Podcasts about inspiring women

She led moonshot projects at Google X. Then she walked away to take on one of America's hardest problems: a youth mental health crisis where roughly 20 million teens and young adults need care — and only half get it. In this episode of Inspiring Women, Laurie McGraw talks with Obi Felten, founder and CEO of Flourish Labs, about a different model for closing that gap: training young adults with lived experience to become accredited, professional peer supporters — and scaling it with telehealth and AI through Peers.net. In this conversation: - Why Obi left Google X moonshots for mental health - The care gap: ~20M young people in need, only half reached - Peer support as a way to expand the mental health workforce — not just add clinicians - Winning Medicaid contracts to reach underserved youth - Peer support in high-risk moments, like post-ER care for suicidal teens - What it takes to scale a mission to a million supporters About the guest — Obi Felten: Founder and CEO of Flourish Labs, scaling professional peer support via Peers.net. Previously led technology moonshot projects at Google X and was Director of Consumer Marketing for Google across EMEA. BA in Philosophy and Psychology from Oxford; based in California. → obifelten.com · flourishlabs.com · peers.net About the host — Laurie McGraw: Laurie is a 30-year health technology executive and creator/host of Inspiring Women. She's Executive Vice President at Transcarent, and previously served as President and Chief Client Officer of Allscripts and SVP at the American Medical Association. A Brown University cognitive science graduate, board director, speaker and advocate for health equity and women's leadership, she started Inspiring Women to close a stubborn gap: women make up 70% of healthcare's workforce but hold only about 20% of C-suite roles. — Inspiring Women with Laurie McGraw advances women to healthcare leadership — and keeps them there. New episodes every Tuesday. #InspiringWomen #MentalHealth #HealthcareLeadership #WomenInHealthcare #PeerSupport #DigitalHealth #GoogleX

As part of our Women’s Month focus (She Leads), Bianca Flanders Balie, actor, voice artist & director spoke to Clarence Ford about the run of her most recent play Karamonk and reflecting on being in her element on the stage. Views and News with Clarence Ford is the mid-morning show on CapeTalk. This 3-hour-long programme shares and reflects a broad array of perspectives. It is inspirational, passionate and positive. Host Clarence Ford’s gentle curiosity and dapper demeanour leave listeners feeling motivated and empowered. Known for his love of jazz and golf, Clarrie covers a range of themes including relationships, heritage and philosophy. Popular segments include Barbs’ Wire at 9:30 am (Mon-Thurs) and The Naked Scientist at 9:30 on Fridays. Thank you for listening to a podcast from Views & News with Clarence Ford Listen live on Primedia+ weekdays between 09:00 and 12:00 (SA Time) to Views and News with Clarence Ford broadcast on CapeTalk https://buff.ly/NnFM3Nk For more from the show, go to https://buff.ly/erjiQj2 or find all the catch-up podcasts here https://buff.ly/BdpaXRn Subscribe to the CapeTalk Daily and Weekly Newsletters https://buff.ly/sbvVZD5 Follow us on social media: CapeTalk on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CapeTalk CapeTalk on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@capetalk CapeTalk on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ CapeTalk on X: https://x.com/CapeTalk CapeTalk on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@CapeTalk567 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When a brand says it "used AI," that could mean anything from a tool speeding up a human's first draft to a system generating and shipping work on its own — and almost all of the real risk lives in the difference. So as AI moves deeper into creative work, which decisions are you certain still belong to a human?Real agility here isn't being quick with the latest tools. It's moving fast without losing the through-line that makes a brand recognizable — the ability to know exactly where human judgment stays non-negotiable.Today we're recording live at Ai4 2026 in Las Vegas at the Venetian, and we're going to talk about:- Drawing a clear line between where AI sharpens creative work and where it introduces unacceptable brand risk.- A practical look at how AI was used in a national campaign to improve the creative process, not just automate it.- The strategic shift as consumers move from traditional search engines to AI-powered platforms for discovery and research.To help me dig into this, I'd like to welcome Taryn Crouthers, CEO at Big Spaceship.About Taryn CrouthersTaryn Crouthers is the CEO of Big Spaceship, MSQ Partners' award-winning creative agency. A passionate leader, Taryn has spent her decades-long career inspiring teams to create work that moves both people and business. Her work spans advertising, media, entertainment, and the distribution and commercialisation that scale them. She is the former President of social-first global media company ATTN:, where she helped lead the company from pre-revenue through its $100M acquisition.Along the way, she earned recognition including Campaign's Inspiring Women (2026), 40 Over 40 (2025), Ad Age Leading Women (2024), Cynopsis' Corporate Visionary, and Top Women in Digital.An entrepreneur at heart and a nationally recognised voice on the future of creativity and AI integration, Taryn brings a founder's mindset to scaling creative businesses and developing new revenue models. She has served on juries for Cannes Young Lions, The One Show, ADC, Webby Awards, and other prestigious industry competitions. She serves on the Advisory Board of Miami Ad School and is an active investor in emerging creative and technology-driven companies.She is also a co-founder of the Women in AI Summit for the Creative Community and launched the Women in AI Creative Cohort, which selects 15 top global executives for a six-month AI mentorship program.Taryn Crouthers on LinkedIn---------- Resources ---------- Big SpaceshipThe Agile Brand podcast is brought to you by TEKsystems.We're proud to be a media partner for #MAICON26 - Oct. 13-15! Learn how AI can power your marketing and business and help you grow smarter. Use code AGILE150 to save! Reach your customers with Reddit. Spend $500 in ad spend, get $500 back in ad credit!Chaser is the only Slack-native project management platform that helps teams turn messages into tracked tasks, automate follow-ups, and maintain team-wide visibility, without adopting another tool. Now integrated with Claude and other GenAI tools. Learn more at trychaser.com and use code AGILEBRAND for a 3-month free trial (normal trial is 14 days).The most influential minds in software, AI, and engineering leadership will be at WeAreDevelopers World Congress North America, September 23-25 in San Jose. Start building your own apps with Replit and get $20 off.Enjoyed the show? Tell us more at and give us a rating so others can find the show.Connect with Greg on LinkedInDon't miss a thing: get the latest episodes, sign up for our newsletter and more.Check out The Agile Brand Guide website with articles, insights, and Martechipedia, the wiki for marketing technology.The Agile Brand is produced by Missing Link—a Latina-owned strategy-driven, creatively fueled production co-op. From ideation to creation, they craft human connections through intelligent, engaging and informative content. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When a brand says it "used AI," that could mean anything from a tool speeding up a human's first draft to a system generating and shipping work on its own — and almost all of the real risk lives in the difference. So as AI moves deeper into creative work, which decisions are you certain still belong to a human?Real agility here isn't being quick with the latest tools. It's moving fast without losing the through-line that makes a brand recognizable — the ability to know exactly where human judgment stays non-negotiable.Today we're recording live at Ai4 2026 in Las Vegas at the Venetian, and we're going to talk about:- Drawing a clear line between where AI sharpens creative work and where it introduces unacceptable brand risk.- A practical look at how AI was used in a national campaign to improve the creative process, not just automate it.- The strategic shift as consumers move from traditional search engines to AI-powered platforms for discovery and research.To help me dig into this, I'd like to welcome Taryn Crouthers, CEO at Big Spaceship.About Taryn CrouthersTaryn Crouthers is the CEO of Big Spaceship, MSQ Partners' award-winning creative agency. A passionate leader, Taryn has spent her decades-long career inspiring teams to create work that moves both people and business. Her work spans advertising, media, entertainment, and the distribution and commercialisation that scale them. She is the former President of social-first global media company ATTN:, where she helped lead the company from pre-revenue through its $100M acquisition.Along the way, she earned recognition including Campaign's Inspiring Women (2026), 40 Over 40 (2025), Ad Age Leading Women (2024), Cynopsis' Corporate Visionary, and Top Women in Digital.An entrepreneur at heart and a nationally recognised voice on the future of creativity and AI integration, Taryn brings a founder's mindset to scaling creative businesses and developing new revenue models. She has served on juries for Cannes Young Lions, The One Show, ADC, Webby Awards, and other prestigious industry competitions. She serves on the Advisory Board of Miami Ad School and is an active investor in emerging creative and technology-driven companies.She is also a co-founder of the Women in AI Summit for the Creative Community and launched the Women in AI Creative Cohort, which selects 15 top global executives for a six-month AI mentorship program.Taryn Crouthers on LinkedIn---------- Resources ---------- Big SpaceshipThe Agile Brand podcast is brought to you by TEKsystems.We're proud to be a media partner for #MAICON26 - Oct. 13-15! Learn how AI can power your marketing and business and help you grow smarter. Use code AGILE150 to save! Reach your customers with Reddit. Spend $500 in ad spend, get $500 back in ad credit!Chaser is the only Slack-native project management platform that helps teams turn messages into tracked tasks, automate follow-ups, and maintain team-wide visibility, without adopting another tool. Now integrated with Claude and other GenAI tools. Learn more at trychaser.com and use code AGILEBRAND for a 3-month free trial (normal trial is 14 days).The most influential minds in software, AI, and engineering leadership will be at WeAreDevelopers World Congress North America, September 23-25 in San Jose. Start building your own apps with Replit and get $20 off.Enjoyed the show? Tell us more at and give us a rating so others can find the show.Connect with Greg on LinkedInDon't miss a thing: get the latest episodes, sign up for our newsletter and more.Check out The Agile Brand Guide website with articles, insights, and Martechipedia, the wiki for marketing technology.The Agile Brand is produced by Missing Link—a Latina-owned strategy-driven, creatively fueled production co-op. From ideation to creation, they craft human connections through intelligent, engaging and informative content. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Caroline Stokes tells CEOs something most of them don't want to hear: the AI question everyone is asking is the wrong one. She is the founder of FORWARD, a human capital solutions firm for pioneers, and the author of AfterShock to 2030: A CEO's Guide to Reinvention in the Age of AI, Climate, and Societal Collapse. Named to the Thinkers50 Radar Class of 2026, she was shortlisted for the Thinkers50 Leadership Award for a book she deliberately published digital-only to keep its carbon footprint near zero. Her route here was unusual. Raised between the UK and Singapore before the age of ten, she went from PR at Virgin to the early PlayStation team, then to executive search, then to coaching, and then back to school three separate times during and after the pandemic to study ESG at MIT, AI business strategy, and the new space economy. She is neurodivergent, and she credits that with how she reads systems and spots what a room is missing. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ WHAT CAROLINE COVERS IN THIS EPISODE 1. THE FOUR SHOCKS ALREADY HERE Economic instability, climate disruption, AI acceleration and societal fragmentation are not separate agenda items. They are one interconnected system, and leaders who treat them separately are already behind. 2. WHY AI IS THE WRONG FIRST QUESTION Yes, learn it, the way you had to learn email in 1994. But the question a board should actually be asking is how long the organisation can sustain itself at all. 3. THE CEOs WHO ARE QUITTING INSTEAD OF ADAPTING Many are cashing in their chips rather than building the polymathic organisations this moment demands. Caroline explains who she will and will not work with. 4. THE 100-DAY REINVENTION Built after she watched leaders at a top-three technology company shrug off a mandate from their new CEO with "it'll take two years." Her warning to them: you will be laying people off before that. 5. FIGHT, FLIGHT, FREEZE, FAWN The four avatars every leader defaults to under conflict. Not knowing yours is how you quietly sabotage your own strategy. 6. CLIMATE AS AN OPERATING CONSTRAINT Not an ESG line item. If your people are breathing smoke and getting migraines, the work does not happen. Maslow, applied to the modern workforce. 7. THINK LIKE A SCIENTIST OR AN ARTIST Michelangelo started with a block of marble and no finished image. Everyone has to start somewhere in a reality with no playbook. 8. HER ADVICE TO WOMEN LEADING RIGHT NOW Follow the curiosity that keeps stalking you. Ask what your seven-year-old self would want from you, and then go learn something new. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ ABOUT CAROLINE STOKES Founder of FORWARD and a global leadership strategist for the Fifth Industrial Revolution. A Sony alum who worked on the PlayStation launch and a PCC-level, EQ 2.0-certified coach, she moved from executive headhunting into leadership reinvention. She is the author of AfterShock to 2030 (2025) and Elephants Before Unicorns (Entrepreneur Press, 2019), and a co-author of the HBR Guide to Navigating the Toxic Workplace (2024). Her 2019 TEDx talk predicted the convergence of AI, climate and societal disruption now shaping boardrooms. Website: theforward.co Book: AfterShock to 2030, on Kindle, Audible, Spotify and Apple Books ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ ABOUT LAURIE McGRAW Laurie McGraw is the host of Inspiring Women and Executive Vice President at Transcarent. A health technology executive with three decades of experience, she has led product and commercial organisations, served on public and private company boards, and advises early-stage ventures. She started Inspiring Women around a gap she kept running into: women make up roughly 70 percent of the healthcare workforce but hold about 20 percent of the C-suite seats. Each episode is a direct conversation with a woman who has built something, aimed at the practical questions that rarely get asked in public. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ INSPIRING WOMEN WITH LAURIE McGRAW Website: inspiringwomen.show Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and YouTube. #Leadership #CEO #AI #Climate #WomenInLeadership #Thinkers50

