the other human experiences are layered into the stories I tell. I’m not interested in showing characters who are just victims of their circumstances, particularly when those circumstances involve sex work, because I don’t believe that’s always the case — and it definitely hasn’t been in my world. ## Your creative evolution spans strip clubs, immersive theatre, and now filmmaking – each requiring you to inhabit different artistic identities. Which transition felt most creatively liberating, and what did that shift reveal about your voice as a storyteller? I think I probably felt the most creatively free when I was stripping. In strip clubs, I could wear what I wanted, dance to what I wanted, be who I wanted — and I could change it on a penny. It’s still the thing I miss the most. That was the space where I got to fully express myself, without feeling any kind of pressure.When I was working in theatre, I loved seeing other people perform the pieces I’d created, but I found it really challenging to be the director, producer, and performer all at once. So “free” isn’t how I would’ve described that time — although it was creatively exciting to watch something new take shape and see people enjoying it.As a filmmaker, I still feel very new, but I’ve really loved working in a form that can be held and revisited. Everything I’d made before — apart from podcasting — was ephemeral. You were either there or you weren’t. That has its own magic and energy, but film has this permanence, which is both terrifying (because it has to be so much better) and thrilling.Podcasting, for me, also feels really free — it’s more fluid, less polished, and I really enjoy that format too. So whether one form is more freeing than another… I think they all bring something different to the table. ## As you develop your debut feature and TV pilots for broader audiences, how are you working to subvert mainstream narratives around sexuality and power? What fundamental shift in perspective do you want viewers to walk away with after experiencing your stories? I think the best way to challenge mainstream ideas about sex, power, and sex work is to show the humanity behind it. I want to make characters feel like full human beings, not just sex workers or not just victims — but people with full lives.When I speak about my life, I try to do it from a place of humour, loveability, and connection. I love to be liked, and I love to be loved — and I think that makes the stories I tell more approachable. I want people to laugh, to feel affection for these characters, and to connect with them. All of the characters I put on screen are drawn from my own life and from people I love dearly in the world I’ve come from — and I think if viewers can see them as exciting, interesting, human people, then that already shifts something.The mainstream narrative around these kinds of stories tends to lean toward tragedy, or one-dimensional portrayals. If my work can make people think a little differently — to laugh, to feel, to recognise our shared humanity — then I consider that a win. And I hope to keep being given the chance to do more of that. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. [**Get in touch**](https://www.foundedbywomen.org/share-your-story/) **with us today!** > 👉 [**Contact Us**](https://www.foundedbywomen.org/share-your-story/) ### Equilibrium Body & Mind URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/partners/founding/equilibrium-body-mind/ Last updated: 2025-12-29T06:52:53.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2025/09/71c6f3_29d7a21f4457405fb20c42042cbcb3b8-mv2-1.gif) #### At just 26 years old, Chloe was thriving as an NHS chemotherapy nurse when Multiple Sclerosis crashed into her life "like a freight train." The diagnosis didn't just challenge her physically; it shattered her sense of self, leaving her feeling like "a shadow of the person I was before." For ten years, she battled debilitating symptoms that conventional medicine couldn't fully address, watching her vibrant spirit dim as her body struggled. But sometimes our darkest moments become the catalyst for our greatest transformations. Today, Chloe Bruce is a Licensed Rapid Transformational Therapy (RTT®) Practitioner trained with Marisa Peer, a Certified Hypnotherapist, and Reiki Master who has turned her personal healing journey into a mission to help others reclaim their sparkle. Based in Amersham, Buckinghamshire, she runs [Equilibrium Body and Mind](https://equilibriumbodyandmind.co.uk/?ref=foundedbywomen.org), where she combines her medical background with transformative holistic therapies to guide women back to wholeness. [Visit website](https://www.equilibriumbodyandmind.co.uk/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ### We Can’t Keep Working Like This: Lyanna Tsakiris on Burnout, Boundaries and (Yes) Tree Hugging URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/all/we-cant-keep-working-like-this-lyanna-tsakiris-on-burnout-boundaries-and-yes-tree-hugging/ Last updated: 2025-06-09T16:00:54.000Z Lyanna Tsakiris is the founder of strategic communications agency [Station Rd](https://stationrd.co.uk/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) and the voice behind [Wander and Wonder](https://wanderandwonder.life/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) \- a growing wellbeing practice focused on restoring clarity and connection in how we live and work. After burning out and stepping away from a fast-paced career, Lyanna didn’t just recover - she redefined how she wanted to work and live. From barefoot walks in Africa to tree hugging as a child, her story is one of reconnection and helping others find their way back, too. That perspective runs through her work with leaders and organisations - combining clarity-led communication, emotional intelligence and wellbeing-thinking to drive meaningful change across teams, brands and businesses. We sat down with Lyanna about walking away, starting again and why a different pace often leads to better outcomes - in work and life. ## Q: Tell us how your journey really started. Before co-founding Station Rd with my partner Jay, I burned out. Completely. I had to take six-months out of work to focus on myself and recover. I was always ‘on,’ constantly switching gears, carrying too much and putting myself last. And when I finally stopped, I realised how far I’d pushed beyond what was healthy - mentally, physically, emotionally. That reset gave me clarity. I wanted to live life differently, had new non-negotiables that protected my wellbeing and I wanted to build something better - for myself and for the people I’d work with. That’s how the agency began - rooted in clarity, grounded in care and focused on long-term growth, not just short-term wins. ## Q: Where did Wander and Wonder come from? It was partly personal and partly inspired by an experience going back 10 years ago. I went on a walk-and-talk networking event up a mountain, and something clicked. Strangers opened up. Ideas flowed. The conversation felt real, not forced and that stayed with me. But really, nature has always been part of my story - I grew up in Africa, where being outside - barefoot, in the elements was just part of life. My mum is a proud tree-hugger. Literally. We hugged trees growing up, and now my own kid does the same. It wasn’t performative - it was presence. Grounding. We didn’t call it nervous system regulation or anything like that - we just knew it made us feel better. That connection has stayed with me and I’ve always been big on the mind–body link. You can’t fix a busy head without checking in with the body. So when I started bringing more of this into my work - walking with clients, coaching outside, creating reflection space, having no-meeting Mondays - I wasn’t inventing something new. I was going back to what I knew worked. As humans we’re not wired to sit at desks all day and as a result we simply cannot expect our best ideas to surface between meetings and sat in a box. If you want clarity, you have to allow space for it. Wander and Wonder was born from that - a place where wellbeing and work can support each other. ## Q: How do your agency and wellbeing work come together? For me, they’re not separate. Communication, culture, clarity - they’re all part of wellbeing. You can’t grow a sustainable business if your people are depleted or disconnected. And you can’t do your best thinking in an environment that doesn’t support you. At Station Rd, everything starts with clarity - helping leaders and teams get clear on who they are, what they stand for and how to communicate (and grow) in ways that are proven to work. That might mean finding the right words to tell your story, aligning people around a shared direction, or creating strategies that bring in the right leads. We work across brand, culture and communications - from SEO and content to employee engagement and leadership messaging - always with a focus on what can really move the business forward. We’ve also been refining a wellbeing framework - something that helps people check in, rebalance and reset without needing a full life overhaul. It’s already proving useful in practice, helping people take small but meaningful steps that support their energy, clarity and focus. We’re building it slowly, shaped by what’s actually working - because validation matters. It needs to be grounded in lived experience, not just theory. ## Q: And what are you learning from this work - what’s emerging as most needed right now? What’s clear is that most people aren’t lost - they’re just a little disconnected. From their energy, their values, their clarity. And when that happens, it shows up everywhere - in their decisions, their relationships, their leadership, even how they speak or show up in a room. The pace we’re all moving at doesn’t leave much room to notice what’s off - let alone do something about it. What is being built through this work is a way for people to pause, tune in, and come back to themselves - without needing to burn it all down or start from scratch (unless that’s what they actually want to do!). It’s not about becoming someone new. It’s about building the kind of awareness that helps you live and work in a way that reflects what really matters to you. Noticing what’s draining you, what’s fuelling you, and what’s quietly asking for your attention - so you can lead, decide and connect with more ease and intention. That’s what creates a life and workstyle that feels sustainable, meaningful, and your own. ## Q: You’re also EQ-certified - how does that play into your work? Massively. I use emotional intelligence mapping as part of my work, but EQ runs through everything I do - from brand strategy to wellbeing coaching. I genuinely believe emotional intelligence is a superpower. Because communication, culture, and wellbeing all start with awareness. Self-awareness. Relational awareness. Cultural awareness. In teams especially, EQ is often the difference between just getting by and truly performing. When people feel seen and understood - including by themselves - everything changes. Communication gets clearer, collaboration strengthens and leadership becomes more human. ## Q: And what results are you seeing - practically? People feel clearer, more focused, and less reactive. One founder said to me recently, “I feel like I’ve finally got my brain back.” And in teams, the impact shows up in small but powerful ways - better conversations, healthier boundaries and more openness. People stop pushing through on autopilot and start working at a pace that supports clearer thinking and better decisions. It’s that idea of slowing down to speed up - creating space so people can be more intentional, more effective and ultimately, more impactful. In my work, I’ve seen the positive changes that are far-reaching when people feel clear on what they’re working towards, supported in their environment and genuinely heard by their teams. One project with a fast-scaling tech company stands out. We began by listening - through focus groups, surveys and real conversations that helped shape what came next. The business made intentional changes including moving to a new office space with a wellbeing room, and adaptations for how people actually work and the culture shifted from reactive to responsive. As a result: - Employee connection rose from 55% to 84% - Wellbeing support ratings increased to 80% - Office attendance grew from around 30% to over 90% - without mandates - Team growth by over 100% - Revenue growth - doubled from the previous year These shifts weren’t just operational - they were human. When people feel aligned - with their work, their team and themselves - they lead better, think more clearly and contribute more meaningfully. That’s the kind of change that lasts - and it always starts by listening. Awareness x Intention + Action + Support = Sustainable Change. ## Q: What do business leaders need to hear right now? That we can’t keep working the way we always have and expect people, or businesses, to thrive. The 9-5 model was built for an industrial era, a time before smartphones, remote teams, and the expectation to always be available. Work has changed. People have changed. But too often, our systems haven’t. Wellbeing isn’t a nice-to-have. It’s a baseline. And when it’s treated like an optional extra, we lose the clarity, creativity and connection that actually drive performance. This isn’t about free fruit bowls or subsidised yoga. It’s about designing environments (on and offline) where people can think clearly, work with intention, and show up in a way that’s sustainable - for them and for the business. It’s not soft. It’s smart - and the results speak for themselves. ## Q: What’s next for you? Station Rd continues to grow - working with businesses who want to scale with clarity, communicate with intention and create environments where people and performance thrive. Our work spans brand, culture and strategy through to the kind of marketing that delivers - from SEO to lead generation. But it’s never just about tactics - it’s about building teams, messages and momentum that actually work - and get results that matter. Alongside that, Wander and Wonder is also evolving. We’ve paused intentionally to listen to our community and create space for what’s next. A retreat is on the horizon and we’re exploring more ways to support clarity, energy and creativity - for individuals and teams. At the heart of both is a simple belief - when people are well, clear, connected and supported, everything else starts to flow - performance, communication, relationships and results. *Links* [https://www.linkedin.com/in/lyannatsakiris](https://www.linkedin.com/in/lyannatsakiris?ref=foundedbywomen.org) [@lyanna.tsakiris ](https://www.instagram.com/lyanna.tsakiris/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. [**Get in touch**](https://www.foundedbywomen.org/share-your-story/) **with us today!** > 👉 [**Contact Us**](https://www.foundedbywomen.org/share-your-story/) ### "It's Okay Not to Know": How One Founder is Revolutionizing Sex Education URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/wellness/its-okay-not-to-know-how-one-founder-is-revolutionizing-sex-education/ Last updated: 2025-06-09T13:58:52.000Z In a world where comprehensive sex education remains frustratingly elusive and shame continues to surround conversations about pleasure and sexuality, Evie Plumb is working to change the narrative. As the founder of [Cliterally the Best](https://www.cliterallythebest.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org), a sex-positive platform dedicated to providing accessible, inclusive sexual education, Plumb combines her training as a psychosexual and relationship therapist with a refreshingly human approach to topics that are too often shrouded in medical jargon or cultural taboos. Her platform emerged from a simple yet powerful recognition: people deserve access to information about their bodies and sexuality that doesn't leave them feeling ashamed, confused, or excluded. Through warm visuals, plain language, and evidence-based education, Cliterally the Best creates a space where questions are welcomed, experiences are validated, and everyone—regardless of gender, race, disability, or background—can explore their relationship with their body on their own terms. In this conversation, Evie discusses the inspiration behind her work, her approach to dismantling sexual shame, and the very real challenges of building a sex-positive brand in an era of digital censorship. Her insights reveal not just the obstacles facing sex educators today, but also the profound impact that compassionate, accessible education can have on individuals and communities seeking to understand themselves more fully. ## What inspired you to start Cliterally the Best, and what message do you hope to share through the brand? I started Cliterally the Best out of frustration with how hard it still is to access inclusive, accessible information about sex and pleasure that doesn’t make us feel shame, panic, or total confusion. So much of it is overly medical, completely lacking a human element, and often sends you into a Google spiral where, before you know it, you’re somehow both ‘dying’ and a ‘slut’. I wanted to create a space that feels genuinely welcoming and joyful - where people can explore their bodies and experiences without feeling embarrassed, pathologised, or left out. The message I hope comes through in everything I share is that it’s okay not to know. It’s okay to have questions. It’s okay to experience things we all go through but keep so taboo - regardless of gender, race, disability, or background. And that everyone deserves the chance to explore their bodies and others with safety on their own terms… and also not to, if that’s what feels right. ## How do you approach breaking taboos and promoting open conversations about female pleasure and sexual wellness? For me, it’s about finding that sweet spot between evidence-based education and being honest and human. I use humour, illustrations, plain language, and warm visuals to make complex or sensitive topics easier to digest. Being trained in psychosexual therapy also helps me stay grounded in care and nuance - something the internet can lack. I want people to feel safe and seen, not preached to. ## What challenges have you faced in building a brand centered on such a bold and important topic, and how have you overcome them? Censorship is a huge challenge. Platforms like TikTok and Instagram make it incredibly difficult to talk about sex without being shadowbanned or restricted. It’s deeply frustrating, I’m trying to reduce shame around these topics by talking about them openly, but I can’t even use the correct words without risking my content being taken down. Despite that, the community has been everything. Building direct, genuine connections with my audience has helped me grow and stay grounded, even when the algorithms are working against me. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. [**Get in touch**](https://www.foundedbywomen.org/share-your-story/) **with us today!** > 👉 [**Contact Us**](https://www.foundedbywomen.org/share-your-story/) ### Building Authentic Workplace Wellbeing: A Conversation with Sally Lovett, Founder of Stretching the City URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/all/building-authentic-workplace-wellbeing-a-conversation-with-sally-lovett-founder-of-stretching-the-city/ Last updated: 2025-06-05T10:26:46.000Z Sally Lovett's transition from the high-pressure world of marketing and advertising to wellness entrepreneurship represents more than just a career change—it's a blueprint for how authentic purpose can transform both personal fulfillment and business success. When she founded [Stretching the City](https://stretchingthecity.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) in 2010, Sally was responding to a deep-seated need she witnessed firsthand: stressed professionals desperately seeking balance in their demanding work lives. What began as after-hours yoga sessions for burnt-out colleagues has evolved into one of the UK's most respected workplace wellbeing consultancies. Sally's unique combination of corporate insight and wellness expertise—she's a certified yoga teacher, nutritional health coach, and author of 'The Wellbeing Guide to London' (featured in Vogue and the Guardian)—has enabled Stretching the City to bridge the gap between boardroom expectations and genuine human needs. Today, Sally leads a team of over 100 wellbeing experts, delivering workshops and programs to organizations ranging from government departments to global brands. Her work has been featured in The Times and Conde Nast Traveller, and she regularly speaks at high-profile events for companies like Soho House, Capital FM, and Deloitte. Based in Teddington with her husband and two young sons, Sally continues to champion the belief that workplace wellbeing should be grounded in real-life experience rather than corporate buzzwords. In this conversation, Sally shares the insights gained from 14 years of transforming workplace culture, one authentic conversation at a time. ## What inspired you to start Stretching the City, and how has the vision evolved since its launch in 2010? [Stretching the City](https://stretchingthecity.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) began as a side hustle - me teaching yoga to stressed-out office workers after hours. I’d left a marketing job in media and was craving something that felt more purposeful and human. I never set out to build a business, I just knew people needed a pause button in their workday. Since those early yoga classes in boardrooms and broom cupboards, our vision has evolved massively. Today, Stretching the City is a full-service wellbeing provider, delivering expert-led workplace wellbeing workshops, webinars and 1:1s to organisations of all shapes and sizes - from government departments to global brands. But the heart of the business remains the same: real people, sharing real-life tools to feel and function better at work. ## How do you tailor your corporate wellbeing programs to meet the diverse needs of modern workplaces? We never offer a one-size-fits-all solution. Every session is shaped by the organisation’s culture, goals and people – whether that’s equipping managers with mental health tools, supporting working parents with boundaries, or running a yoga energiser for a company offsite. Our team of 100+ experts brings lived experience as well as professional credibility – so we can offer menopause workshops led by women who’ve been through it, or masculinity sessions guided by male mental health advocates. We work across all levels of seniority, and always ensure our content is inclusive, evidence-based, and grounded in the realities of working life today. ## What trends are you seeing in the corporate wellness space, and how is Stretching the City adapting to stay ahead? We’re seeing a shift from surface-level perks to deeper, culture-driven change. Companies aren’t just asking for yoga and smoothie-making anymore – they’re asking how to build psychologically safe teams, reduce burnout, and support people through real-life challenges like grief, parenting and mental illness. To meet that demand, we’ve developed a whole suite of culture-focused workshops – from [psychological safety](https://stretchingthecity.com/workplace-wellbeing/psychological-safety/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) and [active bystander training](https://stretchingthecity.com/workplace-wellbeing/psychological-safety/active-bystander-awareness-training-for-employees/?ref=foundedbywomen.org), to [masculinity](https://stretchingthecity.com/workplace-wellbeing/mens-wellbeing/masculinity-workshop/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) and digital wellbeing. And we’re not afraid to talk about the tough stuff. Our sessions are honest, human and led by experts with real lived experience – because wellbeing isn’t a tick box, it’s a conversation. Stretching the City is still a small business, but our size is our strength – we’re agile, personal and passionate. And after 14 years, we’re proud to still be trusted by hundreds of clients who want to make wellbeing more than a buzzword. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. [**Get in touch**](https://www.foundedbywomen.org/share-your-story/) **with us today!** > 👉 [**Contact Us**](https://www.foundedbywomen.org/share-your-story/) ### Building Human-Centered Teams in the Age of AI: A Conversation with Saralynn Pizano, Head of People at Sanas URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/ai/building-human-centered-teams-in-the-age-of-ai-a-conversation-with-saralynn-head-of-people-at-sanas/ Last updated: 2025-06-09T14:29:32.000Z In an era where artificial intelligence is reshaping entire industries, the challenge of building and leading teams has become more complex than ever. How do you scale a workforce while maintaining authentic human connections? How do you prepare people for AI-driven transformation while preserving the collaborative spirit that drives innovation? We sat down with Saralynn Pizano, Head of People at [Sanas](https://www.sanas.ai/?ref=foundedbywomen.org), to explore these questions. With over 18 years of experience in HR and a master's degree in employment law, Saralynn has witnessed the evolution of team-building from the inside out. At Sanas—a company at the forefront of real-time speech technology—she's responsible for scaling teams, driving engagement, and fostering people-focused cultures in one of tech's most dynamic sectors. Her approach combines deep expertise in navigating complex HR challenges with an unwavering commitment to creating environments where employees don't just work, but truly thrive. In our conversation, Saralynn shares insights on the surprising shifts in team-building philosophy, offers advice for those looking to build careers in AI, and reveals how leaders can guide their teams through AI-driven transformation while keeping humanity at the center of everything they do. ## You've been in HR for 18 years - what's the most surprising thing that's changed about building teams today versus when you started? Eighteen years ago, team-building was often about "culture fit"—finding people who matched an existing mold. Today, it’s about culture add. We look for individuals who bring fresh perspectives, challenge the status quo, and elevate our thinking. The most surprising shift has been how much more intentional we’ve become about inclusion not just in hiring, but in how we lead, communicate, and create space for every voice to be heard. It’s no longer about replicating past success, it’s about building for the future. ## The AI industry is evolving incredibly fast, and Sanas is at the forefront of real-time speech technology. What advice would you give to someone looking to build a career in AI? What qualities or skills do you see in people who really thrive in this space? My advice: stay curious and stay human. AI is a space where technical skill is critical, but empathy, adaptability, and collaboration are just as essential. The people who thrive in this industry aren’t just great at solving problems, they ask the right questions, they listen deeply, and they care about the impact of what they’re building. At Sanas, we’re working on technology that changes how people connect. That’s why we need team members who care as much about people as they do about product. ## AI is transforming how we work and communicate. From a people leadership perspective, how do you help employees adapt to and embrace AI-driven changes while maintaining that human connection that's so important to team culture? For us, the human connection always comes first. We make space for questions, for learning, and for honest conversations about what change means because transformation without trust doesn’t work. As leaders, we have to model vulnerability and provide clarity. At Sanas, we use AI to enhance communication, not replace it. My role is to help ensure that while we evolve, we stay grounded in empathy, in community, and in the belief that people, not just tools, are our greatest asset. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. [**Get in touch**](https://www.foundedbywomen.org/share-your-story/) **with us today!** > 👉 [**Contact Us**](https://www.foundedbywomen.org/share-your-story/) ### Susannah Simmons URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/partners/founding/susannah-simmons/ Last updated: 2025-12-29T06:53:07.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2025/07/1-e1737997575753.png) #### I support independent trainers, consultants and service providers, like us, who’ve gone solo after years in corporate and are now focused on growing a sustainable, client-focused business -without burning out. [Visit website](https://susannahsimmons.uk/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ### MJ London Nutrition URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/partners/founding/mj-london-nutrition/ Last updated: 2025-12-29T06:53:34.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2025/07/mj-london-nutrition-FINALE-13-transparent-1-min.png) #### MJ London Nutrition helps ambitious, busy women, especially those with PCOS or hormonal imbalances, achieve their health goals through personalised coaching. Founded by Maria, who knows the demands of balancing health with a busy life, we offer customised strategies to help you take control, make lasting changes, and feel confident in your own skin. Whether it’s weight management or overall wellness, we support you every step of the way. Ready to transform? Your journey starts now with MJ London Nutrition. [Visit website](https://mjlondonnutrition.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ### From Oil Fields to Gaming Gold: How Jess Leonard Became Gamesight's "Head of Vibes" URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/gaming/from-oil-fields-to-gaming-gold-how-jess-leonard-became-gamesights-head-of-vibes/ Last updated: 2025-05-29T14:25:37.000Z In an industry where burnout rates soar and company culture often takes a backseat to rapid growth, Jess Leonard has carved out something extraordinary. As the self-proclaimed "Head of Vibes" at [Gamesight.io](https://gamesight.io/?ref=foundedbywomen.org), she's transformed what could have been just another high-pressure startup into a workplace that's earned recognition as a Best Place to Work by GamesIndustry.biz for two consecutive years—all while helping the company increase its monthly recurring revenue per employee by an impressive 132%. Leonard's journey to gaming leadership is anything but conventional. After spending a decade building expertise in title research and petroleum operations, she made a bold leap into the startup world, joining Gamesight as its first Chief of Staff. In just 18 months, she witnessed and helped orchestrate a three-fold expansion in headcount before evolving into her current role as Director of Operations. What makes Leonard's approach unique isn't just her unconventional background—though her experience in resource-intensive industries certainly informs her talent for optimization and efficiency. It's her philosophy that successful organizations require both analytical rigor and genuine human connection, a principle that mirrors Gamesight's own "heart + data" approach to performance marketing. In our conversation, Leonard opens up about navigating the transition from traditional industries to gaming, the real-world strategies behind building scalable team culture, and why she believes that in a sector obsessed with metrics and KPIs, the most important measurement might just be how people feel when they come to work each day. ## You transitioned from a decade in petroleum operations to the fast-paced world of gaming startups—what inspired that leap, and how did you adapt your skillset to such a radically different industry? Believe it or not, petroleum operations wasn't what I set out to be when I grew up. I went to university to be a history teacher, like my step-dad, and fell into the oil & gas gig through a friend. A history major is well suited to do the in-depth, detail-oriented analysis needed for ownership research and curative work, to say nothing of getting to travel to isolated courthouses and look at deeds from the 1700s. I pivoted out of the energy sector because it wasn't something I was passionate about. And the adaptation wasn't as radical as you might think. Operations is, broadly, operations. Whether acquiring millions of acres of leases or building new onboarding processes, it's about creating efficient systems, managing resources, and enabling teams to do their best work. The speed was definitely different. In oil and gas, projects span years and work comes and goes with the economy; in influencer marketing and startup SaaS, we iterate daily. That's something I had to adjust to. ## As Director of Operations, how do you balance creativity and data when building internal systems and culture at Gamesight? We try to borrow from game mechanics where we can and meet our team members where they are or where they are comfortable. We've tried to make career progression feel more like "leveling up" and less like bureaucratic box checking, but the concept is easier to dream up than it is to execute. That being said, one of Gamesight's principles is "Data is Our Magic," so it's essential for any quests (surveys) to be used or created in a data-driven way. A good example is the wild volume of Gamesight swag we have created over the years - some more off-the-wall than others. We recently ran a quest to get better insight into what items or apparel people would prefer we slap our internal memes on, so hopefully, they find those items useful and worth having, even if the design is uniquely Gamesight. Essentially, we have tried to preserve some of the creative chaos that is innate to what Gamesight is, while creating operational buffers to keep people progressing in the right direction. ## You’ve described your work as playing a real-life 4X game—can you share a moment where strategic planning and team coordination led to a major operational win? Our annual all-hands in-person company retreat is absolutely a 4X game. Despite being a team of only 50, we start planning the following year's offsite about a week after the current one wraps. Our offsites are very bespoke, it's easily one of my favorite things we do at Gamesight. They involve a **lot** of custom 3D printed trophies, unique prize pools, individualized superlatives for every employee, and last year, we added a competition, similar to Beast Games, that runs over all three days of the offsite. If we use Sid Meier's Civilization as a parallel here, the project is definitely phased into early, mid, and late game, and each era has its own success metrics. We obviously have finite resources, so where are those being used, and where can we double-dip into resources we already have on our continent, if you will? Offsites also require a lot of diplomacy, whether you are going for that victory type or not. You need to consider each team's preferences and goals and sometimes make trades to get the alliance across the finish line. I could go on…but I'll stop while I'm ahead. ## Gamesight has seen impressive growth and accolades under your leadership—what are some less-visible but critical changes you implemented that helped enable that success? We are diligent about getting rid of things that aren't working. For example, in the past, we tried using several different project management tools. The extra work of nagging people to use them, combined with the effort it took to keep them at a level of accuracy that made the data contained therein ANY amount of useful, was a nightmare. It wasn't worth it. Now we use Slack's new lightweight project management tools, and people have adopted those at a much higher rate - it's an easy-to-use software nested in the place where they spend most of their work day. Many of our team members also value their own time enough to spur people to templatize and automate where we can. No one wants to do the same tedious tasks over and over again, and usually, they don't have to. Slack Workflows and Automations are handy here, too. ## What advice would you give to women looking to pivot into tech leadership roles, especially those coming from non-traditional or unrelated industries? I would say to take a look at your values and lean on those. If your top five values are family, traveling, humor, transparency, and creativity, those are your superpowers. How do those show up in the work you do now? How do you imagine they'd show up in a different industry? If you aren't sure how those values will be useful, reach out to people in similar roles or with similar career pivots and ask for a coffee chat. People are, by and large, generous with their time and knowledge **if you ask**. And use AI responsibly where you can - ask ChatGPT or Claude to interview you for a position you'd like to have one day, and start looking for examples of success from your current work that make you feel confident in your abilities to be successful elsewhere. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. [**Get in touch**](https://www.foundedbywomen.org/share-your-story/) **with us today!** > 👉 [**Contact Us**](https://www.foundedbywomen.org/share-your-story/) ### From Survival to Sacred: How Ancient Wisdom Meets Modern Healing at Dexter & Alessandrina URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/wellness/from-survival-to-sacred-how-ancient-wisdom-meets-modern-healing-at-dexter-alessandrina/ Last updated: 2025-05-27T16:04:15.000Z In a world that often demands we push through pain and power past our limits, there's profound medicine in learning to slow down, listen deeply, and honor our nervous system as a compass for truth. This is the foundation of the work at [Dexter & Alessandrina](https://www.dexterandalessandrina.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org)—a healing practice born not from perfection, but from the messy, beautiful journey of transformation. Founded by practitioners who understand firsthand the weight of trauma, the exhaustion of burnout, and the courage it takes to break free from patterns that no longer serve, Dexter & Alessandrina offers a refreshingly gentle approach to healing. Rather than viewing ancient spiritual wisdom and modern therapeutic practices as separate paths, they weave them together into an integrated experience that speaks to both the soul and the nervous system. In this candid conversation, we explore the personal experiences that shaped this unique healing modality, the philosophy behind blending traditional wisdom with contemporary neuroscience, and the transformation that's possible when we stop trying to fix ourselves and start remembering our inherent wholeness. Whether you're navigating overwhelm, healing from trauma, or simply seeking a more authentic way of being, this discussion offers insights into a path that honors both the sacred and the scientific aspects of human healing. ## **What personal experiences led you to create Dexter & Alessandrina, and how do they shape your approach to spiritual guidance and healing today?** Dexter & Alessandrina was born out of a deeply personal journey—one that emerged not from perfection, but from navigating intense personal transformation and the desire to heal deeply grooved patterns and habits that no longer served me. Growing up, I experienced a lot of emotional intensity and internal pressure to perform, please, and survive a deeply abusive and violent environment. Like many sensitive and high-functioning individuals, I learned to adapt and cope by intellectualizing my emotions and disconnecting from my nervous system. That survival strategy eventually became burnout as I had not understood that to find balance and poise, I needed to address my own nervous system dysregulation. What's been consistently bringing me back into alignment isn't hustling, trying hard or pushing through—it's slowing down, learning to listen to my body and come back to myself, and honoring my nervous system as a compass for truth. Along the way, I met Dexter, and together we discovered a shared calling: to make healing more integrative, gentle, practical, and trauma-aware—less about fixing and more about remembering and embodying wholeness. Living with ADHD traits, complex trauma and PTSD and the myriad of coping behaviors that come with that also informs my work. I understand how we often chase certainty or control when what we’re truly craving is safety, rest, and play. That insight shaped our signature approach: one that blends practical neuroscience, emotional attunement, somatic and nervous system regulation, and spiritual presence. We guide our clients from that same space—not as gurus, but as grounded companions who’ve walked the path and know the terrain. Today, my coaching style is deeply intuitive, somatically anchored, and heart-led. I work with clients from a place of equality, curiosity, co-regulation, and compassion. I never rush transformation—I create safe containers and support for it to unfold in its own divine timing. Our goal with Dexter & Alessandrina has always been to help people find freedom not just in moments of stillness, but in how they live, love, and create beautiful things in the world. ## **How do you balance ancient wisdom with modern practices in your sessions and teachings?** My intention is always to view ancient wisdom and modern practices as two sides of the same coin, rather than through a dualistic or reductionist lens that separates them. At their core, both support us in returning to our authentic self and remembering who we are beneath our learned patterns and behaviors. They just use different languages that appeal to different brain types and cultures. Ancient teachings tend to speak in terms of energy, presence, and the soul. Modern approaches—like somatic therapy, polyvagal theory, and parts work—speak in terms of the nervous system, regulation, and integration. But they’re often pointing to the same truths: that healing happens in safety, awareness brings transformation, and love and presence, which in a way could be equated to one another, are the most powerful medicine. In my work, I bring the two together in a way that feels intuitive and trauma-aware. For example, where an ancient practice might focus on clearing energetic blocks, a modern lens might see that same process as unburdening a part or releasing stored trauma from the body. Where a spiritual tradition teaches breath as a pathway to presence, neuroscience shows us how breath directly affects the vagus nerve and helps regulate the nervous system. They’re not in opposition—they’re reflections of the same wisdom through different lenses. So I don’t “balance” them so much as blend and weave them together honoring the flow of changes in states in my clients during our facilitation process. My sessions are a space where someone can honor their inner child and their higher self, where practical tools meet deep presence, and where healing is both grounded and sacred and is supported by opening our hearts to all that's possible now and in the future. That integration allows my clients to feel not just spiritually awakened and inspired, but also emotionally safe and empowered in their daily lives. ## What transformation or impact do you hope each visitor to your platform walks away with? Our deepest hope is that anyone who visits our platform leaves feeling more connected—to themselves, to their breath, to their nervous system, and to the part of them that already knows how to heal. Whether someone is moving through overwhelm, relationship stress, trauma, or simply craving more self-love, presence and peace, we want them to feel less alone, more resourced, and deeply seen and validated and that they really matter. Right now, our website is undergoing a full revamp to reflect the evolution of our work more clearly and beautifully. In the meantime, the most accurate and heart-aligned portrait of what we offer lives on our **Insight Timer** account: [https://insig.ht/SbHFciW5GTb](https://insig.ht/SbHFciW5GTb?utm%5Fsource=copy%5Flink&utm%5Fmedium=content) There, you’ll find a wide range of guided meditations, self-paced healing courses, and nervous system–supportive tools to help you reconnect to your truth in a safe, compassionate way. Our intention is to offer insights, regulation tools, and emotional support that help people reconnect with their authentic self and feel truly empowered. We want them to know that healing doesn’t have to be hard, fast, or forceful. With the right support, it can be soft, wise, and intuitive. Just like you. And that it can feel safe to be our Authentic Self. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. [**Get in touch**](https://www.foundedbywomen.org/share-your-story/) **with us today!** > 👉 [**Contact Us**](https://www.foundedbywomen.org/share-your-story/) ### Connecting Minds: How Hiroko Dodge is Tackling Dementia Through Social Engagement URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/wellness/connecting-minds-how-hiroko-dodge-is-tackling-dementia-through-social-engagement/ Last updated: 2025-05-27T13:01:26.000Z In a world where aging often brings increased isolation, Dr. Hiroko Dodge has turned conversation into a powerful tool for cognitive health. As the founder of the [I-CONNECT Foundation](https://www.iconnectfoundation.org/?ref=foundedbywomen.org), she has dedicated over 15 years to exploring how regular, meaningful social interactions can protect against cognitive decline and improve emotional well-being in older adults. What began as a groundbreaking NIH-funded study—demonstrating that video-based conversations can boost brain function—has since evolved into a nonprofit organization committed to bringing these benefits to communities across the globe. In this Q&A, Dr. Dodge shares the inspiration behind her work, the challenges of scaling tech-based connection programs, and how simple human interaction may hold a key to preventing dementia. ## What inspired you to create the I-CONNECT Foundation, and how has your vision evolved over the years? Social isolation is a risk factor of dementia. Over the past 15 years, my team and I conducted a series of National Institute of Health (NIH)-funded randomized controlled behavioral intervention trials. I conducted these trials, thinking that social isolation has a detrimental effect on cognition, partly due to the lack of cognitive stimulation derived from social interactions. That is, frequent conversational interactions – a core component of human interactions – could enhance neural plasticity and maintain cognitive functions. The **Internet-based conversational engagement randomized controlled clinical trial (I-CONECT), which was completed about 3 years ago,** provided evidence that stimulating frequent social interactions via videochats can improve cognition and emotional well-being among socially isolated older adults. The study findings can be found here: ([https://www.i-conect.org/](https://www.i-conect.org/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ). When we completed the trial, many participants expressed a desire to continue the conversational engagement. In response, we established a nonprofit organization in 2020 called the I-CONNECT Foundation. (Note: The study is spelled I-CONECT, while the foundation uses I-CONNECT to distinguish between the two.) ## What have been the biggest challenges in scaling a tech-based social connection program for older adults, and how have you overcome them? The biggest challenge has been securing sustainable funding to provide this free service to the community. Initially, we relied entirely on volunteers, who were certified as conversational specialists to engage with participants. However, scaling this volunteer-based approach proved difficult. We have since established internship collaborations with several universities, allowing master’s-level students to be trained and serve as conversational partners. This model benefits both the older participants and the students, offering meaningful opportunities for mutual learning and connection. We are currently outreaching to universities and hope to expand this approach by collaborating with more institutions in the future. ## How do you measure the long-term impact of these weekly conversations on participants’ mental and emotional health? Our NIH-funded study has already provided strong evidence that I-CONECT project’s conversational materials and approaches can enhance emotional and cognitive health. As we continue to scale up the I-CONNECT Foundation, we aim to reach more individuals and further promote these benefits. Social isolation is estimated to contribute to at least 5% of dementia cases. By offering meaningful social interactions to older adults remotely, we hope to help reduce the global burden of dementia. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. [**Get in touch**](https://www.foundedbywomen.org/share-your-story/) **with us today!** > 👉 [**Contact Us**](https://www.foundedbywomen.org/share-your-story/) ### Holding Space for Parenthood: Laura Greenwood on Identity, Trauma, and Healing URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/all/holding-space-for-parenthood-laura-greenwood-on-identity-trauma-and-healing/ Last updated: 2025-05-23T15:51:53.000Z Navigating the complex emotional terrain of parenthood is no small feat. For many new parents, the transition into this new identity can bring profound joy–but also unexpected grief, overwhelm, and disconnection from the self. Laura Greenwood, an Accredited Psychotherapist and founder of [Laura Greenwood Therapy](https://lauragreenwoodtherapy.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org), brings a unique blend of clinical expertise and lived experience as a mother to her work supporting parental wellbeing. Through her practice, she and her team create compassionate, non-judgmental spaces where parents can begin to process the identity shifts, emotional challenges, and lingering impacts of trauma that often surface during this life stage. In this conversation, Laura shares how holding space, understanding trauma’s hidden influence, and honouring her own motherhood journey have shaped her therapeutic approach. ## As a psychotherapist with a focus on parental wellbeing, how do you approach supporting new parents through the identity shifts and emotional challenges that come with parenthood? One of the most powerful ways the Psychotherapists on my team and I support parents through the huge identity transformation that is parenthood, is holding space for it. All of it. The good, bad and the ugly! Parents to dependents are the busiest of people. They continually walk a tightrope balancing a number of competing demands. Whilst they do this, there is little to no time given for the person behind it all. Them. Yet, this is where their true self lies including the most authentic version of that parent they were always meant to be. So many people were never taught the importance of staying still with their internal emotional world. Most, taught to actively avoid it! So, the first and most important step of supporting parents is to help them become still enough with themselves to learn how to manage the challenges parenthood brings. ## Given your expertise in trauma, what do you think is often overlooked when it comes to how trauma impacts daily life and mental health, and how can individuals begin to address these hidden patterns? One of the most debilitating experiences and impacts of living with active symptoms of trauma, is feeling disconnected from living in the present moment of your life. Disconnected from the possible joy, love and gratitude that you could feel, if trauma was not tainting it. Trauma leaves people feeling hypervigilant to danger, in the absence of current threat. The thing is that people know it. They know, I am not in danger here’, but the body still reacts as though they are. This is incredibly tiring and frustrating for people, as they wonder if they will ever feel present, calm, or happy, ever again. It is actually very hard to overcome trauma by yourself. There are steps you can take, but the road is long and without professional guidance it can often leave you wondering if what you are doing is helping or hindering. There are many options of support out there from free to paid, so I would urge people to seek the support of a service or therapist that is right for them. Please know, even if only for advice on where to look, you can reach out to me and my team, anytime. ## As a mother yourself, how do you balance your own personal experiences of motherhood with the therapeutic support you offer to parents, and how has that shaped your practice? There is something about walking the path of motherhood myself, the brutal and the beautiful, that has given me a deeper connection, empathy and drive to support my clients more than I ever could, pre-motherhood. Motherhood makes me a better therapist and leader. The challenge with this though is I FEEL so much more. I need to MORE effectively manage my own wellbeing, to balance competing demands of raising my son, supporting my clients and community, and looking after myself. A tightrope I walk daily. Self-care comes in the micro ways I pace my energy. It comes in 5 minutes to myself, as I move from one role to another, work to mum. In recognising that my needs matter, just as much as everyone else’s. I love my life because I have created every part of it myself. I place myself at the centre of it all. This, for mothers, is a revolutionary act. But one, that reaps so many rewards. I believe sharing my life as a mother and psychological wisdom, builds trust and connection with my community. It validates their challenges. Makes them feel less alone. It also provides hope. That from challenge, can come growth. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. [**Get in touch**](https://www.foundedbywomen.org/share-your-story/) **with us today!** > 👉 [**Contact Us**](https://www.foundedbywomen.org/share-your-story/) ### Kuutch URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/partners/founding/kuutch/ Last updated: 2025-12-29T06:53:45.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2025/06/dc8391_8f4554eb85eb48b094ab09a737b7caa6-mv2.png) #### Kuutch was founded by Samantha Tremlin, a senior leader with extensive experience in STEM, manufacturing, sales, and retail, as well as a strong background in holistic health, coaching, and workplace wellbeing. Samantha has led global wellbeing initiatives in high performance industries, gaining firsthand insight into how businesses can fuel success without sacrificing their people in the process.​ At Kuutch, we bring together experts in workplace wellbeing, leadership development, transformation, mental health, holistic health and culture change. Together, we form The Kuutch Collective, a team of specialists with deep expertise in strategy, coaching, policy development, employee engagement and leadership transformation. We don’t believe in generic solutions. We embed real change into organisations, ensuring that wellbeing and performance work together, not against each other. We’re not here to sell quick fixes. The Kuutch Collective is a movement, a team of experts pushing back against outdated ways of working. We’re here to redesign work so people can think clearly, lead boldly, and perform at their best, without burning themselves out in the process. [Visit website](https://www.kuutch.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ### Rewiring the Mind: A Conversation with Emma Thompson on Hypnotherapy and Lasting Transformation URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/mental-health/rewiring-the-mind-a-conversation-with-emma-thompson-on-hypnotherapy-and-lasting-transformation/ Last updated: 2025-05-15T14:07:50.000Z *Part of the series: 30 Founders Shaping the Future of Mental Health in 2025* In a world where quick fixes often overshadow deep healing, [Emma Thompson](https://www.emmathompsontherapy.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org)’s approach stands out for its lasting impact and emotional depth. A certified hypnotherapist trained under the renowned Marisa Peer, Emma specialises in helping clients reprogram their subconscious minds to break free from limiting beliefs and self-sabotaging patterns. Her work is not about managing symptoms—it’s about rewiring the root of the problem. From guiding clients through panic attacks to helping high performers overcome invisible barriers, Emma’s method is tailored, interactive, and profoundly transformative. In this interview, she shares powerful success stories, insights into her therapeutic process, and how she blends science, intuition, and subconscious work to help people step into the lives they were always meant to live. ## Your approach emphasizes reprogramming the subconscious mind to overcome limiting beliefs. Could you share a success story where this method led to a significant transformation in a client’s life? Absolutely. One client came to me experiencing 2-3 panic attacks a week. She was functioning on the outside but constantly overwhelmed, stuck in a cycle of fear and avoidance. In our session, we uncovered a core belief formed in childhood surrounding the death of a parent - she felt unseen, unheard and emotionally ignored. The belief that '*no one cares'* had wired itself into her subconscious, shaping how she responded to stress and connection as an adult. We had just one hypnotherapy session and worked together over 30 days. Her panic attacks stopped immediately after that first session. Six months on, anxiety has only reappeared twice (both during extreme stress) and in those moments, she was able to calm herself before it escalated. Because she now understands the anxiety. She recognises where it comes from, what it’s trying to protect her from and how to respond to it with awareness rather than fear. This is the power of subconscious work. It doesn’t just mask symptoms - it rewires the narrative underneath them. And when clients understand their minds, they reclaim their ability to respond rather than react. ## You’ve trained under the award winning therapist, and founder of Rapid Transformational Therapy, Marisa Peer. What aspects of this training have most influenced your practice, and how do you integrate them into your sessions? Training as a hypnotherapist under Marisa Peer means the style of hypnotherapy I utilise in my work also integrates powerful elements of RTT. What influenced me most was the deep focus on root cause work - going beyond surface level symptoms to uncover the original beliefs and experiences that shaped how someone sees themselves and the world. My sessions blend root cause exploration with parts therapy and suggestion therapy - all designed to help the client understand and rewire their internal programming. The style of hypnotherapy I offer isn’t passive or generic - it’s interactive, tailored and transformational. By speaking directly to the subconscious during a state that mimics REM sleep (where dreaming and memory consolidation happens), we help the brain form new neural pathways, effectively reshaping how the client thinks, feels and behaves. ## You offer hypnotherapy for a wide range of issues, from anxiety to performance enhancement. How do you tailor your sessions to address such diverse challenges effectively? The diversity of issues clients bring - from chronic anxiety to lack of confidence or self-sabotage - often have a shared thread: the stories they’ve unconsciously absorbed and internalised. That’s why every session starts with education. I help clients understand how their thoughts drive feelings, which drive actions, habits, and ultimately, their identity. Once they learn to work backwards to 'find the thought', they begin to reclaim their power. We use hypnotherapy to address the root of the issue on a subconscious level - often tied to past experiences or beliefs formed early in life. Because the subconscious doesn’t respond to logic, it responds to emotion and imagery, the hypnotic state allows us to go deep and offer new, empowering suggestions to the mind. Whether I’m working with someone on public speaking anxiety or building consistency in their business, the process is tailored - but the goal is the same: to rewire the mind so they can feel, act, and live in alignment with who they *actually* want to be. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. [**Get in touch**](https://www.foundedbywomen.org/share-your-story/) **with us today!** > 👉 [**Contact Us**](https://www.foundedbywomen.org/share-your-story/) ### Anwen Cooper: Redefining Workplace Wellbeing Through Proactive Mental Fitness URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/mental-health/anwen-cooper-redefining-workplace-wellbeing-through-proactive-mental-fitness/ Last updated: 2025-05-15T07:51:59.000Z *Part of the series: 30 Founders Shaping the Future of Mental Health in 2025* When Anwen Cooper and Dan Corpe launched [Thrivall](https://thrivall.co.uk/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) during the pandemic’s peak, they recognized a radical truth: traditional workplace wellbeing programs were treating mental health as damage control rather than human potential. Their vision? A paradigm shift—from reactive "mental health first aid" to proactive *mental fitness* training that equips leaders with the same psychological tools therapists use, transforming workplaces into ecosystems of resilience. Three years in, *Thrivall*’s evidence-based approach has proven that psychological safety isn’t just an HR buzzword—it’s the bedrock of performance. By adapting person-centered counseling techniques for the workplace, their year-long Leader Development & Support Programme helps organizations reduce absenteeism while boosting engagement, productivity, and retention. The key differentiator? Sustainable change through ongoing support, not one-off workshops. Here, Anwen shares how a chance conversation about "proactive counseling" sparked a movement, why reframing mental health as trainable "fitness" changes outcomes, and the moment a participant called the program "life-changing"—validating their mission to make thriving, not just surviving, the new workplace standard. ## What inspired the creation of Thrivall, and how has your approach to workplace wellbeing evolved since its launch? Thrivall evolved out of a desire to get everyone thriving at work, and in turn to sustain more organisations to thrive. The original spark of an idea came from my Co-founder Dan Corpe, with whom I had a long-standing collaboration, having first met through our consulting work back in 2015\. Having found a kinship in the way we worked, the values we held, and the change that we wanted to make in the world, we realised that we were aligned in our approach to business in many ways. During the Covid lockdown period, Dan completed the Foundation Certificate in Person-Centred Counselling, where he discovered the concept of ‘proactive counselling’. He shared this with me, and we could both see how the skills, tools, and techniques that counsellors have could be used more widely in the workplace to give individuals support to develop better self-awareness and empathy and to promote more positive working relationships and culture.We realised there was huge potential to add value for business - both in terms of cost reduction and risk mitigation (e.g. by reducing absence rates, presenteeism, impact of poor mental health on performance) and to increase engagement and productivity levels. This is where our vision of getting everyone thriving at work and beyond was born. Thrivall is now in its third year of business and we have evolved our offering into a Leader-focused Development & Support Programme as this is where we see the greatest opportunity for impact. ## How does Thrivall’s work with performance psychology and mental fitness translate into real, lasting change for the teams you support? Thrivall is built around long-term sustained training and support, which is why we deliver through year-round ongoing programmes rather than more ad hoc training and one-off initiatives. The programme applies tools and techniques from performance psychology to give people frameworks and help build their own strategies that help them be better for themselves and their teams and therefore ultimately their organisations. A core belief at Thrivall is that mental health should be viewed in the same way as physical health, and we all sit somewhere on a spectrum, so how we can feel can change over time. We like to talk about mental fitness, to encourage people to view their mental health as a potential asset that can be optimised – not just looking at it as a potential negative and something to be concerned about in times of struggle or crisis. This is one of the reasons why the programme has a focus on expanding mental capacity and building resilience. When people see leaders prioritising their own wellbeing and developing their self-awareness and human skills, it contributes to better psychological safety, deeper connection, and wellbeing across the team. ## What’s one story or breakthrough moment that captures the kind of impact Thrivall aims to create in the world? One comment that stands out from one of our programme participants is how the Thrivall programme has been truly life-changing for them. Others have reported how it has helped them through challenges relating to changes at work and in their personal lives. We know that some people have been a little unsure about taking part in the programme at the start, and have been delighted to realise that after a couple of sessions, they have found the experience invaluable. We have designed it to be as accessible as possible to support those who may not otherwise have chosen to seek out this kind of support for themselves. Our very first Client Partner Organisation is still with us and now in their third continuous year of the programme, so that has also been very validating and shows that they are getting great value from the development and support we deliver. We are proud to say that we are partnering with some really forward-thinking, people-focused companies – helping them to better deliver on their vision and values. As a B Corp Pending company, we are all about making a positive impact for all, and we believe that we are pioneering a new approach to workplace wellbeing and mental health through our innovative programme of Leader Development and Support. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. [**Get in touch**](https://www.foundedbywomen.org/share-your-story/) **with us today!** > 👉 [**Contact Us**](https://www.foundedbywomen.org/share-your-story/) ### Dr. Miriam Mavia-Zajac: Revolutionizing Neurodiversity Diagnosis with Precision & Compassion URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/mental-health/dr-miriam-mavia-zajac-revolutionizing-neurodiversity-diagnosis-with-precision-compassion/ Last updated: 2025-05-15T13:34:31.000Z *Part of the series: 30 Founders Shaping the Future of Mental Health in 2025* For many neurodivergent adults, the path to understanding is paved with misdiagnoses, dismissal, and a gnawing sense of self-doubt. Dr Miriam Mavia-Zajac - Consultant Chartered Psychologist, is changing that. As the founder and CEO of [Neurodiverse You](http://www.neurodiverseyou.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org), of an award-winning service, she’s reshaping how diagnosis is done, not just by evaluating symptoms, but by deeply seeing the person behind them, and taking them beyond the diagnostic process. Her approach weaves together gold-standard tools like the ADOS-2 and ADI-R with psychologically rich, culturally informed exploration. It’s a model built for the stories traditional systems miss: the high-masking, high-achieving individuals, especially women, people of colour, and LGBTQ+ adults, whose struggles have been overlooked or misread for far too long. At the heart of Dr Mavia-Zajac’s work is a vital truth: neurodivergence doesn’t always show up the way textbooks say it should. For those who’ve spent a lifetime trying to adapt, hide, or perform their way through the world, her model offers more than just a diagnosis. It offers *recognition*. Through in-depth exploration, multidisciplinary insight, and thoughtful post-assessment support, *Neurodiverse You* helps clients uncover who they’ve always been, beneath the layers of survival and silence. In this piece, Dr Mavia-Zajac reflects on why timely, nuanced assessment can be transformative, how her team makes room for long-misunderstood stories, and what it means when a client finally says: *“I wasn’t broken—I was just unseen*." ## **1\. What led you to develop Neurodiverse You’s distinctive model, one that not only offers immediate access to assessment, but also uses gold-standard tools like the ADOS-2, ADI-R, and DIVA-5 in combination with culturally attuned, psychologically nuanced approaches?** The inspiration behind Neurodiverse You stemmed from witnessing the prolonged wait times and fragmented diagnostic pathways that many adults face when seeking assessments for autism and ADHD. Recognising the urgency and importance of timely evaluations, we developed a model that offers immediate availability while integrating gold-standard diagnostic tools like the ADOS-2, ADI-R, and DIVA-5\. But we also knew that standard tools alone are not always enough, especially for individuals with non-stereotypical presentations. High-IQ, high-performing adults who have spent years masking or “chameleonising” often don’t "look" autistic or ADHD in the ways most tools are designed to detect. Their symptoms may be internalised, exhaustion, extreme competence, overwhelm, hypervigilance, rather than external or disruptive. And in many cases, even acknowledging their suffering feels like weakness because they’ve been praised for coping silently. To honour the complexity of these presentations, our model goes further. We use additional tools like the Cultural Formulation Interview (CFI), SWAN questionnaires, and often offer exploratory sessions before the formal assessment process begins. These sessions allow clients to reflect on their histories, understand their patterns, and enter the assessment space with more clarity and self-compassion. Our approach is about seeing what others often miss, and doing justice to the subtle, quiet, but very real ways that neurodivergent adults live their lives. ## **2\. How does Neurodiverse You’s model create a different kind of experience for adults who have been misdiagnosed, masked their traits, or gone through life feeling misunderstood?** At Neurodiverse You, we understand that by the time many adults reach us, they are not just seeking answers, they are seeking repair. Often, they’ve carried a lifetime of internal contradictions: praised for how well they cope, yet privately overwhelmed; labelled with anxiety or personality disorders, yet sensing something deeper was being missed. For those who have masked their traits for years, or been misdiagnosed due to high performance, cultural expectations, racial bias, or gendered norms, our model is designed to do more than diagnose, it is designed to *recognise*. Working as a multi-disciplinary team (MDT) comprised of psychologists, psychiatrists, OTs, Speech and Language Therapist, and Nurses, we begin with exploratory sessions, psychologically rich conversations that create space for the individual to tell their story outside the pressure of performance or pathology. In addition to gold-standard tools, we also draw on additional frameworks and qualitative mapping techniques that allow subtle traits to surface. This is especially important for those with internalised symptoms, or who have learned to “chameleonise” in order to belong. But what truly sets us apart is the *continuity*. We offer post-diagnostic support. Many clients describe the moment of diagnosis as both relieving and disorienting. Identity integration is rarely instant. That’s why we offer coaching, therapeutic reflection, and psychoeducation, to support individuals as they make sense of who they’ve always been underneath the labels. After the clinical outcome, we walk alongside people as they reclaim their narratives, reframe their experiences, and begin the slow, powerful work of becoming visible, to themselves and others, for the very first time. ## **3\. Can you share a story of how someone's life changed after receiving their diagnosis through this personalised approach?** One of the most profound stories I carry is that of *Amara*, a 34-year-old non-binary brown woman who came to us with a long history of psychiatric diagnoses: emotionally unstable personality disorder (EUPD), generalised anxiety (GAD), depression, social anxiety, OCD, PTSD, and disordered eating. She had spent years cycling through medications - antidepressants, anxiolytics, even antipsychotics. None brought lasting relief. Many caused unbearable side effects. But what the system never asked was: *What if the problem wasn’t her mind, but how it had been misread?* Amara was perceptive, expressive, and deeply attuned to others, so attuned, in fact, that she often dissolved in the emotional needs of those around her. Her dissociation was chalked up to trauma alone. Her expressive nature was framed as emotional instability. But in our exploratory sessions, something else began to surface: not disorder, but defense. The hypersensing, the emotional intensity, the exaggerated self-expression were not dysfunctions, they were data. Signs of a neurodivergent mind that had learned to perform stability while internally bracing for collapse. She had grown up in a Christian household, where being a “good girl” meant being of servitude, agreeable, accommodating. Her male relatives, whose ADHD or autism traits were externalised and disruptive, were recognised and supported. But Amara, compliant, articulate, eager to please, learned to survive through invisibility. To speak gently. To carry burdens quietly. And behind that silence was another silenced truth: her sexuality. In a religious context where deviation from the norm was equated with disobedience or sin, Amara’s very identity had to be contorted into acceptability. She didn’t just mask her neurodivergence. She masked her entire self into total erasure. During our Cultural Lens session, it became clear that Amara’s story hadn’t been simple, it had just been repeatedly misnamed. Her traits weren’t absent; they’d been misunderstood, reframed through the wrong lens. The emotional intensity, the empathy overload, the shutdowns under pressure, they weren’t signs of instability. They were markers of masked neurodivergence. Even her eating disorder, long treated as a symptom of anxiety or control, began to make more sense: a longstanding sensory sensitivity to textures, colours, and smells that had never been taken seriously, so the result was disordered eating. Once we placed her experiences in their proper psychological and cultural context, the fragments of her history started to align. When diagnosed her ADHD & ASD (AuDHD) profile, she cried, not from shock, but from the weight of being recognised. “I always knew,” she said, “but I wasn’t allowed to know it out loud. Until now. I’m meeting myself for the first time.” Her diagnosis was not the start of a label. It was the start of a return to the self. Since then, Amara has started ADHD medication and often jokes, “The fog is lifting.” But more than clarity, what she gained was coherence. She now understands why certain rooms drained her, why praise felt like pressure, and why helping others had become a form of self-protection. She’s beginning to reclaim her voice, boldly, queerly, neurodivergently. She sets boundaries. She rests without apology. She chooses truth over performative peace. Amara was never too much. She was simply too misread for too long. Now, she is not asking for permission, she is owning her place. Fully. Freely. Finally. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. [**Get in touch**](https://www.foundedbywomen.org/share-your-story/) **with us today!** > 👉 [**Contact Us**](https://www.foundedbywomen.org/share-your-story/) ### Dr Sally Olewe-Richards: Creating Safe Havens for Survivors Through Innovation & Empathy URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/mental-health/dr-sally-olewe-richards-creating-safe-havens-for-survivors-through-innovation-empathy/ Last updated: 2025-05-14T07:11:47.000Z *Part of the series: 30 Founders Shaping the Future of Mental Health in 2025* When survival becomes a full-time job, healing can feel impossible—especially for women enduring narcissistic abuse. Sally Olewe-Richards, a survivor-turned-advocate, refused to accept this reality. In 2019, she launched [*Women of Wisdom and Courage*](https://womenofwisdomandcourage.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org)*®*, a digital lifeline that bridges the painful space between crisis support and true recovery through radical accessibility and survivor-led design. What began as a self-funded passion project has become a revolutionary model for post-abuse care. Her *SHIELD™ Programme*—built on Safety, Healing, Independence, Empowerment, Love, and Dignity—guides survivors through four transformative phases with tools rarely available outside expensive therapy: hypnotherapy, psychosensory techniques, and nervous system regulation. But the true breakthrough? Designing every element alongside survivors. From the logo (co-created with users) to the "Bunny Breath" technique that one member calls her "instant calm button," this is healing reimagined *by* and *for* those who need it most. Here, Dr. Sally Olewe-Richards reveals how she built this sanctuary against all odds, why emotional support must evolve with each healing phase, and the surprising ways survivor feedback shapes even the smallest details—like choosing colors that symbolize hope without triggering trauma. ## **1\. What were some of the biggest challenges you faced in developing Women of Wisdom and Courage® as a digital platform for survivors of domestic abuse, and how did you overcome them?** When I started Women of Wisdom and Courage® back in 2019, I had this vision of creating something that could help women everywhere heal from narcissistic partner abuse. The biggest challenge? Making trauma healing accessible and affordable for women around the world while being almost entirely self-funded. This has truly been a passion project born from my own journey as a survivor. I created this platform because I fundamentally believe all women should be able to access deep healing tools and a loving community for support, without having location and cost as barriers. Too many survivors are left to navigate their healing journey alone simply because they can't afford private therapy or don't live near specialist services, and I wanted to change that. A significant ongoing challenge has been helping women understand this is a valid form of support, knowing it exists, and recognising its value despite the low access price. There's often a perception that "you get what you pay for," which can create doubt about the quality of more affordable healing resources. We've had to work hard to demonstrate that our platform offers genuine, professional support rather than being a "budget option." Meeting women at the point when they're ready to do the healing work is another delicate balance, as everyone's healing journey is unique and unfolds in its own time. Being self-funded has meant I've had to work on other projects alongside developing this platform for the last few years. Balancing my passion for this work with the practical need to earn a living has been a constant juggling act. There have been times when I've had to slow development to focus on paid work, which has been frustrating when I could see the need for these resources growing. Operating as a one-woman team until May 2023, when Debra Webster joined me, meant wearing every possible hat – content creation, technical development, customer support, marketing, social media, website management – you name it, I was doing it! Even as a two-woman team now, we're still stretched incredibly thin, but having Debra on board has been transformative. It's allowed us to expand our capacity while maintaining the personal touch that makes our platform special. Marketing the platform and reaching the right women has been particularly challenging. Without a marketing budget, we've had to rely on word-of-mouth, social media, and building relationships with domestic abuse organisations. How do you reach women who might need this support when many are still in controlling situations where their online activities are monitored? We've had to be creative and thoughtful about our approach. On the positive side, one of the most unexpected and wonderful outcomes has been all the amazing women I've met – both survivors in our community and professionals working in the domestic abuse sector. These connections have been incredibly valuable, not just for developing the platform but also personally. The solidarity and shared purpose among women supporting each other through trauma recovery is truly powerful. Despite the financial struggles of being self-funded and the limitations of our tiny team, seeing women reclaim their lives with dignity and strength makes every obstacle worthwhile. As one user put it, "Finding this group has given me strength I didn't even know I had." That's what keeps me going, even when I'm juggling other work to keep this project alive. ## **2\. The SHIELD™ Programme spans four distinct phases—how do you support users emotionally as they transition between each phase of healing?** The SHIELD™ Programme grew out of my recognition that trauma recovery is a complex, individual journey. The name SHIELD™ represents the core values that underpin our approach: Safety, Healing, Independence, Empowerment, Love, and Dignity. Each element is essential to the recovery journey, creating a protective framework that helps women rebuild their lives after abuse. Our programme is built around four transformative phases, each designed to support women as they move from surviving to thriving. In Phase 1, "Understanding Abuse Dynamics," we focus on helping women see what's actually happened to them. Abuse often leaves us questioning our reality and doubting ourselves. We shine a light on the hidden patterns of abuse so women can clearly understand what they've experienced. This validation is incredibly emotionally supportive – it helps release self-blame and is the first step toward reclaiming power. As women move into Phase 2, "Trauma Recovery," we acknowledge that trauma affects both mind and body. This phase focuses on helping women understand how trauma impacts their nervous system and emotional wellbeing. We've included sessions on hypnotherapy and psychosensory therapy to help women deeply heal at a subconscious and nervous system level. We offer simple, effective tools like the "Bunny Breath" technique that one user mentioned helps "calm my nerves." The 'Tiger in the Room' session has been particularly helpful here, with one user sharing it "reminds me to bring awareness to whether there is really danger or not and I have learned about the choices of taking my power back from being triggered." These practical approaches help women feel more grounded and in control of their emotions. The transition to Phase 3, "Personal Empowerment," is where women begin to reconnect with their true selves. Abuse can steal your sense of identity, so this phase is about rediscovery. A crucial component of this phase is inner child healing, where we guide women to explore and understand their family patterns and early beliefs. Many survivors discover that the dynamics in their abusive relationships echo patterns from childhood, and this awareness can be both confronting and liberating. We provide gentle, supportive tools for working with these deeper insights, helping women connect with and nurture the parts of themselves that were wounded long before the current relationship. Finally, in Phase 4, "Moving Forward," we support women in creating the future they want. Whether it's pursuing a dream, building a healthy relationship, or finding inner peace, we guide women in taking practical steps forward with confidence and clarity. Throughout all phases, we have the community available for support, with professionals and other survivors there to offer guidance, answer questions, and provide friendship, care and encouragement. This sense of belonging is crucial – healing doesn't happen in isolation, and having others cheer you on makes all the difference. Women often tell us that knowing they're not alone in their experiences and having a safe space to share both struggles and victories has been transformative. What makes our approach unique is that women can work through these phases at their own pace, in their own safe space. Healing isn't linear, and our programme recognises that. We provide a flexible, supportive framework that meets women wherever they are in their journey, offering consistent emotional support throughout. The SHIELD™ values of Safety, Healing, Independence, Empowerment, Love, and Dignity infuse every aspect of our programme, creating a holistic path to recovery that addresses both the practical and emotional needs of survivors. ## **3\. In what ways has user feedback from survivors influenced the ongoing development of your app and support offerings?** Listening to survivors has been at the heart of everything we've created. When women told us they felt alone after initial support from domestic abuse organisations ended, we knew our digital platform needed to provide ongoing connection. As one user beautifully put it, "Here, I know I can check in safely, ask questions, rant and have the space held for me." We had our first founding members join in July 2023, and their early feedback was instrumental in refining our approach. Then in April 2024, we began a 12-month pilot funded by the Nottinghamshire Police and Crime Commissioner, in partnership with domestic abuse charity Broxtowe Women's Project. This collaboration has provided structured input directly from BWP service users and support staff, giving us invaluable insights into how women interact with our platform in real-world scenarios. What makes our platform unique is offering therapeutic techniques women can follow along at home, for a very low cost and with immediate access and support. This helps overcome the barriers of NHS wait lists in the UK or financial constraints, especially when so many women experience financial abuse that limits their ability to access private support. We've created a range of modalities that people can try and see what works for them, with pre-recorded sessions by over 20 professionals, rather than seeing an individual therapist who may only be trained in one or two approaches. Even our branding was shaped by feedback! Our logo was created through collaboration with women in our original online support community. We developed six initial concepts, gathered their thoughts, and merged the most popular designs. Every element of our platform, from our thoughtfully chosen colours to our co-created logo, symbolises the strength, resilience and transformation we aim to foster. The specific techniques we include have been directly influenced by what survivors tell us helps them in daily life. When women shared that emotional regulation was particularly challenging, we expanded those resources. The feedback speaks for itself: "The techniques to help with emotions are really useful...this has been my biggest problem area. No one has helped with where to go or how to get help in these areas, so finding this has been gold." From the beginning, I knew that deep, transformative healing would require addressing the subconscious mind and nervous system. That's why I incorporated hypnotherapy and psychosensory therapy sessions into the programme – approaches I'd seen create profound shifts in my work with trauma survivors. The positive response to these techniques has confirmed that addressing trauma at this deeper level is essential, with users reporting significant improvements in their ability to manage triggers and emotional responses. One of the most rewarding aspects of this work has been the incredible women I've met through developing this platform – both survivors in our community and dedicated professionals working in the domestic abuse sector. Their insights, experiences, and feedback have been invaluable in shaping our offerings. These connections remind me daily of the importance of this work and the power of women supporting women through trauma recovery. Being self-funded and having to work on other projects alongside this platform has actually made user feedback even more crucial. With limited time and resources, I've had to be strategic about what to develop next. Survivor feedback has guided these priorities, ensuring that even with constraints, we're focusing on what will help women most. Their voices have shaped not just what we create, but when and how we roll out new features. What excites me is that this is very much an organic process that will continue to develop and improve as we expand our capacity. We're just at the beginning of what's possible, and as more women join our community and share their experiences, the platform will evolve to meet their needs even more effectively. By continuously incorporating survivor perspectives, we've created something that truly meets women where they are. As a self-funded passion project run by a tiny team, this feedback-driven approach has allowed us to focus our limited resources where they make the most difference – on creating tools that genuinely help women heal and thrive. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. [**Get in touch**](https://www.foundedbywomen.org/share-your-story/) **with us today!** > 👉 [**Contact Us**](https://www.foundedbywomen.org/share-your-story/) ### Alexis Artin: Where High Performance Meets Soulful Alignment URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/wellness/alexis-artin-where-high-performance-meets-soulful-alignment/ Last updated: 2025-05-14T08:03:49.000Z *Part of the series: 30 Founders Shaping the Future of Wellness in 2025* Whether working with Fortune 100 executives or A-list celebrities, [Alexis Artin](https://alexisartin.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) has witnessed a universal truth: no amount of external success can compensate for internal misalignment. As the creator of *Soulsway* and the *Soul Body Paradox®* philosophy, she guides high achievers through a transformative journey—one where movement meets mindfulness, and where accomplishment finally meets authenticity. What began as a mission to help women in corporate leadership evolved into something far more profound. After scaling a major female empowerment company, Alexis recognized a critical gap in wellness culture: the pressure to contort oneself into palatable, "perfect" versions of womanhood, rather than embracing the full spectrum of strength, desire, and vulnerability. Through *Soulsway*, she dismantles these outdated paradigms, offering a radical alternative—a practice that doesn’t just calm the body, but awakens the soul. Clients often describe their first sessions as a revelation: muscles unclench, breath deepens, and the nervous system’s constant hum of *"do more, be more"* finally quiets. This isn’t just relaxation—it’s reclamation. Alexis’s work bridges the divide between ambition and aliveness, proving that true power isn’t about perfection, but presence. Here, she shares the surprising commonalities among high performers, the science behind *Soulsway*’s transformative effects, and the outdated beliefs she’s determined to rewrite. ## **1\. You've coached both Fortune 100 executives and A-list celebrities - what surprising similarities have you found between these high-performing groups when it comes to personal blocks and transformation?** No matter how successful someone appears on paper, the inner terrain tells a much different story. Whether it's a Fortune 100 executive or an A-list celebrity, they are human first. They carry the same deep patterns of disconnection and imbalance as anyone else. I created the [**Soul Body Paradox®**](https://alexisartin.com/behind-the-soul-body-paradox/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) philosophy to help simplify and clarify how easily and often this shows up in each of us, these high performing individuals included**.** While they may be masters of external performance, they’re often quietly starving for internal alignment. They’ve built material empires, yet feel trapped in cycles of energetic burnout, emotional suppression, or mental anguish. From imposter syndrome to “more money, more problems”, it’s the paradox of presenting as powerful, yet feeling powerless in their own inner world. What unites us all is the longing to come home to ourselves—to integrate achievement with authenticity, ambition with aliveness. To feel a sense of true dignity and belonging within ourselves and the world. ## **2\. Soulsway combines movement with mindfulness in a unique way. What's one physiological change people typically experience first when they begin your practice, and why is this so transformative?** One of the first physiological shifts people experience with *Soulsway* is a noticeable drop in nervous system activation. When we “land in the body”, when the breath is no longer being quietly “held”, when muscles unclench, and the constant hum of overdoing starts to quiet everything shifts. Sometimes it’s subtle, other times dramatic, but always profound. From the perspective of the **Soul Body Paradox**, most people live in a chronic state of *doing* (body) while being disconnected from their *being* (soul). They're wired to push, prove, and perform, but rarely pause to *feel* or authentically *express*. When we combine mindfulness, movement, meditation and somatic awareness using this groundbreaking approach, the body becomes a portal to personal power. This drop into presence is so transformative because it’s the doorway to everything else: healing, insight, desire, boundaries, creativity. It’s the first moment many realize they’ve been operating in survival mode and that there's another way...one that feels like coming home to themselves. It’s a soul to skin reclamation. ## **3\. As someone who helped scale a major female empowerment company before creating Soulsway, what outdated belief about women's wellness do you most want to dismantle through your work?** I’m committed to dismantling that anyone else has our answers or that becoming a more "palatable" version of ourselves is the solution to our problems. We outsource our power. We seek fulfillment through gurus or try to erase suffering by eliminating wrinkles with botox. We compare ourselves to other women to decide our worthiness, making them our competitors rather than collaborators. We become increasingly more convinced a man, smaller waist, bigger bank account or more degrees are what’s missing. We don’t need more productivity hacks disguised as healing, self-care routines that numb rather than awaken, or how-to’s that influence us away from self-trust. We need to integrate ALL of who we are without shaming, dismissing, compartmentalizing or apologizing for any aspect of ourselves. No more shapeshifting into who the world thinks we “should” be. No softening of our edges, but a remembering of our wholeness. What I know, from scaling a global female empowerment company to birthing my coaching practice, podcast and now *Soulsway*, is this: true wellness isn’t about having or becoming “more” or “less” of anything. It’s about being *authentic* and *alive*. Expressed. Embodied. Connected to the deep intelligence of your soul through the wisdom of your body. **Instagram**: [@soulswaypractice](https://www.instagram.com/soulswaypractice/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. [**Get in touch**](https://www.foundedbywomen.org/share-your-story/) **with us today!** > 👉 [**Contact Us**](https://www.foundedbywomen.org/share-your-story/) ### Abbe Feder: Turning Pain into Purpose—A Fertility Journey That Became a Mission URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/wellness/abbe-feder-turning-pain-into-purpose-a-fertility-journey-that-became-a-mission/ Last updated: 2025-05-13T17:13:31.000Z *Part of the series: 30 Founders Shaping the Future of Wellness in 2025* Abbe Feder’s path to founding [InCircle Fertility](http://incirclefertility.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) wasn’t one she ever planned to take. Like so many who find themselves in the trenches of infertility, she became an expert by necessity—through twelve grueling attempts, heart-wrenching losses, and years of uncertainty. What began as a personal struggle evolved into a lifeline for others when she and her husband started their podcast, *Maculate Conception*, as a way to process their grief. The overwhelming response from strangers around the world—echoing *"This is me too"*—revealed a glaring gap in fertility care: the need for compassionate, experienced guidance that bridges the medical and emotional sides of the journey. With a background in behavioral science and the hard-earned wisdom of lived experience, Abbe built *InCircle Fertility* to offer what she wished she’d had—a steady hand to navigate the chaos, a voice to cut through the noise, and a space where clients feel understood, not isolated. Her approach isn’t just about protocols and test results; it’s about helping people reclaim agency in a process that often leaves them feeling powerless. Through one-on-one coaching, tailored support, and unfiltered conversations on her *Women’s Wellness* podcast, she’s dismantling the shame and loneliness that too often accompany fertility challenges. At its core, *InCircle Fertility* is a testament to Abbe’s resilience—proof that even the most painful journeys can lead to purpose. Here, she shares more about her story, her methods, and the community she’s created to ensure no one has to walk this path alone. ## **Abbe, what was the turning point in your own fertility journey that inspired you to create InCircle Fertility and support others navigating similar challenges?** Like many people who go on to become a Founder after a deeply personal experience, I became an expert in something I never wanted to be an expert in. After twelve attempts, a miscarriage, and an ectopic pregnancy, my six-year journey to motherhood was long, messy, and emotionally brutal—but it also cracked me open in ways I couldn’t have predicted. In the midst of it, my husband and I launched a podcast called *Maculate Conception* to process our grief and isolation. What we didn’t expect was how many people—strangers from around the world—would reach out to say: *This is me too.* Almost accidentally, I became a person people turned to with their fertility questions. Not just about the science and protocols, but about the emotional toll: *What do I ask the doctor? Is this normal? Am I making the right decision?* *Will my marriage survive?* And slowly, I realized there was a gap that needed filling. Not just patient advocacy, but someone who understands both the heartbreak and the process. Someone who can help you move through the chaos with clarity and compassion. I have a background in behavioral science, and that, combined with my lived experience, gave me the tools to do exactly that. Founding InCircle Fertility was my way of turning that pain into purpose. I created the kind of support I wish I had—so no one has to face this journey feeling lost or alone. ## **InCircle Fertility blends personal experience with advocacy—how do you balance emotional support with helping clients make empowered medical decisions?** Fertility challenges, or any medical challenge for that matter, are never *just* medical. They’re emotional, logistical, relational—and can be all-consuming. When clients come to me, they’re usually overwhelmed by the volume of hard decisions they’re expected to make, often with limited context and very little emotional bandwidth. My role is to help them exhale first. To process the fear, grief, frustration, or confusion that’s clouding their ability to move forward and feel like they can gain control of a very out of control process. I call it my “GLOW” method: **G**ain Control **L**earn What Works **O**vary Love **W**IN! Once we’ve made space for that, we can approach the practical decisions with more clarity and confidence. I help clients understand their options, prepare for appointments, interpret complex medical information, and communicate more effectively with their care teams. I’m not a doctor, but I am the person who sits beside them—calmly, clearly, and without judgment—helping them connect the dots between what their heart needs and what their body requires. It’s a partnership. ## **Infertility can be an isolating experience; how does InCircle Fertility create a sense of connection and community for those going through it?** Infertility has a way of making you feel like you’re the only one stuck in place while everyone else is moving forward. It’s invisible, stigmatized, and emotionally exhausting. At InCircle, connection isn’t a bonus—it’s central to the experience. I make sure clients feel seen, safe, and free to say the things they often can’t say out loud anywhere else. That spirit of honesty and solidarity also shows up in my current podcast, [*Women’s Wellness with Abbe Feder*](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/womens-wellness-with-abbe-feder/id1681652191?ref=foundedbywomen.org), where I have raw, unfiltered conversations with experts and everyday people navigating fertility and many other wellness topics. It’s another way to remind listeners: you are not alone in this. The more we normalize these conversations, the more shame dissolves—and true community begins. Clients often tell me, “I didn’t know how much I needed this until I found it.” That’s the goal: to create the kind of connection that carries you through even the hardest parts of the journey. **Product/Service Highlight:** > My coaching is bespoke and personalized for individuals and couples navigating fertility challenges—including IVF, egg freezing, third-party reproduction, and everything in between. My signature offering includes one-on-one sessions, a customized fertility game plan, and real-time support to help you advocate for yourself, manage emotional overwhelm, and make confident decisions. I also run intimate group coaching programs and support circles to foster connection and community in a space that often feels incredibly lonely. My coaching isn’t just about getting through it—it’s about feeling grounded, in control, and emotionally supported every step of the way. **Links** [incirclefertility.com](http://incirclefertility.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) [instagram.com/abbefeder](http://instagram.com/abbefeder?ref=foundedbywomen.org) [instagram.com/incirclefertility](http://instagram.com/incirclefertility?ref=foundedbywomen.org) [instagram.com/womenswellnesspod](http://instagram.com/womenswellnesspod?ref=foundedbywomen.org) > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. [**Get in touch**](https://www.foundedbywomen.org/share-your-story/) **with us today!** > 👉 [**Contact Us**](https://www.foundedbywomen.org/share-your-story/) ### Gamesight URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/partners/founding/gamesight/ Last updated: 2025-12-29T06:53:54.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2025/06/q9zt7IbP_400x400.jpg) #### We build technology to help kickass games build, understand, and grow their fanbase. We do this by empowering game companies with tools, data, and experience so they can better understand their players. We bring community, marketing, and analytics together to provide valuable insights. [Visit website](https://gamesight.io/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ### Q&A with Tanaz Mody, Head of People and Talent at Lerer Hippeau URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/interviews/tanaz-mody-head-of-people-and-talent-at-lerer-hippeau/ Last updated: 2025-05-09T14:37:26.000Z From big tech recruitment to co-founding her own startup, Tanaz Mody has spent her career at the intersection of talent and high-growth companies. Now, as Head of People and Talent at early-stage venture firm [Lerer Hippeau](https://www.lererhippeau.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org), she works closely with founders to build strong, scalable teams from the ground up. Tanaz’s journey into the startup world began when she led an early-stage company, DramaFever, through two acquisitions, while scaling a company from 20 to 250 employees. That experience hooked her—she fell in love with the fast-paced, ever-changing nature of early-stage companies. Since then, she’s worked with digital fitness leader Aaptiv, co-founded her own venture (Olmo), recruited top-tier CEOs at startup studio Mechanism Ventures, and even rode the crypto wave as part of the founding team at HQ, a DCG subsidiary. Outside of work, Tanaz is a mom of three girls, proving that it’s possible to thrive in the chaotic, exhilarating world of startups while raising the next generation of strong women. We sat down with her to talk about scaling teams, navigating acquisitions, and what founders often get wrong about hiring. **1\. From starting out in big tech focusing on recruitment to becoming the Head of People in the dynamic startup space, how has your journey influenced your approach to managing people and talent, especially through significant transitions like acquisitions and rapid scaling?** Yes definitely! My early experience in big tech recruiting had a huge impact on how I approach people and talent today. I’ve found that HR leaders who haven’t recruited often underestimate just how hard it is to find the right person. To recruit well, you have to deeply understand the business — what success looks like in a role, how a team operates, and what kind of person will truly thrive. That foundation shapes how I think about everything from onboarding to retention to knowing when it’s time to part ways. I feel strongly that talent acquisition can either make or break your company. That perspective has stayed with me through transitions like acquisitions and rapid scaling, where hiring and culture pressures are intense. It’s also shaped how I think about culture fit — a balance of skills and values. For me, it’s 50% skill fit and 50% culture. **2\. Your transition from tech and startups to founding your own company, Olmo, showcases a diverse set of experiences. What key lessons have you learned about people management and company culture in early-stage companies from these varied roles?** One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned is that every company culture is truly unique — and that’s because every company is made up of different people. There’s no one-size-fits-all approach to people management, especially in early-stage companies. What works in one environment may not translate to another, which is why leaders need to be intentional and thoughtful about the team they’re building and the culture they’re shaping. Across my experiences — from early-stage startups to founding Olmo — the constant has been the importance of **focus and clarity**. A leader’s most critical job is to make sure the team knows exactly where they’re going and what it takes to get there. Without that direction, even the most talented team can lose momentum. Culture isn't just values on a wall — it's how people align, communicate, and show up every day to move the company forward. **3\. With your unique position at Lerer Hippeau, an early-stage venture firm, how do you work with founders to lay strong foundations in the People/Talent area, and what are some common challenges you help them navigate?** At Lerer Hippeau, my goal is to get founders excited not just about building a great product, but about building a great company — and that starts with people. I like to begin our first conversation by asking them about the most excellent team they've ever been part of. What made it stand out? What were the qualities, the behaviors, and the dynamics that made it memorable? That reflection helps them start thinking intentionally about the culture they want to create — not just the one that happens by default. From there, I work with them to lay strong foundations in areas like hiring strategy, org design, onboarding, and performance management. A common challenge is that early-stage founders often feel pressure to move fast and “figure out people stuff later.” But if they don’t get the basics right early on — clear roles, good communication habits, aligned values — they end up paying for it down the line. My role is to help them balance speed with intention so they’re not just building quickly, but building well. **4\. Having been a part of the fast-evolving sectors like crypto and digital streaming, how do you adapt People and Talent strategies to keep pace with industry changes while ensuring a cohesive team dynamic?** Things are constantly changing across all industries, and the pace of that change has only accelerated — especially in sectors like crypto and digital streaming. When it comes to People and Talent strategies, the key is staying adaptable and refusing to get too comfortable with the status quo. Just because something has worked in the past doesn’t mean it’s the right approach for the future. I believe if you're doing something the same way for more than a year or two, you're probably missing opportunities for efficiency or innovation. It’s critical to step back regularly — at least annually — and evaluate how your team is operating. Are there better tools, faster processes, or smarter ways to structure your org? If you're not asking those questions, you're not keeping up with the pace of change. A strong team dynamic doesn’t come from rigid systems — it comes from clarity, agility, and a willingness to evolve. **5\. Balancing a high-impact career and being a mom of three girls, how do you integrate work-life balance principles into your leadership and advisory roles, particularly in guiding startups on creating supportive and flexible workplace environments?** Balancing a career with being a wife and a mom of three girls is less about achieving perfect balance and more about being intentional with focus. I’ve learned to be really clear about what matters most, and I try to be fully present wherever I am — whether that’s at work or with my family. I live by the same advice I often give to founders: know your priorities and let them guide your decisions. That means not getting distracted by what others are prioritizing, but instead recognizing my needs. Personally, it's showing up for school activities where I can connect with my kids. Professionally, it means choosing the right networking events rather than trying to attend everything. The more focused I am, the better I feel about the choices I’m making — both as a parent and a professional. And I encourage founders to think the same way: create supportive, flexible environments that allow people to show up as their whole selves. > Are you a woman leader with an inspiring journey to tell? **Founded by Women** is on a mission to elevate and amplify the voices of women making an impact. > If you're breaking barriers, driving change, or paving the way for others, we’d love to feature your story. [**Get in touch**](https://www.foundedbywomen.org/share-your-story/) **with us today!** > 👉 [**Contact Us**](https://www.foundedbywomen.org/share-your-story/) ### Neurodiverse You URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/partners/founding/neurodiverse-you/ Last updated: 2025-12-29T06:54:04.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2025/06/ndy_logo_full_horizontal_606x120-1-1.webp) #### Private ASD & ADHD Assessment & Diagnosis [Visit website](https://neurodiverseyou.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ### Q&A with Linda Ohairwe, Head of People & Culture at New York Sun Works URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/interviews/q-a-with-linda-ohairwe-head-of-people-culture-at-new-york-sun-works/ Last updated: 2025-05-02T15:50:37.000Z MeetLinda Ohairwe**:** As Head of People & Culture at New York Sun Works, this bilingual HR leader transforms workplaces through innovative people strategies. With 10+ years spanning nonprofits and corporations, she’s designed everything from culture programs that stick to onboarding experiences that excite. **1\. How do you approach the creation and implementation of policies and strategies that align with the unique needs of both nonprofit and for-profit sectors within people operations?** When crafting policies and strategies for people operations, I always begin by deeply understanding the nuanced needs of both nonprofit and for-profit sectors. This involves actively listening to stakeholders from both sides, empathizing with their perspectives, and recognizing the unique challenges each sector faces. By fostering open dialogue and collaboration, we can co-create solutions that serve the greater good while also addressing the specific objectives and constraints of each sector. It's about finding that delicate balance where our policies and strategies not only support organizational goals but also honor the values and missions that drive both nonprofit and for-profit entities. **2: In your experience, what key elements make for an effective organization design and staff resourcing model that promotes both growth and employee satisfaction?** In my experience, the key to designing effective organizations lies in prioritizing both growth and team satisfaction. This means creating structures and models that not only facilitate scalability and efficiency but also nurture a culture of empowerment, collaboration, and personal development. By involving teams in the design process, valuing their input, and ensuring transparent communication channels, we can tailor our organizational frameworks to align with their needs and aspirations. Ultimately, it's about fostering an environment where my teams feel valued, supported, and motivated to contribute their best work towards the organization's success. **3: Can you share insights into how you've developed learning and development initiatives that have led to substantial transformations within organizations?** Transformative learning and development initiatives require a holistic approach that goes beyond traditional training programs. It's about creating a culture of continuous learning, where teams are empowered to explore new skills, ideas, and perspectives that not only benefit them personally but also contribute to the organization's growth and evolution. By leveraging a mix of personalized learning paths, mentorship programs, experiential opportunities, and feedback mechanisms, we can cultivate a learning ecosystem that fosters innovation, resilience, and adaptability at all levels of the organization. **4: What innovative strategies have you found most effective in elevating employee experiences and engagement in line with business objectives?** Elevating employee experiences and engagement requires a multifaceted approach that integrates innovative strategies with a deep understanding of organizational goals and employee needs. From implementing flexible work arrangements and wellness programs to fostering a culture of appreciation and recognition, every initiative should be purposefully designed to enhance the overall employee experience while also driving tangible business outcomes. By prioritizing empathy, inclusivity, and authenticity in our approach, we can create workplaces where employees feel valued, heard, and motivated to contribute their best. **5: As someone deeply committed to fostering diverse and inclusive workplaces, what are some of the challenges you've faced, and how have you overcome them to build robust culture, wellness, and resilience programs?** Building diverse and inclusive workplaces is a journey filled with challenges, but it's also one of the most rewarding endeavors we can undertake. From addressing unconscious biases and systemic barriers to fostering a sense of belonging and psychological safety, the key lies in creating a culture where diversity is celebrated and inclusion is woven into the fabric of everyday operations. By actively listening, championing equitable policies and practices, and fostering cross-cultural understanding, we can overcome challenges and build robust culture, wellness, and resilience programs that empower every individual to thrive. ### Q&A with Jesslyn Rollins, Founder of BIOLYTE URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/interviews/q-a-with-jesslyn-rollins-founder-of-biolyte/ Last updated: 2025-05-02T15:54:01.000Z Jesslyn Rollins has a track record of bringing ideas to life. When her father, a board-certified Anesthesiologist and Pain Specialist, asked her to head up sales for his new hydration solution, BIOLYTE®, the IV in a bottle®, she hit the streets and sold it out of her Toyota Highlander. Seven years later, Jesslyn has worked her way up from Director of Sales to now the company’s CEO. Under her leadership, BIOLYTE has grown into a multi-million dollar business whose products are available in 15,000+ retail locations. **1\. Jesslyn, transitioning from Director of Sales to CEO of BIOLYTE, what strategies have you employed to steer the company towards becoming a multi-million dollar business, and how has your background in theatre and communications influenced your leadership and business approach?** I found that the best way I could lead my team is by employing the skills that came naturally – for me, it's being understanding, creative with a tidal-wave of energy and utilizing the attributes which the successful leaders in my life have instilled in me – for example, my parents. My father, Dr. Trey Rollins, who developed the formula of BIOLYTE and my mother, Jeannine, who inspired its creation, have always modeled the power of hard work, self-confidence and kindness. In 2017, I secured our first major accounts – Kroger and Savannah Distributing Company, with only a handful of retail partners under my belt and no “proof of concept” quite yet by tapping into these strengths. It involved a lot of research, abundant energy, tons of enthusiasm (all thanks to my degree in Theatre) and a passion for a product I truly believed in. Along the way, I have also learned that as a leader, it's okay to not always know the answer. It’s a strength to know when you can’t do it alone and need to rely on your team. I believe that showing trust in those around us is the key to building a company that has incredible communication and can respond effectively and efficiently to anything. To me, these are necessary skills to have as we continue growing our reach within the industry. **2\. Under your leadership, BIOLYTE has made significant charitable contributions, including over $1M bottles and $100k to Cancer Charities in Georgia. Can you share how these philanthropic efforts align with BIOLYTE’s mission and your vision for the company’s role in the community?** Inspired by my mother’s story, I have always wanted to ensure that our company’s support of our community and more specifically, breast cancer awareness, is felt year in and year out. BIOLYTE’s commitment to breast cancer research and education is at the core of our brand’s mission, so every October, we collaborate with organizations raising awareness and funds for breast cancer, in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. This past year, we, of course, continued that tradition by donating a portion of all October 2023 sales to American Cancer Society’s HOPE Lodge in Atlanta, which provide free housing for patients and their caregivers going through cancer treatments away from home, in hopes to top our 2022 contribution of $69,920 donated to the American Cancer Society. Additionally, we launched a 2023 Breast Cancer Awareness Month social media campaign to help raise more awareness and support additional fundraising. Leading up to October, we asked our BIOLYTE LYTERS who were breast cancer survivors to share how our product helped them through their treatments and what it meant to them, which we shared on our social channels to help create and foster a community of support. Plus, year round, we provide complimentary product to anyone undergoing chemo. All you have to do is let us know, and BIOLYTE will be shipped. **3\. Being named one of Atlanta Business Chronicle’s “Most Admired CEOs” and making it to the Inc. 5000 list are impressive achievements. What do you consider your most challenging moment in leading BIOLYTE to this level of success, and how did you overcome it?** Once BIOLYTE gained traction and I took on the role as CEO, I found myself leading a team of employees during *accelerated* growth. It was intimidating at first, but with an incredible team by my side, BIOLYTE has been able to grow exponentially. We have developed a national footprint, and we have been ranked twice on Inc. 5000’s Fastest-Growing Companies and on Instacart’s 75 Fastest-Growing Emerging Brands. I would be lying if I said that through all this we haven’t felt the growing pains. We have transformed our brand from a team of one into a multi-million dollar company backed by a dedicated group of employees. It hasn’t always been easy, especially as a small family business, but today, I look back and proudly say our team has successfully continued to navigate this industry. I credit most (if not all of our success) to making sure all of our decisions were made while always keeping our number one priority in mind: getting our product into the hands of those who need it most. Whenever I felt stuck or frustrated, I thought about all of the faces of those who rely on BIOLYTE to get through the day, and because of this, we have successfully infiltrated a saturated market and set ourselves apart from the rest. **4\. With BIOLYTE’s commitment to “helping everyday warriors enjoy the gift of an ordinary day,” could you elaborate on how the product development process is influenced by this vision, and how do you ensure that new products align with the core mission of relieving dehydration discomforts?** BIOLYTE’s formula was created when my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer and experienced the debilitating side effects associated with chemotherapy, including dehydration. During her treatment, she found herself unable to recover effectively or efficiently through leading sports drinks, so my father developed what we now know as BIOLYTE, a hydration beverage containing the same amount of electrolytes (and benefits) as a full medical-grade IV bag. Unlike an IV bag, our product is priced at a fraction of the cost and can be consumed in the convenience of your own home. This was our ultimate goal from the very beginning: to bring the IV bag home and place our product into the hands of those who truly need it – specifically people like my mom. This past year, we have made tremendous strides in further achieving that goal – we always make it the focus of what we do. We are immensely proud to now have BIOLYTE recognized and approved with The Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services, making our product eligible for coverage under certain medical conditions. Our team worked so hard to reach this achievement and are looking forward to launching a brand new product *this year.* We hope to create more of an impact on our consumers’ lives with this announcement – we want everyone to know that BIOLYTE can be there for you whenever you may need it. **5\. As an active participant in your local community and a supporter of arts and education, how do you balance your professional responsibilities with your personal passions, and what advice would you give to young entrepreneurs about the importance of community involvement and giving back?** I have always believed in the importance of appreciating your community and team – the ones who are helping you succeed. For young entrepreneurs and those building their own companies, my largest piece of advice is to **turn your weaknesses into strengths and support a cause you're passionate about.** We have built BIOLYTE around those two ideas. BIOLYTE’s formula was created when my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer, so we, of course, felt called to use our platform to give back to organizations supporting breast cancer awareness. It’s something extremely close to our hearts. What once started as a weakness for us, we have turned into a strength through our American Cancer Society campaigns & donations. Through our causes, we have built an incredible community of support amongst our consumers. I think we can all agree that the backing of your community is an unbreakable way to success. ### Q&A with Emma Liebmann, Chief of Staff at Fable URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/interviews/emma-liebmann-fable/ Last updated: 2025-05-02T14:08:53.000Z Meet Emma Liebmann, the visionary VP, Chief of Staff at Fable, a cutting-edge creative studio where the power of generative AI is firmly in the hands of its designers. With a role that transcends traditional boundaries, Emma embodies the spirit of versatility and determination. She ventures where necessary and tackles whatever tasks are required to transform Fable's ambitious vision into reality. **As VP, Chief of Staff at Fable, a modern creative studio, how do you ensure that Fable stays at the forefront of innovation and continues to empower creators effectively in the rapidly evolving creative industry?** We listen! to our users and to our employees. It is easy to develop tunnel vision with your own beliefs and ideas - it is much harder to allow yourself to be open-minded and to actively seek new information that might prove you wrong. When we listen to our users and our employees, we challenge our existing beliefs and by doing so, we are constantly finding new ways to innovate. I always talk about the value of skepticism in innovation - it's a term that can get a bad connotation because it can be incorrectly associated with pessimism. I believe skeptics are actually the biggest optimists because we are constantly questioning the status quo and believing there is a better way. At Fable, we have a culture that values having a healthy level of skepticism. **Your journey at Fable, especially during significant personal milestones, highlights an incredibly supportive culture. How do you cultivate and maintain this environment, and what advice do you have for other companies striving to support and advance women and parents in the workplace?** I joined Fable in part because I wanted to prove that you can build a successful business without sacrificing your principles or morals along the way. I have seen a lot of examples where those two things come into conflict and choosing between them sometimes feels like an inevitability that comes with growth. Chris, our CEO and founder, is a good, empathetic and fair person. He is a wicked talented product, engineering and business leader also but first, a good person. There are so many complicated and often contentious policies and processes companies can have but I've realized in my time here that if you have good people with good values, doing the right thing can be easy. When you have good leadership, a supportive culture can grow organically. If our team does not feel like they can bring their authentic selves to work each day then we have failed, no matter how much business success we have. **With your focus on business operations, people operations, community, marketing, and overall company growth, can you share how you prioritize these areas and any strategies you employ to balance them effectively?** I was hoping you could tell me! As chief of staff, my responsibilities are broad - I go wherever I need to go in the company and do whatever I need to do at that moment to drive our business goals. In order to wear a lot of hats successfully, I need to maintain excellent communication channels. This means both proactively sharing in effective detail about my own activity and proactively seeking information about what my colleagues are doing. We have a culture that emphasizes overcommunication - this allows me to move fast, in many directions, but in a way that is strategic and iterable. I also make sure that everything I am spending time on has a clear purpose that can be tied back to Fable's goals and mission both short-term and long-term. When you are moving quickly, it's easy to become overly focused on *what* you are doing and not *why* you are doing it - I do 'why' checks with myself often to make sure my time and priorities align with the highest impact areas for Fable. **You mentioned your role involves going wherever you need to and doing whatever needs to be done to bring the company vision to life. Can you share a particularly challenging project or initiative you've worked on and how you navigated it to success?** One initiative I am in the middle of right now is building out and driving our customer community with the goal of increasing awareness and user success. This is not something I have done before in my 10+ year career so it's a unique and fun challenge for me. This is an ongoing project so I can't claim success just yet but there are a couple things that I've found to work well so far: 1\. Jumping in and getting my hands dirty as quickly as possible, even when uncomfortable for me 2\. Focus on making things happen, anything, rather than having a pretty plan in place - this allows me to avoid the trap of assumptions which can come from setting overly specific goals too early before you have gathered enough information 3\. Asking tons of questions and absorbing as much information as possible 4\. not faking it until I make it - I've owned my inexperience and have looked to our users to show me the way since they are the ones we are building this community for. **Your passion for building and scaling genuine, ambitious, humble, bold, courageous, and status-quo-breaking companies is inspiring. What advice do you have for aspiring leaders who want to make a significant impact in their fields while fostering a supportive and inclusive culture?** Be curious, be brave and be authentic. There is so much power and value in your voice - find it and use it. > Are you a female executive with a powerful story to share? *Founded by Women* is dedicated to elevating and amplifying the voices of women making an impact. If you want to share your story, don't hesitate to [contact us](https://www.foundedbywomen.org/share-your-story/). ### Q&A with Tessa Wilder, Head of People at Union.ai URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/interviews/tessa-wilder-union-ai/ Last updated: 2025-05-02T14:09:10.000Z Meet [Tessa Wilder](https://www.linkedin.com/in/tessa-wilder-12b35844/?ref=foundedbywomen.org), Head of People at [Union.ai](https://www.union.ai/?ref=foundedbywomen.org), who brings a wealth of experience spanning twelve years in Talent and People Operations across the software industry. Tessa's career arc stretches from the early days of startups on the cusp of hyperscaling to the strategic depth of established tech enterprises driving innovation. Her unique talent lies in her ability to forge personal connections and navigate the complex web of organizational behavior, positioning her as a beacon in her field. Tessa's roots trace back to a small Idaho town, where she learned the values of community, resilience, and the power of determination. These early lessons in simplicity and grit have imbued her with a distinctive outlook on fostering growth and nurturing human connections within the workplace. In an era where the richness of interpersonal collaboration is invaluable, Tessa exemplifies that true leadership and vision can emerge from the most humble beginnings. **Q: Tessa, with your extensive experience in Talent and People Operations across various stages of company growth, what unique challenges do you find in transitioning from startups to established enterprises, and how do you address them?