Podcast appearances and mentions of melinda garvey

This month we have Erin Quick- CEO & Co-Founder of PairTree. She is the face of the adoption industry with her mission to disrupt the adoption system. *I would love for you to go way back and tell us, what was your big dream when you were growing up? What did you think you were going to be? * “I was convinced I was going to be an interior designer”, Erin replies. Erin says that she has always been left and right-brained. She loves the patterns, colors, and space, putting all of those elements together, and getting creative. She says when she got to college she learned that there were so many options that she didn't even know existed. Tell us about your career trajectory and how you ended up founding a company that's main focus is adoption. Erin says she went to college and ended up dropping out her sophomore year and starting work in Seattle. She says, by luck, she ended up working in a marketing department and filling in for a co-worker while she was on maternity leave and ended up falling in love with marketing. With intentions of going back to school, she got recruited into an ad agency and then got advice that she needed to go into brand strategy. She then got a job in brand strategy in San Francisco and later on moved to New York. She was there for about seven to eight years and then decided to move back to Seattle. There, no one was doing brand strategy the way she had been taught. She then found a guy who knew everything about brand strategy and they founded a brand strategy firm in Seattle together and ran it all the way through 2019 when she then sold it to focus on PairTree. What is the whole concept of PairTree? What is it and how did you get into it? “The reason I got into it was because I went through it twice”, Erin says. She says one out of eight adults today are diagnosed with infertility and she tried everything to get pregnant. After spending three years trying and spending a fortune trying, and after her third miscarriage she and her husband decided to try the adoption route. They thought that this route was going to be easier but then they realized it was three times as expensive, and took two years. They were in a lucky position and heard that you don't have to use the conventional method to adopt and you can do it on your own. Expenses went down and so did the timeline. They took full control and hired a social worker, a lawyer, and started to look for an expecting mom. Within weeks they met with a woman from Michigan and sooner or later her son was born and they flew back and picked him up. Three years later they did it again. After going through it twice and having such great experiences, people started reaching out to them. They started helping other families in their spare time to teach them how to do what they did. She started looking into the industry and the market. With her brand background, she knew there was an opportunity for technology to make this industry more efficient and enjoyable. That was the seed for PairTree and the launching the first platform that has all the services a family would need for domestic private adoption. What are the milestones in the adoption process and the services that PairTree offers? Connecting people to a licensed social worker Matching- like online dating with the main focus on personality matching Legal- PairTree has curated a network with the best adoption attorneys in the U.S. Support- most adoptive families concentrate on going through milestone three but, really after that is when it gets really hard. These families need a ton of support afterward so PairTree is launching this fourth milestone to help these families after the adoption process. What is happening in the world right now such as Rode v.s. Wade, going to change the adoption industry? Erin says, “It will for sure change the adoption industry”. She says if women now have three choices and it gets narrowed down to just two then the adoption industry is going to expect a big change. She says they are doing everything they can to make sure that the adoption process is easy for those women who are going to have limited choices now. In your ideal world, what would this whole adoption process be like and some of the key aspects would you change? Erin says, “well we are changing them!”. She also says mainly access, because the cost is so high not everyone has the option to adopt, some families go into debt trying to afford adoption. Also, the adoption system is primarily faith-based, so families can pick and choose who they want, and sadly a lot of LGBTQ+ families, single-parent families, and older families, arent allowed to participate in the process. Erin and PairTree and trying to overcome these challenges.