Three real podcasters sent in real questions they have been sitting with, and I'm answering all three on the air! If you are a podcaster in the early or middle stretch of building your show, at least ONE of these questions is going to hit exactly what you have been quietly wondering about!This episode is for the podcaster who is trying to organize their systems without losing their mind, who has been wondering how specific to get when pitching themselves as a guest on other people's shows, or who is trying to make their intro and outro actually sound like a real human being. I'm walking through my honest answers to all three questions from three real podcasters at three completely different stages of building their shows.In This Episode You'll Learn:Kim's question (Leaving the Inheritance): How to actually organize your podcasting systems when you are brand new, what to do with a pre-planning interview, and how to turn that interview into a real episode structureDani's question (In the Writing Shed): How specific to get about who your show is for when you are pitching yourself as a guest on other podcasts, especially when your niche sits between three overlapping topicsRenee's question (Inspiring Women with ADHD): How to make your intro and outro not sound rehearsed and whether you should record it once or say it live every timeLet me answer your question on air! https://ask.momswhopodcast.com/ Connect with Pamela:Join 500+ other moms who podcast inside the FREE community: https://skool.com/podcasters/Website: https://pamelakrista.com/ Instagram: https://instagram.com/pamelakrista/Email: pamela@pamelakrista.com

Before going viral, Tara DeFrancisco already had a list of talents she's known for. She is a comedian, performer, actor as well as an educator and adjunct professor.Now, she's best known for her social media accounts where she posts humorous and inspirational content.A Columbus-based poet planned a visit to Iceland, but she wasn't expecting it to turn into one of her most successful exhibitions: A Journey of Iceland — From Darkness to Light.The piece includes poetry of her time in Iceland, as well as music and visual elements by an Icelandic artist she met on her trip.The CEO and co-founder of the Women of Color Retail Alliance was just recognized as a member of Columbus Monthly's 2026 class of Inspiring Women.The organization is working to diversify retail jobs and elevate women of color within those roles through training and support networks.We're talking to all three on this week's edition of Fascinating Ohio.Guests:Tara DeFrancisco, comedy performer and social media influenceErin Boggs, poet, Journey of Iceland: From Darkness to LightKimberly Lee Minor, CEO/co-founder, Women of Color Retail Alliance

Before going viral, Tara DeFrancisco already had a list of talents she's known for. She is a comedian, performer, actor as well as an educator and adjunct professor.Now, she's best known for her social media accounts where she posts humorous and inspirational content.A Columbus-based poet planned a visit to Iceland, but she wasn't expecting it to turn into one of her most successful exhibitions: A Journey of Iceland — From Darkness to Light.The piece includes poetry of her time in Iceland, as well as music and visual elements by an Icelandic artist she met on her trip.The CEO and co-founder of the Women of Color Retail Alliance was just recognized as a member of Columbus Monthly's 2026 class of Inspiring Women.The organization is working to diversify retail jobs and elevate women of color within those roles through training and support networks.We're talking to all three on this week's edition of Fascinating Ohio.Guests:Tara DeFrancisco, comedy performer and social media influenceErin Boggs, poet, Journey of Iceland: From Darkness to LightKimberly Lee Minor, CEO/co-founder, Women of Color Retail Alliance

The best careers rarely follow a straight line. They evolve through curiosity, calculated risks, unexpected opportunities, and the courage to keep moving forward, even when the destination isn't clear.In this episode of the 2B Bolder Podcast, host Mary Killelea sits down with Tracey Miller, co-owner and Managing Partner of 9iFX, an award-winning creative visual studio that helps some of the world's most recognizable brands tell unforgettable stories through visual effects, animation, immersive experiences, and cinematic storytelling.But this conversation isn't just about visual effects—it's about building a career with intention, embracing uncertainty, and creating opportunities instead of waiting for them.Tracey shares the unconventional path that led her from backpacking through South America at 18 to graduating into the 2008 financial crisis, launching an entrepreneurial venture, earning a Fulbright Scholarship to complete her MBA in Madrid—in Spanish—and ultimately co-founding 9iFX with her husband. Her journey is a powerful reminder that resilience, adaptability, and a willingness to take thoughtful risks often lead to the most rewarding careers.Mary and Tracey also explore what it really takes to grow a creative business—from balancing entrepreneurship with marriage and leadership to hiring employees, building client relationships, and navigating the realities of running a studio in an industry that's constantly evolving.The conversation also dives into one of today's biggest topics: AI and the future of creativity. Tracey shares her perspective on how artificial intelligence is changing visual storytelling, where it creates new opportunities, and why human creativity, taste, collaboration, and craftsmanship remain essential. Together, they discuss the growing importance of originality, copyright, client trust, and creating work that genuinely connects with people.Whether you're building your career, considering entrepreneurship, leading a creative team, or wondering how AI will reshape the future of work, this episode offers practical insights and inspiration for embracing change with confidence.In this episode, you'll discover: Why the most fulfilling careers are rarely linear  How curiosity and calculated risk create unexpected opportunities  What it really takes to build a successful creative business  Lessons from partnering with your spouse while growing a company  Why the best visual effects are often the ones you never notice  How great storytelling creates emotional connection  The opportunities—and challenges—AI is bringing to creative industries  Why human judgment, creativity, and craftsmanship still matter  Advice for women considering entrepreneurship or their next bold career move  What it means to build a career you couldn't have predicted, but wouldn't trade for anything If you've ever questioned whether you're on the "right" career path, this conversation is a reminder that some of the best opportunities come from following your curiosity, saying yes to the unknown, and trusting yourself to figure it out along the way.

Denise is part of a team of women who have just successfully rowed 3000 miles, unsupported, across the Atlantic Ocean as part of the 'World's Toughest Row'. Rowing 12 hours a day for over 50 days, Denise drew on decades of experience from white water and sea kayaking, alongside years spent as an outdoor instructor.  Driven by a deep belief that adventure belongs to everyone, Denise champions the visibility of women in outdoor spaces. She's passionate about showing that ordinary women can achieve extraordinary things, and that authentic role models have the power to inspire the next generation of adventure-loving women. In this episode, Denise shares what it really takes to row across an ocean, from raising the funds and building the right team to coping with exhaustion, fear and the mental challenges of spending 50 days at sea. She opens up about the power of mindset, learning to be kinder to herself, and why focusing on what you can control can make all the difference in the toughest moments. Listen to this episode to discover how adventure can transform your perspective, why saying yes to opportunities can lead to extraordinary experiences, and why Denise believes that adventure truly is for everyone. ***  New episodes of the Tough Girl Podcast drop every Tuesday at 7 AM (UK time)! Make sure to subscribe so you never miss the inspiring journeys and incredible stories of tough women pushing boundaries.  Do you want to support the Tough Girl Mission to increase the amount of female role models in the media in the world of adventure and physical challenges? Support via Patreon! Join me in making a difference by signing up here: www.patreon.com/toughgirlpodcast.  Your support makes a difference.  Thank you x *** Show notes Who is Denise Working as a Lecturer at the University of Wales, Trinity St Davids  Being based in Pembrokeshire in West Wales Growing up in the South of England in Wiltshire Her early years and not coming from an outdoorsy family Getting into slalom kayaking Her journey to becoming a lecturer Studying sports science at university  Moving from kayaking into rowing  After graduation and not knowing what she wanted to do  Working at the National Water Sports Centre Finding her community of people  Deciding to go traveling for the next few years Having an innate desire for freedom Being quite risk adverse  Struggling with predictability  Needing moments of real significant change in order to feel alive Saying yes to opportunities  Putting one foot in front of the other and seeing the positive in things Rowing across the Atlantic Ocean and where the idea came from Being inspired by Jasmine Harrison  Taking it from a dream/opportunity to making it happen Spending a year trying to get a crew together  Not being able to get people to commit Starting to ask people again in January 2022 Getting the crew together  Raising the funds to pay for the row  Why it was a 3.5 year process Working as a team and all bringing their best to the table Keeping motivated through the tough challenging moments Being able to rely on the team for support The start line and feeling a sense of relief When the nerves started to kick in a few days before setting off Journalling As the skipper feeling responsible for keeping the girls safe Starting the process of writing a book Not sleeping for 2 nights before the row Heading out in big conditions  The simplicity of surviving When the nerves disappeared  Why the row was the best form of CBD - Cognitive behavioural therapy  Being forced to confront her thought processes  Feeling so tired and physically exhausted  Not having the space for anything that drains energy Seeing the positives in the situation and asking for help  Learning acceptance while on the row  The challenges from week 6 Focusing on what you can control during the row  What is my attitude, how am I talking to myself Being kinder to myself  The team dynamics and how the tough situations were handled  Working with an emotional performance coach  Stop talking to my friend/yourself like that The power of self talk  Seeing land for the first time and getting to the end of the challenge  The final push at the end  Picturing the finish line in her mind  Being the first all welsh, women team to complete the row  Singing the national anthem on land after 50 days on sea  Adapting back to reality and getting back to 'normal' life  Wanting to leave a legacy How to connect  Merchedymor - Women/girls/sisters of the sea Final words of advice for other women who want to step outside their comfort zone Why it's about mindset   Social Media Website: www.merchedymor.wales  Instagram: @Merchedymor2025  Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/denise-leonard-21b35638

SHE THREW AWAY EVERY FINANCIAL MODEL SHE HAD BUILT IN EIGHT YEARS ON WALL STREET. Whitney Johnson graduated from college with a music degree, arrived in New York newly married and broke, and took the only job she could get: secretary to a retail stockbroker. She watched the brokers around her open accounts and thought, I want to do that. So she took business courses at night. A boss took a chance on her and moved her into investment banking. Then, while she was pregnant and on the strength of good performance reviews, she was pushed into equity research, a move she did not want and that felt like a step down. It became the making of her career. She spent nearly eight years as an equity analyst and was Institutional Investor-ranked every single year. Then she read Clayton Christensen's The Innovator's Dilemma and realized disruption theory did not just explain the Latin American telecom stocks she covered. It explained her. She left Wall Street without keeping a single one of her models, cold-emailed Christensen one of her research reports, and eventually co-founded the Disruptive Innovation Fund with him. Today she is the CEO and co-founder of Disruption Advisors, ranked by Thinkers50 among the top ten management thinkers in the world, and the author of four bestselling books with a fifth on the way. In this conversation with host Laurie McGraw, Whitney breaks down the S Curve of Learning: why the launch point feels terrible even though your growth is mathematically at its fastest, what the sweet spot actually feels like, and why mastery is the most dangerous place to linger. IN THIS EPISODE - From music major to secretary to Institutional Investor-ranked equity analyst - The maternity-leave moment that turned an unwanted job into a career-maker - Reading The Innovator's Dilemma and realizing it applied to people, not just products - Leaving Wall Street and burning the bridges on purpose - How she reached out to Clayton Christensen, and what came of it - The S Curve of Learning explained: launch point, sweet spot, mastery - Why growth feels slowest at the exact moment it is fastest - Dopamine, inaccurate predictive models, and why beginners feel like imposters - Dr. Dan Siegel's "name it to tame it" and how to talk yourself through the discomfort - Why mastery is where careers quietly stall - "If I don't disrupt myself, the market will do it for me" - The research on women needing 100% of qualifications versus men needing 70% - Being judged on track record while men are judged on potential - Getting her hand slapped asking for compensation, and what she'd do differently - Sally Helgesen's How Women Rise and Sheryl Sandberg on naming the discomfort before the conversation - Whether Whitney still disrupts herself, and what that looks like now - AI as external disruption, and why self-regulation and calm are the real response - Pulling the stake out of the ground: self-limiting beliefs women carry - Her closing advice on connection, intuition, and discernment as superpowers Hosted by Laurie McGraw. Full episode on Inspiring Women. Link in comments. #InspiringWomen #WhitneyJohnson #LaurieMcGraw #DisruptYourself #SmartGrowth #Leadership #WomenInLeadership #PersonalDisruption #CareerGrowth