** A: One of the most difficult problems I continually encounter, although not exclusive to company size, is balancing the present demands of the company while keeping my sights firmly set on our future aspirations. The pace and rapid innovation in smaller companies is palpable. You are working with a blank canvas and you know very quickly if what you are using to paint that canvas with is working or not because the direct customer feedback is such a critical part of the development cycle. My main focus at companies of smaller sizes is constant prioritization of where my team and I spend our time and getting creative with our ability to do more with less. Depending on the stage, a miscalculation in what should be done first could be detrimental to the company. These small companies are my favorite to be at because they place a large amount of value on outcomes over output. Business politics play a much more minimal role at the early stage companies and I have always preferred getting credit for what you do and not what you talk about doing or who you rub elbows with. At larger companies, my role evolves from execution to high level strategy, with an emphasis on influencing the right stakeholders to get to solve for the right objectives. Bringinging long lasting solutions to the table needs to be customized to the stage the company is in and the challenges they face. At Union.ai, we are just 40 people so my critical lens is very much focused on reducing complexity. The exercise I revert too often here is to build something, look back and see how much of it I can challenge myself to reduce, while still maintaining the integrity and purpose of why we sought out to accomplish it in the first place. We want to ensure our team feels supported, but not burdened by the foundations we implement across the company and at the same time make sure that the foundation can support the future house we plan to build on top **Q: Coming from a small town in Idaho and a background of simplicity and community values, how has this upbringing influenced your approach to leadership and people management in the tech industry?** A: The phrase I find myself constantly coming back to in my career is "it takes a village". Growing up, it was never lost on me just how involved my village or community was and continues to be in intentionally and unintentionally shaping my future. I approach people management with a similar mindset. I recognize that I am just one of many people who impacts my team's experience at a company but that I play a critical role in the experience this person will have while here. The book "Radical Candor" really summarized how I have consistently approached leadership "care deeply and challenge directly". I love accepting people where they are, being vulnerable myself with the team I support, understanding what drives them in their role and then giving them as many opportunities to make an impact and gain recognition as possible - if that is what they set out to accomplish. We all have different things we care about in the workplace and my priority as a leader has always been to understand what each team member's motivation is and leverage that to help them unlock their full potential. **Q: In your role at Union.ai, how do you leverage your personal connection skills and understanding of organizational dynamics to foster a culture of innovation and collaboration?** A: We have a value at Union, Maintain Trust, and it is a value I identify with here and at other companies. In practice to me, this means doing the things I say I will do. Showing up consistently to those around me both in and outside of the workplace. I recognize that at the leadership level, we set a lot of the tone at the company and the way that we show up is imperative to how we foster a culture of innovation and collaboration. Admitting our mistakes, showing humility in decisions we make, and bringing as much transparency to the forefront as possible. Every company I have ever worked at, says they hire the best people. The ones who mean it, treat those people as if they are smart enough to see through the politics of it all. They talk candidly about where the company is at and where they are going and they relentlessly lead by example in the behaviors that they want to amplify at the company. The worst cultures I have been part of claim to hire the best people and then treat them as if they aren't intelligent enough to connect the dots. **Q: Reflecting on your journey from a town of just 75 people to leading People Operations at a cutting-edge software company, what have been the most significant lessons learned about growth, resilience, and success?** A: Imposter syndrome is real and so many of us are experiencing it. As leaders we could do a better job talking more about this with our employees. I can't tell you how often I would go into a performance review expecting to be fired or told I was underperforming despite lacking data points to support this. It stems from the fact that I never thought I would be here and by here I mean in "corporate america". My father was an EMT before he retired and my mom held a variety of jobs across the service industry, both making minimum wage. I was raised with a great deal of respect and pride over the fact that my parents held jobs that required a lot of physical rigor day to day. They worked hard to provide for my siblings and I and they taught me one of the core values I anchor on in my personal and professional life - the hardest part is often showing up. This mindset has made me incredibly resilient to change and I like to think it paved the way for much of my professional journey. On the days I feel overwhelmed balancing hiring, performance reviews, compensation and various meetings - I still show up. I show up for myself and for the people I care most about in life because that is my way of prioritizing the things that I care about, the things that bring me fulfillment. This characteristic allows me to lean in and feel comfortable working through ambiguity and competing priorities, allowing me to lead by example and show up for the teams I support. I pride myself in my willingness to get my hands dirty in an effort to really understand the pain points my customers (employees) might be feeling. Zooming in and out and context switching like that can take a lot of effort but it is the same thing that keeps me coming back to startups for more. Through all of this, despite the titles, the wins, the money, the perks, the things that still matter most to me and are core to how I define success remain the same - surround yourself with good people. **Q: Considering the evolving nature of work and the importance of human connection in the workplace, what strategies do you employ at Union.ai to ensure the team remains connected and engaged, especially in times of rapid growth or change?** A: My team and I talk a lot about employee engagement and candidly, this is an area we would like to do better in. We are hoping to plan our first company wide summit this year, as an opportunity to bring our distributed employee population together in a singular place. We currently host quarterly team building activities, both virtual and in person. We implement employee feedback mechanisms throughout the company (employee pulse surveys, all-hands feedback, Q&A's and more) and love soliciting and actioning input from our team as a way to empower them to contribute to our growth and culture. We support flexible working arrangements through remote and hybrid work opportunities as a way to accommodate diverse needs and preferences of our team. By prioritizing work-life balance and individual well-being, we help foster a positive and inclusive work environment. Overall, at Union.ai, we recognize the importance of human connection in the workplace and continuously strive to implement strategies that promote engagement, collaboration, and a sense of belonging among our team members, even in times of rapid growth or change. > Are you a female executive with a powerful story to share? *Founded by Women* is dedicated to elevating and amplifying the voices of women making an impact. If you want to share your story, don't hesitate to [contact us](https://www.foundedbywomen.org/share-your-story/). ### Dr. Sheila Pryce Brooks URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/partners/founding/dr-sheila-pryce-brooks/ Last updated: 2025-12-29T06:54:16.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2025/06/FBW-POST--49-.png) #### Sleep Paralysis: A Lived, Scientific, and Spiritual Experience Bridging research, personal story, and clinical insight to reframe what sleep paralysis truly is. [Visit website](https://www.sheilaprycebrooks.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ### Q&A with Melissa Lohrer, Founder of Waverly Ave Consulting URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/interviews/melissa-lohrer/ Last updated: 2025-05-02T14:10:10.000Z Meet Melissa Lohrer, the visionary founder of Waverly Ave Consulting. With an impressive 13-year tenure in the creative agency sphere, Melissa's most notable role was as the Head of Growth at a prominent branding agency in New York City. Throughout her career, she ambitiously chased milestones she set for herself, dedicating her energy to the hustle that agency life demanded. However, this relentless pursuit eventually led to a point of burnout, prompting a profound re-evaluation of her career and life priorities in her mid-thirties. In this period of introspection, Melissa discovered her true calling: consulting with creative agencies on business development. She found herself drawn to agency founders overwhelmed by the ceaseless quest for new business, and she became determined to remedy the unsustainable model that plagued the industry. This resolve gave birth to Waverly Ave Consulting, where Melissa has carved out a niche as a Business Development Partner for independent creative agencies on the verge of breaking the $1 million mark. Her focus is particularly on empowering six-figure female founders, challenging the disheartening statistics that less than 1% of creative agencies are woman-owned and less than 2% of women-owned businesses reach seven figures in revenue. **Q1: Share with us the fascinating journey from your role as a Business Growth and Development leader within agencies to the inception of Waverly Ave.** My career was by no means an overnight story. And for most of it, I had no idea where I was going in the long-term. As long as I'm being challenged and growing, I felt I was on the right path.I started in the world of advertising as a receptionist at a well-known, global agency in NYC. It's a great first job because you get to observe every role and interaction in the business. I went on to be an Executive Assistant for a year, another observer role but with more access to the C-suite and leadership conversations. Unfortunately I was being underpaid and after working up the courage to ask for a small raise and being declined, I resigned. It wasn't just about the money but the fact that I was being undervalued. I was at a junior level so I understood I needed to be patient - but I also knew what other Executive Assistants in the company were making and I was making less than half that. They weren't able to explain why I wasn't eligible for a raise or show me any kind of trajectory within the business. That was my first lesson in knowing my worth and leaving was one of the best decisions I ever made for my career. That month, I accepted a role as an Account Manager position at a small branding agency. I learned more about the business from managing projects and got to develop strong relationships with clients. I was always someone who was an intrapreneur - building a business inside a business. I started supporting the Partners on business development and that became my side hustle. I loved knowing my efforts made a difference in the bottom line and that I was directly responsible for new client partnerships. I climbed the ladder for over a decade, eventually leading a small team as the Head of Growth & Development at that agency. Enter: the pandemic. I was already on the edge of burnout and the pandemic only made it worse. I had anxiety I had never felt before and caught myself coaching myself to get through each day and new week of work. I lived for the weekends.I remember thinking, "this can't be it". The burnout got to such a bad level, I had no choice but to quit my job. I took a month off to...really do absolutely nothing. And then I started consulting to buy myself time to explore new paths. And consulting ended up being my path. Since starting my business, it has continued to evolve. I started an incubator program for six figure agencies looking to grow. I started focusing on female founded agencies in particular since less than 1% of creative agencies are currently owned by women and less than 2% of women owned businesses make it to seven figures. Those statistics continue to drive me in the work that I do. My business is all about balance - having the freedom of flexibility, time, and creativity. Working with thoughtful people. Doing the work because it matters. Putting happiness at the center. **Q2: What pivotal moment or realization prompted you to shift gears from the corporate world to pursue your own venture?** So many pivotal moments (some mentioned above) which at the time felt like major fails.What I've learned is when a door closes, find another open door. Sometimes in those pivotal moments, you feel like your vision isn't possible. But there is always another way in.The pivotal moment for me was hitting a level of burnout where I wasn't motivated to get out of bed on a Monday morning. And it got harder and harder to fake it for my team and for clients. It was less about the work itself but more about the work environment that was no longer working for me. My experience with burnout has shaped a very strong point of view on agency growth. I see so many agencies growing at the cost of their teams. It leads to a high stress environment (where creativity can't thrive), high turnover (which is costly) and low client retention (which increases acquisition costs and decreases referrals). I know there is a better way because I've grown my business better. And I've worked with dozens of agencies to grow sustainably and profitably - all while doing better work. **Q3: Reflecting on your intrapreneurial mindset, how has this shaped your entrepreneurial approach in building Waverly Ave?** Being an intrapreneur for over a decade was a great training ground. There was a lot less risk because I had a steady paycheck and I was able to learn through the lessons of another entrepreneur. The company's culture was also very entrepreneurial - we had very few established processes, hierarchies and tools. So I learned to be very resourceful, agile, and brave when it came to figuring things out. I saw I was a good builder (mapping out a strategy and making it happen) and great at creating momentum when we were stuck. All of those experiences and skills make me a better entrepreneur. Everything is figureoutable is my approach to entrepreneurship. But there were also a ton of new lessons in my first year of business. Particularly around finances, legal, taxes - areas of business I hadn't been exposed to yet. **Q4: Could you unveil some innovative tactics or strategies you've employed to empower agency founders on their path to achieving $1m milestones?** It sounds simple but it starts with figuring out what business you want. A lot of agency founders start their business as an experiment. They freelance for a bit, they get a bunch of clients through referrals...and all of the sudden, they are running a business. And sometimes they don't pause to ask themselves what kind of business they want. They just stay in that reactive mode, responding to the business that is coming to them. When you are growing a business sustainably and profitably, it has to be with intention.Questions I ask are...- Do you want a team? How big?- Do you want to be remote, hybrid or have an office?- Do you want to be working with big brands, small brands, local, global?- What type of clients do you enjoy working with? Corporate execs or entrepreneurs? Once you know what you're building, you can reverse engineer your growth plan from there. I also show people how to do business development, attracting the right clients for their business, in a very uncomplicated, non-salesy way. At the end of the day, business development in the agency world is all about relationships. Anyone can build relationships - and in fact, being non-salesy is a strength.So I show people how to approach outreach in a better, more productive way that gets results every time. I show them how to approach sales so they don't get ghosted. I show them how to have a winning sales call without being salesy. And then they don't have business development problems. They have control over who they work with and when they get new business. And they can run a more enjoyable, sustainable business over time without the dramatic ups and downs of founder burnout. **Q5: How has the establishment of Waverly Ave redefined your sense of fulfillment and work-life balance compared to your previous corporate endeavors?** Burnout completely redefined success for me. Titles and money are secondary to happiness. Happiness looks different sometimes weekly, monthly, and seasonally for me. And I really stay in tune with how I feel because if I'm feeling good, my business is doing well. I think a lot of entrepreneurs have it backwards - if my business is doing well, I'll feel good. But I built a career on that framing and it led me nowhere.So now success for me is partnering with the right clients that bring out the best in me. Having a balanced schedule that fuels my creativity. Working between 5-6 hrs per day. Taking off 2 weeks each quarter. Charging rates that represent the value I bring to my clients' businesses. Continuing to learn, grow and evolve the business around what lights me up. Having a rich network of advocates and peers that support me and I support back. Being able to show up as myself every single day and being appreciated for that.I hope everyone, whether in corporate roles or not, finds this in their careers at some point. Because there really is nothing better. > Are you a female executive with a powerful story to share? *Founded by Women* is dedicated to elevating and amplifying the voices of women making an impact. If you want to share your story, don't hesitate to [contact us](https://www.foundedbywomen.org/share-your-story/). ### Q&A with Sarah Caminiti, VP of Customer Success at DNSimple URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/interviews/sarah-caminiti-dnsimple/ Last updated: 2025-05-02T14:09:38.000Z Meet [Sarah Caminiti](https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarah-caminiti-5827b784/?ref=foundedbywomen.org), a visionary VP of Customer Success at a thriving bootstrapped SaaS company, who brings two decades of experience in transforming the way support roles impact business success. Despite not having a traditional college degree, Sarah's journey is a testament to how perseverance, strategic leadership, and a deep commitment to customer satisfaction can carve out an extraordinary career path. At the core of her success is a profound belief in making a difference through supportive leadership, which she has demonstrated in various roles from executive assistance to leading support teams within the SaaS industry. Her innovative approach to customer success has made her instrumental in her current company, significantly boosting client retention through a meticulously crafted support experience. Beyond her professional achievements, Sarah is the brain behind [The Kindness Initiative](https://betterwaytolead.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org), a leadership program designed to foster more empathetic, honest, and effective management practices. Balancing her hectic life with hobbies like quilting and interior design, Sarah lives in Providence, RI, with her family, embodying the essence of a leader who not only excels in her career but also enriches the lives of those around her. **Q: What inspired you to create The Kindness Initiative, and what impact has it had on your leadership style?** The Kindness Initiative began as an opportunity to reflect on my leadership journey. Through this I realized what I’ve learned could be the nudge others need to be the leader they really want to be. I’ve had the opportunity to connect with some of the most passionate and intelligent professionals because of the The Kindness Initiative. I help them pause and look at situations from different angles and build a foundation with those they lead where everyone feels valued and included. How many of us have had jobs where the environment is so rooted in toxicity and we’ve been stuck with managers that lean into all the negative stereotypes we’ve seen in the movie? Probably everyone. To be fair, these managers have learned how to lead from bad bosses, and the cycle goes on and on. When I joined [DNSimple](https://dnsimple.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org), I finally saw a shift. My boss, our CEO, Anthony Eden showed me that kindness does have a place at work, and the team is better because of it. So I made a conscious effort to be the leader I always knew could exist. I approach leadership much like I do when I’m helping customers, but treating my team and anyone I’m working with, the way I want to be treated. I’ve had some bumps, but I’ve also had some incredible wins. The team I’ve built is the most impressive, cohesive unit I have ever had the pleasure of working with. I give them the space to shine, and know they’re going to be honest when we chat, because I’m honest with them. **Q: Can you share a strategy that helped you succeed in roles you were initially not qualified for on paper?** As cheesy as it sounds, fake it till you make it. Often, when someone is deemed “not qualified” for a role it’s because those hiring are focusing on “qualifications” that mean nothing once you’re doing the job. I know what I’m good at, and I know I’m better at what I’m good at than most people, so I figure out how the heck I’m going to get that point across on a resume, or a cover letter, or in an interview. If you go into it already doubting yourself because you don’t have a degree, or you haven’t technically had the job title they need, you’ll be spending too much time trying to sell it to yourself than you do to those that you should be selling to in the first place. Sometimes, you’re not going to get the chance to show off your skills, but if you don’t try because you’re too nervous for a stranger to not give you the time of day you’re never going to know how incredible it feels to crush it in a job on paper you had no business applying for. **Q: As the Vice President of Customer Success, what strategies have you implemented to make the support experience the number one driver for retention in your company?** The support experience is what it is today because I have trained my team to take their time and find the actual reason why the customer could no longer continue independently. The support experience crumbles instantly when the customer feels like you don’t care enough about their success to spend time helping them. Make the customer leave the conversation feeling confident to continue on their own, but safe to ask questions if they need it. Do that and they’ll have no reason to look elsewhere. Way too often, I experience support myself where you get sent gibberish that has nothing to do with the issue. Probably because the support team is stretched too thin and is pressured to answer more more more, regardless of what you’re actually sending out. Why? They’ll just have to answer more more more all over again when the people write back angry and confused. It’s so inefficient and it’s so unfair to the support team. **Q: What's been the most challenging aspect of scaling SaaS support teams, and how did you overcome it?** I don’t think this is specific to SaaS, but it was hard to not have the time to be as hands on as I was in the beginning. As the business grows, the information you’re gathering grows and the opportunity to explore what you’re learning grows. And the chance to actually tackle what you’re learning to make your team and the customer more efficient grows. It’s incredible! But, it’s also time consuming. Working remote, especially, you can’t be alone in your tower. You need to build the team you need to deliver the results you require, but you also need to build the team you need to collaborate and work with, so finding the balance, especially early on, was a struggle. I burnt out trying to do it all. Once I started to delegate, but in a way that felt inclusive, I was, and still am, blown away at how efficiently we operate, and how connected I still feel to everyone. The other day I was looking at ticket volume from February 2023 and February 2024 and our volume had reduced by more than half. But our business has grown! That’s a success I want to celebrate. **Q: How do you keep the harmony between boss mode, family fun, and me-time?** Oof…Harmony is aspirational…think that’s the best way to put it. I’ve accepted that I’m in a season of life where harmony is beautiful when it happens, but it’s usually not in the cards, and that’s okay. Just last night, I was having a moment. All of these incredible and unexpected things are happening, but yet I was so mad at myself because I wasn’t as present as I felt like I needed to be in that moment with my kids. I’m lucky that I have a true partner in my husband who tells me, like he did yesterday, that I can’t be an overachiever in every aspect of my life at all times. And in that moment, I needed to give myself some grace. That being said, it all comes in waves. No one can “have it all” without making some adjustments to what having it all actually means. I’m grateful for this life we’re building with our boys, and this career that allows me to stay true to who I am and help others be successful. I’m also grateful for the moments I take for myself, I’ve got a half-marathon to train for, I’ve taken up quilting and I’ve been working on some interior design projects. I think back on my journey and what I’ve achieved and it’s pretty nuts. Me 15 years ago would never have dreamed that I would be in a place where I’m building international support teams, and developing a space for people to approach leadership with kindness, and make positive change for themselves and others. And as a mom, I love that I’m showing my boys that success can be bumpy and challenging, but fulfilling and exciting. It’s a ride I’m glad to be on. > Are you a female executive with a powerful story to share? *Founded by Women* is dedicated to elevating and amplifying the voices of women making an impact. If you want to share your story, don't hesitate to [contact us](https://www.foundedbywomen.org/share-your-story/). ### Empowering Youth through Mental Health Education: A Q&A with Jihad Bnimoussa URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/interviews/jihad-bnimoussa-inspirecorp/ Last updated: 2025-05-02T14:11:52.000Z Welcome to today's interview with Jihad Bnimoussa, the founder of [InspireCorp](http://inspirecorp.org/?ref=foundedbywomen.org), the first mental health social enterprise in the MENA region. With an MSc from the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, and a wealth of international experience in the UAE, Turkey, and Morocco, Jihad has built accessible mental health solutions that empower individuals to take control of their own minds. Her work focuses on building the psychological resilience of youth through high-impact prevention and early intervention programs, reaching up to 8 million young people in Morocco. Jihad has worked with various UN bodies, national and international organizations, and across different sectors to make a positive impact on the lives of thousands of youth, educators, and social workers in the region. She is a Stanford AMENDS Fellow and an Atlantic Dialogues Emerging Leader, and has presented her work at prestigious international forums such as UK Parliament, MISK Global Forum, and TEDxYouth. Jihad's work has received widespread recognition and has been featured in various press outlets, including BBC radio, Women in Leadership Magazine, Medi1TV, Morocco World News, and Hespress. Join us as we learn more about Jihad's inspiring journey and her mission to promote mental health in the MENA region. ## Q: Can you tell us about the inspiration behind starting InspireCorp and the challenges you faced in creating the first mental health social enterprise in the MENA region? Growing up across different cultures and contexts, from the Falls Church, Virginia, to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, to Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates, I found a common human experience in mental struggle. As humans, we all struggle with our inner world, with our minds, regardless of our age or background. This sparked my curiosity for Psychology and led me down that path academically. However, as I was studying psychology in Istanbul, I started working with Syrian Refugee children and found that a lot of the traditional resources we are taught to rely on like one-on-one therapy aren't accessible. Once I moved to Morocco, I learned the extent of these gaps across all low to middle income countries. This inspired me to start my social enterprise to explore alternative pathways of supporting the mental health and positive development of young people beyond the traditional model of therapy. Adolescence is an age that is often overlooked. It is seen as a transition stage, the awkward troublesome phase between sweet childhood and responsible adulthood. An unexpected challenge I found in starting my social enterprise is figuring out the business and revenue model. It's hard to just create programs directly for young people because they are often reliant on parents being convinced of the value of the program and in a context that focuses a lot on academics, mental health seems like a luxury (regardless of how much it impacts academic performance). It was also something schools were not willing to pay for and wanted to instead transfer the cost onto parents. This challenge reflects the reality of young people not being able to access support resources unless the severity of their risk or mental struggle is really high. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2023/04/day-2-nsq-33--1-.jpg) ## Q: Can you share a specific example of a program you've created and its impact on the youth and community it served? We have designed a comprehensive curriculum in partnership with a leading values education institution here in Morocco and the Ministry of education that is being integrated into teacher training nationally, thus reaching 3,000 public schools and 8 million young people. We have also worked with a UN agency to conduct a study in the North of Morocco with vulnerable youth populations and design training programs for NGO staff who work directly with young people. We also are on the Advisory board for a multinational project led by Grand Challenges Canada to plan and implement high impact investments into youth mental health in low to middle income countries. We're also currently developing a youth facing brand that will provide training programs directly to youth. > We always start by recognizing and identifying the strengths that exist in the community in order to use them as structural walls that build our program design. ## Q: How do cultural differences affect the approach to mental health and how do you navigate these differences in your work? Cultural differences exist in every context - the assumption that they are specific to "other" contexts render the specificities of our context invisible to us and can lead to the design of solutions based on assumptions rather than reality. We have advised teachers and organizations in the United States on navigating different youth cultures because of our approach to local context as the starting point of analysis. We always start by recognizing and identifying the strengths that exist in the community in order to use them as structural walls that build our program design. It aids in the integration of solutions in the end and the sustainability of their use thus furthering our target outcomes. It's important to recognize the assumptions we walk into a context with and whether they are real or imagined. For example, when we started working on our emotion research and emotional literacy programs, we assumed that the local context is emotionally repressive with few open expressions of emotions but that was quickly disproved. We found that direct use of emotion words is a feature of American culture while Moroccan culture uses expressions, idioms and sayings to express emotion - so we just needed to identify the local form of emotion expression! > Prevention and early intervention in mental health needs to happen in the spaces young people exist in, in digital spaces, educational spaces, and community spaces. ## Q: Can you speak to the importance of building psychological resilience in youth and how it contributes to overall well-being? The majority of the next generation doesn't live in western countries. The majority of young people in our global population are in low to middle income countries. Just like all young people, they face the highest burden of mental health struggle but with the lowest access to support resources. The majority of mental illness begins in adolescence (neurologically considered to be from 13 to 25 years old) and it's an age when young people ask the most fundamental questions about their lives, negotiating identity, navigating social relationships, and trying to carve out their own way of being in the world. It's a beautifully chaotic time in our lives. I wanted to use my knowledge in psychology to give young people agency over their own minds. When we have agency over our minds, we are able to navigate life and its ups and downs with clarity and self compassion. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2023/04/day-2-nsq-34.jpg) ## Q: Your work has been recognized through various international forums and press outlets, what message do you hope to convey through your work and how do you see it impacting the mental health field in the future? Mental health has always been examined within the context of the healthcare system yet it is embedded into all of our other systems as well. I am interested in how understanding young people and how they navigate their lives and how to support their development can transform education and community support, thus supporting their mental health. Prevention and early intervention in mental health needs to happen in the spaces young people exist in, in digital spaces, educational spaces, and community spaces. Technology, and especially artificial intelligence and augmented reality, presents a singular opportunity to rethink and reimagine our education systems and our forms of community support. We need to approach these topics in a multidisciplinary and integrated way because young people experience them as one whole. *Published on April 10th, 2023* 💡 Are you a female founder with a powerful story to share? *Founded by Women* is dedicated to elevating and amplifying the voices of women making an impact. If you want to share your story, don't hesitate to [contact us](https://www.foundedbywomen.org/share-your-story/). ### Q&A with Shaykara Webster, Chief of Staff at Amenities Health URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/interviews/shaykara-webster-amenities-health/ Last updated: 2025-05-02T14:09:27.000Z Meet [Shay](https://www.linkedin.com/in/shaykara?ref=foundedbywomen.org), the go-to guru in HR and operations, currently shining as the Chief of Staff at [Amenities Health](https://amenitieshealth.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org). Shay's journey through the HR landscape is marked by significant roles and achievements, from pioneering the HR department at Livepeer as their first HR hire and navigating the company through periods of hypergrowth and challenging reductions in force, to leading people operations for Women Who Code's vast network of volunteers across the globe. Her strategic involvement in people operations and financial oversight extended over 200 technologists worldwide, showcasing her ability to lead and manage at scale. In addition to her corporate roles, Shay has dedicated her expertise to supporting diversity and inclusion in tech through her positions with Incluzion and The Choose True Project, and co-founding 3MC Business Solutions in 2018\. This consulting firm, under Shay's guidance, has provided invaluable support to clients like Microsoft and Wordpress Buffs, leveraging her extensive background in program management, talent acquisition, and diversity/inclusion. Raised in Columbia, South Carolina, Shay's educational and professional journey is as inspiring as it is impressive, culminating in an MBA with a concentration in HR management from Winthrop University while working full-time in Charlotte, NC. Now residing in Atlanta, GA, with her husband, Shay balances her professional aspirations with a love for travel, movies, and cooking, bringing a well-rounded perspective to everything she does. **Q: What motivated your career transition from global HR roles to Chief of Staff at Amenities Health, and how does your background in people operations enhance your current role?** It wasn't a transition for me. I've always worked in dual capacities between Global HR and Global Business operations, and this role as chief of staff at amenities health was no different because not only do I support the CEO on business operations I also oversee our people operations business function. As we scale and grow I'll eventually need to decide if I want to go the COO or CHRO route and hire someone for the other route, but until then I really appreciate the opportunity to utilize both skillsets. People Operations and Business Operations have so much in common, but having a MBA background has allowed me to leverage both so effortlessly on all of the teams I've supported both fractionally and full time. **Q: Reflecting on your experiences at Livepeer, especially during expansion and reduction phases, what were the key challenges and learnings from scaling teams and leading a reduction in force?** The key challenges are all aligned to learnings, which is something I will always appreciate. Some of the challenges that were recurring for different reasons include timing, financial forecasts, and tough conversations. Timing is a challenge with any growing business, because you won't always nail timing perfectly but there's almost always the 'perfect' time to do everything. From hiring to promotions to organizational structural updates to process improvements and implementations. There's so much to do in a business, and very little time to slow down so you learn how to get things done while moving simultaneously. Financial forecasts is a learning that becomes a challenge when you realize that not everything can be forecasted, especially in a startup. This means that no matter how many financial reports we audited or how far out we forecasted, we could not predict the market occurrences that led to the entire tech industry conducting layoffs, especially web3 technology. Though unfortunate, and not my first time experiencing a layoff - it was my first time leading the behind the scenes of everything that goes into a RIF (reduction in force). The tough conversations you have to have with employees impacted and those remaining is something you never get use to, but with experience and a level of transparency it does get a little easier to digest. The biggest learning of them all, is to remain nimble. Always be willing and capable to pivot. Not just in business, but in life. **Q: Given your commitment to diversity and inclusion through roles at Women Who Code and The Choose True Project, could you share a memorable initiative that significantly impacted diversity in tech?** I'd first like to say that my commitment to diversity isn't a trend like the market adopted some years ago. My commitment to diversity is a part of my personality as a black woman in America. I say this to say, a lot of my learnings and understanding of DEI will come from a lived experience whereas someone who can't relate will get their learnings and understanding from a textbook and it is vastly different. A memorable initiative that significantly impacted diversity in tech was my collaboration with Incluzion. I joined their team as the chief talent acquisition officer, and was able to partner with so many organizations in tech on their DEI initiatives. All of which were measurable and translated to true impact from making candidate experiences more inclusive to increasing diverse candidate reach to hiring more diverse candidates to retaining diversity on the team and developing those hires into leaders throughout the organization. DEI is a full cycle initiative, yet so many organizations only focus on the hiring part of it all. **Q: What drove you to co-found 3MC Business Solutions, and could you highlight a project that showcases your firm’s expertise and your approach to consulting?** Co founding 3MC business solutions honestly fell in my lap. Throughout my career I've taken relationships very seriously, and have been able to build a great rapport with all of my colleagues and bosses. So much so, that many of them would reach out with opportunities after I've moved on to the next stage of my career. Many of these opportunities would be project based or on an as needed basis, and it got to the point where I couldn't support everyone that asked all by myself. Instead of turning them down, I figured it could be a way for me to build a diverse talent pipeline and community of freelancers who have the skill set and expertise for each project request while simultaneously giving minorities access to opportunities that allow them to supplement their income. A project that I would highlight to showcase our firm's expertise is our collaboration with [moveon.org](http://moveon.org/?ref=foundedbywomen.org). I was able to find their new CTO for them by leading a DEI focused executive search, and I had a team of engineers support me on the technical assessment stage of the hiring process. **Q: How do you balance a demanding career with personal interests, and how has moving across different cities influenced your growth both personally and professionally?** I balance my career with personal interests by leaving work at work, and truly utilizing my calendar & agenda. I typically list out everything I need to complete in a day, with an additional 'nice to knock out' task list. No day is the same, so there are absolutely days where I drop the ball at work but carried it well at home, or vis versa. Acknowledging that every day won't be the same, giving myself grace where needed, and having a supportive husband + family & friends has been my cheat code for balancing work & life. Utilizing my weekends as time away from work and moving across different cities + traveling for fun has allowed me to gain exposure to different perspectives and ways of doing things which is always a value add when you're responsible for creating and implementing new processes, policies, and workflows. > Are you a female executive with a powerful story to share? *Founded by Women* is dedicated to elevating and amplifying the voices of women making an impact. If you want to share your story, don't hesitate to [contact us](https://www.foundedbywomen.org/share-your-story/). ### Masterful Streaks URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/partners/founding/masterful-streaks/ Last updated: 2025-12-29T06:54:26.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2025/06/streaks.png) #### Breindy R Kohn earned her Master's in Social Work from Touro University, and in her internship, she served as a therapist at a mental health clinic. She wears different hats, though, one of which is business, another is helping people, and finally, she is an aquatics professional. In her business initiatives, she launched Masterful Streaks Inc., which has helped many businesses and non-profits successfully launch or restructure. [Visit Website](https://www.masterfulstreaksinc.