She Breaks The Mold

Business planning for 2020 is a hot topic this month! So there's no better time than now for some mindset tips to help you think about your plans with a future focus. We get into trouble when we allow the part of our brain that likes safety, assurances and security to work with us on our plans ;) Today's episode is going to start you on a path to using your planning brain - your future focused mind - to move you in the direction of success. One of Stephen Covey’s Seven Habits of Highly Effective People is Starting with the end in mind – or creating now what you want to have in the future. Doing your business now the way you want to be doing it in the future. Starting your business now with a clear idea of how you want it to look in the future. It’s based on the idea that we create everything twice: once in our minds, and again in reality, once we know the direction we want to head in, and a potential path to get there. If you know you want your business to hold specific values or exist within a particular model, why would you start out any other way? Find me here: Twitter: twitter.com/_JanetWhalen_ Instagram: instagram.com/_JanetWhalen_ Facebook: facebook.com/beambitiousforher

Most of us have grown up without a key skill - the ability to ask  questions that empower either ourselves or the listener to take responsibility to solve a problem or find an answer.  We think it's all about the Who, Where, Why, How and What of every situation, but there's more to this skill. So much more. If it was all about getting the facts, we'd be close. Still not perfect, given our penchant as humans to confuse our thoughts with facts, but that's a topic for another day. There's more to this because depending on how we ask, the words we choose to include and exclude from our questions and our intention overall, we end up with either a very empowered team, co-worker (or even ourself), or we create space and discomfort and even distrust between ourselves and everyone around us.   Follow on instagram Follow on twitter Follow on facebook  

Shana Recker is an entrepreneur, a coach and a passionate advisor to people (especially women) who have an idea for a business, but don't know the right steps to get them moving down the startup path. Shana's business started with an idea while on a vacation in a Chicago hotel room, but ended up on a shelf at home once the vacation ended. Like most of us, she worried she didn't have what she needed to pull it off, wondered "who was she" to try to do it, and that she had to be someone other than who she really was to pull it off. What to hear what she wants you to know now? "This is YOUR LIFE and you only get ONE. If you've been stuffing down a dream because of thoughts of "who am I to do that... or I'm not qualified to do that" I'm here to say YOU ARE the right person, you were giving the dream, the idea because you are the EXACT PERSON to pull it off." More on: Twitter Instagram

I'm welcoming my friend Lisa Pezik to the podcast this week to talk about what happened when she decided to make a 180 degree pivot in her business and completely switch her business model, her target audience and her offering all at once. Lisa has made two huge pivots in her career so far and we talk about both today: the first from ICU nurse to online health & fitness coach, and more recently, to business and content strategist for online marketers. Her story is a fantastic example of how your past is never a predictor of your future path. As Lisa says, who would have ever thought this is what she would be doing, looking back at her early life in Pennsylvania being told what to take in college by her mom, who had her ideal life already planned out for her.    Book a FREE 30-minute business coaching session with me and let's see if we're a fit: beambitiousforher.com/calendar Follow on: Twitter Instagram

Today's episode of the She Breaks The Mold podcast will help you figure out where to start, and give you a few tips and tricks so you can be well on your way to your first consumer insights project!  You've probably heard advice about creating your ideal customer avatar, or buyer persona. But do you really know what that means? Or how to use this "character" you've created to help with your business? Or have you heard about interviews you should be conducting with your ideal customers to figure out what problems they're having, what's missing in their toolkit of current solutions, or even what they're satisfied (or unsatisfied) about with your current offering? All of this CAN be helpful for you as a small business, as long as you keep your expectations clear about what your customer's answers are really telling you. Britta Schell joins me today to talk about how entrepreneurs with small budgets can get started learning consumer insights about their brand and their offering, all without a big corporate budget. Britta has been a consumer insights expert for many years, and a solopreneur for seven. Prior to becoming an independent consultant, she served as Director, Digital Strategic Insights at MTV. She started her career in innovative brand strategy and advertising agencies which grounded her in the power of insights in supercharging growth and loyalty for brands - and in the idea that research must be actionable and engaging to be useful. She gives us insight not only into her insights work, but also into what it's been like for her as an entrepreneur including a few of the mistakes she made along the way.  Follow: Instagram Twitter

What do you think - is it better to give or receive? We present this topic to children early to help them understand the virtues of generosity and kindness without really considering the delicate balance between these two actions. Sometimes, we go so far as to suggest to kids that it's selfish to say you'd rather receive. I've only arrived at this mindset recently, but I think we do our kids a disservice by suggesting this. In fact, I think it can sometimes be exactly the opposite of selfish. I hope this podcast, Episode #36 - The Art of Receiving, sheds a little light on the importance of both. Particularly for girls and women, who are taught to nurture and not be selfish, receiving can be a loaded word. It has become almost a stereotype that women can be terrible at receiving compliments - on our appearance, our cooking, our parenting and our businesses. And when we offhandedly reject a compliment (thinking we're being humble), or an offer of help (even when we could really use it) we offend the person offering and make it less likely they'll want to offer it again. The interesting thing is how this behaviour extends to receiving money in our businesses. When we don't believe our work is worthy, when we say we love our work so much we'd do it for free, when we offer discounts to potential clients (before they even object to our price!) because we don't want them to think we're greedy, we effectively shun money from our businesses. I believe receiving is one of the most important skills an entrepreneur can have and I tell you why in this episode. To download the Free Money Tracking Worksheet mentioned in this episode: https://beambitiousforher.com/moneytracking Follow: Instagram Twitter