Dystany Spurlock has been fast her whole life—and is now a She Pivots-sponsored NASCAR driver! This is She Pivots’ first-ever sports sponsorship, because we believe in Dystany’s ability to break records and win. From a Barbie Corvette and go-karts at five, to fighting her way onto the boys' football team in middle school, to setting a motorcycle world record in a sport built for anyone but her, Dystany is a powerhouse. Getting to NASCAR meant driving trucks, working flight attendant shifts, and living in her mom's RV while she waited for the call that would change everything. On this episode of She Pivots, Dystany talks about that winding road to becoming the first Black woman to race in NASCAR, the family that held her together through the hardest parts, and why she refuses to leave her signature face sparkles at the door. We also discuss what it means when little girls stop her in the grocery store to say they want to drive too and the details behind the She Pivots purple car she's racing in this week at Indianapolis. Chapters: 00:00 Guest Introduction: Dystany Spurlock 02:43 An Early Love of Racing 08:18 Breaking into Drag Racing 19:48 The Journey to NASCAR: Personal Obstacles 22:45 The Athleticism of Racing 27:52 The Impact of Being a Trailblazer in NASCAR 33:30 Dystany's Signature Sparkle Look 39:45 She Pivots Sponsorship of Dystany 40:28 Understanding the Racing Process 44:03 Low Point to Launch 45:40 Reflections on Dystany the Disruptor 46:52 Podcast Credits Tune in to watch the big race THIS FRIDAY, July 24th, at 5:30pm on FS1/Fox Sports App You can keep up with Dystany @dystanyspurlock on Instagram, and check out her Docuseries “Driven by Dystany: The Road to NASCAR” on Foxxtecca’s YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL6q2OuXcHRf4w2pJxwqHP34rH8Iyprgcy Be sure to subscribe so you never miss a pivot story, leave us a rating (it really helps!), and share this episode with a woman in your life who you think needs a little inspiration. She Pivots is a podcast created by host Emily Tisch Sussman to highlight influential women voices, share stories of bold career moves, and inspire women with interviews about career reinvention and how personal pivots can redefine professional success. Join our Substack community! Subscribe here for exclusive content and to connect with other pivoters: shepivots.substack.com Learn more about the inspiring women in our pivoter community by following us on instagram @ShePivotsThePodcast, and check out our website shepivotspod.com for resources and updates. She Pivots is proud to be an iheart podcast.Support the show: https://www.shepivotsthepodcast.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

 Fr. Chuck Kieffer joins us to reflect on Sunday's Gospel.  Sr. Ginger Downey reflects on St. Mary Magdalene and women in the Church. We'll get a reminder about popular frauds and scams. You'll also get up to date on the latest news and events in the Diocese of Phoenix.

AI is already shaping who gets noticed, who gets hired, and who gets promoted. The question is: are you ready for what's next?In Episode 160 of the 2B Bolder Podcast, I sit down with Leigh Felton, President and Chair of the AI for Job Security Foundation and former leader of Responsible AI Enablement at Microsoft, for a conversation that goes far beyond artificial intelligence. We explore how to build a career with intention while the rules of work continue to evolve.Leigh shares her non-linear career journey and the turning points that came from staying open to unexpected opportunities. We also get practical with a 30-60-90 day approach that starts with listening, moves into pattern recognition, and ends with testing meaningful improvements. Whether you're starting a new role, stepping into leadership, or making a career pivot, this framework can help you build confidence without feeling like you need to have all the answers on day one.We also pull back the curtain on what an executive Chief of Staff really does, how influence is built behind the scenes, and why authentic leadership is far more powerful than trying to fit a leadership mold.Then we dive into one of the most important conversations facing professionals today: responsible AI, AI literacy, and AI bias. Leigh explains why no AI system is completely unbiased, why it's critical to question AI-generated outputs rather than blindly accept them, and what every professional can do to become a more informed and responsible user of AI.If you're wondering how AI will impact your career, how to stay relevant as technology reshapes the workplace, or how to lead with confidence through change, this is an episode you won't want to miss.

Kelly Nierstedt never planned to lead a hospital. She is a first-generation college graduate who worked on Wall Street out of high school, went to nursing school as a second career, and wanted nothing more than to be the best labor and delivery nurse she could be. Then the taps on the shoulder started. Take on this project. Take on this unit. Take on another. Today, Kelly is the president of Orlando Health Orlando Regional Medical Center, one of the largest and most complex hospitals in Florida and home to the region's Level 1 Trauma Center — and senior vice president of the Orlando Region. She got there without an MBA, without a finance background, and without ever checking all the boxes first. In this episode of Inspiring Women, Laurie McGraw sits down with Kelly to trace the path from the bedside at Hackensack University Medical Center, to leading OSF Healthcare Children's Hospital of Illinois in Peoria — where she built a care-closer-to-home model so families no longer had to drive four hours to Chicago — to becoming the inaugural president of Orlando Health Winnie Palmer Hospital for Women and Babies, one of the busiest delivery hospitals in the nation. Then came the second yes: leading the adult flagship hospital, where the one thing they don't do is the one thing she was trained in. Laurie and Kelly met at the Women Business Leaders Conference, where Kelly spoke about complexity in healthcare today. Topics Covered: - From Wall Street in the late 80s to nursing school on loans — a second career with no roadmap - Why Kelly said yes to every tap on the shoulder, and the Plan B mindset that made her fearless - Why women wait to check every box before saying yes — and why she never did - The move from New Jersey to Peoria, Illinois, and convincing a resistant leadership team with data - Recruiting physicians to middle America — and why they stayed - Interviewing for the Winnie Palmer presidency while on vacation in Fort Lauderdale - Why she puts on scrubs in every role: answering phones, filling water jugs, showing the team she cares - Walking into a Level 1 Trauma Center as a mom-baby nurse — and why not knowing made her a better leader - Four years in, every member of her original team is still there or has been promoted - "The keeper of the culture": what a hospital president actually does - Why her team members — not patients — are the most important people in the building - Move fast, fail fast: why healthcare's caution can leave patients behind - Transforming a large, tactical board into a smaller, strategic, deliberately diverse one - The patient suicide that shook her — and the board meeting where she cried, said "I'm not doing well," and was met with open arms - Her advice to senior women executives: you're not perfect, no one expects you to be, and vulnerability will serve you Kelly's story is proof that the path to the top doesn't require a pedigree — it requires the courage to say yes before you feel ready, the humility to learn from the experts around you, and the heart to never lose sight of who you're serving. As she puts it: "We're not perfect. We're just people trying to do a good job every day. Be open about that, and you will be just fine." Inspiring Women is hosted by Laurie McGraw, Chief Commercial Officer at Transcarent, former SVP of the American Medical Association, former President of Allscripts, and a 30-year healthcare executive committed to advancing women into leadership. Full episode wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe so you never miss a conversation.

Tracy Byers spent 25 years running AI and technology transformations at some of the biggest names in tech and healthcare: HP, GE, Philips, IBM Watson, Change Healthcare, and Optum. Then she did something that looked, from the outside, like a downgrade. She left the giants to lead veterinary software, diagnostic imaging, and telemedicine at IDEXX. In this episode of Inspiring Women, Tracy sits down with Laurie McGraw to explain why that leap was the smartest bet she could make, and what a career spent transforming complex businesses has taught her about trust, discomfort, and leading when the future is still being built. Tracy traces her path from finance major to med-tech powerhouse, a curiosity that started in her father's basement machine shop, where she couldn't drive the family car until she could change the oil, change a tire, and do a brake job. She breaks down the three-part filter she runs every role through (impact, people and culture, and hard problems), why a $4.5B company hit the sweet spot between agility and scale after the giants, and why the fragmented, private-equity-fueled veterinary industry is one of the most interesting problems in healthcare today. Then it gets practical. How she built credibility running an MRI business she knew nothing about by learning the product first. Why admitting what she's not good at is one of her greatest strengths. How she gets comfortable being uncomfortable, makes fast decisions without a "conditioned gut," and coaches both women and men through the real tradeoffs of career and family, including one piece of advice a colleague thanked her for 20 years later. In This Episode, topics covered are: - The basement machine shop that made her curious about how everything works - Why she left $450B companies for a $4.5B one, and what she gained - The three-part filter behind every job she's ever taken - Inside the vet industry: small independent practices vs private-equity consolidation - How to build startup culture and speed inside a large, complex company - Running the MRI business when she didn't know an MRI from a CT - Why knowing what you're bad at makes you a stronger leader - Getting comfortable being uncomfortable later in your career - Managing emotion and protecting credibility as a woman in the room - Paying it forward: accelerating the next generation of women leaders - The stay-at-home-spouse feedback story a colleague never forgot

Women are great savers, but 70% of their money sits in cash, while it has to last longer because women live longer. Dr. Sylvia Kwan has built her career closing that gap. Dr. Sylvia Kwan joins Laurie McGraw on Inspiring Women for a conversation about money, power, and why the financial industry has been quietly failing women for decades. Sylvia is the CEO and Chief Investment Officer of Ellevest, a women-founded, women-led investment advisory firm dedicated to closing the gender wealth gap. The firm has grown to 3 million members and manages over $1 billion in assets. Her path was not obvious. She studied applied mathematics and computer science at Brown University, planning a career in technology, before a final rotation in a quantitative investment group changed everything. She went on to earn a PhD in engineering-economic systems at Stanford, where her dissertation on how social interaction and investor behavior shape markets became one of the earliest works in behavioral finance. As Sylvia and Laurie discovered on the episode, they both share roots in Providence. Sylvia took the reins as sole CEO after succeeding Ellevest founder Sallie Krawcheck, and this episode goes deep on what she has built and where the industry is heading. She walks through the first-of-its-kind gender-aware investing algorithm she created, built on the real data of women's lives: salaries that peak roughly 15 years earlier than men's, career breaks, and longer lifespans. She also makes the case for "wealthcare," her term for shifting financial services away from the assumption that more is always better and toward quality of life, peace of mind, and goals that actually matter to a client. Plus the strategic decision to move Ellevest's digital investing business to Betterment so the firm could focus on private wealth and financial planning, and how she is preparing women for the $124 trillion great wealth transfer now underway. TOPICS COVERED - Why 70% of women's portfolios sit in cash and what it costs them - The gender wealth gap and why women are not set up for financial success the way men are - Building the first gender-aware investing algorithm - Why women's salaries peak 15 years earlier and why career breaks cost far more than lost salary - "Wealthcare" and measuring success by quality of life, not just returns - The $124 trillion great wealth transfer and who is prepared for it - Why 86% of widows fire their financial advisor within a year - Leading Ellevest through a major leadership transition - Investing for both returns and impact - Her one piece of advice for women: don't wait, and don't delegate Dr. Sylvia Kwan's advice to every woman watching: don't wait to claim your financial power, and don't fully delegate it. Get engaged, stay informed, and know what your money is doing. Inspiring Women is hosted by Laurie McGraw, spotlighting the women leaders shaping business, healthcare, and beyond.