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ### Leading with the Human-Me in the Machine World URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/articles/leading-with-the-human-me-in-the-machine-world/ Last updated: 2025-05-02T14:11:02.000Z *In Conversation with Padmini Murthy, Fractional/Growth CMO Mom, Founder - Content Sense* ## The Journey to here… *Rebuilding in a machine ++ world* Padmini's professional and personal journey- to- here is quite interesting. She likes to call herself a 'late bloomer'. The initial years went in raising her son and building her extended family and ecosystem. As an Indian-American immigrant who came into the United States 25 years ago, she finds new energy and headspace to march into the next phase of her growth. She carries with her more than a decade and a half of experience in technology marketing to make new footprints and to rewire and rebuild in the machine world. “Nothing sticks like being yourself whilst everyone’s taken. Whether you're leading an organization or a family, bringing your best (and chaotic), but your most authentic self to everything (including the robots), is the magic pill." Read her nuggets and experiences on the value of the ‘human-me’... ## Yes, we mess up! *Light bulb moments with my 16-year-old* Faux pas - and that's the beauty of being human. We end up stumbling on less-discovered paths, which opens up ways to find unique experiences, doesn't it? Very interestingly, my son and I were discussing his college applications, and he said - "mum, I need to find a way to tell a different story in my application. Can you help me"? My response to him was, "son, become that story. Make mistakes, feel vulnerable, and be open to experiences, but in all this, stay connected to your truth so you can accept the consequences and see where life takes you. And if you're not messing up, you're not learning or growing. Remember, just like the AI algorithm, which is constantly calibrating, learning and improving. ## Because we care *The emotional intelligence + the South Asian cultural rooting* Yes, women are wired to care. And that's a boon and a privilege. The emotional intelligence that comes out of that type of DNA is unmatchable. And the mountains we can move by applying that intelligence to change things around us are limitless. Often, though, I see women getting into an imposter syndrome mode. Being overwhelmed by the system and the mechanics, there are cycles of self-doubt and self-worth assessment. At the cost of stereotyping, it's true more for South Asian women who come from a vastly different cultural construct. They find themselves dealing with this dichotomy quite frequently. However, some can turn this intelligence and all the cultural conditioning into strength. The emotional investment, nurturing, and giving become an untold story of bravery and love. While the machine world has still not decoded the construct of emotions and deep feelings, this is our way to stand out and stand with AI, yes? ## The long game for the long tail *Run the race at your own speed. Watch for the bumps, but enjoy the ride.* You've heard this many times, but at the cost of sounding like a broken record - it's a journey, and it's all about the journey! And through this, there are many 'aha' and 'oh no' moments. The good part - one event doesn't define the course. The not-so-good part - don't let one event define your course:-). A triathlete has to be multidextrous at reaching the finish line but might, along the way, realize that running is their core strength. A kid, while good at both math and science, might, along the way, find more passion in medicine - as a function of having seen their parents create an impact as doctors. Let the data normalize itself to find an emerging pattern (similar to an algorithm), but listen to your heart (unlike the algorithm). A combination of these could be your human-me winning formula! ## The power of the human-me *Refactor the emotions* The best leaders constantly 'learn from the street,' understanding and deconstructing complex emotions to drive signals. Situations change, and people evolve based on their experiences. The process of refactoring helps to understand the human-me in everyone through their unique journey. All this is to build a better place to hang out and do our part - human by human in an increasingly machine-driven era! And yes, women are hands-down well-placed to own and lead this charter. > Are you a female executive with a powerful story to share? *Founded by Women* is dedicated to elevating and amplifying the voices of women making an impact. If you want to share your story, don't hesitate to [contact us](https://www.foundedbywomen.org/share-your-story/). ### Q&A with Tiana Starks, Director of Communications at We the People of Detroit URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/interviews/tiana-starks/ Last updated: 2025-05-02T14:09:58.000Z In an inspiring Q&A session, Tiana Starks shares her entrepreneurial journey that began in 2015 after a job layoff led her to reassess her career path. Overcoming various challenges and transformations, Tiana is now focused on a new venture aimed at supporting mompreneurs. She highlights the scarcity of resources tailored to the unique needs of mothers in business and expresses her commitment to being a role model for resilience and adaptability in entrepreneurship. Tiana's story is not just about building a business; it's about breaking free from self-imposed limitations and demonstrating the power of starting anew, with a specific emphasis on empowering women who juggle the dual roles of motherhood and business ownership. **Q: What motivated you to enter the world of entrepreneurship, especially after your job layoff in 2015?** In 2012, I left a rather large ad agency for a smaller, more boutique agency. It was there that I started dreaming of starting my own advertising business. I knew that I'd had training from the industry's best at my previous corporate job, and the men running the new company I was at had no advertising experience before starting their company. I honestly just felt like I could do it better, so I started putting the pieces together to build my own thing. I left that company for another smaller agency that worked exclusively with big brands and Fortune 500 companies. Unfortunately, the company culture at this new agency was very toxic. It was like walking into the movie Mean Girls every day. One day in 2015, I was randomly laid off, and I didn't realize it, but it was a blessing in disguise. I left with tears in my eyes and went straight to a friend's home. This friend was in sales, and I said to him, "I need you to help me sell five $500 websites." And that's really when my journey as an entrepreneur started. Selling those $500 websites helped me develop the confidence I needed to pursue creating my own agency. **Q: How has being a mother influenced your entrepreneurial ventures, particularly with your focus on creating a platform for mompreneurs?** I love this question because it allows me to be very honest. As women in our society, we're expected to relish motherhood and all things domestic, which is also a part of the reason I'm creating this platform for mompreneurs. But, honestly, motherhood is hard, and starting a business while being a mom is harder. At the beginning, when I was beginning to see success selling $500 sites, I became pregnant with my son, and honestly, I was devastated. I was just starting to create the momentum I needed. Because of what I was taught and thought motherhood should be, I felt like my dream of becoming a business owner was halted before it could take off. I remember sleeping and crying a lot. I had a lot of anxiety about becoming a mother of two. My daughter was five at the time. But after I got over the initial anxiousness, I realized that with intentionality, I could take control of the situation and create a flexible life that worked for my family. The company that had laid me off, called me back to work. I negotiated going back part-time as a contractor. At the same time, I continued to pursue my business. I was able to create the flexibility and financial stability that I needed to get adequate childcare when I was working and sufficient time with my children in their pre-school years, especially immediately after the birth of my son. **Q: Can you share more about the success of your marketing consultancy and ad agency, including the key strategies that contributed to their growth and recognition?** So, after my son was born, I had to be very strategic about how I spent my time and focus on actions that would have the biggest impact both at home and in my business. I became intentional about developing a morning routine supporting the mindset I needed to reach my goals. I put in place strategies to stay on top of my long-term and short-term goals, which I call Laddering Up. I leaned into my strengths. I'm very introverted and had real concerns about developing the relationships I needed to be a successful business person. Posting on social media was not my thing. However, I've learned that everything becomes easier when you filter things through your own lens and your own strengths and create a plan. I attended networking events once a week for months when I first started. Instead of being timid, I decided to take an active interest in the people I met, to not focus on the quantity of people I met, but on the quality of the conversations I could have and build upon. Soon after that, I landed my first 5-figure contract, and it was up from there. By my second full year as a business owner, I had built my consultancy into a 6-figure company... And it was overwhelming! That's when I knew that I needed support beyond project-based contractors. I then began the process of getting to know my soon-to-be business partner. We merged and created Brandhrt Evolution and a whole new set of successes and challenges came with that. But we were able to do some great work with well-known brands like Converse and win industry awards for our work. **Q: In what ways has your role at We the People of Detroit allowed you to make a difference, and why is this work meaningful to you?** My relationship We the People of Detroit started with them as a client. They were a small nonprofit, gaining local, regional, and national momentum in the fight for water justice. The founders needed a website and some guidance on how to brand the organization, and I was there to support them. I fell in love with the organization, their approach to the work they were taking on and their mission! After working in the ad industry for ten years at that point, working with WPD reinvigorated me. The work is meaningful, and we are doing advertising to make a real difference for people in our communities and people across the nation who really need help. I've been a part of coordinating Webinars with Vice President Kamala Harris. I've gone to Capitol Hill to advocate for legislative changes and the creation of policies that will determine whether a family has water in their homes. Working with WPD has helped me to gain perspective on what really matters and the ways in which I want to use my skills to impact change and make the world better, which is also why I'm pursuing building a platform to support mothers who want to be successful entrepreneurs on their own terms. There are only a few resources out there that are directly and specifically for us. I want to be a beacon, to create a reliable place that supports these moms. **Q: How do you balance your professional aspirations with your personal interests and family life, especially given your diverse roles and commitments?** I won't lie, it's hard. I try not to focus on "balancing" as much as realizing that I cannot compartmentalize. I am a whole person. I deserve grace, and I have to integrate all of the components of my life together to create the work-life "harmony" that I desire. I know there will be some weeks that I perform better in my work-life, and some weeks, I'll perform better in my mom-life, but in the end, it all balances out. In a more practical sense, I'm a planner. I do a lot of work to determine the goals I want to reach, and I build milestones into my year to help me focus and measure where I am in terms of achieving those goals. I revisit my quarterly goals daily, including professional and personal ones. I write my to-do list daily to maintain a sense of control over what needs to be done. And I can't say this enough: I grant myself grace. If I don't accomplish a thing today, it gets moved to tomorrow's list. > Are you a female executive with a powerful story to share? *Founded by Women* is dedicated to elevating and amplifying the voices of women making an impact. If you want to share your story, don't hesitate to [contact us](https://www.foundedbywomen.org/share-your-story/). ### Sanas URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/partners/founding/sanas/ Last updated: 2025-12-29T06:54:37.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2025/06/Sanas_Logo.jpg) #### Founded in 2020, Sanas is a pioneer of real-time speech understanding technology. Its patented, market-leading AI-powered products break communication barriers so everyone can understand and be understood. [Visit website](https://www.sanas.ai/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ### Stephanie Hicks Co. URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/partners/founding/stephanie-hicks-co/ Last updated: 2025-12-29T06:54:47.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2025/06/Screenshot-2025-06-17-at-09.32.03.png) #### At Stephanie Hicks Co., we are more than just a brand; we are a guiding light for women navigating the complex interplay between their spiritual beliefs and their true selves. Our space is one where questions are welcomed, healing is nurtured, and every woman can embark on a journey of reconciliation — not just with her faith, but with her very essence. [Visit website](https://stephaniehicks.co/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ### Laura Greenwood Therapy URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/partners/founding/laura-greenwood-therapy/ Last updated: 2025-12-29T06:56:23.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2025/06/filters_no_upscale---1.webp) #### ****Award Winning** Specialist Mental Health & Wellbeing Clinic [Visit website](https://lauragreenwoodtherapy.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ### MultiplAI Health URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/partners/founding/multiplai-health/ Last updated: 2025-05-30T12:32:10.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2025/05/6165af09346a6d20b3379894_logo-horizontal-800.png) #### MultiplAI Health MultiplAI Health is developing ground-breaking RNA-based, AI-driven screening technology in the form of a simple blood test to transform how cardiovascular diseases are diagnosed [Visit website](https://www.multiplaihealth.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ### Top Designer Bracelets Every Woman Needs URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/all/top-designer-bracelets-every-woman-needs/ Last updated: 2025-05-21T11:43:08.000Z Designer bracelets have always felt like more than just accessories—they're wearable expressions of personal style, memories, and milestones. The first time I received one, it was a graduation gift—a slim gold cuff engraved with my initials. It wasn’t flashy, but it carried weight. I wore it every day for a year, and even now, whenever I glance at it, I remember that feeling of finally crossing the stage. Whether you’re looking to celebrate something or simply elevate your style,[ **designer bracelets**](https://carterevejewelry.com/collections/bracelets/bracelets?ref=foundedbywomen.org) bring meaning and sophistication to any wardrobe. They bridge the gap between everyday wear and luxurious elegance, making them a smart investment in both fashion and sentiment. ### **Why Designer Bracelets Stand Out** It’s not just about the price tag or the brand name. True designer pieces are crafted with care, often by artisans who obsess over detail. Unlike fast fashion or costume jewelry, they last—both in durability and in style. They use premium metals, genuine stones, and designs that don’t go out of fashion in a month. There’s also a story behind each collection. Take for example, a friend of mine who bought herself a sterling silver chain bracelet after her first big promotion. Every link felt like a symbol of the hustle it took to get there. You won’t find that kind of meaning in [mass-produced accessories](https://calicounicorn.com/blogs/news/why-choose-artisan-handcrafted-jewelry-over-mass-produced-accessories?srsltid=AfmBOoodGch2XvfxhwhsHIShW6EVpQhD3FnyHPE9B7qUfinKw9NxP3A%5F&ref=foundedbywomen.org). ### **Styles That Blend Timelessness with Today** When it comes to styling, I’ve noticed three types of bracelets that never fail to impress. Each brings its own energy to an outfit and can easily be layered or worn solo. #### **1\. Minimalist Bangles** These sleek, often single-metal cuffs are the silent power pieces. Perfect for workdays or clean-cut looks, they don’t scream for attention, but they’re always noticed. I keep one in my travel bag because it goes with anything—jeans, dresses, or even a black jumpsuit for dinner meetings. #### **2\. Gemstone Accents** These are the conversation starters. Whether it’s a delicate sapphire on a gold chain or a stack of semi-precious beads, gemstone bracelets add colour and dimension. One woman I met at an art fair was wearing a moonstone bracelet with a vintage clasp—turns out it was handed down from her grandmother, who was a jeweler herself. Stories like that show the emotional depth designer jewelry can carry. #### **3\. Charm Bracelets** Personalized and playful, charm bracelets are making a strong comeback. They’re more refined now—less bulky, more intentional. You can start with a single charm that represents something close to you, then build over time. A friend of mine adds one charm for every new city she visits. It’s like a travel diary wrapped around her wrist. ### **Designer vs. High-Street: Is There Really a Difference?** Absolutely. I’ve tested both, and the difference becomes clear after just a few wears. Designer bracelets retain their shine, structure, and clasp strength. You won’t find your wrist turning green or the metal warping after a week. One time, I bought a “gold-plated” bracelet from a high-street brand during a flash sale. It looked great on day one. By day seven, it had lost all its colour and left a rash. Never again. ### **How to Choose the Right Bracelet for You** Start with how you want it to feel. Do you want it to blend in or stand out? Think about when and where you’ll wear it most. Office? Brunch? Wedding? Daily errands? Here are a few quick tips I follow before investing: - **Check materials.** Look for solid gold, sterling silver, or high-quality vermeil. - **Consider versatility.** If it only works with one outfit, it’s not worth it. - **Look for handcrafting.** It adds uniqueness and often better durability. - **Read reviews.** People often share wear-and-tear experiences that the product photos won’t reveal. ### **The Sentiment Behind the Shine** Designer bracelets often mark a moment. Maybe it’s the birth of your child, the start of a new job, or surviving a rough patch. I once gifted a rose gold bracelet engraved with “One Day at a Time” to my sister after she left a toxic job. She wore it daily for a year, and every time she glanced at her wrist, it reminded her that she was strong enough to walk away. These aren’t just things we wear—they’re personal symbols. They carry meaning long after we’ve forgotten where we got them from. ### **Care Tips to Make It Last** You’ve invested in something meaningful, so treat it like it. Here’s what I’ve learned over the years about keeping designer jewelry in top condition: - **Store separately.** Use a soft pouch or lined box to prevent scratches. - **Keep away from chemicals.** Lotions, perfumes, and cleaning products can damage finishes. - **Wipe after wear.** A quick rub with a microfiber cloth keeps it shiny and fingerprint-free. - **Avoid water.** Even waterproof pieces can lose lustre with repeated exposure. ### **Final Thoughts** Designer bracelets aren’t just jewelry—they’re part of your narrative. Whether you're curating your first fine piece or adding to a growing collection, choose pieces that speak to you. And remember, the right bracelet doesn’t just complete an outfit—it completes a moment. Would you like me to expand this piece with sections on trending materials, seasonal styles, or bracelet stacking tips? ### Spotlight on Jordan Benston: Building Oracle Media and Shaping the Future of Production URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/interviews/jordan-benston-oracle-media/ Last updated: 2025-05-02T14:11:20.000Z Jordan Benston also known as JB, owner and founder of Oracle Media LLC “Oracle Media,” a Black female owned full-service production company, responsible for custom curated digital, linear, and editorial content. Oracle Media prides itself on results through its team of professional, dedicated, and established crew members, who provide production services for today’s biggest media companies and celebrities. From her internship at BET, JB caught the production bug. Graduating with a major in Pre-Law and a minor in Philosophy from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, that production bug inspired her to move to NYC to begin her career in media. She has been influenced by Black female media heavy hitters such as Oprah Winfrey, Ava Duvernay, Issa Rae, and Lena Waithe. JB learned early on that “No matter how you start your life, you can always change your future. No matter how low you start, you can rise above it all if you believe in yourself and strive to be better.” As a small-town girl who grew up in Washington, NC to a big city media mogul in New York City on her way to the top, JB wants others to see her path and use it as a guide. With a range of accomplishments already under her belt, JB has worked for some of the biggest media brands like, BET, MTV, VH1, REVOLT TV, and AppleTV+. JB has a steadfast five-year plan for Oracle Media to continue to create intriguing and riveting original content eventually including scripted series, docu-series, and documentaries. As a mom of two and loving wife in her spare time she enjoys cooking and traveling, which are things she is looking to do more of as she expands her media empire. ## Q: What inspired you to found {business} and what were the main challenges you faced? I was inspired to start my business because I knew that there was a special quality that I bring to the table as a business owner with a wealth of knowledge in media production. The main challenges that I have faced is being intentional about gaining new clients ## Q: Did you start the venture alone? My business was birthed by a conversation with my mentor, Malik Buie. I had been telling him for a while that I was thinking about starting my own company. One day he put me on an email with his lawyer and Oracle Media was born. ## Q: What's your business model, and how have you grown your revenue? My business model is that "We specialize in results" one of the things that I've been known for as an individual is getting the job done. I started out just using myself and my skills to get the job done and as I produced results that exceeded my clients' expectations, I was then able to hire a team to help me grow and produce more content and garner more revenue. 💡 Are you a female founder with a powerful story to share? **Founded by Women* is dedicated to elevating and amplifying the voices of women making an impact. If you want to share your story, don't hesitate to [contact us](https://www.foundedbywomen.org/share-your-story/). ### Cute Rave Outfits That Will Make You Stand Out at Any Event URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/all/cute-rave-outfits-that-will-make-you-stand-out-at-any-event/ Last updated: 2025-05-01T14:00:29.000Z If you're planning to attend a rave, finding **cute rave outfits** that are both comfortable and stylish is key to making your night memorable. I remember the first rave I ever went to—I was so excited but had no idea what to wear.My friends had been to a few before, so they gave me some advice: go bold, be comfortable, and don’t be afraid to stand out.That advice has stuck with me, and over the years, I’ve learned what works best at a rave when it comes to outfits. ### **Finding the Perfect Rave Look** When you think of raves, you think of bright colors, unique patterns, and a lot of personality in every outfit.Rave culture has always been about self-expression, so there are no real rules—only creativity.Whether you’re into neon shades, metallics, or holographic materials, there’s something for everyone.For me, it's always been about balancing comfort with style.You want to be able to dance for hours without feeling restricted by your clothes, but you also want to look amazing in photos. One of my favorite looks includes pairing a neon mesh crop top with high-waisted shorts and a pair of chunky boots.The boots not only add to the aesthetic but also keep your feet comfortable as you navigate the event.Adding accessories like fishnet stockings and reflective sunglasses can give you that extra edge. #### **Top Tips for Creating Cute Rave Outfits** 1. **Comfort is Key**You’ll be dancing, walking, and standing for hours, so make sure your outfit moves with you.I once made the mistake of wearing a tight skirt to a rave—big mistake.Every time I tried to dance, I had to readjust it, which was super annoying.Go for stretchy materials like spandex or nylon, which will let you move freely. 2. **Layer for Versatility**Raves can get hot, but they can also be cold depending on the venue.I’ve found that layering is a lifesaver.Start with a base layer like a crop top and shorts, then add a light jacket or kimono that you can easily take off when things heat up. 3. **Accessories Make the Look**A cute rave outfit isn’t complete without accessories.You can go simple with a pair of funky earrings or go all out with LED bracelets, neon fanny packs, and colorful bandanas.Once, I wore a pair of light-up shoes, and I can’t tell you how many compliments I got—they were the perfect conversation starter! #### **Colors and Materials That Pop** When it comes to [**cute rave outfits**](https://www.ravewonderland.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) fashion, color is everything.Bright, bold hues not only make you stand out in a crowd but also add to the overall energy of the event.I’m personally a fan of neon pink and electric blue, but you can play around with any color palette that speaks to you.You’ll often see holographic or metallic materials at raves, and for good reason—they catch the light perfectly and create that futuristic vibe. Another material I love is mesh—it’s breathable, lightweight, and adds a cool, edgy look to your outfit.I remember wearing a neon mesh bodysuit to a festival last summer, and not only was it a huge hit, but it also kept me cool during the day. ### **How to Stand Out Without Trying Too Hard** The key to standing out at a rave isn’t about wearing the [**wildest outfit**](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/lifestyle/style/crazy-met-gala-2024-outfits-1235892056/?ref=foundedbywomen.org)—it’s about feeling confident in what you wear.Confidence makes any outfit shine.One night, I decided to go for a more understated look with a simple black bodysuit and metallic shorts.I added a reflective jacket and some glow-in-the-dark makeup, and it turned into one of my favorite looks ever.Sometimes, less is more, especially when you add the right finishing touches. When choosing your rave outfit, think about how you want to express yourself.Are you going for a space-age vibe with metallics and holographics, or do you prefer a more bohemian look with flowy fabrics and floral patterns?Whatever your style, owning your look is what will set you apart. #### **Footwear for Long Nights** Comfortable footwear is just as important as the outfit itself.While many people opt for platform boots, which are super trendy and give you that extra height, I’ve found that wearing comfortable sneakers or combat boots works better if you’re planning to dance all night.One time, I made the mistake of wearing sandals to a rave, thinking they would keep me cool—but I regretted it within an hour.After that experience, I always stick to something with more support. ### **Final Thoughts on Cute Rave Outfits** When putting together cute rave outfits, focus on your personal style, comfort, and a few statement pieces.A good rule of thumb is to choose one or two standout items—like a neon top or glittery jacket—and build the rest of the look around them. Remember, rave culture is all about self-expression.No matter what you wear, as long as you’re confident and comfortable, you’re going to have an amazing time. **Bio** ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2024/10/image-2.png) Brandon Johnson is an avid raver from the Midwest who helps with marketing at Rave Wonderland. You can find him at the bass stage. ### DNSimple URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/partners/founding/dnsimple/ Last updated: 2024-03-12T03:14:10.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2024/03/download.png) #### DNSimple Manage domains and DNS across registrars and providers. Take control of all your assets wherever they live – at DNSimple, on premise, or in third-party clouds with our Domain Control Plane. A single pane of glass for domain registration, DNS hosting, and so much more. [Visit website](https://dnsimple.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ### From Goldman Sachs to Penny Finance: How Crissi Cole is Closing the Wealth Gap for Women URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/interviews/crissi-cole-penny-finance/ Last updated: 2025-05-22T12:47:45.000Z Meet [Crissi Cole](https://www.linkedin.com/in/crissicole111/?ref=foundedbywomen.org), founder & CEO of [Penny Finance](http://www.penny-finance.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org), an early stage fintech startup taking on the wealth gap. Crissi spent ten years working in wealth management at Goldman Sachs in New York City, where she invested ultra-high-net-worth portfolios and built trading & technology platforms. Now, Crissi is on a mission to get more women out of debt and into investing, with an accessible, affordable financial app designed intentionally for women who are pre-wealth. Penny Finance was just recently accepted into the 2023 [Techstars Future of Longevity accelerator run in partnership with Pivotal Ventures](https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230124005014/en/Penny-Finance-Signals-a-New-Era-for-Women-With-Their-AI-powered-Financial-Platform?ref=foundedbywomen.org), a Melinda French Gates investment company. Crissi lives in Boston, MA with her husband Jordan and her 10-month old baby girl Charlie. [Crissi loves to talk about the hard-stuff](https://cole-crissi.medium.com/being-a-new-founder-and-a-new-parent-7a267bbf8f63?ref=foundedbywomen.org), from IVF & postpartum to bootstrapping & VC fundraising to her childhood & caregiving story; nothing is off-limits. ## Q: Can you tell us about your background and how it led you to starting Penny Finance? On the investing side, I spent ten years working at Goldman Sachs in New York, first as an investment professional for high-net-worth families and then building and modernizing tech for private wealth management. I love investing, numbers, and the markets. My mom had me buy my first stock at 14, and the rest is history. On the entrepreneurial side, my Italian grandmother came to America in her 20s with a 6th-grade education and couldn't speak English, but built a seamstress business out of her basement that she ran until she was 75 years old. My mom is also an entrepreneur -- she acquired an ice cream shop when I was in high school that we've run together for almost 20 years. I saw women working extra hard my entire life, but the extra work wasn't paying off. I left Goldman after a grueling ten years chipping away slowly at my student debt with every cent I made. During that time, I was always helping my female friends and colleagues do the same -- get out of debt and into investing. None of us could get a financial advisor, even if we wanted to, because we didn't have the $100k minimum that was required. I saw an enormous opportunity to help the 70% of women who didn't have access to a financial advisor but wanted so badly to build the best future for themselves and their families. That is when Penny Finance was born. > My biggest learning from an incredible decade at Goldman is that a wealthy person is no different from the everyday person. ## Q: Can you talk about the wealth gap and how Penny Finance is addressing it? Women are retiring with a third of the wealth of men. A third. We are more educated, the majority of the workforce, have excellent credit scores, yet we are saddled with debt and get into the investment game too late, if ever. Penny Finance offers a digital-first financial well-being and education platform that will help close the pay equity and wealth gap for women. We help women stretch their money further, maximize participation in 401Ks, IRAs, HSAs, and other financial benefits, and grow their wealth with a community of like-minded women. There are so many amazing, innovative financial apps, but they either stop at budget or don't start until investing. What about all the tricky stuff in the middle -- getting married, having kids, buying a home, paying down credit cards and student loans, fertility costs, taking care of a sick parent, switching jobs, the list goes on and on. We take your money goals + current financial situation and create a custom calculated plan without the need to talk to a financial advisor. Bite-sized educational modules create a sense of being in control, and automated email nudges give you the personalized insights and money to-do list you need to increase cash flow today and retire with wealth tomorrow. Because who wants to work until they are 80? ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2023/03/new-pic-1.png) [Crissi Cole](https://www.linkedin.com/in/crissicole111/?ref=foundedbywomen.org), founder & CEO of [Penny Finance](http://www.penny-finance.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ## Q: Can you share about your experience at Goldman Sachs and how it influenced the development of Penny Finance? Investing and finance are made to be hard. Really hard. My biggest learning from an incredible decade at Goldman is that a wealthy person is no different from the everyday person. They just had an advantage. An advantage of wisdom, investing know-how, and money. We all want to limit the risks we take and protect our future. And while you may think someone with millions of dollars doesn't worry about money, they do. And we can translate the complicated, foreign money management lessons from the fortune to the not so fortunate. I love taking multifaceted problems and solving them. Not just on the investing and finance front, but also on the tech side. The beauty behind Penny is that I have experienced both sides of the coin -- investing a $100 Roth IRA as well as a $100 million dollar trust. The same principles apply; we just need to get the trade secrets out in the open. ## Q: Can you tell us about Penny Finance's recent acceptance into the 2023 Techstars Future of Longevity accelerator and what that means for the company's future? We were so excited to be one of the ten companies selected for the 2023 Techstars Future of Longevity accelerator, in partnership with Pivotal Ventures, a Melinda French Gates investment company. Our dream is for every woman who doesn't have a financial mentor to have Penny, and for Penny to move the needle on closing the pay equity and wealth gap. This accelerator program focuses on innovative solutions to address the unmet needs of older adults and their caregivers. Women are caregivers. We may not think of ourselves as caregivers because we aren't all nurses or doctors. But we are taking care of our kids, our parents, our friends, our co-workers, and our communities. And we are not getting paid for it. So it is my duty as the founder of Penny to figure out how to get women the financial freedom they deserve. This 13-week program advances the initial progress we have made at getting women out of debt and into investing so they can increase cash flow today and retire with wealth tomorrow. ## Q: What advice would you give to other women looking to start their venture? Oh gosh. Maybe don't have a baby right at the beginning of starting the venture! My hilarious, incredible, sassy little girl was born a day after we launched Penny into the world. Let's just say it is extra, extra, extra hard to not sleep and run a startup. But in all seriousness, I would say: 1. Do something you are so crazy passionate about because there are more hard days than good days, and you need a reason to power through. 2. Have a funding strategy that doesn't rely on outside investors, and if you do need to raise capital, give yourself at least 6 months to do that. 3. Surround yourself with people who are smarter than you, and build your team around your zone of excellence. You can't do it all. As women, we try to. I try to be the marketing guru, financial wizard, tech lead, people manager, and salesperson all in one. Impossible. You can be thrifty, smart, and creative in how you fund the team around you so that 10 is better than 1. *Published on March 8th, 2023* 💡 Are you a female founder with a powerful story to share? *Founded by Women* is dedicated to elevating and amplifying the voices of women making an impact. If you want to share your story, don't hesitate to [contact us](https://www.foundedbywomen.org/share-your-story/). ### Innovating Dementia Care: A Conversation with Allyson Schrier, Founder and CEO of Zinnia Technologies URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/interviews/allyson-schrier-zinnia-technologies/ Last updated: 2023-03-07T17:04:18.000Z Meet Allyson Schrier, a woman who turned a deeply personal experience into a mission to help others. After her husband was diagnosed with dementia at a young age, Allyson was inspired to create a more engaging and appropriate TV viewing experience for individuals with mid- to late-stage dementia. The result of her passion and dedication is [Zinnia TV](https://www.zinniatv.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org), a research-driven platform that provides entertainment and comfort to those in care, while also supporting their caregivers. In this interview, Allyson shares her journey and the driving force behind her work, showing how a difficult situation can inspire positive change for others. ## Q: What inspired you to create Zinnia TV and address the issue of appropriate entertainment for people with dementia? I should start out by saying that Zinnia TV goes far beyond entertainment. Our videos are actually tools that help reduce agitation, soothe anxiety, and assist with activities of daily living. They are engaging enough to hold a person's attention when they can no longer track a plot, tell fact from fiction, or process audio and video that operate at a speed intended for healthy brains. > University-based research had shown that regular TV programming was probably not the best solution for people living with dementia My inspiration was my experience with my own husband when he moved into long-term care. I would often find him parked in front of a television, watching videos intended for people with healthy brains. The experience often resulted in boredom, daytime sleeping, or agitation. I wondered whether there wasn't some sort of viewing experience curated specifically to meet people with dementia where they are. I thought, too, about whether that programming could be more than just entertaining. I don't like to draw comparisons with children's programming, but think of shows like Sesame Street. They are engaging, meet the viewer where they are, and are a value-add: It's not JUST television. It is a viewing experience that benefits the viewer in multiple ways. ## Q: Can you tell us about the research that went into creating Zinnia TV and how it has helped improve the experience for both those with dementia and their caregivers? University-based research had shown that regular TV programming was probably not the best solution for people living with dementia. To figure out what better programming would look like, we created prototypes of videos that did NOT have the qualities that rendered regular TV inappropriate. We tested these videos on people living with dementia in family and community settings and kept iterating. We are halfway through a two-year research project being conducted at the University of British Columbia in conjunction with Vancouver General Hospital that looks at how Zinnia TV helps in long-term care and hospital settings. We are constantly tweaking and building new videos to test how they work in actual care settings. We also just completed a 60-day trial in five long-term care communities in the United States, and the results proved our hypothesis that Zinnia TV was very easy to use, helped encourage compliance with activities of daily living (ADLs), soothed anxiety and calmed agitation, and was highly engaging and entertaining. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2023/02/SCHRIER-1.jpg) Allyson Schrier, Founder and CEO of Zinnia Technologies ## Q: How has the response been from both individuals with dementia and their caregivers to the content provided by Zinnia TV? The response is overwhelmingly positive. Of course, there is no solution that will work for all people all the time. But results from customers (check out testimonials on our website) and research are extremely validating. If the person with dementia is less stressed out, so is their caregiver. Plus, the caregivers report having more time for respite because the person with dementia is engaged enough to sit by themselves for a little while. ## Q: Can you discuss the challenges you faced while launching the product and how you overcame them? We offered Zinnia TV for free via a browser during 2020 and much of 2021\. We released an app for mobile devices and connected TVs in 2022\. We are currently participating in the [Techstars Longevity Accelerator](https://www.techstars.com/accelerators/longevity?ref=foundedbywomen.org), and that is forcing us to really think about both our product and our market. Our name, Zinnia TV, would cause one to think that we are a media company. Yet we perceive ourselves as a creator of tools to help caregivers, with those tools being highly engaging, research-driven videos. As for the market, we have done little to no advertising up until now, selling to whomever happens to hear about us through word of mouth. Family caregivers are signing up. Long-term care communities. Plus, we have some licensing opportunities that allow us to funnel our content through other providers. *Published on March 3rd, 2023* 💡 Are you a female founder with a powerful story to share? *Founded by Women* is dedicated to elevating and amplifying the voices of women making an impact. If you want to share your story, don't hesitate to [contact us](https://www.foundedbywomen.org/share-your-story/). ### Waverly Ave Consulting URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/partners/founding/waverly-ave-consulting/ Last updated: 2024-02-27T01:38:27.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2024/02/download.jpeg) #### Waverly Ave Consulting is a business development and growth partner for six figure creative agencies on their path to $1m. We create sustainable and profitable growth strategies that put founders back in control of their business - working with the right clients, at the right time, at the right price. We are reinventing the traditional agency model with a modern approach to scaling that doesn't depend on burnout. [Visit website](https://waverlyave.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ### Embracing the Power of Women's Health & Beauty: A Q&A with Irene Bataller, Founder & CEO of Cybele URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/interviews/irene-bataller/ Last updated: 2023-04-11T10:15:38.000Z Meet Irene Bataller, Founder & CEO of [Cybele NY Inc](https://cybeleny.