May is here and we have another very special guest, who is actually a dear friend of Melinda's, Jan Goss Jan is the founder of Civility Consulting, which is a consulting agency that focuses on corporate soul development and serves leaders through speaking, training and executive coaching to help create a profitable company culture. She is also the author of “Sex and Money!”, which is about speaking to your partner the way you would speak to your most important client. Melinda starts off by asking Jan, “What was your big dream growing up, what did you think you would be when you were a little girl?” Jan responds that there were two things that she was torn between, one being a rockstar and the other being a nun. People are always asking themselves if they are on the right path and thinking about what their life is going to be like, so Melinda really wanted to talk about Jan's winding paths because she has done so much in her career. Jan says that she was a “late bloomer”, she has created four successful companies after the age of forty, and she is still blooming as she goes along. Jan says she was always fascinated with business, she has loved making money ever since she was a little girl, from sweeping sidewalks to doing any little work. Then, she would go to church and donate everything she had made. Having gone to college when she was young, and then going back later on in life, Jan studied International Business and then went to The Protocol School of Washington D.C. and graduated from there. Jan came back to Austin and had the vision to speak into the lives of professionals and teach them some best business practices. So, she started the Austin School of Protocol which then turned into Civility Consulting in 2012. So, what draws Jan to work with women? She believes that all success comes from connecting. Whether that be connecting with yourself or a higher power or connecting with others but, she says, all success in life comes from some sort of connection and every connection begins with a first impression. She says the premise of Civility Consulting is that if we can focus on the first five seconds of that introduction then, you will make a really great impression and make a mark. She says “if we can, especially as women, pay attention to how we show up…and show up as who we really are, that's the key.” Melinda asks if Jan could give three quick tips, what would they be? Jan says one of the skills she learned at The Protocol School of Washington that changed her life was, “act as if you belong.” She says the worst feeling is feeling like you don't belong and the premise of this protocol is that when you go somewhere in life it is because on some level you were invited so, you can show up as if you belong. Jan says, “It's an attitude, a thought process, a way we can prepare in advance to walk in and be like, you know what, I belong here”. Jan has gone through some hardships and traumatic experiences in her personal life, so Melinda asks Jan how she dealt with those experiences and pushed through? Jan says one of the things she will forever be grateful for is the tools she has in her emotional and spiritual toolbox. Since she's been teaching people how to show up for themselves for years, it has now become a part of her. This is when she realized that all these tools and what she has been teaching, actually work. Jan says whether you are going through a divorce, mourning a death, or having financial problems, these tools work and that is what Civility Consulting teaches people. It is not just for professional reasons but also, can help you in your personal life. Jan's book, “Sex and Money!” which is about bedroom etiquette, was inspired by her career and how she would often be exposed to these women who would build multimillion-dollar businesses, but then their home life was falling apart. That is when Jan had the idea for her book. She says, “what if you spoke to your significant other the same way you would talk to your most important client?” She then began experimenting with her husband and bringing best practices into her marriage and “beautiful things happened.” That is when she put it into a book. Now moving on to the money part, Jan says that there is so much fear of money, most of her life was spent in financial pain. She says it wasn't until her fifties, when she was in the middle of a divorce and in desperate need of money, that she had that light bulb moment. Jan went to see an expert for money advice and the woman made Jan write a letter to money. Now Jan uses this in her practices and it “healed her relationship with money.” To get in touch with Jan, you can go to https://civilityconsulting.com. They have so many exciting events coming up and love to hear everyone's stories.

For this month's episode, Melinda is bringing another incredible role model to the stage, Janet Phan. Janet is a TED speaker, author, and most importantly the founder of Thriving Elements- a non-profit for underserved girls in STEM. Growing up, Janet's mother worked as a cashier in dollar stores and goodwills and she remembers dreaming of being a cashier just like her mom. As she grew up, she realized there were other options for her. Janet's parents were refugees from Vietnam so it was very difficult for them to navigate Janet through the American education system. This affected how Janet viewed the world, including who she could trust, who she would allow in her network, and who she saw as her role models. Janet says through her parents she learned to, "do good work and the people around you will see you and want to help you". She did so by going above and beyond, helping her school and her community. She says, "That has been a key part in how I've been successful, doing more than asked." Meldina asks, "What was your breakout moment?", the time that Janet saw a whole other path and wanted to take charge. Janet says she remembers the moment very vividly. Leaving her family's house her senior year of high school due to conflict, she started working at KFC and Hollywood Video, trying to get in as many hours as possible. She said one night after work she went to go get gas and didn't have the money to pay for it. She says this was the turning point in her life. She realized then that she did not want to live paycheck to paycheck and this kicked her motivation into high gear. Janet then wrote a book about this experience called, "Boldly You". After holding her story in for so long she realized she needed to share and inspire others. So what inspired Janet to start Thriving Elements and help underserved girls in STEM? Janet says it came from