Networking gets a bad reputation. And honestly? It's earned it.For most people, the word conjures images of awkward small talk, business cards nobody keeps, and conversations that feel more like auditions than actual human connection. It feels transactional. It feels fake. And for a lot of women, especially, it feels like a game they were never taught how to play.But what if the problem isn't networking itself — it's the way we've been taught to think about it?On the 2B Bolder Podcast, host Mary Killelea sits down with Monique Kelley — professor, consultant, and author of Redefining Networking: How to Lead with Your Unique Value, an Amazon #1 Bestseller in Business Ethics — to completely reframe what networking is, what it isn't, and why getting it right might be the single most important career move you make.Monique is a two-time PRNEWS Top Women in PR award recipient, a founding member of CHIEF, and has been featured in FOX and Fast Company. She's built a career working with some of the biggest names in biopharma — Pfizer, Roche, Lilly, Johnson & Johnson — not by chasing opportunities, but by building meaningful relationships that opened doors long after the conversation ended. Today she teaches the only Career Readiness course at Boston University's College of Communication, shaping how the next generation of professionals show up, connect, and lead.This conversation covers it all — her career journey from a pre-med detour into communications and healthcare PR, the moment she stepped in to present to a major client when her boss was out and realized that relationships matter just as much as the deck, and the pivots that took her from agency life to in-house roles to fractional consulting and eventually the classroom.Mary and Monique dig into the real stuff:What most people fundamentally get wrong about networking — and why that misunderstanding is costing them real opportunitiesWhat "leading with your value" actually means in practice, not just as a concept but as a daily behaviorA clear, three-step framework for defining your unique value, choosing the right audience, and showing up consistently — on LinkedIn and beyondWhy your network isn't a list of contacts. It's a living system of people who understand what you bring and actively want to advocate for youHow to build a network from scratch when you feel like you have nothing to offer and nowhere to startWhy remote work and meeting overload are making organic connection harder than ever — and what to do about itThe truth about "I don't have time to network" (spoiler: it's a prioritization issue, not a time issue)What Monique is seeing right now across executives, students, and mid-career professionals — and the specific behaviors she notices in women who are actually building momentumWhat she teaches her Career Readiness students at BU that experienced professionals desperately need to hearAnd the one thing she wishes she had understood earlier about building a career that lastsWhether you're in the middle of a career transition, feeling stuck in a role that no longer fits, or just dreading the next industry event — this episode will completely shift how you think about connection, value, and what it actually means to build a career on your own terms.

Dr. Uché Blackstock spent almost a decade as an associate professor at NYU School of Medicine. From the outside she looked happy and successful — inside, she had never felt so invisible, undervalued, and underappreciated. So she left. When she wrote her resignation op-ed on why Black faculty leave academic medicine, she was sobbing — grieving the career she wished she could have had. That piece became lightning in a bottle, followed by her instant New York Times bestselling book, Legacy: A Black Physician Reckons with Racism in Medicine. In this Inspiring Women conversation, host Laurie McGraw sits down with the founder of Advancing Health Equity to talk about the moment the window on health equity swung wide open in 2020 — and what happens now that it's closing. They get honest about the difference between performative statements and real systemic change, why the work is being renamed and re-embedded rather than erased, and why some disparities — like maternal health — are still getting worse. She breaks down the strategic shift her own organization had to make when the inbound stopped overnight: from trainings to restructuring, from the moral case to the ROI case, from many projects to a few high-value partnerships. And she goes somewhere most leadership conversations don't — burnout, hiring a mindset coach, and picking up the violin again for the first time since she was 18. Hosted by Laurie McGraw. IN THIS EPISODE: - Why she left academic medicine — "I never felt so invisible" - The op-ed that changed everything — and the messages still arriving 6 years later - Performative statements vs. real systemic change after 2020 - Why the work is being renamed, not erased — and why she kept her org's name - The leaky pipeline myth — it's a systemic problem, not a pipeline problem - Finding the open windows before they close - The business case for health equity: ROI, clinical trial diversity, the bottom line - Rebuilding her organization when inbound stopped overnight - Leading through burnout — fewer, higher-value partnerships - Protecting your wellbeing as a purpose-driven founder Full episode on Inspiring Women. Link in comments. #InspiringWomen #UcheBlackstock #HealthEquity #Leadership #WomenInMedicine #Legacy

A U.S. Air Force veteran recently returned to Taiwan 53 years after serving there.Columbus native and journalist TC Brown reflects on that time long ago and the geopolitical realities facing the island nation today.Growing a small business is difficult. It requires a significant amount of tech expertise. Buckeye Innovation is a software engineering team located in New Albany that helps businesses design and build digital tools.The founder has been making websites since the 6th grade and is dedicated to supporting other innovators growing their businesses.The CEO and co-founder of the Women of Color Retail Alliance was just recognized as one of Columbus Monthly's 2026 class of Inspiring Women.The organization is working to diversify retail jobs and elevate Women of Color within those roles through training and support networks.Guests:TC Brown, journalist/authorBrad Griffith, founder, Buckeye InnovationKimberly Lee Minor, CEO and co-founder, Women of Color Retail Alliance

A U.S. Air Force veteran recently returned to Taiwan 53 years after serving there.Columbus native and journalist TC Brown reflects on that time long ago and the geopolitical realities facing the island nation today.Growing a small business is difficult. It requires a significant amount of tech expertise. Buckeye Innovation is a software engineering team located in New Albany that helps businesses design and build digital tools.The founder has been making websites since the 6th grade and is dedicated to supporting other innovators growing their businesses.The CEO and co-founder of the Women of Color Retail Alliance was just recognized as one of Columbus Monthly's 2026 class of Inspiring Women.The organization is working to diversify retail jobs and elevate Women of Color within those roles through training and support networks.Guests:TC Brown, journalist/authorBrad Griffith, founder, Buckeye InnovationKimberly Lee Minor, CEO and co-founder, Women of Color Retail Alliance

Michellene Davis began her career as a trial litigator and public defender in Newark, where she kept arguing the same point to juries: if her client had had access to healthcare, none of them would be in that courtroom. That insight has shaped a career spanning law, government, and now national health equity. In this episode of Inspiring Women, host Laurie McGraw sits down with Michellene Davis, Esq., President and CEO of National Medical Fellowships (NMF). Founded in 1946, NMF is one of America's oldest diversity organizations and works to close the physician shortage by building a more representative healthcare workforce. ABOUT MICHELLENE DAVIS Michellene describes her career as "chutes and ladders," but the through line is consistent: integrity, systems thinking, and a refusal to set policy through a privileged lens. Her path includes: - Trial litigator and public defender in Newark, New Jersey - Senior policy advisor in the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services - Youngest CEO of the New Jersey State Lottery, a $2.4 billion entity and one of the state's largest revenue producers - First African American and only the second woman to serve as New Jersey State Treasurer, overseeing a multi-billion dollar budget and pension portfolio - First African American to serve as Chief Policy Counsel to the Governor - Co-author of "Changing Missions, Changing Lives" (ForbesBooks, 2020) WHAT NMF DOES Over its history, NMF has awarded more than $50 million to over 35,000 alumni, training not only physicians but physician leaders who reflect the communities they serve. Michellene explains why this is a problem that touches everyone, not just under-resourced communities: a six-month wait to see a specialist is becoming the norm, with roughly one physician for every 1,000 people in LA County and one for every 3,000 in parts of Mississippi and Georgia. She also unpacks the "curb cut effect" and the research showing that diverse clinical teams produce better outcomes for every patient. A PERSONAL CONVERSATION ON CAREGIVING The conversation then turns personal. Michellene opens up about caring for her mother through advanced Alzheimer's for the past 13 years, the disproportionate caregiving burden carried by women leaders, and the friends she has lost to that invisible weight. She closes with the question she believes every high-achieving woman should sit with: when you are lowered into the ground, what do you want to have truly done? A wide-ranging conversation on systems change, health equity, leadership, and legacy. IN THIS EPISODE - The patient the system failed - Why "universal healthcare" kept appearing in her courtroom arguments - The accidental path into government leadership - Becoming the youngest CEO of the NJ State Lottery - First African American and second woman NJ State Treasurer - Holding the purse vs. deciding where to place the coins - Inside NMF and the fight against the physician shortage - The curb cut effect and why representation improves outcomes - 13 years of caregiving and what it taught her about leadership - The caregiving burden on women, and the friends she lost - Her advice on legacy for mid-career women leaders Hosted by Laurie McGraw, where she has the best world women leaders every week and shares their stories and insights!

Taylor Guglielmo is an award-winning advertising executive, culture builder, and growth strategist who currently serves as the President of Chemistry, an independent, full-service creative advertising and technology agency. Leadership at Chemistry: Guglielmo was promoted to President of Chemistry in late 2025. Prior to taking the helm, she served as the agency's Chief Growth Officer, where she led seven consecutive years of growth and helped more than double the firm's size. The "Agility Premium": She champions an integrated, modern agency model rooted in continuous creative experimentation. Guglielmo heavily advocates for real-time data tracking, combining brand health metrics with performance marketing, and eliminating traditional process friction or handoffs within account teams. Pre-Chemistry Experience: Her extensive tenure in the advertising industry includes foundational roles at major agencies such as Grey Worldwide, McCann Erickson, Fallon NY, and TGM. Early in her career path, she also completed an internship at the Pentagon. Guglielmo is widely recognized as a trailblazer in the marketing and media landscape: Named one of Campaign US' Inspiring Women in 2026. Honored as an Advertising Week Future Is Female recipient. Serves on the Executive Leadership Board of the Ad Council. Driven by personal experiences, Guglielmo is a dedicated social advocate. She expands the agency's pro-bono commitments and helped co-found Covenant Families for Brighter Tomorrows, a 501(c)(3) non-profit dedicated to advancing gun safety legislation and bipartisan reform. She holds a bachelor's degree in advertising from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.

Dr. Amber Michelle Hill spent 14 years inside medical research — as a neuroscientist, in the lab, on the preclinical side, and patient-facing — before she discovered the real reason 90% of clinical trials fail. And it has almost nothing to do with the science. In this Inspiring Women conversation, host Laurie McGraw sits down with the founder and CEO of Research Grid (R.grid), the London-based, VC-backed company she built to take the administrative burden out of clinical trials, speed them up, and make them more diverse and representative of the people the medicines are meant to serve. Research Grid didn't start as Research Grid. It grew out of Movement for Hope, a nonprofit Amber founded during her academic years that brought researchers, artists, and patient advocates together to raise awareness for neurological conditions. When COVID shut the events down and investors passed on the idea, she repurposed the technology — and the hard-won community relationships behind it — into two AI products: Inclusive, which automates everything that happens before a trial starts and expands access to underrepresented patients, and Trial Engine, which automates the back office of the trial itself. Today that network spans 99,000+ communities, 400 million members across 157 countries, and 2,000 health indications — all built by hand, over years, with no bought data, while the company stayed stealth for four years before launching in 2023. Amber breaks down why a single medicine takes 10 to 14 years to go from bench to bedside, why $400 million per trial is burned on admin alone, and how women were once excluded from drug testing entirely. Then she gets brutally honest about raising money as a woman of color in a world where less than 2% of funding reaches female founders — including the investor-scoring matrix she built to decide who's even worth her time. And through all of it, she stays an artist: every painting in her home, including the giant acrylic pour behind her, is her own. WHAT WE COVER: - The art-and-science mind behind the company — and why painting quiets her thinking - 14 years as an end-to-end researcher, and how Movement for Hope became Research Grid - Why 90% of clinical trials fail — and why it's an admin problem, not a science one - The hidden cost of research: $400M per trial and 28,000 hours per person on admin - Why 84% of trials still don't reach the people who need them in time - How women were excluded from drug trials, and the fight to diversify research - Building a 400-million-member network the hard way, with no bought data - How AI took a six-month site feasibility process down to minutes - The truth about raising capital when you're "different from the person across the table" - How she scores and filters investors instead of chasing them - Repositioning to seed and landing in the top 1% of seed-stage companies globally - Her golden rule for founders: never assume common sense GUEST: Dr. Amber Michelle Hill, Founder & CEO, Research Grid (R.grid) HOST: Laurie McGraw ABOUT INSPIRING WOMEN: Inspiring Women with Laurie McGraw features candid conversations with the women leaders, founders, and changemakers reshaping their industries.