To quote Marie Kondo of the KonMari method fame, “what sparks joy” for you when you think about your business? Lots of you will answer this with perfectly wonderful thoughts like, “Serving my customers”, or “Doing what I love every day”, or “Following my passion and setting my own schedule”.  But what about the financial results and impact of your business? If that part doesn’t spark joy for you, you should be asking yourself why not? And how it’s supposed to unless you give it a little love in return? If you love what you do, love serving your customers and love being your own boss, you want to protect your ability to do that and focus on how to make enough revenue to stay in business. This is really hard to do for a lot of women. We’ve been conditioned to think about anything (and everything!) but money in our business. We don’t want to be referred to as a “rich bitch” or as someone who values money over people. As if those things are mutually exclusive. This episode is all about the work — the deep dive, the looking inside — that’s important before you can release the beliefs you hold about money that prevent you from moving forward and instead, keep you stuck in an unhelpful, unprofitable place. Visit beambitiousforher.com/35 for a free worksheet with SIX exercises you can do to get started on decluttering your money mindset, and stay tuned for more details about my group, online course starting October 1! Follow: Instagram Twitter

Elenna Mosoff and Danika Zoe created Deep Dive Dinners as “an opportunity to disconnect from the echo chamber of the online world and have a lively, multi-faceted conversation with people you may not ever meet. We seek not to solve or come to consensus around our topics, but rather to give them space, breath, and perspective that you might not otherwise get in your day to day existence, or in your immediate circles.” What we discuss: Our personal fears about money, as women and business owners A little behind the scenes on what it’s really like to build a coaching business How we conflate self-worth with net-worth in typical money conversations and why that’s not helpful How the first years of business building can be a bit of a crap-shoot and the work each of us has done on our money mindsets to make it a little less crappy Why these conversations about important topics are essential for social connectedness What’s next for Deep Dive Dinners What Elenna and Danika want you to do next with this conversation! Links to Deep Dive Dinners and Elenna and Danika's sites here: https://beambitiousforher.com/deep-dive-dinners Follow: Instagram Twitter

Mai-kee is a Launch Strategist and Conversion Copywriter for purpose driven online businesses. She helps them build their authority in business, and discover their Brand DNA so that they can thrive when they launch their signature courses. We talk a lot about what that means and how she can help you in this episode, but first we dig into the name of her podcast - The Quiet Rebel - and how it came to be. It's a story of growth, acknowledgement of purpose and authenticity that will inspire you if you're in the same place, looking to find just the right wording or feeling to describe yourself and how you serve your clients. But Mai-kee brings more than just the touchy-feely to this episode! She give us a mini-masterclass in several areas: Her Brand DNA™ framework - a key process she uses to help clients identify and integrate their brand voice, their pillars of influence and persuasion, their values and the story behind their brand How to Convert With Courage - identifying the five levels of courage in entrepreneurship and where you fall in the pyramid so you know exactly where to step up next A primer on her mentor, Ry Schwartz' process called "Conversion Copywriting" or "Coaching the Conversion" and how it's completely different from most sales based copywriting you've seen. It's all about abundance and serving vs. fear or scarcity. In short, it's based on the art of pull marketing vs. the traditional "push" we're used to seeing and that feels a little icky to most of us. To top it off, Mai-kee is offering you her "Ultimate Guide to Writing Your Own Website Copy" - a FREE actionable guide to writing the Home, About and Services pages for your website. Follow: Instagram Twitter

When you know what's most important to you, even the toughest decisions are easier to make. Not easy, but easier. For my guest this week, operating a business steeped in her values was fundamental to her definition of success.  Amanda Munday is the Founder & CEO of The Workaround which is a co-working space in east Toronto offering something many other workspaces don't - quality childcare. This offering isn't just an add-on, though. It's an intentional part of Amanda's business design and one she doesn't compromise on. In this episode we talk about: How Amanda holds her values close, even in the midst of tough financial decisions; How she is shifting her mindset to see money as a tool that helps her help more families to succeed, rather than a negative force that comes with all sorts of emotional baggage attached; How she handles shiny object-itis as an entrepreneur and instead focuses on the compound growth effect of seemingly doing the same things repetitively; Her view of the "long-suffering-workaholic-entrepreneur" archetype and why we need to find another way; and Why she wrote her important book: "Day Nine: A Post-Partum Depression Memoir" and how her experience with severe post-partum depression informs the "Why" of her business and how she serves her customers now Follow Be Ambitious For Her on: Instagram, Twitter, Facebook