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org). Irene is a highly educated and driven professional, holding both a Bachelor's and Master's degree in Communications and Marketing. Throughout her career, she has gained extensive experience working in business development and marketing, and has had the opportunity to collaborate with some of the biggest names in the industry, such as ZARA, Cantor Fitzgerald, Globalia, and Santander Bank. With a passion for her work and a desire to continuously improve, Irene took the leap to start her own company, Cybele NY Inc, in 2022\. In addition to her work, she also furthers her education by taking courses in Women's Health and Human Rights from Stanford University, further demonstrating her commitment to staying current and knowledgeable in her field. ## Q: What inspired you to start Cybele and how did your personal health journey lead to the creation of the company? I was inspired by my own journey. A few years ago, I was suffering from a health condition that left me constantly feeling tired and depleted. My body was not absorbing certain nutrients properly. Then I learned that 92% of the population have nutrient deficiencies and that I was not alone. Especially women are indeed vulnerable to coming up short for a handful of vitamins and minerals due to age, hormone changes, or other factors. For many years I tried to find a solution that was convenient and easy to fit within my busy lifestyle. I didn’t have enough time to browse through shop aisles and decipher long lists of ingredients to ensure they were all clean. And definitely didn’t want to take countless pills daily just to cover the basic vitamin supplementation. The challenge I faced propelled me into years of research, and Cybele was born. I gathered a team of nutritionists, doctors, and herbalists, and our signature blend was worn. ‘The Goddess’ provides a simple, holistic, natural, and compelling way to enjoy and easily incorporate wellness into your daily routine. An all-in-one nutraceutical for women’s health and beauty, including the full spectrum of essential daily nutrients that we need to thrive inside-out in one convenient and tasty blend. A delicious pill-free experience to nourish the body with a perfect daily dose of whole foods, vitamins, minerals, herbal extracts, probiotics, and more, acting as a preventative. We're really excited about it because it's something that's never been done before—it combines beauty with health in an unexpected way, and we think it will change the landscape of wellness forever! ## Q: Can you talk about the process of developing your signature product, "The Goddess"? The process of developing "The Goddess" was not easy. It took us years of research and development to come up with a product that we could be proud of. We wanted to create something that would truly improve women's quality of life and become their best version. We developed "The Goddess" by first creating a base formula using only high-quality ingredients to create a clean base for our products. Providing a simple, holistic, natural, and compelling way to enjoy and easily incorporate wellness into your daily routine. Then we designed the packaging around it to keep things simple and functional: individual sachets to bring anywhere you go. > We strive to extend our operating philosophy to various ways to give back to the community. ## Q: How does Cybele approach wellness and beauty differently compared to other companies in the industry? While the supplement industry is mainly complex, inconvenient, inefficient, generic, opaque, and reactive; we aim to redefine the optimal approach to wellness, based on the belief that supplements should serve us as additional support to prevent, not cure, current and future health issues and deficiencies while enhancing our natural beauty. Our flagship product, The Goddess, provides all essential nutrients in bioavailable forms to fill diet gaps, support optimal health, and enhance beauty, formulated specifically for women by women. We use the highest-quality ingredients, some of which are patented to ensure effectiveness. This means these ingredients have multiple clinical studies behind them. For example, we use the most effective variant of keratin around, shown to be capable of delivering 80% stronger nails, 20% increase in hair structure and growth, 80% smoother skin and a 12% increase in wrinkle reduction. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2023/04/Cybele-sachets-marble-LR.jpg) ## Q: Can you speak to your commitment to inclusion and collaboration and how this is reflected in the company culture at Cybele? Cybele is composed of people from all over the world, living in different countries, speaking different languages and being culturally diverse. This is where the magic happens. We strive to extend our operating philosophy to various ways to give back to the community. We are a women-led company, empowering one another. Among our ever-expanding activities in this area, we are proud to support [Women One](https://streaklinks.com/BZEfZc0Hh-08kxKilA0dBkIJ/https%3A%2F%2Fwww.womenone.org%2F?ref=foundedbywomen.org) in its mission to educate underserved girls with every purchase of The Goddess. ## Q: Can you share about your experience taking a course in Women's Health and Human Rights from Stanford University and how this has influenced your approach to women's health and beauty? The focus of this course was on the ways in which women are affected by global political issues, such as gender-based violence, reproductive rights, and access to healthcare. It was an incredibly eye-opening experience, but it also helped me see how many of those same issues affect women here in the United States. It taught me how crucial it is to have an understanding of these issues when you are working in providing a type of healthcare and wellness for women. Unfortunately, 80% of women over 60 have two or more chronic conditions, such as hypertension or diabetes. Fortunately, these are issues that actually, with proper nutrition and wellness, can be prevented entirely. That's where we can help. *Published on January 14th, 2023* 💡 Are you a female founder with a powerful story to share? *Founded by Women* is dedicated to elevating and amplifying the voices of women making an impact. If you want to share your story, don't hesitate to [contact us](https://www.foundedbywomen.org/share-your-story/). ### Breaking Barriers: An Insider's Look at Running a Luxury Travel Business as a Young Latina Woman URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/interviews/diana-morales/ Last updated: 2023-02-14T08:14:01.000Z Meet Diana Morales, CEO and Founder of [Faroluna Luxury Travel](http://www.farolunatravel.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org). As a successful entrepreneur, Diana has a passion for travel and a vision to revolutionize the travel industry. Her innovative ideas led to the creation of Faroluna Luxury Travel, a personalized travel company that offers unique travel experiences to its customers. With over a decade of experience in the travel industry, Diana has gained a deep understanding of the challenges faced by travelers and has used her expertise to develop a business model that addresses these challenges. ## Q: Can you share more about your experience starting and running a luxury travel business as a young Latina woman? Yeah, I would love to. Well, I first need to point out that most travel advisors and agents are white. Regardless of what travel sector we are discussing, the latest data shows that over 70% of travel advisors are white, at least in the United States. That's a pretty high percentage. To a degree, that number is very intimidating to me still. There is a small voice in my head that sometimes says "you don't belong here". But I try to fight it because I think that being young and Latina is a gift in this industry. When I started my business, of course, I was not thinking about it. I was just thinking that this was something that I wanted to do. I asked myself three questions, "what I'm I good at?, what do I like?, and who do I want to serve?", and with those three questions I was trying to assess three things: my skills, my passion, and my purpose for this business. That was the beginning of everything. But now, I see that I have a huge opportunity to bring a world of new perspectives to my clients. I am young, I am learning all the current trends. My information is up to date because I have the time to do the research since I am just establishing a client base. This is not always the case with other advisors who have been in the business long enough to have a lot of previous knowledge and a huge list of clients, so they do not spend a lot of time keeping up with new information. Additionally, luxury travel is all about service. What clients want is a higher level of service. They want service that is going to be detail-oriented, personal, and warm. That is something that I can provide in part because of my cultural background. Latinos are people who constantly want you to feel welcomed and taken care of. I have been learning how to do that since I was young, that is just how our parents raise us. Being caring, personal, and warm does not feel forced to me, that's just how Colombians are. That is a huge strength that my background brings to my business, and it makes me really proud to be Latina. ### Q: What challenges have you faced as a minority in the travel industry, and how have you overcome them? As I mentioned earlier, I think being young in this industry is a huge gift. But it is also a challenge. It may be the biggest challenge that I face daily. Not only I'm I young, but my business is also young. I have only been in business for about a year and a half. People see that and immediately think that there is a lack of knowledge or experience. They are right to some degree. One of my mentors has been selling luxury travel for the last twenty years, I can not compare my few years in the business to her twenty years of experience. But what they need to understand is that this is an industry where things are constantly changing. There is ALWAYS new learning to be done. I attend online seminars with other advisors about new hotel partners or new industry developments every week. It is part of the job. So how do I overcome this challenge? I use my age to my advantage and utilize my resources. > I try to listen VERY carefully to the vision that my clients have for their trips. I have a beautiful website that is stylish and fresh. I utilize social media and stay on top of social trends because I understand social media, I grew up with it. I try to show my audiences that I do know what I'm doing, and when I don't, I ask. As a luxury travel advisor, you have to be a master of resources. The world is a huge place, we are not going to know every little detail about every inquiry we get off the top of our heads. So I ask questions. I'm a part of different networks with other advisors, so I use their knowledge and expertise, I learn from those who have been in this race much longer than I have. Their knowledge is a gift to me, and I am incredibly grateful for other advisors. But guess what, most of them are over the age of 50\. I'm 28\. The reality is that they are not the future of luxury travel, I am. That is an exciting fact! ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2023/02/IMG_1586.jpg) Diana Morales, CEO and Founder of [Faroluna Luxury Travel](http://www.farolunatravel.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ## Q: How do you approach personalized trip planning for your clients, and what sets your business apart from others in the industry? So before I worked in the travel industry, I studied psychology and worked in child care. One of the valuable lessons that I learned there that I constantly apply with my clients now is the art of listening. Have you ever talked with a child? They have this inherent need to be heard. Most adults are like that too. I try to listen VERY carefully to the vision that my clients have for their trips. By the time that people reach out to me, they already have some idea of what they want for the trip I will plan, most of them at least. So I listen and I try to grasp as many details as I can to make all their dreams a reality. The key word is "personalized". Each traveler is different and wants unique things. I focus on those unique dreams they might have. Let me give you an example. In November I worked with a client who was going to Thailand. She had a lot of things she wanted to do, but her DREAM was to wake up on one of the Phi Phi islands and get a view of the ocean and the mountains as soon as she woke up. So I focused on trying to find THAT specific view for her. Yes she wanted to see elephants, and yes she wanted to go to the beach, but her number one desire was to get that view. I planned an elephant excursion for her, and I set her up at a beautiful resort by the beach in Krabi, but what I fought for the most was on finding a luxury resort in Phi Phi where she could get the view that she wanted. I like to think that that is what sets me apart from others, I have a deep desire to listen to my clients' visions in order to make their travel dreams come true. ## Q: Can you speak to any data or research you have seen on the underrepresentation of women of color in the travel advisory field? Yes! This is a great question. Unfortunately, there is not a lot of data analyzing the relationship between race and gender in the travel world, at least not that I know of. The latest data that I know of is from 2021 and it was done by Host Agency Reviews, they analyzed race and gender separately, but not how both variables interact. However, I can tell you what the data showed. Over one thousand American and Canadian advisors were surveyed. 80% of the advisors surveyed were women, so it is a field dominated by women. Overall, 74% of advisors were White, 13% were Black/African-American, and only 3% of the advisors surveyed were Hispanic/Latino. As I said, I do not know how much of that 3% is made up of women because that information was not analyzed, but that is still a ridiculously low number! Only 3%! ## Q: What do you see as the future of the luxury travel industry and how do you see your business evolving and adapting to changes in the market? At least for this year, there is already some data that points to the trends that we are going to see in 2023\. People are more interested in traveling as a family, and not just with their kids, travelers want to bring along mom and dad, aunts, uncles, grandparents, etc. Now, that is a great trend for me since family travel is one of the areas in which I specialize. But beyond that, beyond this year, I think in the future we are going to see a lot more luxury travelers interested in wellness and sustainability. We are going to see travelers who want to get away and do something positive for their physical health or their mental health. We're also seeing a huge focus from hotel partners on sustainability because travelers are conscious of that now, they want to know that they can travel and support the planet at the same time. By the way, this is also one of the reasons why river cruising has become so popular over the last few years. Cruises are great, but they take a huge environmental toll. Meanwhile, river cruises are small and intimate, and they have smaller engines, so they produce lower carbon emissions. I believe that there will come a time when travelers push more and more for this kind of service. I also think we are going to see travel that is more specific. For example, travelers going to a certain nation to reconnect with their cultural roots, or people traveling to Europe only to see World War II sights, trips like that. When the time comes, I need to be ready to evolve with the market while also staying true to what my current clients want from me. At the end of the day, I am here to serve my clients. Their desires are my priority. But I do keep my eyes open and take in what the research is showing. Who knows, there may come a day when I have to pick a different niche because family travel is no longer a priority. For now, I'm grateful that I get to serve families and couples, and that I get to specialize in South America and Africa. *Published on February 13th, 2023* 💡 Are you a female founder with a powerful story to share? *Founded by Women* is dedicated to elevating and amplifying the voices of women making an impact. If you want to share your story, don't hesitate to [contact us](https://www.foundedbywomen.org/share-your-story/). ### Q&A: "From the Heart: A Conversation with Robin Dimond, CEO and Founder of Fifth & Cor" URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/interviews/robin-dimond-fifth-cor/ Last updated: 2023-02-14T08:13:24.000Z Meet Robin Dimond, the CEO and Founder of [Fifth & Cor](https://www.fifthandcor.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org), a marketing & innovation company. Dimond brings over 15 years of experience that has led to a successful team and client success stories over the years. Passionate about the human experience, Dimond strives to bring sensory experiences and the heart back into all her team’s work, thus comes the name - *Fifth* (five senses) & *Cor* (Latin for heart). Dimond strives to not only transform brands, but also communities. She sits on the Broward College School Board, participates in various charities, and finds opportunities to empower the next generation through technology and marketing advancement. Dimond is also involved in the technology advancement in South Florida through NSU’s Levan Center of Innovation and is a member of the [Female Founder Collective](https://femalefoundercollective.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) where she finds opportunities to uplift other women-owned businesses. ## Q: Can you tell us about the inspiration behind starting Fifth & Cor? It’s all in the name - so many brands and businesses focus on data, data, data - but there are people behind the data. Fifth & Cor breaks down the experiences. *Fifth* represents the five senses that a brand or experience should bring to life and *Cor* is Latin for heart. It takes heart and courage to start and run a business and it is the foundation of what we do. > As a business owner, you have a responsibility for helping make the economy, community and next generation a better place. ## Q: Can you share a specific example of a campaign or project that you've worked on that demonstrates how Fifth & Cor has helped transform a brand and its impact on a community? The marketing of a non-profit called [Rescue 22](https://www.rescue22foundation.org/?ref=foundedbywomen.org). The Rescue 22 Foundation provides the highest quality of task-trained service dogs in order to address the mental and physical health of our nation’s combat veterans. We created a social media campaign for their partnership with the Terminal List helping grow their support from the community and share their mission with so many others. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2023/01/Fifth-And-Cor-085-Edit.jpg) Robin Dimond, the CEO and Founder of [Fifth & Cor](https://www.fifthandcor.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ## Q: How do you balance your role as CEO and founder of Fifth & Cor with your involvement in the community, specifically through your participation in various charities and your role on the Broward College School Board? To be transparent, I don’t think I have found a balance. Balance is hard to define when it comes to personal and professional life these days. It’s an all-in mentality. As a business owner, you have a responsibility for helping make the economy, community and next generation a better place. I personally think there is no balance when it comes to that. > Surround yourself with women who would mention your name in a room full of opportunities. ## Q: Can you speak to the importance of innovation in marketing and how Fifth & Cor incorporates this into its approach to help clients stand out in their industry? Customers want personalized experiences. They want a brand to see their value and create an individual authentic experience tailored to their needs. Advancements in technology also play a huge role in brands leveraging innovation from augmented reality (psst IG filter is one) to customize in-store experiences. They want a seamless experience throughout the buying cycle. Brands that are slow to incorporate innovation are closing every day. Times have changed and people have changed. ## Q: As a member of the Female Founder Collective, how do you work to uplift other women-owned businesses and what advice do you have for other women looking to start their own companies? I promote them, I connect with them, I buy from them, I partner with them, and I collaborate with them. I am the biggest cheerleader when it comes to supporting other women. The advice I would give comes from a sign I have in my office, “Surround yourself with women who would mention your name in a room full of opportunities.” You can’t run a business alone. You need accountability and support. Find great people who will pour into you and you back into them. 💡 Are you a female founder with a powerful story to share? *Founded by Women* is dedicated to elevating and amplifying the voices of women making an impact. If you want to share your story, don't hesitate to [contact us](https://www.foundedbywomen.org/share-your-story/). *Published on January 29, 2023* ### Q&A with Jenna Brocious: The Inspiring Story Behind Positive Intention Prayer Cards URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/interviews/q-a-jenna-brocious/ Last updated: 2023-01-07T17:39:13.000Z Meet Jenna Brocious, a woman on a mission to spread love and healing to others. Through her positive [intention prayer cards](https://www.jennabspiritual.com/shop?ref=foundedbywomen.org), Jenna aims to provide a daily reminder that you are not alone and to have faith in better days ahead. Drawing on the wisdom and lessons she has learned from her own experiences, Jenna encourages a mindset of positivity and trust in the goodness of God. In this interview, Jenna shares her inspiring story and the driving force behind her work. ## Q: What inspired you to create the positive intention prayer cards? In 2019, I sat in prayer and meditation every day asking for my life’s purpose. At some point, the idea of prayer cards came to me. I didn’t act on the idea until Covid hit and I was at home struggling mentally with all that was going on in the world. I am a major extrovert that enjoys being around people. Also, having a four-year-old at home and trying to keep him busy was a bit overwhelming at times. My husband was deciding what to do with his company and what their next move. I know it was a stressful time for everyone. I started looking for a positive outlet to help keep my mindset in a good, loving, positive place. I googled positive prayer cards, and nothing answered what I was looking for. So once my son was back in school, I sat every day at my kitchen table and started writing out these prayers. I had my bible on the table, asking for the words. I feel like most prayers have a negative connotation. I wanted to change that. I like to pray with positivity. I think it is important to pray with positive intentions. Why only pray when things are not good? Being grateful is such a beautiful feeling to hold during prayer. I sell my prayer cards on Etsy. People have resonated with them. I have shipped them around the world. It has been such a dream come true. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2023/01/Screen-Shot-2022-06-07-at-1.09.21-PM.png) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2023/01/Screen-Shot-2022-06-07-at-1.08.08-PM.png) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2023/01/Screen-Shot-2022-06-07-at-1.10.16-PM.png) ## Q: When did you start to realize that you had an intuitive gift and wanted to be a spiritual intuitive guide? When I met my husband in 2012 things started to shift for me. I was having dreams that were different and woke up one night to a loving purple light at the end of my husband's side of the bed. Strange stuff like that. I had many things like that happen. I had no idea what was going on or how to handle it. Not until 2019 when sitting with my life purpose my husband said "maybe you should explore this part of you that is not going away." In 2020 I met a group of spiritual guides and learned a lot about myself and my gift. Currently, I don’t see clients. This work is fantastic but can be overwhelming and a tremendous responsibility. I do my daily work to stay connected and share with people when it feels right. Not everyone is open and understanding. I choose to protect myself a bit. I feel blessed to be able to see the world with different eyes. We are all so connected. The best example is we are each a leaf on a tree of mother earth. Being loving and kind to each other is so important. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2023/01/553A2050.jpg) ## Q: How do you balance being a mom and entrepreneur? This is a hard one for me personally. I have not found the balance. I will always put my family first. That being said, though, I have big dreams and want to impact this world in a big way. I know that one day, family time will look different. I am trying to be as present as possible and soak it all in. The older my son gets, the easier it has gotten because he understands and also loves to help put the prayer cards together. Which is so cute. He always loves to give them out. I love his heart. ## Q: How do you believe your adverse childhood has helped shape you as an entrepreneur? I was raised by a single mom, and money was always tight. That being said, I have a lot of drive to give my family more. I have learned that being my own boss is extremely important to me. I like being in control of my destiny. I now have the opportunity to give my family new and different experiences. That is a big blessing for me. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2023/01/Screen-Shot-2022-06-13-at-4.26.52-PM.png) ## Q: What are some of your future goals for the positive intention prayer cards? My big dream is to be a national speaker and book author. The prayer cards are just another extension of my brand. My goal is that my prayer cards get into the hands of every person that desires more positivity and love in their life. *Published on January 7th, 2023* 💡 Are you a female founder with a powerful story to share? *Founded by Women* is dedicated to elevating and amplifying the voices of women making an impact. If you want to share your story, don't hesitate to [contact us](https://www.foundedbywomen.org/share-your-story/). ### Andrea Gonzalez URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/contributors/andrea-gonzalez/ Last updated: 2023-01-06T14:11:03.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2023/01/5ff487789515d550a4945170_Andrea-Gonzalez.png) #### Andrea Gonzalez Andrea Gonzalez Corleto is an entrepreneur and marketer. She is the Founder of Silkkin, an LA-based brand that offers skin-friendly products - most commonly, Silkkin is known for silk face masks that help prevent maskne. Andrea also leads the marketing team a direct-to-consumer tech startup, where she helped grow the business from $2M in revenue to $40M+ in 3 years. Prior to that, Andrea worked in Private Equity and Venture Capital and co-owned a vegetarian restaurant in Costa Rica. [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrealisbona?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ### Andrea Lisbona URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/contributors/andrea-lisbona/ Last updated: 2023-01-06T14:10:08.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2023/01/5ff487bb9515d5646094526e_Andrea-Lisbona.png) #### Founder @ touchland **Touchland** is an award-winning lifestyle brand that has set up to elevate mundane personal care routines into skincare rituals that people look forward to. [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrealisbona?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ### Alexandra Suhner Isenberg URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/contributors/alexandra-suhner-isenberg/ Last updated: 2023-01-06T14:08:45.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2023/01/5ff48469973ab7313afc1938_AlexandraSuhnerIsenberg-p-500.png) #### Founder @ The Sleep Shirt Alexandra is the founder and creative director at The Sleep Shirt, a Canadian company selling ethically made, size-inclusive sleepwear sourced from sustainable materials. The company started with one basic nightshirt design available in one size and two lengths, and within two years it transformed into a small business with a capsule collection of sleepwear, an online store, and a handful of great wholesale accounts. Ten years later, Alexandra and her team continue to put in the work, foster the vision and create quality apparel for women who refuse to sacrifice comfort. [LinkedIn](https://se.linkedin.com/in/alexandrasuhner?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ### Amanda Shine & Billur Karamanci URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/contributors/amanda-shine-billur-karamanci/ Last updated: 2023-01-06T14:06:18.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2023/01/5ff48671e4179e1365b8f40f_Amanda-Shine---Billur-Karamanci.png) #### Co-Founders @ The Setting The Setting was formed by **Amanda Shine and Billur Kazaz** in 2015 after meeting in a Chelsea ceramic studio. They began collaborating on creative projects and soon after joined forces to launch a boutique creative agency headquartered on West Broadway in TriBeCa, New York. [Visit website](https://thesettingnyc.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ### Ania Wysocka URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/contributors/ania-wysocka/ Last updated: 2023-01-06T14:03:40.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2023/01/5ff48bbc4cf09badc9e66f6a_Ania-Wysocka.png) #### Founder @ Rootd **Ania Wysocka** is the Founder and Creator of Rootd, a mobile app for panic attacks and anxiety relief. [Twitter](https://twitter.com/aniamargaret?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ### Amal Abid URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/contributors/amal-abid/ Last updated: 2023-01-06T14:00:43.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2023/01/5ff486f81220f9b172747a02_Amal--Abid.png) #### Founder @ Think-it I'm a builder and a big enthusiast for the future of African startups. Currently building something new in the logistics space. If you're in the e-commerce or logistics space in the Middle East & Africa, I'd love to connect and learn more about it. [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/amelabid?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ### Aria Massoudifar URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/contributors/aria-massoudifar/ Last updated: 2023-01-06T13:57:50.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2023/01/5ff48c62228a06c1ab8f9eb8_Aria-Massoudifar.png) #### Founder @ Vito Aria Massoudifar is a serial entrepreneur and product manager in Tech mostly known for her role as a former product manager at Uber. Aria’s portfolio of her businesses and projects are: Her work as an online educator, course creator and mentor is followed by thousands of people globally. She uses her platform to empower her 100k+ community all around the world. She is the founder of a newly launched health & wellness app Vito to help busy millennials take charge of their health. She is the owner of a popular mid-century vacation rental and photoshoot house in the heart of Joshua Tree. Aria is a multi-hyphenate and passionate entrepreneur who refuses to limit her pursuits and inspires others to celebrate and pursue all of their passions too! Connect with Aria on Instagram: @ariamsfar [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/ariamfr?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ### Alexandra Cole URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/contributors/alexandra-cole/ Last updated: 2023-01-06T13:40:19.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2023/01/5ff4839010a1026a847fc1ef_Alexandra-Cole.png) #### Founder @ Purpose Generation Alexandra Cole is the **co-founder of Purpose Generation**, a millennial insights and strategy firm that helps iconic Fortune 500 brands better understand and engage the next generation of consumers and talent. [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexandra-cole-91810935?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ### Arianne Elmy URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/contributors/arianne-elmy/ Last updated: 2023-01-06T13:39:02.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2023/01/5ff48ca9ca94dedb5c4b1f72_Arianne-Elmy.png) #### Founder @ Arianne Elmy Arianne is the founder of Arianne Elmy, a women’s ready to wear brand based in NYC. She holds a BFA in fashion design from Pratt Institute and studied abroad at Central Saint Martins. Arianne was named by Nylon as one of the top 9 designers to watch for and by NYMag/The Cut as someone "on the up and up." [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/arianneelmy/?hl=en&ref=foundedbywomen.org) ### Allison Byers URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/contributors/allison-byers/ Last updated: 2023-01-06T13:37:30.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2023/01/5ff4860562638298d7989f8b_Allison--Byers.png) #### Founder @ Scroobious [Allison Byers](https://www.linkedin.com/in/allison-byers/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) is a passionate leader with 15+ years' experience building and leading start-ups. She has focused her career on using data to understand and influence human behavior in a wide range of industries. Allison recently founded [Scroobious](https://www.scroobious.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org), a video pitch platform for diverse start-ups including Black, Latinx, women, LGBTQ+, and veteran founders to be discovered by and connected to angels, venture capitalists, and corporate investors. Prior to Scroobious, Allison co-ran a start-up medical device company where she successfully raised nearly $10M and experienced the inefficiencies of fundraising first-hand. She has also been the Director of online media & search at Compete (now [Comscore](https://www.comscore.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org)) and a Senior Consultant at [The Brookeside Group](https://www.brookeside.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org). Allison received her MBA in Marketing Strategy and Business Analysis from the Questrom School of Business at Boston University and her BA with Honors, summa cum laude, in Psychology and Philosophy from Syracuse University. [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/allison-byers?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ### Adeline Desjonqueres URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/contributors/adeline-desjonqueres/ Last updated: 2023-01-06T13:36:24.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2023/01/5ff4857958ecc1926d5a8f9f_Adeline-Desjonqueres.png) #### Founder @ NUTU Nutu is a social business whose mission is to share the bounty of moringa, the world's most nutritionally complete, environmentally sustainable plant protein, with people around the world. [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/adeline-desjonqueres-626b0949?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ### Adelle Archer URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/contributors/adelle/ Last updated: 2023-01-06T13:33:45.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2023/01/5ff4807855188c08487568b1_Adelle-Archer.png) #### Founder @ Eterneva Adelle is the CEO & co-founder of Eterneva, an innovative company that honors the lives of remarkable people and pets by turning their cremated ashes into diamonds. In 2019, Eterneva was named Consumer Startup of the Year by the Stevie Awards and was featured on Shark Tank, receiving investment from Mark Cuban. Adelle has been featured on both Inc and Forbes coveted ’30 Under 30′ lists. Prior to founding Eterneva, Adelle received her MBA in Entrepreneurship at the Acton School of Business, considered the ‘navy seal’ program for entrepreneurs. At only 23, she graduated valedictorian of her class. She spent four years as a Product Marketing leader in Tech, launching major products to market with partners like Amazon, Ebay, Square, Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter. [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/adellearcher?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ### Betsy Merryman URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/contributors/betsy-merryman/ Last updated: 2023-01-06T11:53:55.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2023/01/5ff48cf8611ef552480b1e49_Betsy-Merryman.png) #### Founder @ Merryman Communications Medical devices and diagnostics, health information technology, life sciences, hospital systems, provider groups and payers, nonprofits – Betsy Merryman has put her marketing and communications expertise to work for companies, products and services in all of these categories. She has experience in almost any therapeutic area, including diabetes, orthopedics, epilepsy, heart and vascular disease, women's health, infectious disease, ophthalmology, and oral care, among others. With more than 25 years of experience, Betsy has experience across virtually all communication disciplines: strategic corporate and marketing communication programs, branding, company and product launches, B2B and direct-to-consumer programs, crisis communications and media relations. Prior to founding Merryman Communications, Betsy worked in senior strategic positions with premier, global communications agencies, including Porter Novelli Life Sciences (formerly FischerHealth, a specialized healthcare arm of Porter Novelli) and Fleishman-Hillard. Prior to her agency experience, Betsy spent several years in positions of responsibility on the payer and hospital sides of the industry. She also worked for Rubin Postaer & Associates, one of Southern California's leading advertising agencies. Betsy has taught healthcare marketing and public relations as a visiting professor at UCLA's Executive Master of Public Health program and as an adjunct professor at University of Southern California's Annenberg School. Betsy's work has earned industry recognition from the Public Relations Society of America, Ragan's PR Daily, the Medical Marketing Association (including a Best in Show at the In-Awe Awards for an e-prescribing company's brand launch), the Healthcare Public Relations and Marketing Association, The Holmes Group (now Provoke), and Los Angeles Advertising Women. Betsy received her Master of Business Administration from the Anderson School of Management at UCLA and her bachelor's degree in communication and political science from Newcomb College of Tulane University. [Twitter](https://twitter.com/betsymerryman?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ### Bronwen Sciortino URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/contributors/bronwen-sciortino/ Last updated: 2023-01-06T11:52:52.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2023/01/5ff48d4eaf8a59196f80b12d_Bronwen-Sciortino.png) #### Founder @ sheIQ Life Bronwen Sciortino is an International Author and Simplicity Expert who spent almost two decades as an award-winning executive before experiencing a life changing event that forced her to stop and ask the question ‘What if there’s a better way to live?’ Embarking on a journey to answer this question, Bronwen developed a whole new way of living – one that teaches you to challenge the status quo and include the power of questions in everyday life. Gaining international critical acclaim and 5-star awards for her books, Bronwen spends every day teaching people that there is an easy, practical and simple pathway to creating a healthy, happy AND highly successful life. Sourced globally for media comment as an expert and working with corporate programs, conference platforms, retreats, professional mentoring and in the online environment, Bronwen teaches people how easy it is to live life very differently. [LinkedIn](https://au.linkedin.com/in/bronwensciortino?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ### Cally Rieman URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/contributors/cally-rieman/ Last updated: 2023-01-06T11:51:37.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2023/01/5ff48db0611ef56af30b1f4c_Cally--Rieman.png) #### Founder @ KAL RIEMAN CEO of **KAL RIEMAN**, a women's lifestyle clothing brand made in NYC and sold in specialty boutiques across the United States. [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/cally-rieman-b730725?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ### Charlotte Zhao URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/contributors/charlotte-zhao/ Last updated: 2023-01-06T11:47:39.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2023/01/5ff48e23a5f09f0fb1110e8d_Charlotte-Zhao.png) #### Founder @ AVID Venture-backed Founder and CEO Disrupting online education through audio - **AVID**.FM. [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/duoyizhao/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ### Cherie Wang URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/contributors/cherie-wang/ Last updated: 2023-01-06T11:46:04.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2023/01/5ff48ebe36c132f837a73142_Cherie--Wang.png) #### Founder @ Planner Bee Cherie is the founder of Planner Bee, an app dedicated to simplifying and automating financial planning for the masses. She is a certified Chartered Financial Planner and Chartered Life Underwriter with 11 years of field experience. She has been ranked top 5% of financial advisors globally over the last 10 years and started Planner Bee to apply technology to a century old tradition of financial planning. She realised many consumers currently use some sort of finance tracking tool, which is one of the first steps toward proper financial planning. Planner Bee offers users with an upgrade to their current experience. It allows users to sync the user’s banking data, insurance and investment accounts, in order to display a comprehensive view of their financial health. This is done through the platform’s proprietary financial assessment logic adapted from CFP standards. [LinkedIn](https://sg.linkedin.com/in/cherie-wang?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ### Cindy Gordon URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/contributors/cindy-gordon/ Last updated: 2023-01-06T11:45:00.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2023/01/5ff48fad721ca60f1318c360_Cindy-Gordon.png) #### Founder @ SalesChoice Dr. **Cindy Gordon** is the CEO of **SalesChoice**, a Cognitive Sciences AI-based sales analytics platform and Data Sciences company. [LinkedIn](https://ca.linkedin.com/in/cigordon?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ### Cindy Machles URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/contributors/cindy-machles/ Last updated: 2023-01-06T11:43:48.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2023/01/5ff48fe8e4179e7665b91559_Cindy-Machles-p-500.png) #### Founder @ Glue Advertising Cindy Machles is the co-founder and CEO of Glue, which has been recognized as a top 20 NYC agency in both advertising and public relations since 2015\. Before launching Glue, Cindy started and led healthcare-focused branding and advertising organizations for WPP and held product management roles at both Johnson & Johnson and Clorox. She is a founding steering committee member of the Chicago Booth Angels Network in NYC and an alumni board member locally as well. Cindy has an MBA from Chicago Booth and a BS summa cum laude from Boston University. [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/cindy-machles-6b7b944?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ### Claire Martell URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/contributors/claire-martell/ Last updated: 2023-01-06T11:42:46.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2023/01/5ff4906558ecc105015ab5be_Claire--Martell.png) #### Founder @ Murdock Martell I lead Murdock Martell, a consulting practice of finance, accounting and HR consultants who provide services to exciting companies in Silicon Valley and beyond. At present we have approximately a hundred clients serviced by thirty-eight professionals. Our clients range from incubating startups to large multinationals; one of those being Google, Inc. [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/clairemartell?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ### Connie Chi URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/contributors/connie-chi/ Last updated: 2023-01-06T11:41:42.