Frances Whiting has spent almost 30 years writing her beloved Sunday column in Queensland’s Sunday Mail. But behind a career built on telling other people’s stories, some of the biggest chapters in her own life arrived later than expected. On this episode of the Stellar podcast, Frances reflects on becoming a mother in her 40s, publishing her first novel at 46, the runaway success of her latest book The Nocturnals at 61, the reader letter that moved her deeply, and why it is never too late to start again. You can buy Frances Whiting’s new novel The Nocturnals via the link in our show notes or at any good bookstore. Watch the full episode with Frances Whiting here. Something To Talk About is a podcast by Stellar, hosted by Sarrah Le Marquand. Find more from Stellar via Instagram @stellar, TikTok @stellar_aus, or stellarmag.com.au.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What if the biggest health crisis in America is one almost no one is being treated for? In this episode of Inspiring Women, host Laurie McGraw sits down with Alexandra Drane, co-founder and CEO of ARCHANGELS, recorded at the WBL conference. Alexandra has spent her career proving a simple, radical idea: when life goes wrong, health goes wrong. After gathering more than one billion data points at her former company, Eliza Corporation, she identified what she calls the unmentionables: caregiver stress, financial stress, relationship stress, and workplace stress. Her conclusion was that these are among the biggest diseases in the United States, and that at the center of all of them sits the unpaid caregiver. Today, more than 40 percent of adults are unpaid caregivers, and between 40 and 50 percent of them are men. Drawing on both the data and her own experience caring for her sister-in-law, who died of glioblastoma at 32, Alexandra makes the case for why caregiving must be recognized, measured, and celebrated. IN THIS EPISODE: - How unpaid caregiving is really defined, and the many roles people never recognize as caregiving, from installing grab bars to handling finances and navigating benefits - Why 40 to 50 percent of caregivers are men, and why so many never see themselves in the role - How gathering over a billion data points at Eliza Corporation led her to the unmentionables - Why she insists on broadening the definition of health to include life - The personal loss that shaped her mission, and the founding of Engage with Grace - Why she uses the word intensity instead of burden, and what that reframe makes possible - The Caregiver Intensity Index, and what it means to be in the clear, yellow, or red - Why being in the red means a 90 percent risk of a mental health impact, a 50 percent drop in productivity, and four times the cost - How the share of caregivers in the red tripled from 8 percent before COVID and never came back down - The sandwich generation, the panini, and the club sandwich, and why double-duty caregivers face double the intensity - Overtreatment, the rising cost of care, and what it really means for the great wealth transfer - The growing gap between how many people will need care and how few are available to give it - The Care Badge, built in partnership with Joint Commission, and why a career break was never a gap, it was a job - The skills caregivers build, and why they are exactly the people employers should be hiring - Grief, the rogue waves that keep coming, and the phrase that drives her: memento mori Alexandra Drane is a serial entrepreneur and the co-founder and CEO of ARCHANGELS, a women-owned public benefit corporation supporting unpaid caregivers across all 50 states. She previously co-founded Eliza Corporation and Engage with Grace, among other companies. Inspiring Women is a weekly podcast about advancing women to healthcare leadership and keeping them there. Women make up 70 percent of the healthcare workforce but hold just 20 percent of the C-suite. Each week, Laurie bridges that gap through conversations with the women rewriting healthcare's leadership playbook. Subscribe for new episodes, and share this one with a caregiver in your life. #InspiringWomen #Caregiving #UnpaidCaregivers #ARCHANGELS #WomenInLeadership #Healthcare #CaregiverSupport #AlexandraDrane

This episode celebrates women in sports and running, highlighting trailblazers who have broken barriers and inspired change. From Olympic legends to ultra runners, discover their stories, achievements, and the ongoing fight for equality and recognition.Chapters00:00 Celebrating Female Athletes01:52 Trailblazers in Sports04:10 Breaking Barriers in Running07:10 Olympic Achievements of Women10:22 The Evolution of Women's Sports13:09 Ultra Running and Female Pioneers19:13 Coco Dona: A Historic Win for Women21:37 The Ultra Running Community: Rising Stars and Records25:21 Celebrating Female Ultra Runners: Achievements and Recognition27:51 Breaking Barriers: Body Positivity in Sports31:06 Inspiring Women in Ultra Running: Jasmine Paris and Others37:18 The Future of Women in Sports: A New EraMy Race Tatt's - Check out My Race Tatts and support the pod when you buy your next set by using our My Race Tatt's Link.Strava GroupLinktree - Find everything hereInstagram - Follow us on the gram YouTube - Subscribe to our channel Patreon - Support usThreadsEmail us at OnTheRunsPod@gmail.comDon't Fear The Code Brown and Don't Forget To Stretch!

Mary Varghese Presti didn't plan to end up running healthcare AI for one of the most powerful technology companies on earth. She came to the United States at four years old, the daughter of an Indian nurse recruited by Penn Medicine during India's brain drain era. Growing up in Philadelphia in the shadow of one of the world's top nursing schools, she watched her mother and many of the women in her Indian community use the nursing profession as a vehicle for immigration, education, and female empowerment in a generation where very few professional doors were open to them. She began her career as a pediatric nurse at Johns Hopkins. On the floors, she saw everything in a single shift: early cases of congenital HIV, double lung transplants in young children, East Baltimore asthmatic exacerbations. And she kept asking the same question over and over again: why is healthcare organized this way? That single question became a career. From bedside nursing she moved into consulting, working on harmonizing clinical quality measures across NCQA, NQF, AMA and CMS, foundational work that paved the way for value-based care. She helped shape the policy framework that led to meaningful use and the electronic health record adoption wave. She joined Pfizer at the exact moment Lipitor was losing patent protection, watching 10 billion dollars in revenue evaporate in a single year while the entire pharma commercial model was rewritten around her. Today she is the Corporate Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Microsoft's Health & Life Sciences organization, leading at what she calls one of the few generational shifts in technology in her lifetime. In this episode of Inspiring Women, host Laurie McGraw sits down with Mary to talk about the arc from bedside nursing to Microsoft, from the Manila folder era of medicine to a Stanford pilot where AI agents now compress cancer treatment decisions from weeks and months down to days. They go deep on the AI that hundreds of thousands of physicians are already using today, why nurses describing themselves as "data entry analysts" broke something in her, and what it actually means to build technology that fades into the background instead of getting between a patient and the person caring for them. They discuss: - Growing up as the daughter of an immigrant nurse, and what nursing did for female empowerment in her mother's generation in India - Why she began her career at Johns Hopkins and the moment as a 24-year-old floor nurse that turned her into a systems thinker - The four-act arc of her career across nursing, policy, pharma and technology, and why every zig and zag felt rational at the time - Inside Pfizer during the Lipitor patent cliff, when one drug lost 10 billion dollars in revenue in a single year - Why healthcare still tolerates a digital experience nobody would accept from Uber, Venmo, or online banking - Dragon Copilot for physicians, and how it removes the keyboard from between doctor and patient - Dragon Copilot for nurses, and why nursing workflows demand a fundamentally different technology design - The physical, emotional and cognitive burden that AI is finally lifting off frontline clinicians - The Stanford multi-agent tumor board experiment compressing cancer treatment decisions from weeks to days - Why she refuses to be put in a box as clinician, operator, strategist or policy person, and what a lattice career actually looks like - What she means when she says she expects to remain intrepid for the next five years If you care about the future of healthcare, the real impact of AI on frontline workers, or what a non-linear career built across nursing, policy, pharma and tech actually looks like, this one is for you.

In this episode of Inspiring Women, Laurie McGraw speaks with Dr. Veronica Mallett, a physician, educator, and trailblazer with four decades of experience advancing health equity and workforce representation in American medicine. Dr. Mallett is Senior Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer of the More in Common Alliance, a 10-year, $100 million partnership between Morehouse School of Medicine and CommonSpirit Health created to expand representation in medicine and close the physician shortage in underserved communities. Dr. Mallett shares the story behind her drive, growing up in Detroit as the daughter of two educators and civil rights leaders, who taught her that education was "the great leveler" and that having a principle means being prepared to stand alone. She talks about deciding at age 9 to become a doctor, navigating Barnard College and medical training as one of very few women of color in the room, and learning to turn individual setbacks into collective action. In this conversation, Dr. Mallett discusses: - Why the More in Common Alliance is doubling the class size at Morehouse School of Medicine and building regional medical campuses and graduate medical education sites in underserved areas - The work happening in communities like Bakersfield and Kern County, California — one of the most medically underserved regions in the state - Why she believes the promise that women "can have it all" was a myth, and what to build instead: a real support system and intentional choices - Her case for leaning into leadership roles — and how the autonomy that comes with them benefits your family, not just your career - Managing a blended family of six children, and what work-life balance actually means in practice - Overcoming imposter syndrome at every level, and the mantra her sister gave her: "Who I am is enough" Dr. Mallett previously served as Senior Vice President of Health Affairs and Dean of the School of Medicine at Meharry Medical College, and as President and CEO of Meharry Medical College Ventures. Earlier in her career she helped launch a new medical school at Texas Tech University in El Paso. She is board certified in obstetrics and gynecology and in female pelvic medicine and reconstructive surgery, earned her medical degree at Michigan State University, and holds a master's in Medical Management from Carnegie Mellon University. Inspiring Women, hosted by Laurie McGraw, features candid conversations with women leaders about the choices, setbacks, and turning points behind their careers. Full conversation with Dr. Veronica Mallett on Inspiring Women.

Jill Wine-Banks hosts #SistersInLaw to explain the D.C. Circuit arguments over Trump's 2025 executive order punishing elite law firms for representing clients and causes he dislikes, the firms' lower court wins, the government's failed arguments, and the court's skepticism. Then, the #Sisters examine the DOJ subpoena to the Wall Street Journal issued as part of a leak investigation, and discuss its threat to press freedom.  They also review Jamie Raskin's anti-corruption bills that strengthen emoluments rules, ban pardon payments, and further other good-government reforms.Remember to send in audio questions to SistersInLaw@politicon.com for the #Sisters to answer on their new companion podcast, SistersInLaw Sidebar!  It airs Wednesdays wherever you normally get your podcasts!Get the brand new ReSIStance T-Shirt, Mini Tote, and other #SistersInLaw gear at politicon.com/merch! Additional #SistersInLaw ProjectsCheck out Jill's Politicon YouTube Show: Just The FactsCheck out Kim's Newsletter: The GavelJoyce's new book, Giving Up Is Unforgivable, is now available, and for a limited time, you have the exclusive opportunity to order a signed copy here. Barb is going on a book tour!  You can also pre-order Barb's new book, The Fix. Her first book, Attack From Within, is now in paperback. Add the #Sisters & your other favorite Politicon podcast hosts on BlueskyGet your #SistersInLaw MERCH at politicon.com/merchWEBSITE & TRANSCRIPTEmail: SISTERSINLAW@POLITICON.COM or Thread to @sistersInLaw.podcastGet text updates from #SistersInLaw and Politicon. Mentioned By The #SistersPre-order Barb's new book, The Fix, and get tickets for her upcoming book tour!From Barb - Patel's Exploits Are A Serious Risk To The FBIFrom Barb - Jack Smith's Latent Honesty Is Valuable — But New Challenges Require New RulesSupport This Week's SponsorsHexClad:Find your forever cookware @hexclad and get 10% off at hexclad.com/SISTERS! #hexcladpartnerBlueland: Get 15% off your order of green cleaning products at blueland.com/sistersMill:Try Mill risk-free for 90 days and get $75 off at mill.com/SISTERS and use code SISTERS at checkout.HoneyLove:Save 20% Off Honeylove by going to honeylove.com/SISTERS! #honeylovepodWild Grain: Get $30 off your first box and free croissants for life when you start your subscription to delicious quick-bake artisanal pastries, pasta, and bread at wildgrain.com/sisters with promo code: SISTERSGet More From The #SistersInLawJoyce Vance: Bluesky | Twitter | University of Alabama Law | Civil Discourse Substack | MSNBC | Author of “Giving Up Is Unforgiveable”Jill Wine-Banks: Bluesky | Twitter | Facebook | Website | Author of The Watergate Girl: My Fight For Truth & Justice Against A Criminal President | Just The Facts YouTubeKimberly Atkins Stohr: Bluesky | Twitter | Boston Globe | WBUR | The Gavel Newsletter | Justice By Design PodcastBarb McQuade: barbaramcquade.com | Bluesky | Twitter | University of Michigan Law | Just Security | MSNBC | Attack From Within: How Disinformation Is Sabotaging America

