Women Who Lead

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 Resentment Takes Root

Jane Hales 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

Women Who Lead

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

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.

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 Money Magic, and Living Life "on FIRE"

Before her health collapsed, Lynita Mitchell-Blackwell 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.

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 "Self-Care Isn't Selfish" Really Means

In November 2019, Margo Wickersham 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,

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 Development Takes Longer Than You Think

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

Women Who Lead

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"

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

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 Can't Pour From an Empty Cup," and Supporting Female Entrepreneurs Over Seeing Them as Competition

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, she supports overwhelmed professionals and busy business owners to build happier, more balanced lives through

Women Who Lead

From the Only Woman in the Room to Leading a Movement: Drenusha Salihu on Building Women4Cyber Kosovo and Redefining Cyber Security

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

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

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

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 Shouldn't Mean Burnout

After over 15 years in social care, including experience with the NHS Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS), Sinead Tingley 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.

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"

Shaneh F. Woods is the founder and CEO of Prosperity First, 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

Women Who Lead

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

Kenda Resler Friend is the President and Founder of KRF Public Relations, 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.