After a few business failures (we all have them!) and a run-in with burn-out, Natalie Colalillo realized something had to change in the way she ran her business, and her life. After getting what she calls "pretty cozy at rock bottom", she said to herself, "I need to surround myself with healthy, happy women!" And that was the beginning of what is now Happy Healthy Women - a collective of 19,000 women in 27 branches across Canada, and growing. Natalie has dedicated her life to being happy, healthy, and to inspiring others to do the same WHILE achieving success. She helps people take their life, DESIGN it and LIVE it. Through the Happy Healthy Women Collective, she promotes healthy harmony as a way of life, rather than the “All work, no play” mentality that so many women are stuck with. Hear more about how Natalie does this, her global vision for happier, healthier women and how you, too, can get involved in this episode. Follow me on Twitter Follow on Instagram  

  How I learned to stop worrying and love money - is all about why women need to get comfortable with the idea of being in business to make money. It doesn't make you a bad person to say that out loud, or to have that goal. It makes you a good business person. And how can you expect money to love you if you don't love it back, anyway? I believe financially empowered women will change the world. Full stop. There is abundant evidence to prove this is true, and that we already have more financial power than we realize or act on. This is truly my business "WHY". I love helping women recognize the power of their financial independence - how it helps them, their families and their communities. It's the most important work I do. To hear more about how you can align your money beliefs with a new, stronger money story, along with a primer on my Sacred Money Archetypes® program, click play and listen! For access to the Archetypes assessment I mention in this episode, email me at janet @ beambitiousforher.com and I'll send you a link. OR... DM me @_JanetWhalen_ on instagram and I'll provide a link for you there!

If you're a working woman, there's a pretty good chance your career was disrupted by something outside your control once or twice along the way. There's an even better chance one of those disruptions led you to start a business or seek self-employment. This week's episode of the She Breaks The Mold podcast dives deeply into this issue as my brilliant friend Karen Schulman Dupuis - speaker, writer, designer, teacher, student, mentor, and "shift disturber" - joins me on the show.  Karen and I talk about research she's putting into the field this week to learn more about the still invisible trend of gendered agism in the workforce. Sign up at beambitiousforher.com/subscribe to never miss an episode! Follow: Twitter Instagram    

If you're an entrepreneur or self-employed woman who was once employed by someone else, this episode is for you! You might not even realize it, but you might be bringing old employee habits and mindsets to your work and they could be holding you back from achieving everything you dream of in your business. Think about the last time you said out loud, "I'm really good at (insert skill or ability here)" or "I really wish I was better at (skill you think you suck at)". Whose voice is saying those words? I'll bet you anything it a hangover voice - the voice of an old boss or coworker - that convinced you of your value a long time ago. The great news is, those voices are probably wrong about you in  your new job, your new reality. And you can learn to silence those voices and listen to new ones - your own or those of your satisfied customers! They are the only ones that matter in your new role as CEO/President/Boss of your business. In this episode you'll learn FIVE ways to recognize old employee mindsets that are clanking around in your mind, and what to replace them with. And, I have a FREE worksheet for you so you can start this work right away. Click below to get started once you've listened to this episode: https://www.beambitiousforher.com/SWOT Please note: This is an episode for adult listeners, and there may be some adult language here and there. Please be aware before listening in an open space. To get future episodes straight to your inbox: https://beambitiousforher.com/subscribe Follow on Instagram: https://instagram.com/_JanetWhalen_ Follow on Twitter: https://twitter.com/_JanetWhalen_    

In today’s episode, I’m talking about self-sabotage – or some of the ways you might be holding yourself back in your business. We self-sabotage in all kinds of ways from hiding, to thinking too small, to waiting for permission or approval from someone else to proceed. But today I’m going to cover three of the ways I’m seeing a lot lately – or even that I’m experiencing myself. My hope is, by the end of this episode, you’ll find a little bit more courage or bravery to take a look at the ways you might be holding yourself back in YOUR business. So if deep down you know this, or you know you’re capable of more but you’re telling yourself stories about why you can’t (or worse, shouldn’t) actually do it, this episode is for you. For new episodes by email: beambitiousforher.com/subscribe Follow on Twitter Follow on Instagram Like on Facebook  

Welcome to my first solo episode! That's right - no guest today. I'll still be hosting interviews because I love meeting the amazing women I get the chance to meet - and love introducing them to you. But they'll be fewer this year as I try to align my podcast with my work, which is coaching women like you to find your CEO voice, build businesses that light you up, and giving you the support you need to be wildly successful! Today I'm talking about why women should stop striving to be "nice" at work or in business. I think we're all aware of what happens when we're not - words like "bitch, aggressive, standoff-ish, too good for everyone else, too ambitious" get tossed around. But the same doesn't happen to men. They're not expected to be "sugar and spice and everything nice," are they? But this quest to be nice is damaging us, our ability to stand up for our value, and our ability to show up as our whole selves at work. And I think we have to kick this goal to the curb in favour of a different one. Listen to hear why. Like on Facebook Follow on Instagram Follow on Twitter