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2023/01/5ff490fa36c13268fda73d01_Connie-Chi.png) #### Founder @ The Chi Group Founder of The **Chi** Group, an award-winning PR agency working with brands and inspirational talents in television. [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/conniechi111?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ### Danielle Reid URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/contributors/danielle-reid/ Last updated: 2023-01-06T11:40:29.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2023/01/5ff4914be9e1bb71c43ed474_Danielle--Reid.png) #### Founder @ DR and Associates Danielle Reid is the Executive Director of DR and Associates, a marketing firm that specializes in branding, multicultural and diversity marketing, social media management, marketing consulting and organizational improvement with an established track record of success across businesses of all sizes and industries.With more than 12 years of experience in marketing, digital analytics, business development, and communications, Danielle’s aim is a positive ROI for her clients. She delivers measurable results and ensures that brands are strategically aligned to meet their organizational objectives. She has succeeded where those before her have failed. Danielle counts Fortune 500 companies, government agencies, and non-profits amongst her clients including Nissan, Subway, Coca Cola, The United States Navy and UnitedHealthcare. Her skills are in high demand as she has been tapped by senior level executives and management for her extensive knowledge in leading national, international, and global marketing campaigns with proven results. Danielle also has cleared the path for other women to serve in leadership positions within the Marketing and Communications industry: being the first woman to serve as Marketing and Advertising Advisor within the Department of Defense. [Visit website](https://drandassociates.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ### Deepa Krishnan URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/contributors/deepa-krishnan/ Last updated: 2023-01-06T11:38:33.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2023/01/5ff491a55bbd3b2ccc818ead_Deepa-Krishnan.png) #### Founder @ Spoonful Deepa is a lifelong vegetarian. She never planned to restrict even more items from her diet, but in 2006, when her doctor explained that her physical symptoms were likely caused by food reactivity, she was hooked. Since then, Deepa has managed her health, including a heart condition and asthma, almost exclusively pill free through diet and exercise. She believes food is medicine and food is joy (everything in balance!) and can often be found indulging in sweet treats around the Bay Area with her two young boys and ever supportive husband. [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/deepakrishnansf?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ### Deepika Phakke URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/contributors/deepika-phakke/ Last updated: 2023-01-06T11:35:29.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2023/01/5ff491e6eafbcb4d2dcc7df2_Deepika-Phakke-p-500.png) #### Founder @ Nama Water The world doesn't need another bottled water company! ...but let's face it sometimes we do end up buying water that comes in single use plastic bottle & most likely that bottle is going to end up in the ocean or our landfills. This is why **Nama Water** is bringing multi-use, sustainable & recyclable bottles that can be reused up to 20 times. Same material as your favorite soda beverage can but with a cap. We are proud to recycle the amount of aluminum that we bring into circulation so that you can quench your thirst in these almost ZERO WASTE bottles, guilt free! [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/deepikaphakke?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ### Dena Nejad URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/contributors/dena-nejad/ Last updated: 2023-01-06T11:30:24.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2023/01/5ff4922c1bccdc47643b130a_Dena--Nejad.png) #### Founder @ Roya Dena started her own consulting company Roya in 2019 and before that she led several teams at many Fortune 500 and early/growth stage technology startups in building brand recognition along with products that customers and employees actually love and are inspired by. [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/denanejad?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ### Denise Blasevick URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/contributors/denise-blasevick/ Last updated: 2023-01-06T11:27:35.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2023/01/5ff49274ff3aae19594c1a6b_Denise-Blasevick--1-.png) #### Founder @ The S3 Agency Denise Blasevick is co-founder and CEO of [The S3 Agency](http://thes3agency.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org), a Brand Elevation agency that has helped elevate brands like BMW Motorcycles, Eight O’Clock Coffee, Ferrari of North America, Tetley Tea, and Wyndham Worldwide – thanks to her agency's proprietary “Brand Elevation” process that helps brands unleash the power of differentiation. She has been recognized with over 1,000 awards for her creativity and business acumen, including induction into the Advertising Hall of Fame of New Jersey; serves on Centenary University’s Board of Trustees; and is frequently featured in the media for her marketing expertise. During the pandemic, Denise turned her agency’s powers of innovation toward helping her home state's small businesses recover: they launched the [#NJSmall](http://njsmall.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) grassroots movement, which has now become sponsored bills in the NJ Senate and Assembly and is on its way to becoming legislation designed to help speed NJ’s economic recovery *without* asking for government funding. Denise’s hobbies include crosswords, running, and scuba diving, and her greatest joy is spending time with her husband and teenage son. [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/deniseblasevick?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ### Dulma Altan URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/contributors/dulma-altan/ Last updated: 2023-01-06T11:25:26.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2023/01/5ff492bdc7ca652d47f0a48a_Dulma--Altan.png) #### Founder @ Makelane I'm the TikTok creator behind @iamdulma AKA the "TikTok B-School for women" where I do deep dives on female-founded companies from DTC to celebrity brands to tech startups. As the creator behind a leading TikTok business page followed by top influencers, celebrities, founders, VCs, and talent managers in the space, I have been featured for my content in Glossy, Morning Brew, and WWD for making business more binge-worthy and accessible. I've worked on brand partnerships with multibillion dollar tech companies and fast-growing VC-backed SaaS startups to help them tap into the power of TikTok for brand awareness & acquisition. I'm also an advisor & consultant to DTC brands and talent-led brands on brand strategy, storytelling, and content strategy. Prior to becoming a TikTok creator I founded Makelane, a private community for women in DTC/ecommerce. We've hosted over 100 live classes with experts who have worked with brands like Allbirds, Casper, BirchBox, Lululemon, Sephora, Credo Beauty, Stitch Fix, Mented, Nasty Gal, Hint Water, Hubble and more. [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/dulma?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ### Eleni Karahalios URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/contributors/eleni-karahalios/ Last updated: 2023-01-06T11:23:29.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2023/01/5ff493221220f9e1bf749af0_Eleni-Karahalios.png) #### Founder @ Newbble [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/elenikarahalios?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ### Ellen Yin URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/contributors/ellen-yin/ Last updated: 2023-01-06T11:22:06.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2023/01/5ff49362d5b64d63974e92aa_Ellen-Yin.png) #### Founder @ Cubicle to CEO **Ellen Yin** is the founder of Cubicle to CEO, an online membership teaching service provider on how to make their first $10K a month, without a large audience or posting every day. To date, Ellen has served over 4,000 entrepreneurs through her online courses + agency services. [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/ellen-yin?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ### Evelyn Sirena URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/contributors/evelyn-sirena/ Last updated: 2023-01-06T11:20:29.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2023/01/5ff493f3ea0e700e7da71f07_Evelyn-Sirena.png) #### Founder @ Top Prospect Group Evelyn Sirena works as a IT Services Partner at Top Prospect Group, which is a Business Services company with an estimated 26 employees; and founded in 2009\. They are part of the Information Technology team within the Information Technology Department and their management level is Non-Manager. Evelyn graduated from Pace University and is currently based in White Plains, United States. ### Gabriella Wong URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/contributors/gabriella-wong/ Last updated: 2023-01-06T11:18:11.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2023/01/5ff49453659d2bba72767311_Gabriella-Wong.png) #### Founder @ AccesSOS Gabriella Wong is the founder and CEO of AccesSOS, a tech nonprofit fighting to make emergency help accessible to everyone. For any emergency, 911 is the go to phone call for all of us, except for the 37 million Americans who can't hear or speak out loud. Our free mobile web app instantly translates text to a 911 phone call with the relevant information, in real time, at scale, in multiple languages. Some of AccesSOS's contributing partners include Fast Forward, BlackRock, Google.org, PagerDuty.org and Github. She received her Masters in Public Health from Columbia University. She has managed projects advocating for equal access to education, technology, and healthcare for people with disabilities. She is Co-Chair of the National Emergency Number Association's Communication Modalities Committee and fluent in American Sign Language. [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/gabriella-m?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ### Gina Shi URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/contributors/gina-shi/ Last updated: 2023-01-06T11:16:41.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2023/01/5ff4949ce9e1bbb7993edfcc_Gina-Shi.png) #### Founder @ munchrooms Prior to starting munchrooms, Gina received her B.S. from the Haas School of Business and MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. Before Wharton, she worked 10+ years as the Business Development Director at Molecular Cloning Laboratories and as GM, she launched its China operations through establishing iCloning Beijing Biotech. Preceding that, she worked as a Financial Analyst at BofA Merrill Lynch in the Tech M&A Group. munchrooms is dedicated to making healthier snacking more achievable and sustainable with our meat-alternative jerky. Our handcrafted jerky has the subtle umami of mushrooms, the flavor of freshly ground spices, and a meaty, satisfying texture. We want to provide people more plant-based meat alternatives that are good for the body and the planet. Through our Asian inspired flavors, we hope to expand people’s cultural palates and bring people together through our mutual love for snacking. [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/ginageshi?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ### Handan Anlar URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/contributors/handan-anlar/ Last updated: 2023-01-06T11:14:34.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2023/01/5ff494eab1401287e236a213_Handan-Anlar.png) #### Founder @ Home & Loft **Home & Loft** is a women owned and run globally inspired textile brand; uniting the unique craftsmanship of Mediterranean artisans with 21st century urban design. [Visit website](https://www.homeandloft.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ### Holland Martini URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/contributors/holland-martini/ Last updated: 2023-01-06T11:11:45.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2023/01/5ff49526611ef567970b371b_Holland-Martini.png) #### Co-Founder @ GoodQues Holland Martini’s role as Co-founder and Chief Insights Officer at GoodQues is the realization of a 10+ year career in quantifying the impact of marketing creativity — and her current work is fully committed to the emotional intelligence needed in our world. She helped design GoodQues expressly as a hybrid market research and strategy firm to break the orthodoxy of qualitative and quantitative methodologies, ultimately bringing more empathy to the data field. [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/holland-martini-2000a121?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ### Inga-Lena Rüttgers URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/contributors/inga-lena-ruttgers/ Last updated: 2023-01-05T11:41:47.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2023/01/5ff496c0b9228e07860e8361_Inga-Lena-Ru-ttgers.png) #### **Inga-Lena Rüttgers is the Founder and Creative Director of the women’s label Inga-Lena with their design studio in New York City.** The creative grew up in an idyllic scenery in Germany, discovering her instinctive curiosity for paintings, craft and texture at a young age. After a first internship with a local designer at 14, she teaches herself how to sew and spends her Summer break at a fashion school in Italy. A successful career as a fashion model opens doors to the professional world. Based between Paris, London and Milan, the young woman jet-sets between airports and hotels, often-times living out of one suitcase for months. She resumes her studies in Paris and graduates as a Designer of Couture Luxe. After first experience working for the houses Chloé and Sonia Rykiel, Inga-Lena moves to the States where she launches her eponymous label in 2017\. A collection of exclusive travel assets, inspired by her personal memories and ‘life on the road’. The lightweight classics shall complement a woman’s existing wardrobe while being convertible and comfortable for the everyday use. With a special devotion to sustainable practice, all garments are made from natural fibers and manufactured locally in New York. The designer drafts each pattern by hand and advocates for the traditional value that goes into the garment making process. Instagram: [@ingalena](https://www.instagram.com/ingalena%5F/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) [Visit website](http://www.inga-lena.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ### Ingrid Sarver URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/contributors/ingrid-sarver/ Last updated: 2023-01-05T11:40:13.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2023/01/5ff49752228a06dc2e8fc56d_Ingrid--Sarver.png) #### Founder @ Talaria Flats Talaria Flats was founded by Ingrid Sarver in 2014\. She was in her second year of the MBA program at NYU Stern when the idea for the business came to her. Too often at events she saw her friends in fantastic heels that just didn't last. By the end of the night, they were barefoot on the dance floor. Why not create an affordable, beautiful, quality foldable ballet flat that they could wear to keep dancing the night away? And so began Talaria Flats. Ingrid is originally from Farmington Hills, Michigan. She graduated from Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., majoring in Economics. After three years at a hedge fund in New York City, she attended the NYU Stern School of Business where she graduated with specializations in Marketing and Entrepreneurship. Talaria Flats has grown primarily in e-commerce, but also sells in the iconic Manhattan boutique of Kleinfeld Bridal, from TLC's Say Yes To The Dress. Product quality and customer service are the factors that drive the business. Ingrid enjoys cycling, tennis, architecture, decor, travel, and anything with sprinkles. She has a passion for design as well as celebratory events, and Talaria Flats is a creation from combining those loves. She currently resides in Manhattan with her husband Michael, and their puppy, Winston. [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/ingrid-sarver?ref=foundedbywomen.org#:~:text=Ingrid%20Sarver%20%2D%20CEO%20%2D%20Talaria%20Flats%20%7C%20LinkedIn) ### Anxhela Qymyri URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/contributors/anxhela-qymyri/ Last updated: 2023-01-05T11:37:57.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2023/01/5ff498f420901c2c465d8475_Anxhela-Qymyri.png) #### Co-Founder - Pare [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/anxhelaqymyri?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ### Diana Wojdylak URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/contributors/diana-wojdylak/ Last updated: 2023-01-05T11:36:49.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2023/01/5ff49955d5b64d099a4eb283_Diana-Wojdylak.png) #### Co-Founder @ Pare **Pare** makes sharing recommendations between you and your friends easy [LinkedIn](https://gh.linkedin.com/posts/dianawojdylak%5Fnewibmer-grateful-womenintech-activity-6877330752099418113-11ej?trk=public%5Fprofile%5Flike%5Fview&ref=foundedbywomen.org) ### Gelline De Guzman URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/contributors/gelline-de-guzman/ Last updated: 2023-01-05T11:32:40.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2023/01/5ff499d7ea0e708c0ba73f8b_Gelline-De-Guzman.png) #### Co-Founder @ Pare Advisor to a global client base of companies across multiple industries, with a primary focus on cryptocurrency and fintech. [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/gellinedeguzman?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ### Izabela Serowik URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/contributors/izabela-serowik/ Last updated: 2023-01-05T11:21:09.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2023/01/5ff4a033721ca64a6318f9a5_Izabela-Serowik--1-.png) #### Co-Founder - Pare Izabela is a first-generation Polish-American with a B.E. and M.E. from Stevens Institute of Technology. She works as a technology analyst specializing in intelligent automation at Johnson & Johnson, an American multinational healthcare corporation. She has work experience in engineering, technology and business, as well as a passion for entrepreneurship and social good. On nights and weekends, Izabela is dedicated to Pare, a startup she is co-founded with three longtime friends, which provides personalized recommendations for new experiences starting with bars and restaurants in New York City. Additionally, Izabela serves on the Board of Directors for a Liberian-based non-profit organization called Community Solutions Aid (CSAID), whose founder she mentored as part of an international incubator program hosted by Bridge for Billions. In her spare time, Izabela loves to travel, read, and spend time in nature. [Visit website](https://www.izabela.work/pare?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ### Jaya Vaidhyanathan URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/contributors/jaya-vaidhyanathan/ Last updated: 2023-01-05T11:19:15.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2023/01/5ff4a0df25299f2ff0b454a4_Jaya-Vaidhyanathan.png) #### CEO @ BCT Digital Jaya Vaidhyanathan is the CEO of BCT Digital, division of Bahwan CyberTek (BCT), a global technology company specializing in Digital Transformation, Predictive Analytics and IoT. She joined as an ‘intrapreneur’ and kick started their FinTech initiatives. This was to build global quality products for the Indian Banking system keeping in mind the unique challenges and culture of the banking system in India. [Twitter](https://twitter.com/jayvaidhya?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ### Jen Cort URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/contributors/jen-cort/ Last updated: 2023-01-05T11:16:01.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2023/01/5ff4a161814653026d7d8491_Jen--Cort.png) #### Founder @ Jen Cort Consulting Jen Cort is a diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice consultant working with schools and organizations in multiple countries. Her goal is to create spaces where all community members, can be seen and heard while learning to be visible and use their voices in productive ways. Jen has presented at national conferences, hosts a diversity institute, is a frequent contributor to publications, and her work has been quoted in Racing Toward Diversity, Washington Post, Boston Globe, New York Times, and more. Jen is the host of an internationally syndicated podcast ["Third Space With Jen Cort"](https://www.jencort.com/third-space-with-jen-cort-guests?ref=foundedbywomen.org) [Visit website](https://www.jencort.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ### Jennifer Arnold URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/contributors/jennifer-arnold/ Last updated: 2023-01-05T11:14:08.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2023/01/5ff4a1ad2f0a928e83ab3ed0_Jennifer-Arnold-p-500.png) #### Founder @ MinervaAI **Jennifer Arnold** is the Co-founder and CEO of **MinervaAI**, an AML platform designed to help banks identify and manage client risk. [LinkedIn](https://ca.linkedin.com/in/jenniferearnold?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ### Jess Glazer URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/contributors/jess-glazer/ Last updated: 2023-01-05T10:48:49.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2023/01/5ff4a225ca96199a6f33ff18_Jess--Glazer.png) #### Founder @ EmpowerU Jess Glazer, a former celebrity personal trainer and elementary school teacher who turned her “cute side hustle” into a million-dollar business in 18 months. Since leaving her teaching job in 2017, Jess has hired a team of incredible heart-centered leaders, served hundreds of clients through her business coaching, helped create over $3million in revenue for her clients, and raised/donated over $60,000 to charity. She’s been featured in dozens of media outlets, including Forbes, Yahoo Finance, The Today Show, and Good Day New York. Jess’s mission is to cause a ripple effect and inspire change for generations to come, making a massive impact, and leaving a lasting legacy beyond her singular actions. [Visit website](https://www.jessglazer.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ### Jessica Cadmus URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/contributors/jessica-cadmus/ Last updated: 2023-01-05T10:46:38.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2023/01/5ff4a2e875938102d86d77f5_Jessica-Cadmus.png) #### Founder @ Rogue Paq Rogue Paq was created by NY Wardrobe Stylist and Goldman Sachs alumna, Jessica Cadmus (AKA [Wardrobe Whisperer](https://www.wardrobewhisperer.com/media?ref=foundedbywomen.org)) who thinks non-stop about how people present themselves. Her style advice and commentary has been featured on CBS This Morning, Bloomberg TV, CNN, Wall Street Journal's Market Watch, Business Insider, and more. She has spent the last 13 years dressing power brokers and influencers and ensuring their aesthetic is highly cultivated. When she discovered her clients were carrying their ritual in vessels like old pencil cases and baggies, a problem defined itself: the need for a refined carrying case. It was from that need that Rogue Paq was born. [Visit website](https://www.wardrobewhisperer.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ### Judith Martinez URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/contributors/judith-martinez/ Last updated: 2023-01-05T10:44:54.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2023/01/5ff4a36755188cb15f75f09c_Judith-Martinez.png) #### Founder @ InHerShoes Judith Martinez is the Founder and CEO of [InHerShoes](https://www.inhershoesmvmt.org/?ref=foundedbywomen.org), a social impact-driven organization committed to catalyzing courage for young girls and women around the world. As a first-generation college student, she is passionate about redefining traditional standards of what it looks like to be a successful woman, particularly in the worlds of entrepreneurship, media, and social impact. She is the co-author of Students Lead Now, a Forbes 30 Under 30 nominee, and a United State of Women Ambassador. [Visit website](https://www.judithpmartinez.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ### June Manley URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/contributors/june-manley/ Last updated: 2023-01-05T10:42:22.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2023/01/5ff4a3be791dd80b5bc95f7a_June--Manley.png) #### Founder @ Female Founders Faster Forward (F4) June is the founder of Female Founders Faster Forward (F4) an independent 501 (c)3 organization aligned to the UN Sustainable Development Goal #10.3, championing equal opportunity for all irrespective of age, ethnicity, gender, race, sexual orientation, disability, and socio-economic status. June is on the leadership council for the National Small Business Association (NSBA). [Visit website](https://junemanley.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ### Justine Dharni URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/contributors/justine-dharni/ Last updated: 2023-01-05T10:40:14.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2023/01/5ff4a41d791dd8679fc9606c_Justine-Dharni.png) #### [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/justinedharni?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ### Kathleen Chan URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/contributors/kathleen-chan/ Last updated: 2023-01-05T10:36:41.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2023/01/5ff4a47f86d3de88be45d90d_Kathleen-Chan.png) #### Founder @ Calico Streamlining your favorite brands' supply chain. [LinkedIn](https://ca.linkedin.com/in/kathleenchan?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ### Katie Witkin URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/contributors/katie-witkin/ Last updated: 2023-01-05T10:35:28.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2023/01/5ff4a4c982977bb1b9f3d600_Katie-Witkin.png) #### Co-Founder @ AGW Group In 2013, **Katie Witkin** co-founded AGW at age 25\. In the last five years, she has been one of the driving forces behind the agency's success, attracting an impressive client roster of iconic brands, including Condé Nast, HBO, Red Bull, Armani Exchange, Mother New York, and '47. ### Kelly Messori URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/contributors/kelly-messori/ Last updated: 2023-01-05T10:33:39.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2023/01/5ff4a528611ef509e70b7bde_Kelly-Messori.png) #### Co-Founder @ CatCow At **CatCow**, we help brands create engaging ads for their paid social media strategy. [Visit website](https://www.catcow.tv/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ### Kiley Peters URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/contributors/kiley-peters/ Last updated: 2023-01-05T10:30:58.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2023/01/5ff4a57e10a10291e7805c78_Kiley-Peters.png) #### Owner & CEO @ Brainchild Studios Kiley Peters is the Founder and CEO of [Brainchild Studios](https://brainchildstudios.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org), a boutique digital content marketing and website creation agency primarily serving brands targeting Millennial Moms. She is also the Founder of the [Work From Home Playbook](http://wfhplaybook.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org), a series of online courses guiding aspiring entrepreneurial moms through the steps of starting a virtual business. As a serial entrepreneur and national speaker, with over a decade of industry experience, she has worked on digital marketing strategies for over 100 brands ranging from small businesses to global enterprises. Her primary areas of expertise include small business consultation, digital content strategy, and consumer behavior research and analysis. She is an Adjunct Professor at Marquette University teaching Digital Content Strategy and holds dual Bachelor of Arts degrees from Marquette University and an MBA from the University of Illinois at Chicago. [Visit website](https://brainchildstudios.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ### Kim Page URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/contributors/kim-page/ Last updated: 2023-01-05T10:24:32.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2023/01/5ff4a5e6ca94deb6964b74ca_Kim-Page.png) #### Founder @ isoshealth Kim Page is a mother of two, an entrepreneur and innovator who has dedicated her career to helping healthcare practitioners get the best out of technology and ensuring that it ends up in the right place at the right time. After running social care, telehealth and telecare services, and with the experience of some serious long-standing health issues in her own home, Kim brings her passion and commitment directly to health and wellbeing professionals that are increasingly isolated from the big system and structure of healthcare institutions. In her own words [LinkedIn](https://uk.linkedin.com/in/kimpage-digitalhealth?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ### Kori Dyer & Kirsten Pincket URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/contributors/kori-dyer-kirsten-pincket/ Last updated: 2023-01-05T10:20:49.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2023/01/5ff4a64881465374f07d95d8_Kori-Dyer---Kirsten-Pincket.png) #### Co-Founders - Dearest Creative Founded in 2017, by **Kori Dyer** Mastroieni + **Kirsten Pincket**, **Dearest** focuses on branding and art direction with roots in graphic design. [Visit website](https://dearestcreative.co/Info?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ### Kristine Locker URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/contributors/kristine-locker/ Last updated: 2023-01-05T10:17:30.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2023/01/5ff4a6aaea0e70d0f2a7633a_Kristine-Locker.png) #### Founder @ LOCKER Kristine Locker is the Founder & CEO of Locker. Kristine started her career in corporate real estate with Goldman Sachs in Dallas, Texas after graduating from Southern Methodist University in 2015 but ultimately decided she wanted to be her own boss. Being the go-to for fashion advice for all of her friends and family, Kristine created Locker out of a personal need when shopping online. When Kristine is not working on Locker you can find her reading, running or spending time with her family & friends. [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristinelocker?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ### Lara Morgan URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/contributors/lara-morgan/ Last updated: 2023-01-05T10:09:27.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2023/01/5ff4a7135bbd3bee3a81f329_Lara-Morgan.png) #### Founder @ Scentered Whilst building a successful global hospitality business our founder, Lara Morgan, travelled the world hundreds of days each year and realised the need for portable aromatherapy products to support her mindful transitions from home to office to travel to “me time”. Scentered was created to meet the demands of eco-conscious consumers hungry for natural, portable aromatherapy and essential oil solutions to help them mindfully transition their moods, thoughts and emotions from moment to moment on demand throughout their everyday journey. [Visit website](https://scentered.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ### Laura Del Beccaro URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/contributors/laura-del-beccaro/ Last updated: 2023-01-05T10:05:41.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2023/01/5ff4a768685fc77529dd5240_Laura-Del-Beccaro.png) #### Founder @ Sora Laura is Co-founder & CEO at Sora, a new HR automation tool that makes it easy to personalize employee workflows like onboarding and offboarding. Prior to Sora, Laura was an engineer at First Round Capital and Mixpanel, and prior to that was in Management Consulting. When she's not at work, she loves playing & watching soccer, eating pasta, and being in the sun. [Visit website](https://lauradelbeccaro.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ### Laura Fortey URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/contributors/laura-fortey/ Last updated: 2023-01-05T10:02:46.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2023/01/5ff4a7b9b92650b124eff6ce_Laura-Fortey.png) #### Co-Founder @ REITIUM REITIUM is a blockchain real estate marketplace that allows anyone become a real estate investor for as little as $100. [LinkedIn](https://ca.linkedin.com/in/lauramariefortey?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ### Laura McCann URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/contributors/laura-mccann/ Last updated: 2023-01-05T09:58:38.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2023/01/5ff4a8097bf7e7cd061d8c34_Laura-McCann.png) #### Founder @ ADORAtherapy Transformation is at the very heart of the ADORAtherapy mission. Founded upon the belief that Mother Earth’s abundant resources offer the ability to transform the human experience. Our aroma perfumes lift and shift your mood in the moment, allowing you to tap into your best self. When we have the presence of mind and heart to be more adoring and compassionate with ourselves, this very feeling cascades into the world and all we touch within it. As we individually transform into the best version of ourselves we weave a new tapestry for humankind, ultimately elevating our collective consciousness. [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/lauramccann31?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ### Lauren Hasson URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/contributors/lauren-hasson/ Last updated: 2023-01-05T09:55:49.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2023/01/5ff4b1d1b926505791f0251a_Lauren-Hasson.png) #### Founder @ DevelopHer Lauren is the Founder of DevelopHer, an award-winning career development platform that provides women in tech with the knowledge, skills, and confidence to overcome the gender gap in leadership, opportunity, and pay in tech for good. Through her speaking, thought-leadership, and training programs, she has inspired thousands of women in tech to rise to new levels in their careers and lives. Lauren balances DevelopHer with her work on the frontlines of tech. By day, she is the architect of the voice payment system and messaging capabilities at a leading Silicon Valley payments company and is chiefly responsible for all of application security. [Visit website](https://developher.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ### Lauren Weiniger URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/contributors/lauren-weiniger/ Last updated: 2023-01-05T09:50:23.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2023/01/5ff4b23886d3de1f5346126b_Lauren-Weiniger.png) #### Co-Founder @ Safely Cofounder of **SAFE** Health and **Safely** App. **Safely** lets people share their verified STD results in a way that's private, trusted, and secure. [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/laurenweiniger?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ### Lesley Eccles URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/contributors/lesley-eccles/ Last updated: 2023-01-05T09:48:23.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2023/01/5ff4b2a3b18b3280f407b38c_Lesley-Eccles.png) #### Founder @ Relish Serial entrepreneur **Lesley Eccles** raised $5 million to fuel growth plans for Relish, her new customized relationship training app. [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/lesleyeccles?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ### Lindsay Braun URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/contributors/lindsay-braun/ Last updated: 2023-01-05T09:35:33.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2023/01/5ff4b303b9228e24bd0eedbd_Lindsay-Braun.png) #### Founder @ Emblem I founded Emblem in 2019\. With easy streamlined options and expert design support, our goal is to be the easiest way for interior designers and dealerships to procure design-focused, custom, commercial-grade seating for any space. We offer a standard line of unique designs that ship in 8 weeks, and a simplified process to connect you to the right custom furniture for your project. [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/lindsaybraun1?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ### Lora H. DiCarlo URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/contributors/lora-h-dicarlo/ Last updated: 2023-01-05T09:19:44.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2023/01/5ff4b3aaca9619255e344538_Lora-H.-DiCarlo.png) #### Founder @ Lora DiCarlo Lora Haddock DiCarlo founded her namesake brand in 2017 with a mission to create a more sexually equitable world. She changed career tracks after experiencing a “life-changing orgasm”, a blended orgasm that ignited her journey as a pleasure products entrepreneur with the ultimate goal of introducing the world to sex tech inspired by human movement. Prior to launching, the brand broke ground at CES in 2019 with its flagship product Osé, which was developed in partnership with Oregon State University’s Robotics & Engineering Lab and won a coveted innovation award in robotics. Quickly rescinded, the CTA cited the product as “obscene”. Lora then became a vocal advocate for sexual wellness brands, and stressed the importance for these products to be included and recognized within the broader wellness category. This ultimately led to the award being reinstated and sex tech being allowed on the show floor for the first time. Continuing to garner accolades, the brand has released nine additional products and seen explosive growth with $7.5 million in sales its first year and over ten patents-pending for its award-winning technology. Lora has also received numerous honors and is an internationally sought after speaker, appearing at SXSW, TechCrunch Disrupt and CES. In addition to becoming a leader in wellness tech, Lora is building a team rooted in her founding principles of respect, empowerment, and integrity. [Visit website](https://www.loradicarlo.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ### Lucinda Koza URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/contributors/lucinda-koza/ Last updated: 2023-01-04T18:09:03.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2023/01/5ff4b40ac70c7d79afffb2fd_Lucinda-Koza.png) #### Founder @ I-Ally Lucinda Koza is the Founder + CEO of I-Ally, a community-driven app that saves millennial family caregivers time, reduces stress, and enables informed decision-making by providing services that fulfill their unique needs. Mrs. Koza created I-Ally after her own experience becoming her father’s sole caregiver at a young age, which made her determined to advocate for others like her. She is a member of the current TechCrunch Include Cohort, SheWorx + AWS Startups Mentorship Program 2020, All Raise Org's Visionary Voices Speakers Bureau, and the Lyfebulb Patient Entrepreneur Circle. She just received Honorable Mention in the Lyfebulb + Orexo Innovation Challenge and received Honorable Mention for Intermitten's 2020 Changemaker Award. Her writing has been published in Thought Catalog and Medium Women. Passionate about storytelling and giving voice to the voiceless, Lucinda also premiered a short film at the Cannes Film Festival in 2016. [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/lucindarogerskoza?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ### Luna Regina URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/contributors/luna-regina/ Last updated: 2023-01-04T18:06:08.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2023/01/5ff4b46183de02b32c535acf_Luna-Regina.png) #### Founder @ Healthy Kitchen 101 The founder of **Healthy Kitchen** 101, a blog where she shares wholesome recipes and kitchen improvement tips to make healthy eating more easily achievable [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/luna-regina?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ### Ly Cecilia Nguyen URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/contributors/ly-cecilia-nguyen/ Last updated: 2023-01-04T18:05:00.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2023/01/5ff4b4f9bd43849a3cd57bbf_Ly-Cecilia-Nguyen.png) #### Co-Founder @ Leigh & Siena Retailer of wedding dresses intended to make wedding shopping easy for all brides. [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/leighsiena/?hl=en&ref=foundedbywomen.org) ### Tori Watley URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/contributors/tori-watley/ Last updated: 2023-01-04T18:03:18.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2023/01/5ff4b533adacc47db97a5c4d_Tori-Watley.png) #### Co-Founder @ Leigh & Siena Growth executive with founder experience who is passionate about uncovering growth opportunities and defining go-to-market strategies. [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/toriwatley?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ### Madison Semarjian URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/contributors/madison-semarjian/ Last updated: 2023-01-04T18:01:44.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2023/01/5ff4b5882b4c272163b77f8e_Madison-Semarjian.png) #### Founder @ Mada App A business-minded creative redesigning the way people shop. [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/madison-semarjian-a7b52b123?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ### Magdalena Paluch URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/contributors/magdalena-paluch/ Last updated: 2023-01-04T17:59:55.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2023/01/5ff4b5f3730c14391c14c582_Magdalena-Paluch.png) #### Co-Founder @ LabTwin Magdalena is the co-founder and CEO of LabTwin, delivering voice-first digital lab assistants to Life Science enterprises. She is a passionate design-driven entrepreneur with over 15 years of hands-on execution experience in building and leading cross-disciplinary teams in an agile fashion. Magdalena leverages emerging technologies to build products that solve individuals and organizations' problems in a transformative and people-led manner. In her previous role as Director at BCGDV, she was responsible for building up from scratch more than ten corporate-backed start-ups and innovation initiatives in Europe and the U.S., primarily focused on the healthcare space. She successfully created and led high-performing multidisciplinary teams. She was also part of the core team of BCGDV, which helped grow and shape the organization from a single U.S. office with 30 people to over 800, with 11 global offices over five years. Before joining BCGDV, she worked as a Senior Innovation Strategist at Toyota, where she was responsible for identifying and implementing emerging technologies in mobility and robotics, such as autonomous vehicle design. [LinkedIn](https://de.linkedin.com/in/magdalena-paluch-594050b?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ### Mandi Bateman URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/contributors/mandi-bateman/ Last updated: 2023-01-04T17:58:36.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2023/01/5ff4b65226ef99698513ee41_Mandi-Bateman.jpg) #### Founder @ LubbDubb Mandi Bateman is the co-founder and CEO of [LubbDubb](https://lubbdubb.io/home?ref=foundedbywomen.org), an online fitness marketplace with small business management tools for wellnesspreneurs. LubbDubb’s mission is to uplift the mostly female workforce of fitness and wellness professionals. Designed from an authentic understanding of deep and unserved needs in the market, LubbDubb is a platform for instructors to connect directly with their customers and audience while managing their proprietorships as a sustainable business. LubbDubb gives instructors With small business management tools to create, manage and promote their virtual classes and in-real-life events. [Visit website](https://lubbdubb.io/home?