Less than 2% of venture capital goes to female founders. When Laurie McGraw started Inspiring Women five years ago, the number was 2.4%. A few years later it had dropped to 1.8%. Absolute dollars going to women have grown, but the share of total capital has gone the other way, and the gap is now one of the largest unsolved problems in capital allocation. Laurie sits down with three women working to change that from inside the system. The guests: Ita Ekpoudom is a Partner at Gingerbread Capital, a family office fund started by a former co-chair of tech banking at Goldman Sachs who realized after retiring that she had never made a private investment in her entire career. Gingerbread now invests directly into female-founded and co-founded companies, and as an LP into majority women-led funds. Jenny Abramson is the Founder and Managing Partner of Rethink Impact, the largest fund in the country backing female CEOs across health, education, environment, and economic empowerment. Jenny was a tech CEO herself before founding Rethink in 2015. Her mother had run one of the earliest institutional funds backing women roughly twenty years before that, and the share of VC going to women was higher in her mother's era than in Jenny's. Erin Harkless Moore leads the investment platform at Pivotal Ventures, the organization founded by Melinda French Gates to advance women's power and influence. Pivotal pulls on three levers: philanthropy, policy and advocacy, and investing. Erin deploys capital both into next-generation fund managers as an LP and directly into early-stage companies across the care economy, women's health, and financial access. Topics covered: 01. The $648B care economy, larger than the pharmaceutical industry, and why Pivotal partnered with The Holding Company to size it 02. Maternal mental health, childcare infrastructure, elder care, and women's health as one connected market 03. The companies these funds are backing: Midi (the first unicorn in menopause), 7 Starling, Winnie, Wellthy, Bold, Spring Health, and Maven 04. How to spot category-creating founders before the rest of the market catches on 05. April Koh, Spring Health, and what it meant to see her on the cover of Time 06. Why "emerging manager" is the wrong label for funds like Rethink, Magnify Ventures, and Cherry Rock Capital 07. Stacy Brown-Philpot's path from early Google to Task Rabbit CEO to founding Cherry Rock Capital 08. The pattern-matching problem at the heart of venture capital 09. Why nine firms captured 50% of all venture capital raised last year 10. Gender-diverse teams, capital efficiency, and the data on returns 11. Who actually sits on investment committees at endowments, foundations, and pensions, and why many pension funds are already run by women 12. The great wealth transfer heading largely to women and what it means for financial services 13. Why most women change financial advisors after inheriting wealth 14. The Casa Dragones story, Berta Gonzalez, and the speed gap between male and female capital decisions 15. Donna Khan's research on prevention versus promotion questions and how investors interview female founders differently 16. The $5 to $6 trillion gender parity opportunity in entrepreneurship 17. Why women are twice as likely to invest in other women, and why that still is not enough 18. Practical advice for women ready to invest, lead, or fund the next wave Full episode on Inspiring Women. Subscribe for more conversations with the women shaping business, capital, and leadership. #InspiringWomen #VentureCapital #FemaleFounders #WomenInBusiness #Investing #CareEconomy #WealthTransfer

Meme Stokes Callnin had spent two decades inside global human capital consulting building talent strategies, advising on M&A integrations, and leading the Mountain States for Mercer across all things human capital. Then she went to a Harvard executive program on women in the boardroom. And everything shifted. She came back with a clear mission. 2024 was going to be her year. Then she hit the wall: her firm didn't allow paid board seats. Within months, the pieces fell into place. She raised her hand for a package, walked out, and entered what she calls her "rewirement." Today, Meme Stokes Callnin is an independent board director and growth strategist, sitting on the boards of Select Health, Wonderbound, and the American Heart Association's Colorado Go Red for Women campaign, which she chaired in 2024. She has helped raise over $1 million for the AHA, driven by a single realization at a breakfast back in 2018: women's heart attack symptoms are different from men's, and most women don't know it. In this episode of Inspiring Women, host Laurie McGraw sits down with Meme at the WBL Summit to trace the full arc, from corporate executive to professional board director, and unpack what it actually takes to land a seat in a room that doesn't post its openings. They discuss: The 2018 American Heart Association breakfast that pulled her in for good, and the survivor story that made her realize women's heart attack symptoms differ from men's, and that despite heart disease running in her family, she'd never been told Why women are dangerously underserved when it comes to CPR, and her blunt take: "I'd rather live than worry about a broken rib" The Harvard executive program that flipped the switch, and why "rewirement" is her word for what most people would call retirement Her honest read on the post-DEI slowdown in the boardroom, what's changed, what hasn't, and why advocacy for women still matters The "secret club" of board recruiting, why the big executive search firms won't place you on a public board until you've already got one, and what to do about it Her 5 Fs framework, Family, Financial, Fitness, Fun, Faith, and how she uses it to filter every meeting, every coffee, every yes Why she chose healthcare as her board focus, drawing on sandwich-generation experience and decades of consulting across the ecosystem Her core advice for women seeking their first board seat: be bold about what you know, make the direct ask, and raise your hand often Meme Stokes Callnin is proof that "rewirement" isn't slowing down. It's choosing, with intention, exactly what the next chapter looks like, and then asking for it out loud.

Dr. Sandy Chung never planned to become a doctor. She grew up in a trailer park, on Medicaid, the daughter of Chinese immigrants who couldn't get professional jobs in the U.S. despite their advanced degrees. Her mom sold clothes in a factory. Her dad was a waiter before the family eventually opened a Chinese restaurant. And in the fourth grade, standing at a bus stop trying to figure out what to be when she grew up, the mother of one of her friends — who turned out to be an OR nurse — told her: "Sandy, you should become a doctor." That single sentence redirected her entire life. Today, Dr. Sandy Chung is the past President of the American Academy of Pediatrics, the founder of the Virginia Mental Health Access Program (VMAP) — now a $15 million state-funded program that has handled over 13,000 consult calls — and the founder of Trusted Care Foundation, a nonprofit she built to match college students to careers across the healthcare ecosystem. In this episode of Inspiring Women, host Laurie McGraw sits down with Dr. Chung to talk about how a single tragic case in 2017 — a 14-year-old patient with bipolar disorder who couldn't access his psychiatrist in time, ran out of his medication, and ended up taking another person's life in a parking lot fight — became the inflection point for a program that now exists to make sure no family ever falls through that crack again. They discuss: Why 1 in 5 people have a diagnosable mental health condition — and why the national shortage of child psychiatrists will not be solved by training more child psychiatrists The patient case from 2017 that exposed every system failure in pediatric mental health, and how Dr. Chung turned grief into the model that became VMAP Why pediatricians were taught to refer mental health cases out — and why that model has completely broken down in an era of six-month wait lists How VMAP trains primary care clinicians, gives them a specialist consult line, and connects families to care navigators — and how it expanded to cover autism diagnosis and maternal mental health Why independent physician practices matter, why the financial pressure on them is unprecedented, and what we lose when every doctor becomes an employee How growing up working in her parents' Chinese restaurant taught Dr. Chung the business skills most physicians never learn Why she founded Trusted Care Foundation to expose college students to the full range of careers inside healthcare — beyond the five jobs most kids think exist Her three rules for the next generation of women leaders: always be curious, never say no, and always assume it will work Dr. Sandy Chung is proof that the largest systems in American healthcare can be reshaped by one physician who refuses to accept that this is just how things are.

Recorded live at the WBL Summit — part of the Inspiring Women WBL Series. A real estate executive in New York spent years as the only woman at the table in a male-dominated industry, learning the rules of a game no one had taught her. Her husband, watching her navigate corporate rooms full of men, kept asking pointed questions. Why did you say it that way? Don't you see how that lands? That was the moment Julie Zuraw started writing down what she was learning. Years later, Lead Like a Woman is a program she has delivered to female executives around the world, and Julie is now President & CEO of Invest Ahead, the national forum formerly known as the Thirty Percent Coalition, representing over 90 institutional investors, pension funds, asset managers, and private equity firms with more than $8 trillion in assets under management. But the path there was anything but linear. Julie started her career running the branding division at what is now Publicis, left with a few women to build a consulting practice, then went in-house with a real estate client and ran that company for ten years before running a second New York real estate firm as COO. Large, male-dominated, high-stakes. She figured the game out the hard way, and built the program she wished she'd had. Today Julie is leading the organization that pioneered the 30% goal for women on public company boards back in 2011, when only about 12% of US corporate board seats were held by women. The moral argument was obvious. The business case was obvious. But the progress was slow, and in the current climate some of it is actively being rolled back. In this episode of Inspiring Women, recorded at the WBL Summit, host Laurie McGraw sits down with Julie Zuraw, President & CEO of Invest Ahead, to talk about what it actually takes to move the needle on boardroom diversity, and what she tells executive women about building real power in rooms that weren't designed for them. They discuss: ▪ How Julie's years running male-dominated real estate companies in New York taught her there was a game being played, and why her husband's feedback became the founding insight for Lead Like a Woman ▪ Why the fundamental rule of finance — diversify or your risk goes up — has always been the business case for diverse boards, and why the opposition has always been social rather than economic ▪ How Invest Ahead's members engage with the companies they invest in as shareholders, why those conversations can take years to land, and why they still work ▪ The private equity program that pulls curated candidate profiles from pipeline organizations like LCDA, LEAP Pinnacle, ELC, and 50/50 Women on Boards, so deal teams have a broader bench before the next board seat opens ▪ Why "I can't find the talent" is a ridiculous argument, and what's actually happening when boards default to the same small network every time ▪ The California SB 826 story — seven years of fighting to pass it, Judicial Watch's lawsuit, the ruling still in the courts — and why hundreds of women got onto boards through Invest Ahead regardless of whether the law survives ▪ Why the advice to "just be more confident" is terrible advice, and where real personal power actually comes from ▪ The difference between female and male communication rituals, why the compliment game doesn't land in male-dominated hierarchies, and why that's not a reason to stop being who you are ▪ Julie's single piece of advice to the several hundred executive women in the room at WBL: you are the only one who decides you are worthy, and you are the only one who can decide you are not Julie Zuraw has spent her career inside rooms that weren't built for her, and she walked out of every one of them having figured out how they actually work. Now she is running the organization that gets other women into those rooms — and teaching them the game before they walk in. This episode is part of the Inspiring Women WBL Series, recorded on-site at the WBL Summit. WBL (Women Business Leaders of the US Health Care Industry Foundation) brings together senior women leaders across healthcare to connect, learn, and lead. Learn more about WBL at wbl.org. #InspiringWomen #WBL #WBLSummit #WomenInLeadership #BoardDiversity #InvestAhead #LeadLikeAWoman — Inspiring Women is hosted by Laurie McGraw. Subscribe for more conversations with the women shaping healthcare, finance, and business at the highest levels.

Why me, why Sydney, why now?In this special solo episode of the Inspiring Women in Hospitality Podcast, Naureen shares the story behind Inspire Influence Live ANZ, taking place on 30 April at the InterContinental Sydney.From her journey across Asia and Europe, to building a career in hospitality, revenue and data, to ultimately founding Inspiring Women in Hospitality, Naureen reflects on the experiences that shaped her mission to champion gender balance and support the next generation of leaders in the industry.She also shares:why Sydney felt like the right place to bring this workshop to life how the advisory board helped shape the content the gaps and opportunities identified for women in the ANZ marketwhy financial fluency, confident communication and authentic networking became the pillars of the day and why learning to harness her own voice was the turning point in her careerThis episode is for anyone curious about the heart behind the workshop, the purpose behind the platform, and what attendees can expect to gain from joining us on 30 April.To learn more about Inspire Influence Live – ANZ or secure your place: https://www.inspiringwomeninhospitality.com/events

Dr. Debra Clary started her career at 4 AM, driving a Frito-Lay route truck in Detroit as a Teamster. Three decades later, she had held senior leadership roles across four Fortune 50 brands (Frito-Lay, Coca-Cola, Jack Daniel's, and Humana), spent nearly 17 years building Humana's Leadership Institute, performed a one-woman off-Broadway show, and written The Curiosity Curve, a research-backed leadership book published by Fast Company Press in October 2025. In this episode of Inspiring Women, she sits down with Laurie McGraw to unpack what tied all of it together: curiosity. It started with a single question. During a Humana board meeting, then-CEO Bruce Broussard leaned over and quietly asked her, "Do you think curiosity can be learned, or is it innate?" Debra promised she'd find out. What followed was a trip to Italy where she noticed Europeans had fundamentally different conversations than Americans, a Gallup engagement report showing the lowest numbers in the firm's history, and ultimately a multi-year research project (commissioned with researchers out of MIT) that produced something no one had measured before: a direct correlation between a leader's level of curiosity and the performance of their team. In this conversation, Debra explains: Why curiosity is a state and not a trait (which means it can be built) The four-factor framework behind The Curiosity Curve: exploration, inspirational creativity, focused engagement, and openness to new ideas The Coca-Cola moment that nearly cost her a job, until a former chief of staff told her, "Unless Tom asks for something three times, take no action" She also opens up about leaving Humana to write the book, getting talked into an off-Broadway debut by her mastermind group, and what she learned about borrowing other people's belief in you until you can own it yourself. The episode closes on what may be the most important leadership skill of the AI era. As Debra puts it, AI levels the playing field because anyone with a phone can now get the answer. The edge belongs to the leaders who ask the boldest questions: What are we not asking? What signals are we missing? And for women specifically, her research surfaced a striking finding. Men and women score equally on curiosity, but women don't show up as curious in the room. Her closing message is a challenge to change that. Topics Covered From a Frito-Lay route truck to the Humana boardroom, and why starting at the bottom built her credibility The boardroom moment with Bruce Broussard that sparked a multi-year research project on curiosity An Italian train ride, an American joke, and the conversational habit it exposed Why Gallup's worst-ever engagement report pointed to a missing ingredient in leadership Commissioning MIT researchers and the direct correlation they found between curiosity and team performance The four factors of The Curiosity Curve: exploration, inspirational creativity, focused engagement, and openness to new ideas A Coca-Cola chief of staff lesson on knowing how your boss processes information Building Humana's Leadership Institute through the company's shift from insurance company to health company Leaving Humana to write the book, and getting talked into A Curious Woman off-Broadway by her mastermind group Why AI raises the floor for everyone and makes question quality the real differentiator Her message to women: ask more questions in the room, and say your point of view out loud Closing Thought Debra's career arc, route driver to Fortune 50 executive to author to performer, is itself an argument for the thesis of her book. Curiosity is what makes the pivots possible. And in a moment when answers are cheap and questions are scarce, the leaders who keep asking what are we missing? will be the ones who actually move things forward.