You may already know Devon as a Co-Founder of Blo Blow Dry Bars - a franchise model business that transformed the salon industry by making beautiful blow outs accessible to women all over North America. Devon founded the company when she was just 20 years old with her mother, Judy Brooks. What you might not know is that she's working on reimagining another industry as the Founder and CEO of Sphere - an app that makes the experience of personal coaching customized, convenient and totally approachable so you can focus on growing and transforming your life, career or business. We talk about why everyone needs a coach (and earlier in our careers than you might think!), why continuing to grow is imperative for all of us, fear, courage and entrepreneurship. Don't miss this one! Follow me: Episode Show Notes Instagram Twitter Facebook

This is a fascinating story about how a Lieutenant Colonel in the U.S. Marines, Kate Germano, set out to improve the performance scores of the female recruits under her command. Using historical data, and implementing the advice and training improvement suggestions of her peers and even supervisors, she managed to bring the results of her recruits up to par with that of the men they would serve with - in under 9 short months. This, after 40+ years of women never coming close to qualifying equally with men. Women who were previously shooting at the lowest qualifying rank (some failing to qualify at all) were suddenly shooting at the expert level - the highest qualifying level. Unit morale had improved, and her recruits were suffering fewer injuries. Her female recruits, for once in the Marines' history, were equally prepared to serve alongside their male counterparts. Interesting enough as it's own story line, right? Well what happened next was fodder for the international media for weeks afterwards - the Marines relieved her of her duty. Yes, Kate Germano was fired for doing too good a job. For being, "too tough" on her recruits. Too tough for the Marines?  What Kate had uncovered was systematic gender bias supported by years of segregated training and lowered expectations around results for the female recruits.  Listen to hear more! And please come back in January, 2019 for the start of Season 2. Follow: Instagram Twitter

Julie Kratz is the founder of Pivot Point, a career and leadership coaching company that focuses on developing leaders using a gender equality lens. Julie is a highly-acclaimed leadership trainer and coach who, after experiencing a few of her own career “pivot points,” developed a process for women leaders to build winning career game plans. She focuses her work on mid-career women because, in her words,  This is the time where we tend to get held up in our careers. It's still the toughest life stage for many women as we may have young children, and are still responsible for much of the family, child care and household responsibilities. Julie's approach to presenting workshops and content for employees is an interesting one. Her focus is definitely on supporting women in attaining leadership positions, but she does this by also engaging male employees and showing them how to recognize the unconscious bias they might have against women in leadership positions, but also offering to women that we have some responsibility in the relationship. In helping men to see the effective role they can play as allies to women, rather than bystanders to their unequal treatment, we can create more collaborative teams that benefit from both male and female energy and the strengths both genders bring to the table.   

One day, while running her career coaching and consulting business, Angela Lussier realized she was tired of constantly filling her new client funnel and trading her hours for dollars. Deciding there had to be a better way to bring her valuable insights to more people, and make money while she slept, Angela took out her journal and asked herself three important questions. The answers to that self-inquiry helped her realize that public speaking was what she loved, what people asked her about most, and where she had been most successful. And she knew she had to build a business around helping women use their voices and develop their public speaking skills. Her first step, an online course called "The Speaking School for Women", was a 6-week online program on building your brand as a speaker, building a signature talk, pricing, expectations and marketing. And when enthusiastic students completed the course, they started asking where they should practice their talks. Her suggestion to try Toastmasters was met with less than enthusiastic response and that's when she hit on another need - women wanted a safe space where they could practice with other women who knew their challenges speaking up as women, and so she held her first event to help women speak up and use their voices. And that's where Speaker Sisterhood was born.

Tina Alexis Allen's book is not about women in the workplace. It's about her life, growing up with an authoritarian, staunchly Catholic father who one day acknowledges he knows about her relationship with a woman and shares his own background with her as a gay man, leading a double life. The story is full of intrigue, secrets, Tina's road to recovery from sexual abuse, and so much more. So no - it's not a business book or even meant as guidance for women dealing with work-related issues. But it is about the power of standing up for ourselves. And telling our true stories, and using our voices to own our ambitions. It's about how much we accept when we don't know better and how we hide ourselves, our abilities and what we have to offer in the process. And so, it's extremely relevant for working women. We talk about all of this and more in this episode! Follow on Instagram: www.instagram.com/beambitiousforher Follow on Twitter: www.twitter.com/beambitious4her  

Katherine Dean, Founder & CEO of Living Your Worth Inc., has an ambitious goal: to impact one million women with her message of financial empowerment. And its not just an audacious business goal. It’s a purpose driven statement that she hopes will impact these women’s daughters and families so that the important message of women’s financial independence becomes commonplace. After the totally unexpected breakdown of her first marriage, Katherine had an epiphany: she was completely financially unprepared for the worst-case scenario which, at the time, was her spouse walking out.  She was working in the financial services industry then and thought, “If this can happen to me, if can happen to anyone.” And after spending three years to get her own financial well-being in order, she started telling others about it – being vulnerable and honest about it for the first time. And that’s when people began asking her how she did it. Follow on Instagram: www.instagram.com/beambitiousforher Follow on Twitter: www.twitter.com/beambitious4her      