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ### Martha Montoya URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/contributors/martha-montoya/ Last updated: 2023-01-04T17:57:35.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2023/01/5ff4b6a9db981daec3f53545_Martha-Montoya.png) #### Founder @ AGTools Founded by **Martha Montoya, Gustavo Montoya, and Charley Harrison**, California startup Agtools is providing game-changing intelligence to reunite the global food supply chain. [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/martha-montoya-483908?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ### Mỹ Lệ Goel URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/contributors/my-le-goel/ Last updated: 2023-01-04T17:55:52.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2023/01/5ff4b7093a13f75800635d63_My--Le---Goel.png) #### Founder @ Flight Live Mỹ Lệ (mee-lay) Goel is the founder and CEO of Flight Live, Inc, a company that provides the easiest and most convenient way to do live, interactive personal fitness training through your mobile device. Previously, she was a Senior Program Officer and Program Advocacy and Communications in Global Policy and Advocacy at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation supporting their global health research & development portfolio. Prior to joining the foundation, she was the VP of Marketing and Communications at Global Partnerships, a nonprofit impact investment firm based in Seattle. Before that, she was a vice president on the Social Impact team at Weber Shandwick, a global PR consulting firm, where she launched an award-winning national awareness campaign for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB). In an earlier life, she was a research associate at the Smithsonian Institution doing geochemical analysis and research on ancient climate change. Mỹ Lệ received her undergraduate degree in geosciences from Smith College and graduate degree in technology, innovation and, education from Harvard University. ### Mylea Charvat URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/contributors/mylea-charvat/ Last updated: 2023-01-04T17:53:45.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2023/01/5ff4b78b97d3ae7e9f9f0703_Mylea-Charvat.png) #### Founder @ Savonix Dr. **Mylea Charvat** is a clinical psychologist, translational neuroscientist and the CEO and Founder of the digital cognitive assessment company, Savonix. [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/mylea-charvat-ph-d-429ba01?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ### Nerissa Zhang URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/contributors/nerissa-zhang/ Last updated: 2023-01-04T17:51:43.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2023/01/5ff4b7d13a13f7ad116360d4_Nerissa-Zhang.png) #### Founder @ The Bright App **Nerissa Zhang** is co-founder and CEO of The Bright App, the world's leading platform for LIVE 1-on-1 personal training over 2-way video chat. [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/nerissazhang?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ### Nova Lorraine, M.S. URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/contributors/nova-lorraine/ Last updated: 2023-01-04T17:50:00.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2023/01/5ff4b8af3a13f770726365dc_Nova-Lorraine.png) #### Founder of Raine Magazine, Pink Kangaru, and The Raine School of Fashion Nova Lorraine’s debut fashion collection earned her Haute Couture Designer of the Year and she went on to earn two Rising Star nominations from the Fashion Group International. Her designs landed spots in major magazines, in film and on television. Her experiences as a designer and entrepreneur inspired her to launch [Raine Magazine](https://rainemagazine.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) and her award nominated podcast: [Unleash Your Supernova](https://rainemagazine.com/podcasts?ref=foundedbywomen.org). [Visit website](https://www.novalorraine.com/about?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ### Oneida Franco URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/contributors/oneida-franco/ Last updated: 2023-01-04T17:47:49.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2023/01/5ff4b90208e366139ff62a66_Oneida-Franco.png) #### Founder @ Franco Blueprint **Founder** & **CEO** Oneida **Franco** brings 20 years of accounting, financial literacy, & business management to the table. **Franco Blueprint** works nationwide helping clients prosper their businesses, through Fractional CFO, Corporate Compliance, Advisory Consultation services. [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/oneidafranco?ref=foundedbywomen.org#:~:text=Oneida%20Franco%20%2D%20Founder%20%2B%20CEO%20%2D,LinkedIn) ### Patricia Thaine URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/contributors/patricia-thaine/ Last updated: 2023-01-04T17:45:06.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2023/01/5ff59902c7dd6f6d4a9ad199_PatriciaThaineHeadshot--1--p-500.jpeg) #### Founder @ Private AI Patricia Thaine is a Computer Science PhD Candidate at the University of Toronto and a Postgraduate Affiliate at the Vector Institute doing research on privacy-preserving natural language processing, with a focus on applied cryptography. Her research interests also include computational methods for lost language decipherment. She is the Co-Founder and CEO of Private AI, a Toronto- and Berlin-based startup creating a suite of privacy tools that make it easy to comply with data protection regulations, mitigate cybersecurity threats, and maintain customer trust. Patricia is a recipient of the NSERC Postgraduate Scholarship, the RBC Graduate Fellowship, the Beatrice “Trixie” Worsley Graduate Scholarship in Computer Science, and the Ontario Graduate Scholarship. She has nine years of research and software development experience, including at the McGill Language Development Lab, the University of Toronto's Computational Linguistics Lab, the University of Toronto's Department of Linguistics, and the Public Health Agency of Canada. She is also a member of the Board of Directors of Equity Showcase, one of Canada's oldest not-for-profit charitable organizations. [Visit website](https://www.private-ai.ca/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ### Phoebe Yu URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/contributors/phoebe-yu/ Last updated: 2023-01-04T17:43:54.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2023/01/5ff59992230c74756cfc92a6_Phoebe-Yu.png) #### Founder @ ettitude Phoebe Yu is the CEO and Founder of ettitude. While shopping for her own home after moving to Melbourne, Australia, Phoebe spotted an opportunity within the bedding market to create sustainable luxury for less. Her vision of revolutionising the bedding industry saw Phoebe bridge together her entrepreneurial instincts, passion for sustainability, and understanding of fabric technology. After years of testing materials, weaving and dying techniques, and harnessing a decade of experience working in supply chain management and merchandising, Phoebe perfected and launched ettitude’s innovative bamboo lyocell fabric in 2014\. By 2018, ettitude expanded globally opening a Los Angeles office. In 2019 ettitude was named “International Conquerer" by Online Retail Industry Awards in Sydney for demonstrating significant growth in international markets. In 2020, ettitude closed a $1.5m seed round and was named an Inc. 5000 fastest-growing private companies in America. Prior to ettitude, Phoebe had founded two international trading and sourcing companies in Asia. [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/phoebeyu2008?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ### Racquelle Lindsay URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/contributors/racquelle-lindsay/ Last updated: 2023-01-04T17:42:40.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2023/01/5ff599d569154fd1615a9667_Racquelle-Lindsay.png) #### Founder @ Lindsay Racquelle Racquelle Lindsay is the founder of collectible art and home decor brand, Lindsay Racquelle. She grew up in Los Angeles and attended design school in New York City. Although her primary studies were more academic based prior to her move to New York, she found a natural comfort in art and design. During her studies she explored design beyond clothing and positioned her focus towards collectible art with an interest in natural stone. This was a new exciting adventure that helped her to create the business and expand on what she loves the most. [Visit website](https://www.lindsayracquelle.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ### Reena Gupta URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/contributors/reena-gupta/ Last updated: 2023-01-04T17:41:16.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2023/01/5ff59a31300b4afcfa89ac70_Reena-Gupta.png) #### Founder @ Mom Relaunch An active advocate and spokesperson on entrepreneurship, she mentors and nurtures the next generation of entrepreneurs in the Silicon Valley Youth Coders Club. [Visit website](https://www.momrelaunch.org/about-us/our-founder/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ### Robyn Streisand-Luppino URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/contributors/robyn-streisand-luppino/ Last updated: 2023-01-04T17:36:50.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2023/01/5ff59a7eab9d0f73a2c53b31_Robyn-Streisand-Luppino.png) #### Founder @ Titanium **Robyn** is a trailblazer in the LGBTQ+ community, and has made it her mission to make marketing and advertising more inclusive. [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/robynstreisand?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ### Rosaria Giorgi URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/contributors/rosaria-giorgi/ Last updated: 2023-01-04T17:33:13.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2023/01/5ff59ac6970095d2b0a99b29_Rosaria-Giorgi-p-500.png) #### Founder @ XAUXA Rosaria Giorgi is the CEO and Founder of XAUXA ♥ Chocolate That Loves You Back, the world’s first cold-crafted AI-perfected chocolate.. By combining the advances of Artificial Intelligence with a rare cold-crafting technique, Rosaria and her team have succeeded in preserving cacao beans’ potent nutrients and antioxidants, saved over 430 aromas naturally present in the cacao beans but mostly lost during typical manufacturing, and created a fabulously unconventional chocolate range. Rosaria grew up in Italy, moved to Denmark for university, and majored in Scandinavian Literature. She resided in Ireland for over a decade, where she co-founded the country’s first digitized fashion agency, before relocating to Canada, where she continued researching on the cross-pollination between open innovation and traditional commerce. The result was XAUXA, a company whose success rests on the revolutionary combination of heritage & innovation, art & science. ### Rose Fass URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/contributors/rose-fass/ Last updated: 2023-01-04T17:13:32.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2023/01/5ff59b2c19e7054204227f4b_Rose-Fass.png) #### Founder @ Fassforward Rose has the unique gift to take a mess, and quickly put in place effective steps to reach desired outcomes. She is a natural facilitator who can connect with all types of individuals at all levels of an organization from the C-suite to people closest to the work. Rose has over 35 years of experience in technology and consumer-based industries. During her career, Rose has opened new businesses in the United States, been a general manager with full P&L responsibility and led major corporate transformations. As the Chief Transformation Officer at Xerox, Rose led the transition to the global industry and solutions business, — integrating acquisitions, diverse cultures and operating units, to develop and execute the enterprise strategy. A dynamic speaker, Rose is frequently invited to speak at private and public sector events. She is listed in Forbes’ 2012 Top 10 Women Business Leaders of New York. Her firm has been awarded the Inc. 500/5000 for five consecutive years. She has been a guest on CNBC, is quoted in several bestselling business books and is the author of The Chocolate Conversation: Lead Bittersweet Change, Transform your Business. Rose likes to sing the blues, loves the blues, and hanging with artistic and quirky types. [Visit website](https://www.fassforward.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ### Sara Rossel URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/contributors/sara-rossel/ Last updated: 2023-01-04T17:11:30.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2023/01/5ff59ba4cf2925d57df9ea81_Sara-Rossel.png) #### Founder @ RapiFast RapiFast sells quick response Medical Device Kits. With over 7 years of experience in the healthcare industry, RapiFast focuses on Prevention + Innovation via the latest technology. Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, RapiFast is opening offices internationally in South America, Central America and Europe. All RapiFast products are certified internationally by FDA and CE. [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/sararossel21?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ### Shagun Malhotra URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/contributors/shagun-malhotra/ Last updated: 2023-01-04T17:10:00.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2023/01/5ff59bf8751f4c020bf9e937_Shagun-Malhotra.png) #### Founder @ SkyStem Shagun is the visionary behind the product and user experience. A CPA, CIA and an experienced auditor and process consultant, she designed ART for accountants. Having gone through the broken and inefficient process various times over, she believed there was a more efficient and user friendly way to do reconciliations. Being process focused, Shagun injected process within ART to deliver a product that is highly integrated and process centric. Shagun started her career in public accounting and has worked in Fortune 100 companies such as Marriott and Freddie Mac. Her work focused primarily on internal controls and risk mitigation in both, the international and domestic arenas. She has been a speaker for Fast Trac – a Kauffman Foundation program and is very passionate about entrepreneurship. [Visit website](https://skystem.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ### Shamma Raghib URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/contributors/shamma-raghib/ Last updated: 2023-01-04T17:08:40.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2023/01/5ff59c60d66453787d351100_Shamma-Raghib.png) #### Founder @ Girls Get Funded Shamma Raghib is a Startup Advisor, she founded Girls Get Funded ([girlsgetfunded.com](http://girlsgetfunded.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org)) when she realized that a lot of her womxn friends and entrepreneurs often struggle to understand how to build a startup all the way from idea to a scalable company. Shamma is currently advising a couple of SaaS based startups globally. Apart from that she is also a SaaS Transformation Manager for Collibra (currently valued at $2.3B), having gone through Series A-through E with this company. [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/shammaraghib/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ### Sharon Kevil URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/contributors/sharon-kevil/ Last updated: 2023-01-04T17:06:46.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2023/01/5ff59ca546b2086560858bf0_Sharon-Kevil.png) #### Founder - Forti Goods Born out of the need for safe storage in her own home, founder **Sharon Kevil** developed a line of locking furniture that blends design with security and privacy for a look that catches the eye without revealing a thing. We're proud to be a woman-owned and woman-led furniture company. [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/sharonkevil?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ### Shawnnah Monterrey URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/contributors/shawnnah-monterrey/ Last updated: 2023-01-04T17:05:17.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2023/01/5ff59ce647076f787436ac7b_Shawnnah-Monterrey.png) #### Founder @ BeanStock Ventures [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/shawnnahmonterrey?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ### Shriya Sekhsaria URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/contributors/shriya-sekhsaria/ Last updated: 2023-01-04T17:02:59.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2023/01/5ff59d676cc8be27449e55e8_Shriya-Sekhsaria.png) #### Founder @ Lumhaa: The Memory Jar Company Shriya Sekhsaria is founder and CEO of Lumhaa: The Memory Jar Company, which is a collaborative social media platform that helps people create “memory jars” -- time capsules for relationships and experiences they care about. The company was founded based on her award-winning psychology research, which showed that memory jars made people happy and improved psychological well-being. Previously, Shriya worked at Goldman Sachs and was co-founder and CEO of a cognitive testing company. She has been recognized as a recipient of the 2020 Women STEM Entrepreneurs of the year award; and serves as a mentor to several startups in South America, Africa, and Asia. Shriya is also a 3x All East archer and international bestselling novelist. She grew up in India and graduated from Princeton University (summacum laude, Phi Beta Kappa) with degrees in psychology, entrepreneurship, finance, and European cultural studies. [LinkedIn](https://in.linkedin.com/in/shriya-sekhsaria-22964ba7?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ### Siran Cao URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/contributors/siran-cao/ Last updated: 2023-01-04T17:01:48.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2023/01/5ff59dd019e7054057228611_Siran-Cao.png) #### I'm Siran, and I'm on a mission to close the gender pay gap through the company I've co-founded, Mirza. My background is in Gender Studies from Harvard, but spent my career in operations and leadership. I built driver support for Uber in NYC, then led the driver support team in the US Northeast before a Master's in Social Business from LSE. [LinkedIn](https://uk.linkedin.com/in/siran-cao?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ### Talia Brandt URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/contributors/talia-brandt/ Last updated: 2023-01-04T17:00:22.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2023/01/5ff59e4c99d3ccfac0fcc5cb_Talia-Brandt.png) #### Founder @ Greyline Partners [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/complianceconsulting?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ### Toyin Umesiri URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/contributors/toyin-umesiri/ Last updated: 2023-01-04T16:58:50.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2023/01/5ff59ead69154f67cd5a9fcb_Toyin-Umesiri.png) #### Founder @ Nazaru Toyin Umesiri is an Entrepreneur, International Business Consultant and Supply Chain Strategist. Prior to her Entrepreneurship journey, she served as a top strategist at the Headquarters of Fortune #1, Walmart, and as a Supply Chain Expert at Whirlpool Corporation. [Visit website](https://toyinumesiri.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ### Tracy Schmorleitz URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/contributors/tracy-schmorleitz/ Last updated: 2023-01-04T16:57:26.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2023/01/5ff59eef50edef09b871b786_Tracy-Schmorleitz.png) #### Founder @ CodeSubmit Tracy Phillips is the co-founder and COO of CodeSubmit. Her passion is helping technical talent and companies alike build meaningful places of work. [Visit website](https://codesubmit.io/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ### Trinity Wiles URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/contributors/trinity-wiles/ Last updated: 2023-01-04T16:55:47.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2023/01/5ff59f6bffe0b0192ac76eb1_Trinity-Wiles.png) #### Founder @ Where and Share Trinity Wiles is Co-Founder of Where and Share, an experiential retail technology company. She started her company to empower retailers to better understand their customers through data and insights while innovating the fitting room experience for shoppers. We are launching in 2021\. Our interconnected platforms include Where and Share smart mirrors, a social sharing Ecomm app, and a marketing SAS platform for retailers and brands. [Visit website](https://whereandshare.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ### Vanessa Dew URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/contributors/vanessa-dew/ Last updated: 2023-01-04T16:53:46.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2023/01/5ff59fc2e6322ea2359662a3_Vanessa-Dew.png) #### Co-Founder @ Health-Ade **Vanessa Dew** co-founded Health-Ade Kombucha in 2012 alongside her best friends and husband-and-wife team, Justin and Daina Trout. As Chief Sales Officer, Dew brings an invaluable knowledge of sales and marketing amassed from years spent at a major pharmaceutical company before leaving to help start Health-Ade Kombucha. [Visit website](https://health-ade.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ### Vix Reitano URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/contributors/vix-reitano/ Last updated: 2023-01-04T16:49:43.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2023/01/603d0d079f59a63cb16a53e6_Vix-Reitano-updated-headshot-p-500.png) #### Founder @ Agency 6B Vix Reitano is the Founder of [Agency 6B](https://agency6b.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org), is a full-service advertising agency providing bespoke solutions for Advertising, Marketing, Social Media, and Content and Video Production services in an evolving world. Reitano launched Agency 6B as a six figure company in six weeks in August of 2015 and grew the business by 843% in 2020 during the first year of the coronavirus pandemic. She is also the Founder of the [Side Hustle Success Story™️](https://vixreitano.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) program, a 12-week coaching program that supports entrepreneurs in increasing their revenue, streamlining their operations and building a business with intention. Connect with Vix personally on Instagram, LinkedIn and Facebook @vixreitano and on Twitter @vixinthecity. And follow @agency6b on all platforms to view the work created by her and her team. To work with her, visit [https://agency6b.com](https://agency6b.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org). [Twitter](https://twitter.com/vixinthecity?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ### Willow Hill URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/contributors/willow-hill/ Last updated: 2023-01-04T16:48:25.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2023/01/5ff5a0ca300b4a04bd89c283_Willow-Hill.png) #### Willow Hill is the Co-founder and Chief Creative Officer of Scout Lab, an award-winning creative agency building the purpose-driven brands of tomorrow. Clients include Wix.com, Adidas, Venmo, Ritual, and more. Early in her career Willow worked to build the Airbnb global brand and is now an advisor to companies that use emerging technology to solve global issues. [Twitter](https://twitter.com/bywillowhill?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ### Zora Chung URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/contributors/zora-chung/ Last updated: 2023-01-04T16:46:51.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2023/01/5ff5a10c7dd75f8c5166bc4e_Zora-Chung.png) #### Founder @ ReJoule Inc. Zora is the cofounder and CFO at ReJoule, a battery diagnostics and optimization company. Before founding ReJoule in 2017, she has spent 12 years in corporate finance at Clorox and Walmart eCommerce. She's created long-range strategic and financial plans, negotiated contracts, and evaluated new and existing business models and optimized them for scalable growth. At ReJoule, she manages their budgets and financials while bootstrapping a battery hardware startup. She's managed the pre-revenue startup through the COVID shutdowns through a combination of government grants, emergency loan programs, and a laser focus on managing expenses and risk. ### Darja Gutnick URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/contributors/darja-gutnick/ Last updated: 2023-01-04T16:45:11.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2023/01/5ff5a21f8bd5be6143f545cc_Darja-Gutnick.png) #### Founder @ Bunch [Twitter](https://twitter.com/darjagutnick?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ### Nicole Enslein URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/contributors/nicole-enslein/ Last updated: 2023-01-04T16:43:51.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2023/01/601d0e7920a8980bba36319b_Nicole-Enslein.png) #### Founder & CEO - Sublime Communications A pioneer in brand building, Nicole has successfully launched new brands, reinvented well-known brands, and created new product categories for Fortune 500 companies. As CEO & Founder of Sublime Communications, a certified women-owned business, she has led the team to become the AOR for Serena Williams Jewelry, Eureka Vacuums, Delamar Hotels and over 30 cyber security companies. Sublime’s global marketing campaign for Cylance drove +550% growth in revenue in a single year and resulted in their acquisition by BlackBerry for $1.4B. Along the way Nicole managed a diverse portfolio of brands including: UPS, Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson, LʼOreal, Citibank, and TD Ameritrade. Nicole sits on multiple boards including Girls with Impact, The Ad Club of CT, FFCH, and acts as an advisor to the Management Team of Atwood Consortium. Nicole gets out of bed every morning loving what she does and is fiercely passionate about driving the bottom line for clients. [Visit website](http://www.sublimecommunications.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ### Courtney Gerring URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/contributors/courtney-gerring/ Last updated: 2023-01-04T16:42:52.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2023/01/601d0f2a771ae80eabb5f9c7_courtney-p-500.png) #### Founder of C.Marie Productions Courtney is the Founder of C.Marie Productions, a PR and Digital Marketing firm that specializes in creating the right strategy and story for entrepreneurs. Courtney is passionate about connecting people and bringing brands to life organically. She has worked with entrepreneurs (mainly women) all over the world to help build businesses with them and create exposure for them. ### TL Robinson URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/contributors/tl-robinson/ Last updated: 2023-01-04T16:41:55.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2023/01/601d15b4495facc4830c795b_5ffda1c163d9194066500f30_5fedb869359d4550b95d108a_icon@2x--3-.png) #### Founder and CEO of THE U.P. TL Robinson is the Founder and CEO of THE U.P., an anonymous platform that allows members of the sexual assault survivor community to connect. Specifically, survivors, survivor supporters and advocates can connect (based upon role) to learn and empower each other. TL has years of experience leading multi-million dollar projects across multiple industries. Prior to starting THE U.P., she worked as a senior leader for an international information technology company. [Visit website](http://getontheup.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ### Jeanne Ivy URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/contributors/jeanne-ivy/ Last updated: 2023-01-04T16:39:19.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2023/01/6033a73e7ec9370ffd0771c7_8705d4a4d389a0c11c3926c148fcf366a3107dab.jpeg) #### Founder and Creative Director @ IvyMagic Jeanne runs the creative consultancy IvyMagic, which exists to help ideas take flight and teams shine brighter. She has 25 years of experience as a communicator, creative director, facilitator and mentor—with collaborators and clients ranging from a small creative reuse nonprofit to a Fortune 50 technology company. She enjoys reading, painting, running a small design shop on Society6, roller skating and dreaming of where she’ll travel to when COVID’s mischief has finally been managed. [Visit website](https://thativymagic.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ### Amanda Jay Anne URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/contributors/amanda-jay-anne/ Last updated: 2023-01-04T16:27:48.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2023/01/60374e22358b0a949b476bb0_Profile-Photo---Full-Large-2.png) #### Founder of Life Ever Up Amanda is a former Fortune 500 management consultant with a psychology and science background, who will soon be returning to graduate school at Columbia University to study Social-Organisational Psychology. She is the founder of Life Ever Up, a personal development organisation with a mission to harness the power of psychology and neuroscience to empower high-achieving women to master their mindset and overcome self-sabotage in order to reach the next level of growth and success both professionally and personally. She is a certified success and high performance coach for high-achieving professionals and entrepreneurs and is determined to help others reach their full potential and create a life and career they can be proud of. [Visit website](https://www.lifeeverup.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ### Pauline Malubay URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/contributors/pauline-malubay/ Last updated: 2023-01-04T16:26:44.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2023/01/Pauline-Malubay.png) #### Founder @ Pauline Malubay Consulting At age 19 I took a gap year to volunteer in Zimbabwe. The organization I worked for gave loans to women who lost their husbands to AIDS. Those widows would use the money to start small businesses. They were able to support their families and rebuild their lives. **Witnessing women empowered through business was an insight that stuck with me.** While in university, I continued my journey of helping women: promoted the work of the social enterprise Code First Girls, ran events for female students where big corporations could recruit them for jobs and internships, started a coaching practice helping graduates clarify their career goals and get the courage and confidence to advance. After graduating, I started on a career path in the corporate world. I worked in Big Tech, including Google, and gained extensive background as a UX expert, sales expert, and working with tech start-ups. **One may say that I was in the belly of the beast.** During this time, I was also a facilitator at Google's «I Am Remarkable» workshops. Those are based on research by Anna Vainer. She discovered that women do not promote themselves enough. Instead of owning their success, women try to attribute it to the work of the whole team. This resonated deeply with my experience. **Ownership Mentality will later become a cornerstone of my business.** I worked with many talented female managers, influencers, creatives, but pretty soon I realized I can't make an impact this way, that it would take many years to advance to a decision-making position. Then a defining moment came when my then-boss demanded that I closed my side hustle as operations manager for online businesses. This ultimatum made me see, that what I want in life is Ownership! I want to own my business, my time, my choice of tasks and clients. I want to make an immediate impact on others lives. So, whom did I want to choose as my clients? I looked into my heart and remembered my mom who had to choose work over family time. I decided that I wanted to help women run successful businesses without fear of not being perfect in all areas of life – perfect CEO, mom, partner. When they struggle to do it all themselves and end up with no mental energy for either part of their life, I wanted to give them their time and sanity back and empower them to have it all. Today, I am a certified digital business strategist helping female entrepreneurs. With my help, they can build and scale businesses, take ownership of their work and personal life, get their time and sanity back! I use my expertise in tech design and user experience to help them be successful CEOs without sacrificing their family life. I am also the creator and host of "How She Owns It", a podcast unlike any other in this niche. I bring female entrepreneurs into the spotlight, encourage my guests to self-promote, and coach listeners on how to OWN their work and family life. In the future, I would like to be a venture capitalist investing in female-driven startups, and start a foundation helping disadvantaged children and youth with education opportunities. [Visit website](https://helpmepauline.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ### Neha Naik URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/contributors/neha-naik/ Last updated: 2023-01-04T16:25:14.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2023/01/Neha-p-500.png) #### Founder @ RecruitGyan Neha is now a 4 times business owner, and she runs those while raising 2 toddlers! She is an expert in career planning/recruitment, a certified sleep consultant, and mom entrepreneurship coach, mentoring moms with young children on how to start a business to create better work/life balance. She helps moms who DREAM of starting a business, but don't ACT on it, takes them by the hand and walks them through all the steps of their new biz - conception to delivery! Her first business was born when she was job hunting, trying to avoid the unjust treatment she experienced from previous employer, and was prompted to start her own company instead. She first felt insecure, thinking she did not have enough experience or expertise - but she succeeded! Things really snowballed from there, and every major new skill in her life turned into a business of sharing it with others. Neha knows firsthand the journey of building an empire while also raising a family - she has lived the rollercoasters of failures, obstacles, tears, self-doubt, not knowing how to do it, overwhelmed by all the advice out there. So she decided to share her story and help other moms start businesses, or simply organise their day with routines and predictability, so that the whole family is energised and happy. She shares insights based both in relentless practice and solid data, and inspires with her personal experiences. [Visit website](https://recruitgyan.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ### Lekita Logan-Range URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/contributors/lekita-logan-range/ Last updated: 2023-01-04T16:24:08.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2023/01/Lekita-headshot-p-500.png) #### Founder @ Lavish Branding Academy Lekita Logan-Range, is an award-winning Female Entrepreneur, Event Designer, Producer and Business Branding Specialist. I help wedding planners, event designers and professional service business owners effectively build a profitable brand & sustainable business so that they can generate more quality leads through strategic methods without undervaluing themselves. She has over 10 years of experience within the hospitality, entertainment and marketing industry. Her clientele account type ranges from intimate luxury weddings & special events to large scale celebrity events. She created the Lavish Branding Academy to help wedding planners, designers & female business owners like yourself generate more quality leads. Our courses are designed and created to teach necessary skills needed to enhance your business. Using proven teaching strategies, we make sure that every student finds a path to success. I look forward to working with you. [Visit website](http://www.lavishbrandingacademy.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ### Kristen Paladino URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/contributors/kristen-paladino/ Last updated: 2023-01-04T16:22:34.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2023/01/paladino-p-500.png) #### Founder @ Paladino Casting Casting Director. Entrepreneur. Problem-Solver. Strategist. Photographer. Entertainment Industry Enthusiast. Kristen considers herself a heart-led business owner and has been working in Entertainment as a Casting Director, Producer, and Consultant since 2002\. She firmly believes in the drive of her passion and intuition through experiencing the first-hand results of trusting her instincts in her life and work. [Visit website](https://paladinocasting.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ### Gita Bhargava URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/contributors/gita-bhargava/ Last updated: 2023-01-04T16:20:20.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2023/01/605b44a431abd72865ffa828_Gita-Bhargava-2.png) #### Co-Founder & COO @ Global Upside Gita Bhargava is an entrepreneur, leader and innovator. She is the Co-Founder and COO of Global Upside, and its three sister companies: Global PEO Services, Mihi and Gava Talent Solutions. Together, the companies provide the most diverse range of global solutions that simplify complexity and help Clients operate better and grow faster. Since establishing Global Upside in 1999, Gita has been dedicated to solving challenges, creating a welcoming and supportive workplace, and giving back to her community. She has a 20+ year track record of operational excellence and innovative problem solving and has received various recognitions for her work in the form of the Stevie Awards, Le Fonti Awards, and Silicon Valley Business Journal’s Women of Influence Awards. She has also been featured on Worldwide Business with Kathy Ireland and national television in Italy. She is an avid support of City Year and holds a leadership position on their Women’s Board. Prior to co-founding Global Upside, Gita served as Corporate Controller for online-home-sales pioneer eHome. Previously, she was Controller of Chipshot.com, a manufacturer and e-tailer of golf equipment. Gita holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics from the University of Rajasthan, India, and has received multiple accounting certifications from the University of Alaska at Anchorage. [Visit website](https://globalupside.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ### GoodGirlPR URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/partners/pr/goodgirlpr/ Last updated: 2025-12-29T05:02:36.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2023/01/617ad930c98ed436c8e1df61_Untitled-design-14-p-500.png) #### GoodGirlPR is a full-service branding, public relations, and event planning firm based in New York, Washington DC, Atlanta, Chicago, Miami, and Los Angeles. Public relations is a very competitive field, but GoodGirlPR is unlike other PR agencies. Because of our staff’s advanced degrees, GoodGirlPR is a collection of brilliant minds who think outside the box to execute successful PR campaigns that attract global media attention or resolve any crisis management issue. We understand the importance of communication and relationships with the intent of uplifting our clients’ brand awareness and impacting their return on investment. [Visit website](https://goodgirlpr.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ### Tapped Brooklyn URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/partners/founding/tapped-brooklyn/ Last updated: 2025-12-29T05:02:53.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2023/01/60b92c58bba26aa000681dac_Untitled-design-7.png) #### Tapped Brooklyn is a platform and highly engaged community that supports emerging and independent Black and Brown musicians in Brooklyn and beyond to integrate them into the local and global art scenes, while also connecting communities to local artists through interviews and virtual events. Since its inception in 2020, Tapped Brooklyn has raised over $2,200 across virtual shows that were donated completely to local, Black organizations. [Visit website](https://tappedbrooklyn.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ### HORN Strategy URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/partners/founding/horn-strategy/ Last updated: 2025-12-29T05:03:07.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2023/01/609d6d3731959f7b7fb881e2_Logo-Horn-p-500.png) #### HORN Strategy is a consulting firm focused on helping entrepreneurs, founders and CEOs build and lead their emerging businesses. Established by Sabrina Horn in 2020, Horn works directly with executives, providing guidance on go-to market strategy, brand-building and market expansion, and on when and how to raise capital. Horn offers keen insights on how to clearly communicate critical messages to different audiences and provides crisis counsel. Strategic connections and access to funding, marketing, professional service, executive coaching and mentoring are also a vital part of Horn’s practice. Sabrina Horn is a frequent speaker at industry conferences and forums on a broad range of topics about leadership, entrepreneurship, problem solving and creating success. Learn more at www.sabrinahorn.com. [Visit website](https://sabrinahorn.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ### JEM URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/partners/founding/jem/ Last updated: 2025-12-29T05:03:21.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2023/01/6099780acd04af3488d4056b_Untitled-design-5.png) #### JEM is a Silicon Valley-based global management consultancy, research and publishing group that connects executives, innovators, experts and thought leaders from around the globe through its consulting and advisory services division, Consultants Collective, its digital magazine, Biznology and its online community for leaders, JEM Networks. Recognized as a "Power Player" by Business Insider as a top disruptor in management consulting, JEM was certified as a Women-Owned Small Business (WOSB) in 2020\. Learn more at JEM.LLC [Visit website](https://jem.llc/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ### Astia URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/partners/founding/astia/ Last updated: 2025-12-29T05:03:33.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2023/01/608c23ab1cdeb78f2222a41e_Untitled-design-4.png) #### Astia levels the investment playing field for women entrepreneurs. Astia achieves its mission by providing inclusive teams access to capital, through a Venture Fund and an Angel Network, and expertise, through the Astia Expert Sift program which leverages the wisdom of a 5,000+ global community of advisors. [Visit website](http://www.astia.org/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ### ALMA Life Sciences URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/partners/founding/alma-life-sciences/ Last updated: 2025-12-29T05:03:56.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2023/01/608abebe4fbac635a1ed5e16_Untitled-design-3.png) #### ALMA Life Sciences, LLC is an investment firm whose mission is to create and nurture conscious healthcare businesses. We gravitate towards great science, and inspired leaders who dream of bettering the world through innovation. Our success is defined by the impact we are having in global human health and wellbeing. [Visit website](http://almalifesciences.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) ### Liz Illg Consulting URL: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/partners/founding/liz-illg-consulting/ Last updated: 2025-12-29T05:04:07.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/8d/318d86a0-207a-4008-9f76-8243913f9818/content/images/2023/01/60893da695d55270e3d975bc_Untitled-design-2.png) #### Liz Illg started consulting small business owners in 2019 after successfully starting and scaling businesses in the brick and mortar and digital space. With Liz's experience and expertise in business development, strategic planning, and creating systems, she helps business owners establish and execute their goals. [Visit website](https://www.lizillg.com/?ref=foundedbywomen.org) _Includes the latest 500 public posts. Use `/sitemap.xml` for the complete archive of public content._