On episode #155 of the 2B Bolder Podcast, I got to sit down with someone I could have honestly talked to for hours — Dr. Fern Halper. And if you've been feeling overwhelmed by all the AI noise out there, this one is for you.Fern has been working in data and AI for over 30 years — long before it was a headline — and she is the real deal. What struck me most wasn't just her brilliance or depth of knowledge; it was her warmth, her wisdom, and the genuine human kindness she brings to everything she does. It was such an honor to have her on the show, and I walked away inspired.We got into all of it — data foundations, governance, trust, and the career skills that keep you valuable as AI tools and agents move faster than most organizations can keep up with. No fluff, just real talk.Here's what we covered:Fern's unexpected path from oceanography research to data and AI leadershipThe career forks that shaped her journey and why speaking up is everythingWhat companies are actually coming to her for: strategy, starting points, and governanceThe new roles emerging around responsible AI, ethics, stewardship, and operationsWhy so many enterprises are lagging behind and what "building a foundation" really meansWhat feels genuinely different about this AI moment — and why it comes with real risksWhere agentic AI and multi-agent systems are taking businesses in the next 3 to 5 yearsThe skills that stay valuable no matter what: critical thinking, risk, communication, and literacyThe mistakes leaders keep making — skipping the business need and treating governance like a choreWhy trust isn't just technical — it's the change management your people can actually believe inWhy we need more women's voices at the table when it comes to AI governance and ethicsIf this resonates with you, please share it with a friend who needs to hear it — and don't forget to like and subscribe!Resources:

A venture capitalist in London watched her closest friend disappear into postpartum depression. Texts, calls, visits, the slow realization that the transition into motherhood had no real support system around it. That was the moment Kate Ryder stopped writing about problems and started building for them. Twelve years later, Maven Clinic is the largest virtual care clinic for women's and family health in the world, working with thousands of employers across hundreds of countries, and Kate is one of the rare female founders to have taken a company to unicorn status. But the path there was anything but smooth. Her Series A was the worst fundraise of her life. Male tech investors didn't understand healthcare. They didn't understand women's health. They certainly didn't understand fertility, miscarriage, or postpartum depression as a market. Kate quickly figured out she was wasting her time on anyone who needed to be educated before they could be excited. The round was eventually led by Lauren Brueggen, a woman who happened to be pregnant with her third child and instantly understood the opportunity. Today Kate is taking Maven back to its roots with a direct-to-consumer platform launching nationwide, built on a decade of clinical rigor inside the enterprise system and powered by integrations with companies like Oura that give providers a complete real-time picture of the patient. In this episode of Inspiring Women, host Laurie McGraw sits down with Kate Ryder, founder and CEO of Maven Clinic, to talk about what it actually takes to build a category-defining company in a space the industry kept calling niche. They discuss: Why Kate's first close encounter with postpartum depression became the founding insight for Maven, and how her years as a journalist trained her to spot the untold stories inside women's healthcare The brutal reality of raising a Series A as a female founder in 2014, and why Kate's advice to founders today is to stop wasting time on investors who need to be educated before they get excited The single anchor client moment that made or broke Maven in the early years, and why she tells founders to know exactly what they need to prove and how long it will take How Maven's value system (patient first, then client, then Maven, then your team, then yourself) drives every product decision the company makes Why the new direct-to-consumer launch is a bet on a fundamentally different consumer than the one that existed when Maven started, post-Covid, post-GLP-1, post-AI front door The Oura partnership and what it means to actually have providers looking at wearable data in real time as they care for patients Why fragmentation in women's health is the problem Maven is now built to solve, and why one monopolistic front door to healthcare would be bad for innovation What the next decade of truly personalized, proactive women's health looks like when data finally flows freely between systems Why this is the steepest learning year of Kate's twelve years running Maven, and what every CEO is currently trying to figure out about AI Kate Ryder built Maven by ignoring the rooms that told her women's health was niche and finding the rooms where the problem was obvious. Twelve years in, she is still following the patient.

Fluent Fiction - French: Élise's Parisian Triumph: A Bold Campaign Success Story Find the full episode transcript, vocabulary words, and more:fluentfiction.com/fr/episode/2026-04-02-07-38-19-fr Story Transcript:Fr: À l'orée du printemps, sous les pétales rosés des cerisiers en fleurs, Élise reçut une nouvelle inattendue.En: At the edge of spring, beneath the pink petals of cherry blossoms in bloom, Élise received unexpected news.Fr: Dans le quartier d'affaires animé de Paris, sous un ciel limpide, la journée débutait avec un certain frisson d'anticipation.En: In the bustling business district of Paris, under a clear sky, the day began with a certain thrill of anticipation.Fr: Elle était toujours arrivée tôt au bureau, mais ce matin-là, Claudine l'attendait déjà.En: She always arrived at the office early, but that morning, Claudine was already waiting for her.Fr: « Élise, une opportunité unique se présente, » annonça Claudine avec un sourire qui en disait long.En: "Élise, a unique opportunity has come up," announced Claudine with a knowing smile.Fr: « Nous avons besoin de toi pour mener une campagne publicitaire à Paris.En: "We need you to lead an advertising campaign in Paris.Fr: Tu es prête pour l'aventure ?En: Are you ready for the adventure?"Fr: » Élise ressentit un mélange d'excitation et de panique.En: Élise felt a mix of excitement and panic.Fr: Claudine, toujours sage et encourageante, eut cette expression douce qui calmait toutes les tempêtes.En: Claudine, always wise and encouraging, had that gentle expression that calmed all storms.Fr: Mais Élise savait que Claudine comptait sur elle pour exceller.En: But Élise knew that Claudine was counting on her to excel.Fr: Elle hocha la tête, cachant ses doutes derrière un sourire déterminé.En: She nodded, hiding her doubts behind a determined smile.Fr: La mission était claire : impressionner le client avec une approche novatrice.En: The mission was clear: to impress the client with an innovative approach.Fr: Cependant, Élise savait que le risque n'était pas son fort.En: However, Élise knew that taking risks was not her strength.Fr: Elle consulta Mathieu, son collègue brillant mais souvent trop compétitif.En: She consulted Mathieu, her brilliant but often too competitive colleague.Fr: « Suis ton instinct, Élise, » conseilla-t-il, avec une sincérité rare.En: "Trust your instincts, Élise," he advised, with rare sincerity.Fr: Arrivée à Paris, la beauté de la ville l'accueillit.En: Upon arriving in Paris, the beauty of the city welcomed her.Fr: Chaque coin de rue semblait murmurer une promesse de succès.En: Every street corner seemed to whisper a promise of success.Fr: Cependant, dans les murs modernes d'une salle de conférence, son assurance commençait à fléchir.En: However, within the modern walls of a conference room, her confidence began to waver.Fr: Élise s'assit, le cœur battant, devant un groupe de clients exigeants.En: Élise sat, heart racing, in front of a group of demanding clients.Fr: Les solutions traditionnelles pour le projet avaient toujours fonctionné.En: Traditional solutions for the project had always worked.Fr: Mais aujourd'hui, un murmure intérieur lui disait de faire preuve de courage.En: But today, an inner whisper told her to be brave.Fr: Dans une respiration profonde, Élise choisit son chemin.En: With a deep breath, Élise chose her path.Fr: Elle présenta son idée originale, inspirée par la ville elle-même.En: She presented her original idea, inspired by the city itself.Fr: Couleurs vives, thèmes modernes entremêlés au charme ancien de Paris, un mariage audacieux qui révéla la ville sous un nouveau jour.En: Bright colors, modern themes intertwined with the ancient charm of Paris, a bold marriage that revealed the city in a new light.Fr: Les visages à l'autre bout de la table s'illuminèrent.En: The faces across the table lit up.Fr: Claudine, assise parmi eux, fit un clin d'œil discret qui signifiait tout.En: Claudine, sitting among them, gave a discreet wink that said it all.Fr: Le verdict final fut un triomphe.En: The final verdict was a triumph.Fr: La salle éclata en applaudissements.En: The room erupted in applause.Fr: Élise, saisie par la joie, réalisa que c'était son moment.En: Élise, seized by joy, realized that it was her moment.Fr: Elle avait osé, et la réussite l'avait suivie.En: She had dared, and success had followed her.Fr: Ce simple acte de bravoure la propulsa vers une nouvelle dimension de sa carrière.En: This simple act of bravery propelled her towards a new dimension of her career.Fr: En revenant vers son bureau, les cerisiers semblaient saluer son retour triomphal.En: Returning to her office, the cherry blossoms seemed to salute her triumphant return.Fr: Elle franchit la porte, une confiance nouvelle rayonnant en elle.En: She walked through the door, a newfound confidence radiating within her.Fr: Mathieu lui sourit, un véritable respect dans ses yeux.En: Mathieu smiled at her, genuine respect in his eyes.Fr: C'était le début d'une nouvelle ère pour Élise, une ère où enfin, elle croyait en elle-même.En: It was the beginning of a new era for Élise, an era where she finally believed in herself.Fr: Fin de cette aventure printanière, mais début prometteur de bien d'autres à venir.En: End of this spring adventure, but a promising beginning of many more to come. Vocabulary Words:the edge: l'oréepetal: le pétaleto bloom: fleurirunexpected: inattendudistrict: le quartieranticipation: l'anticipationopportunity: l'opportunitécampaign: la campagneadventure: l'aventureexcitement: l'excitationpanic: la paniquedetermined: déterminéinnovative: novateurrisk: le risqueinstinct: l'instinctconfidence: l'assurancewhisper: le murmurebreath: la respirationcolor: la couleurcharm: le charmebold: audacieuxlight: le jourwink: le clin d'œiltriumph: le triomphevictory: la réussitebravery: la bravouredimension: la dimensionconfidence: la confiancerespect: le respectera: l'ère

A nurse in neurotrauma and cardiac services, someone who had spent her entire adult life inside the healthcare system, was sent home from the ER repeatedly, told it was probably a migraine, given pain medication, and dismissed. It took losing her vision before anyone took her seriously. Sandy Goldstein had a congenital heart defect she didn't know about until her 20s. A hole in her heart was routing unoxygenated blood in the wrong direction, collapsing a vessel in her brain and preventing the release of cerebrospinal fluid. What followed was weeks of misdiagnosis, brain angioplasty, a two-year insurance battle, and finally open heart surgery in August 2010. Around one year later, she had her daughter. Today, the American Heart Association recognizes Sandy as a Woman of Impact in Colorado. She is in the final weeks of a nine-week statewide campaign: working with school districts, deploying hands-only CPR training, earning a gubernatorial proclamation, and closing in on the record for top Woman of Impact in Colorado history. Sarah Lux manages the educational community at The Pause Life, the platform built by Dr. Mary Claire Haver, the physician who has become the most recognized voice on perimenopause and menopause science. The community is free, serves millions of women, and exists to give women the resources and vocabulary to understand what is happening inside their bodies at midlife — because, as Sarah points out, most of their doctors were never taught any of it either. In this episode of Inspiring Women, host Laurie McGraw sits down with Sandy Goldstein and Sarah Lux to make the case that women's heart health is not just underserved — it is the single largest cause of death in women, claiming more lives than all cancers combined. They discuss: Why cardiovascular disease kills more women than all cancers combined — and why most women have no idea How Sandy was dismissed and misdiagnosed for weeks inside the very system she worked in as a nurse, and what it took for one doctor to refuse to give up The direct connection between perimenopause, shifting hormones, and exponentially rising cardiovascular risk that almost no physician is trained to address Why the black box warning on hormone replacement therapy was removed, and what was fundamentally flawed about the original study population How women's cardiac symptoms , GI distress, jaw pain, vision loss — look nothing like the clutching-the-chest picture everyone recognizes, and why that gap costs lives Why women remain underrepresented in the clinical research that sets treatment protocols, and what Sandy's AHA campaign is doing to change the funding behind that What The Pause Life community offers women who have been dismissed, unheard, or simply never given the right vocabulary for what they're experiencing Sandy Goldstein and Sarah Lux are proof that changing the narrative on women's health requires the people who lived it — and the communities built around them — to be louder than the systems that stayed silent.