Entrepreneurship is hard. That's a given but what most people don't realize, is just how much harder it can be for a woman than a man because men don't face as many hurdles in their road to success. Indigenous and other women of colour have many more hurdles to clear and its long past time to be talking about these problems openly. In this episode, Janice McDonald and I get into the nitty gritty of what makes this conversation so difficult, what many incubators, accelerators, financial institutions and investors in Canada haven't yet figured out about serving their female clients, and how getting all of this right will help everyone - not just women, but the entire Canadian economy. This is not a women's problem. It's a global problem and it's going to take all of us to fix it. I love this conversation because it focuses on Canadian women entrepreneurs and what they really want and need. Many accelerator programs these days are focusing on what they think women lack. Instead, they should try recognizing the unconscious bias that makes accessing support services difficult for women. Janice McDonald is President and founder of The Beacon Agency, a boutique advisory firm working with innovative brands to make the good they do count. It offers customized breakthrough insights in entrepreneurship, business strategy and leadership training. She also is an Advisor for Cornell Queens EMBA program and works with international executives on New Venture/Management Consulting Projects and she is an advisor for Sprott School of Business Carleton University. She is the co-author of two national studies on women as entrepreneurs in Canada: A Force to Reckon With - Women, Entrepreneurship and Risk (2016), which debunks the myth that women are risk averse and; Everywhere, Every Day, Innovating - Women Entrepreneurs and Innovation (2018), examining how and where women are innovating in Canada. Both were conducted in partnership with Carleton University and BMO, and both uncovered systematic unconscious bias, and additional challenges women face in running their businesses that men simply don't face. Follow on Instagram at www.instagram.com/beambitiousforher Follow on Twitter at www.twitter.com/beambitious4her  

Jenn T. Grace, in her own words, is “a get shit done kind of gal” and she excels at recognizing an opportunity that’s right for her, and going after it. Jenn even named her company, Publish Your Purpose Press, accordingly. She’s purpose-driven, purpose-centred and has a lot to teach those of us looking for how to master this discipline. She has a fabulous blog post on her site called The Power of Commitment, if you want to know more about what makes Jenn awesome.   Jokingly referring to herself early on as “The Professional Lesbian”, this line wound up being both a personal and professional stake in the ground when she realized she had insights for small businesses and corporations that no one else was really talking about: how to teach companies to market to gay people, and how gay people should market themselves. Jenn built a consulting business on this topic and hasn’t looked back. After consulting in this space for a while, Jenn realized she was passionate about business owners who had a mission to tell a story so she founded Publish Your Purpose Press. The story of how she came up with the idea, and how it drives her decision making today around what’s really important for her, and what fits (and doesn’t) in her business is nothing short of inspiring. Follow on Instagram: www.instagram.com/beambitiousforher Follow on Twitter: www.twitter.com/beambitious4her    

Jennifer Brown's personal diversity story isn't obvious at a glance. A blond, white woman, she admits people are often confused to find out she's the diversity & inclusion keynote for the day and they wonder why she was hired to speak about the challenges people of colour or other visible minorities have in the workplace. As a member of the LGBTQ community, Jennifer says she separated her true self from her work until she couldn't anymore. Jennifer believes everyone has a diversity story - for some it's visible, for others it's more hidden like socio-economic disadvantage, or mental illness or even a physical disability. Today's episode is your opportunity to learn from one of North America's leading diversity & inclusion speakers and thinkers about how important it is for all of us to bring our whole selves to work. Jennifer is an award-winning entrepreneur, dynamic speaker and diversity and inclusion expert. She is the founder, president and CEO of Jennifer Brown Consulting (JBC), a strategic leadership and diversity consulting firm that coaches business leaders worldwide on critical issues of talent and workplace strategy. Brown is a passionate advocate for social equality who helps businesses foster healthier, more productive workplace cultures. Her book Inclusion: Diversity, the New Workplace & the Will to Change will inspire leadership to embrace the opportunity that diversity represents and empower advocates to drive change that resonates in today’s world. Jennifer  is a highly sought-after expert on changing demographics, specific communities of identity including women, people of color, LGBT individuals, generations like Millennials, and the role of male leaders in change efforts. Follow on Twitter: www.twitter.com/beambitious4her Follow on Instagram: www.instagram.com/beambitiousforher      

Have you ever wondered how many opportunities you've missed out on because your network is too small? I'm willing to bet most of us have. But have you ever considered the diversity of your network and how it's impacting your work, your business or your opportunities? Amy C. Waninger is the founder of Lead at Any Level, LLC, and the author of the new book "Network Beyond Bias - Making Diversity a Competitive Advantage for Your Career". In this episode, she helps us see the risk associated with a network that's too homogeneous, how we can start to connect with those outside our current networks, and why it's so important we do so. My personal review of her book: "With her new book Network Beyond Bias, Amy C. Waninger offers a new perspective on expanding our networks that’s useful and practical for the most junior employee right up the ladder to the executive suite. Her advice and examples are real and actionable, and will make you wonder how you didn’t recognize your network blind spots before. Even those of us for whom diversity and inclusion is top of mind can benefit from Amy’s approach which is generous and forgiving while still reinforcing the urgent need to diversify our viewpoints, connections and partnerships." Folllow: Twitter Instagram  

When I started this podcast, I imagined all my guests would be women. But David Smith breaks the mold in a unique way - as a much needed expert male voice in the gender equality conversation. I couldn't wait to meet him and hear about his work helping men learn to be better allies and more effective mentors for women at work. David and his co-author, Brad Johnson, wrote Athena Rising - How and Why Men Should Mentor Women when they realized many of the gender equality policies and programs being implemented by the US military weren't working as well as expected and they began to research why. What they found was that the issues plaguing women at work across society (bias, stereotypes, discrimination) were affecting the ranks in the military as well. Their idea is that teaching men how to be effective allies and mentors to women at work will help everyone become better leaders and build stronger organizations. David is an Associate Professor of Sociology in the National Security Affairs Department at the United States Naval War College. His research focuses on gender, work, and family issues including dual career families, military families, women in the military, and retention of women. A former Navy pilot, Dr. Smith led diverse organizations of women and men culminating in command of a squadron in combat and flew more than 3,000 hours over 19 years including combat missions in Iraq and Afghanistan.   Follow: Instagram Twitter

Mary Chaney is Vice President of the International Consortium of Minority Cybersecurity Professionals (ICMCP), founder of her own law practice at The Law Offices of Mary N. Chaney - The CyberSecurity Law Firm of Texas and a former special agent with the FBI, working in the cyber crimes unit in Los Angeles. She has also had a successful corporate career in information security for companies like Discovery, Comcast, Johnson & Johnson and GE Capital. The combination of all this experience and her varied interests has led to where she is now, running her law firm and using every skill she learned throughout her career. This episode is a fabulous opportunity to learn from a woman who spent the majority of her career in the male dominated fields of information systems and security and law enforcement. And as an African American woman, she has often been the "only" in rooms and in meetings in several ways.  In addition to working in her law firm and at ICMCP helping to improve both diversity and inclusion (hear more about the difference in this episode) in her industry, Mary also mentors a group of about 30 young women and men in areas of confidence, leadership and more. She looks at it as a responsibility to prepare the next generation of leaders to step into their roles ready to face challenges, as and as a way to give her mentees a role model she never really had. Mary's ideas about leadership and generosity are still, sadly, unique in our corporate world where independence and territorial behaviour still seem to rule. I know you'll be inspired by her perspective!

Dana Bookman, Founder and CEO of the Canadian Women's Baseball Association (including Toronto Girls Baseball, Manitoba Girls Baseball and Nova Scotia Girls Baseball), and co-founder of Girl Expo Canada. This is an amazing story of a mom who couldn't find a girls-only league for her baseball loving daughter and didn't let that stop her. With zero baseball experience, she has created a blossoming league of over 600 players in three provinces that in two short years has caught the eye of the Toronto Blue Jays and landed Dana on the Canadian Baseball Network’s 2018 list of most influential people in Canadian Baseball - a list with very few women on it, that includes names like Joey Votto, Russell Martin, Justin Morneau and Alex Anthopoulos. Dana is passionate about teaching girls (and their parents!) the benefits of participating in sports, and especially team sports. In short, Dana's approach is "Toronto Girls Baseball teaches girls how to play to win and learn how to lose. I look at this not just as sports and exercise, but as a way to create future leaders and to give them the skills that come with teamwork" Hear how she took her new league from 42 players in 2016 to over 600 in 2018 and what she has planned for its future! Follow: Follow on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/beambitious4her Follow on Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/beambitiousforher    

Bola Onada Sokunbi is a Certified Financial Education Instructor (CFEI), a money expert for women and founder of Clever Girl Finance and  “Clever Girls Know – a podcast for women on all things money”. Bola decided early in her career that she wanted to help other women be accountable for their financial independence, get out of debt, save for the future and learn how to build wealth. She watched too many of her mother's friends face financial ruin following divorces or losing their husbands and became determined to make sure her generation of women is more independent. Her mom was a great example of this for Bola while she was growing up in Nigeria and she wants to pay those lessons forward now. She tells the story in this episode, but briefly, when her father had to retire early due to health concerns and a job loss, her mother decided to spend her personal savings to send Bola to college in Europe and the United States. She was able to save after years of spending only on what she could afford, and saving wisely from her various jobs and side gigs. Bola took those early saving and money lessons, and personally saved $100,000 in her first three years of work after graduating from college, all on a salary of considerably less than 6 figures. To find out how, you’ll have to listen! It’s a great story of perseverance, goal-setting and independence that we’re not teaching to enough young girls. Follow: Follow on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/beambitious4her Follow on Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/beambitiousforher    