Raised in the high Himalayas, educated across 22 homes in multiple countries, and fluent in five languages , Simmi Singh was never going to follow a conventional path. She started out wanting to be a UN translator. A mentor stopped her and said: you have a voice of your own. That single conversation redirected her toward management consulting at Booz Allen and Ernst and Young, then entrepreneurship, then scaling the health vertical at Cognizant from a $10M fledgling unit into one of the company's most significant growth stories, then 15 years as a partner and global practice leader at Egon Zehnder placing boards and entire management teams for some of the most transformational companies in the world, then a secondment as Senior Advisor on Health Innovation to the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, and most recently joining Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts as Chief People Officer and Executive Vice President. In this episode of Inspiring Women, host Laurie McGraw sits down with Simmi Singh to trace the through line of a brilliantly discontinuous career and pull out the lessons that only come from decades of doing it at the highest levels. They discuss: Growing up in the Himalayas surrounded by brilliant women with broken dreams, and how that shaped her hunger for agency at a time when no recipe existed for women like her Being one of 12 women in a college of 3,000 men and becoming the first female valedictorian in the institution's 100 year history What she learned scaling Cognizant's health vertical by giving away power before she had any, and why that was the most strategic move she made How she decoded great leadership by surrounding herself with human textbooks, including mentors under 30, even at 62 Why she believes women need sponsors far more than mentors, and what it actually means to be worthy of one The mistake she sees leaders making in healthcare AI right now, and the more audacious problems she believes women should be solving Simmi Singh is proof that intellectual homelessness, the restless feeling of living on the bridges between worlds, is not a liability. It is the rarest kind of preparation.

Malala Yousafzai is a Nobel Peace Prize winner, a global advocate for girls' education and the youngest person ever to receive the Nobel Peace Prize. In this conversation from October 2025, Yousafzai sits down with Jenna to discuss her memoir Finding My Way, reflecting on her years at Oxford, her mental health, finding love and rebuilding her life after the Taliban attack. Plus, she opens up about her evolving relationship with her mother and why her fight to ensure every girl has access to education remains as urgent as ever. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Every woman has a moment when everything changes. But what does it actually take to pivot? Season 5 of She Pivots premieres March 25th and we are SO excited bring you honest conversations about career pivots, personal reinvention, and the choices that shape our lives, so that you can be inspired to make your own pivots with confidence. Hosted by Emily Tisch Sussman, She Pivots is the podcast where women share the bold career moves and personal turning points that changed everything. This season, we’re diving even deeper into the stories behind success, the risks, the doubts, and the moments that redefine what’s possible. We’re launching with a very special guest and a season full of powerful insights you won’t find anywhere else. Follow now to be the first to listen when Season 5 drops, and join our community of women who support each others' pivots, great and small!Support the show: https://www.shepivotsthepodcast.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Five years ago, Laurie McGraw launched Inspiring Women on International Women's Day — her own birthday — with a simple belief: when women lead, we build a more just and equitable society. What followed was hundreds of conversations with some of the most remarkable women in leadership, healthcare, tech, business, and beyond. This episode is different. There's no single guest. Instead, Laurie steps back and reflects on the conversations that have shaped her most — and the lessons that have stayed with her long after the recording stopped. From Chelsea Clinton's conviction that those with power and voice have a responsibility to remove bias for those without it, to Kara Swisher's unshakeable self-belief in the face of being told she was "too confident." From Carla Harris drawing a sharp line between mentors and sponsors — and why the difference could define your career — to Dr. Jenny Schneider rejecting work-life balance entirely in favour of ruthless prioritization. From Missy Krasner reframing failure as the fuel that drives the next big thing, to four-time Olympian Joetta Clark Diggs picking up her cleats again at 62 and breaking national records, living proof that your why will always outlast your how. This is five years of hard-won wisdom distilled into one conversation. And it is for every woman — and every person — who has ever wondered what it really takes to lead. Topics Covered: Chelsea Clinton on using platform and power to remove bias for others How Chelsea manages an extraordinary portfolio of work Kara Swisher's early mentor and the generosity of sharing the room Why the best leaders never stop being students Kara Swisher being told she was "too confident" — and her response Carla Harris on the critical difference between mentors and sponsors Why imposter syndrome is just a distraction — and how to set it aside Carla Harris on senior women's responsibility to build the bench Missy Krasner on AI as healthcare's third watershed moment Why once you nail the fundamentals, nobody cares that you're a woman Dr. Jenny Schneider on ruthless prioritization over work-life balance The power of an intentional pause before the next big thing Why great leaders actively seek out dissenting voices Joetta Clark Diggs on leadership as a "we, not a me" Breaking national records at 62 — and why staying power has no expiration date Cara Munnis on what happens when strategy meets obsessive detail The hardest leadership skill — learning to delegate what you do best Five years of Inspiring Women and what comes next

Slow down. The story is already there. Photographer, writer, and National Geographic Explorer Arati Kumar-Rao joins us for a conversation about listening, slow storytelling, and documenting a world in transition. Named one of the BBC's 100 Most Influential and Inspiring Women in 2023, her work has been published internationally, exploring the fragile relationship between people and the environments they inhabit. We discuss her long-term project Marginlands and the stories she has documented across India — from the Thar Desert all the way to the Sundarbans — where disappearing groundwater, habitat loss, and environmental change reshape both landscapes and the lives of people and wildlife alike. Along the way, we talk about her journey from corporate life into photography, why patience matters more than speed, and how meaningful storytelling often begins long before the camera is raised. This conversation marks the first of three upcoming talks with remarkable Indian female storytellers, each bringing a different perspective on photography and storytelling. So, grab a coffee, slow things down for a moment, and join us — the kettle's on, and the story's waiting! *****

Dr. Cedrek McFadden breaks down progress being made in colorectal cancer detection and treatment. Also, three inspiring women entrepreneurs share their stories. Plus, Cazzie David joins to talk about her new book ‘Delusions: Of Grandeur, of Romance, of Progress,' sharing personal stories and reflections ahead of her 30th birthday. And, bestselling author Myka Meier shares lessons on resetting kindness. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Jessica Palacios was two semesters away from her nursing degree when she walked into a patient's room mid-clinical and found an elderly woman alone in the dark, covered in bed sores, on the wrong mattress, with photos of her family taped to her IV pump. When Jessica raised the alarm, her professor told her to worry about it when she was a real nurse. She sat in her driveway and cried for 30 minutes that evening. That one moment sent her on a decade-long journey through accounting, psychology, sociology, and business before a faculty advisor finally looked at her history and said, you should be in HR. What followed was a 20+ year career at the Texas A&M University System, where Jessica now serves as Associate Director of System Benefits Administration, overseeing healthcare and benefits for over 50,000 covered lives across one of the largest university systems in the United States. In this episode of Inspiring Women, host Laurie McGraw sits down with Jessica to unpack the full journey, the pivots, the promotions, the hard feedback, and the leadership lessons that only come from doing it the hard way. They discuss: The clinical experience that forced Jessica to walk away from nursing and what it still teaches her about advocacy today How she accidentally stumbled into benefits while working at Webb County before she even had her degree What it was like to be thrust into management early with no guidance and be told her tone was a problem The HR director who sat her down with emotional intelligence books and met with her every week until something shifted Why she believes benefits is the single greatest place in any organisation to change an employee's life outside of their paycheck How she now intentionally invests in her team's growth, certifications, master's degrees, vendor relationships and beyond Jessica Palacios is proof that the career you planned and the career you're meant for are rarely the same thing, and that a life spent in service to people can take more shapes than you ever expected.

"When you do your homework... when you can speak to the facts... they stop and they listen." In this episode of Inspiring Women, Laurie McGraw sits down with Kristy Whitehurst, the powerhouse behind the employee benefits strategy at Genuine Parts Company (GPC). Managing the well-being of over 60,000 members across a global landscape is no small feat, yet Kristy has navigated this complex "puzzle" for over two decades. Kristy opens up about her unconventional start—from a degree in dietetics to becoming a leading voice in HR. She shares the raw reality of rising through the ranks in a male-dominated industry, the nerve-wracking moment of her first executive presentation, and why "owning your mistakes" is the ultimate catalyst for growth. Whether you are looking to scale the corporate ladder, master the art of data-driven persuasion, or find the balance between professional passion and personal life, Kristy's "Maiden Voyage" into the podcast world provides a blueprint for sustainable, high-impact leadership. In this episode, we discuss: The strategy of managing benefits for a global workforce of 60,000+. How to command respect and "stop the room" in male-dominated boardrooms. The "Puzzle of Benefits": Balancing rising costs with employee retention. Why asking the "simple" questions is a leader's greatest superpower. Navigating corporate evolution, M&A, and the future of AI in healthcare. The importance of mentorship and watching how the "greats" prepare for the big moments.

What if the key to transforming education isn't working harder, but leading with greater alignment and purpose? Meet Dr. Stephanie Duguid, who empowers women educators to serve with goodness, lead with greatness, and educate with impact. With three decades as an educator, athletic trainer, and administrator, Stephanie combines experience from education and sports medicine to help leaders move from exhaustion to inspiration. A keynote speaker, podcaster, and bestselling author of Exponentially Elevate Your Leadership Impact, she provides purposeful strategies that eliminate imposter syndrome and spark transformation—creating cultures of trust where educational leaders can realize their true purpose and exponentially elevate their impact.   Episode Highlights: 02:35 The Influence of Dr. Stephanie Duguid's Mother 03:51 Transition to Teaching 08:20 The Impact of Mentorship 10:46 Addressing Imposter Syndrome 14:18 Serve with Goodness, Lead with Greatness 18:05 Stephanie's Branding Journey 24:53 How to Connect with Dr. Stephanie Duguid Show Links:  DrStephanieDuguid.com Stephanie's Podcast

Ever feel like you did everything “right” and still got sidelined? We sit down with Andrea Mohamed, COO and co‑founder of QuantumBloom, to unpack why so many women exit tech and what it takes to build workplaces they won't want to leave. Andrea traces her journey from first‑gen college student to strategy executive and founder, sharing how an MBA unlocked confidence and how glass-cliff roles, nitpicky performance feedback, and unspoken power dynamics still got in the way. The message is clear and practical: stop blaming individuals and start redesigning systems, while equipping women early with the skills that make influence, advocacy, and staying power feel natural.We dig into the critical inflection points where women quietly disengage: the first year after a STEM degree, the leap to management, and the jump to senior leadership, where relationships and influence matter more than output. Andrea explains why the school playbook fails at work, how to unlearn “merit-only” thinking, and what durable skills, communication, negotiation, and cross-functional trust look like in real roles. We talk about psychological safety, manager capability, and pro-family flexibility that benefits everyone, not just mothers, and how these choices change retention.The conversation turns tactical for leaders and HR. Learn to quantify turnover, model retention ROI, and speak the CFO's language so talent programs no longer get cut. Andrea outlines how HR can evolve, as modern marketing did, moving from “arts and crafts” to a revenue partner, by connecting programs to profit. We also address DEI headwinds, the tall poppy problem, and the courage it takes to be values-aligned and visible without burning out. If you care about keeping women in STEM, building fair systems, and turning excellence into advancement, this one gives you the data, the playbook, and the push.If this resonates, follow, share with a colleague who leads teams, and leave a quick review so more people can find the show. Your feedback helps us keep these conversations bold and useful.Resources:Quantum Bloom is helping companies retain and advance women in STEM by fixing the systems that push them out Andrea Mohamed on LinkedInGet the LinkedIn Visibility Foundation. Use coupon code: "BOLDER" to receive $50 off.