My guests are ambitious for themselves and, quite literally, every other woman in the world, and spend their days actively working to empower women in all walks of life. I was fortunate to host TWO guests for this episode - the CEO of G(irls)20, Heather Barnabe, and Vandinika Shukla, a 2014 delegate to the G(irls)20 Summit from India who now works at UN Women's Heardquarters in New York City, and was recently named Vice-Chair of the G(irls)20 Global Steering Committee. This is an impressive duo - you're going to want to settle in for this entire episode and be inspired by the wonderful work they're doing to raise the impact of young women's voices globally. G(irls)20 was launched in 2009 at the Clinton Global Initiative and founded by Farah Mohamed (current CEO of the Malala Fund), with the goal of placing young women at the centre of decision-making processes. Through their Global Summit and Girls on Boards programs, they make strategic investments in young women through education and training, building networks, and opportunities to become leaders at home and abroad. While advocating for change at the global level through the annual G(irls)20 Global Summit, they are changing the status quo for women at decision-making tables in communities across Canada by placing Girls on Boards. Every year, G(irls)20 sends one young woman from each G20 nation to attend the G(irls)20 Summit, held prior to the full G20 Summit. Delegates who attend produce a communique which is sent to the G20 leaders ahead of their own summit with policy ideas and suggestions for inclusion in their final global commitments. To see some of the incredible work previous Girls20 delegations have produced, check out these videos of the delegates themselves sharing their policy outlines. The application deadline for this year's Summit in Argentina has just passed, but watch for it next March if you know a young women who would be interested. In the meantime, applications for the Girls On Boards program, in Canada only, are open until May 16, 2018 here. This program gives young Canadian women a chance to gain valuable and real board experience acting as full participating members on community boards across Canada. This is important work! http://Twitter.com/beambitious4her http://Instagram.com/beambitiousforher  

What do you do when you’ve always loved your job – the job you planned to have for life – but suddenly it doesn’t seem to fit you anymore? Today’s guest had just this experience after 13 years as a successful corporate litigator in New York City. Amy Impellizzeri loved the law and will never stop calling herself a lawyer (a title she earned through years of hard work and study), but the day to day work of being a corporate lawyer soon began to encroach on her family life in an unacceptable way. And she knew something had to change. What came next were jobs working with entrepreneurs and advocating for women while at a virtual magazine called Hybrid Her. But on the side, Amy was working on the beginnings of what is now her full time career – being a published author. Since leaving the law, Amy has published a non-fiction book called Lawyer Interrupted about how to leave the practice of law for a new career path. And she is currently working on her fourth novel – with Lemongrass Hope, Secrets of Worry Dolls and The Truth About Theaalready published and out in the world. To find out how she did it, and the suggestions she offers others in similar situations, you’ll have to listen to the podcast! Amy’s advice isn’t just for lawyers – her suggestions are completely transferrable to many fields. Follow on instagram: instagram.com/beambitiousforher Follow on Twitter: twitter.com/beambitious4her

Maggie DiStasi spent years in the world of corporate finance and financial technology, with her last role as Vice President, Technology for a brokerage department of a major Canadian bank. Several years ago, after a medical crisis and a desire for change inspired her, she took a huge leap and become a career transition and leadership coach. And now, she brilliantly helps others navigate their own transitions – those ready for the next step in the careers, wanting to start new businesses, or simply try something new. She also recently joined the faculty of the Business Coaching Advantage Certificate Program in Toronto. As the name of her business (Process Based Living) suggests, Maggie focuses on her clients’ individual process to create positive change in their working lives. She explains this further in our interview and for those of you who worry about your ability to set concrete goals and achieve them, Maggie has a perspective on this problem you’ll find reassuring! What you’ll learn from Maggie: How “glass ceiling issues” hold women back How we can learn to focus on what we do control (not seeking permission to act, building relationships with senior leaders), vs what we can’t (bias, pay inequity) to make change and get unstuck in our careers Why it’s important to get the other person to say “No” early in a negotiation How she coaches women experiencing Imposter Syndrome How to use a mind-map tool to find confidence where you don’t think you have any Follow: Twitter.com/beambitious4her Instagram.com/beambitiousforher  

Pam Damoff was elected to represent the riding of Oakville-North Burlington (just outside Toronto, for my non-Canadian listeners) in the House of Commons in Canada's 2015 federal election. Prior to the election, Pam served as an Oakville Town Councillor from 2010-2015. During her time on council, she served on the Oakville Public Library Board, the budget committee and the Oakville Tourism Partnership. And all of this came after a 25-year career in corporate real estate. Pam was named Vice Chair of the Standing Committee on the Status of Women in December 2015. She is also a member of  the Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security. I met Pam about a year ago when I attended one of her Young Women in Leadership events - a program she offers to match girls in her riding with local female mentors from various industries. Her goal is to help girls see career opportunities they might never have considered and the program is having great success. I've continued to follow her ever since, even though I live outside her riding, because of her passion for women's issues and the inspiring way she confronts social media bullies who can't seem to get comfortable with the idea of female politicians. We need this kind of leadership from more leaders like Pam. In this interview we talk about how to encourage more women to run for office, what the real culture is like on Parliament Hill and what still needs to change, why Pam is passionate about fixing workplace harassment issues for federal employees and her program for girls in her riding. Twitter.com/beambitious4her instagram.com/beambitiousforher

Today we’re talking about Karen Karbo's latest book which just launched yesterday (Feburary 27) called In Praise of Difficult Women – Life Lessons from 29 Heroines Who Dared To Break The Rules. The book is a series of essays about Karen’s list of women, highlighting the aspects of these women that makes them "difficult" in the way they react to societal expectations, how they cultivated unexpected careers, and generally showed up in the world ready to be themselves, regardless of who else approved. As you’ll hear Karen say, these are her women – and they represent a cross-section of races, careers, marital status, sexual orientation and even eras in which they lived. As Karen tells us, you might choose a different 29 women for your list, but the focus she places on what makes them “difficult” and their bravery in expressing the full range of their humanity, as Cheryl Strayed puts it in the book’s foreword, is the real key. There’s a lot to learn from each of these women’s lives, even if you wouldn’t choose to befriend them. This is a fun conversation about how we need to think differently about women who are unapologetic about the way they choose to live their lives. I hope it makes you think, laugh and examine the ways in which you could be more unapologetic about your own way in the world. Because the world needs more women like that. Follow at instagram.com/beambitiousforher twitter.com/beambitious4her

Sometimes, just when you think you have the world on a string, life chooses that very moment to remind you you're not in control. What's that saying...if you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans? It feels unfair at the time, but if we're lucky enough to survive those moments, we can usually find what Komal Minhas refers to as collateral beauty. Otherwise known as a silver lining...the ancillary lessons we can take from a miserable experience to help us not only get through it, but thrive on the other side. That kind of resilience is one of the most important skills for entrepreneurs, or anyone really, to master. My guest this week has that skill mastered in spades. In her mid-twenties, Komal Minhas was starting a bright career as a film producer and distributor and in a partnership with a good friend that resulted in the feature length documentary, Dream, Girl. Just a few short months before the film was to premier at the White House, and being named to Oprah's Super Soul 100 list,  she was diagnosed with cancer. In this episode, Komal tells us what happened next, how she survived only to face another medical emergency, and what she's doing now with the abundant learning she has taken away from these experiences.   Follow Be Ambitious For Her (home of this podcast): www.instagram.com/beambitiousforher www.Twitter.com/beambitious4her   

Michele Viner believes in the power of words to change minds, lift up, inspire, and in short, be day or even life-changing. She started A Little Wordy after quitting her job to be at home, supporting her daughter who had recently been diagnosed with bipolar disorder. It’s an inspiring story of how sometimes, the trials of motherhood can also instigate really good ideas that are helpful beyond the scope of our own families. Yes, we need more women in science and tech – but we also need more women bringing their hearts and souls to ideas like this that can have huge societal impact. What you’ll learn from Michele: Why she felt like taking a job outside her family business was “stepping outside her comfort zone” but also why she thinks everyone can benefit from both corporate and entrepreneurial work experience Why she believes words have the power to encourage, lift up, and change someone’s day That knowing “why” you’re launching your business will take you farther than just focusing on what you sell How giving back to mental health initiatives through her business is tied to her “why”  

Marie Wiese is the President of Marketing CoPilot (a digital marketing agency), the award winning author of a book for digital marketers called "You Can't Be Everywhere", and host of The Common Sense Marketer podcast. She also has an extensive background in sales and marketing leadership in the financial services and financial technology sectors. In this interview, we tackle many of the key issues facing women at work today, paying particular attention to the technology sector. There's no denying we still have a long way to go to change the working environment, pay equity issues and harassment issues that surround this particular industry, seemingly more than others. Marie is a passionate advocate for finding ways to encourage more women in tech as the stats, particularly in Canada, are shocking and reflect a decline in women pursuing computer science careers. Couple that with exponential growth in artificial intelligence innovation, and it isn't hard to see the problems that arise from having a non-diverse programming/design workforce. We also touch on lifestyle issues for women who are the primary breadwinner in their families, and what Marie learned when she unexpectedly had to take 6 months away from her business to look after a sick family member. Find out more about Marie at marketingcopilot.com  

Ann Garvin is a three-time published fiction author, university professor and entrepreneur who offers great advice for women and girls about the importance of breaking some rules, doing what we love and supporting other women. Listen for her insightful perspective on making mistakes, how confidence can be learned and improved through experience, and what she's doing to fix gender-based inequality of opportunities in the publishing industry. Ann keeps it real about succeeding in a world that tells overworked women to pursue "balance" and perfection over passion and an ambitious, fulfilling journey. 

Erin O'Neil explains why she started Broad Conversations, and how she manages depression and anxiety by turning her negative feelings about world events into productive, warm, and encouraging action that inspires other women to do the same. Erin is a great example of "being the change you want to see in the world" - there's a lot of wisdom in her outlook and actions. While Erin didn't start BroadConversations.com with a work focus in mind, her events are instructive on the importance of building networks, learning to trust and use our voices, and how diverse teams can benefit all organizations.  

Petra Kassun-Mutch, founder of Eve-Volution, Liisbeth, Fifth Town Artisan Cheese, former book publishing exec, mom and activist entrepreneur offers a Master Class in this episode on how to incorporate feminist traits and ideals into start-ups so we can grow more whole businesses and business leaders. She tells us how the current start-up investment models aren't working for most women-led companies, and why the narrative around what makes good, successful entrepreneurs needs to change. Even if you think you've heard it all about the issues facing women as we start and grow businesses, I know you'll learn something new from Petra.