when she started traveling globally for a previous technology company she used to work for. She says through them she had the opportunity to enroll in business classes, something she was very grateful for. She says she wouldn't have gotten to where she is now if it wasn't for the mentors in her life that put time into her and took those risks for her. She says Thriving Elements started because when she was working and doing technology consulting around the globe she realized that she was often the only woman at the table and the only woman of color. This is why she wanted to help those girls that come from underserved backgrounds and put them on the playing field, like some of her mentors did for her, by providing opportunities and mentoring them. But how does Thriving Elements overcome the hurdles and challenges of mentorship and how do they build long-lasting relationships with their clients? Janet says the problem with formal mentoring today is that it lacks that one on one connection so, they are not as impactful as they would like to be. The mentoring model Thriving Elements uses is built off the mentoring model that Janet built for herself. The way Thriving Elements works is as a mentee, you get matched with your mentor in High School, and the mentors stay with their mentee throughout college. In the early parts of your career, your mentor makes sure you get into the field you have been striving for. Janet says, there are three concepts to mentoring with Thriving Elements and the key concept is, "always follow up with your mentor". Sharing and following up with your mentor is important because they invest a lot of their time in you, so it is rewarding for them to hear all that you have accomplished with their help and guidance. Thriving Elements started in 2016, and her roadmap has always been to expand globally. With people from all over the world asking Janet to bring Thriving Elements into their communities, she had built a network. Getting meets set up with people from all over the world was difficult due to a bad internet connection, and this was frustrating for Janet. This created a digital divide. She has been wanting to work with an organization to bridge the digital divide. As of today, Janet is starting her career at Amazon's Project Kuiper, where they will be launching satellites to get reliable broadband to underserved communities. This is helping to bridge together Janet's knowledge in technology and her passion to help these underserved communities together. Thriving Elements is always looking for more STEM mentors, if you want to be a part of this organization you can go to www.thrivingelements.org. You can also pre-order Janet's book, Boldly You at boldly-you.com. You can also find Janet on Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

Happy International Women's Month! For this special episode, we chatted with Carolyn Childers, who is all about championing women. Carolyn is the founder and CEO of Chief, whose mission is to build a strong community of connection and support for executive women. Carolyn didn't always know that her passion was to help women in the workforce, she says that she was on a completely different path at the beginning of her career. Her family owned a business and growing up, she had a front-row seat to the challenges that come with owning your own business. She said it felt way too hard for her and decided to go the corporate route. She found herself in a corporate job, and soon left and got into the startup world in New York City, she knew instantly she would never go back to traditional corporate. She loved the pace, energy, and ability to truly make a difference in the startup culture. The more she spent time in that space the more she realized that she could do it herself. She wanted to be an entrepreneur and not just the Senior Executive at other people's companies. She says, "I saw it, and I can be it."That is what ultimately led her on this journey to be the entrepreneur she is today. As for how her career put her on the path to specifically empower women in the workplace, Carolyn says that she was working in finance and banking, both very male-dominated industries. During this time, she was only at a junior level and it was very telling for her to see just a few women executives in her company. As she became more senior and was included in the rooms where decisions were made, she saw how men were getting more opportunities than women. That is what fueled her to start her mission. We all know that women are still overcoming challenges in the workplace and still trying to change the mindset of holding your cards tight because you might only have one shot to truly be heard before you get written off. However, Carolyn has an optimistic mindset about this. She says that in her experience, women have moved past this and are now in a mindset of abundance. Over the last ten years, there has been a shift in that mindset and that is partly why Chef is so successful. Chief is all about the collective, women coming together and supporting each other at a personal level with individual challenges but also as a whole to drive change. Carolyn's inspiration for the mission of Chief came from a very personal place when she was trying to reach the Senior level in her career. She was tackling challenges, and was expected to know all the answers. She said the ugly truth in leadership is that sometimes, you don't know all the answers. She asked herself, how do I continue to invest in myself as a leader and find the resources in her community to overcome these challenges.? That is when she had the idea for Chief. Chief is a professional network focused on senior executive women, VP level and above. She says the number one thing that Chief provides is, the core groups. These are groups of ten women that come together monthly with an executive coach in the room. She says it has been phenomenal to see the impact that it has had on so many of their members. Chief started in New York and as of January 2022, they are officially international. With ten thousand members across the US and a waiting list of close to fifty thousand to join the community, they are constantly growing. This time has been the most challenging for women so seeing the community coming together is remarkable and rewarding. Melinda asks Carolyn, how do people work their way up in a company without those connections? She says that one of the things that is important in the way that she created Chief was that it is truly meant to be a confidential place where women can come and open up about their challenges. She says even if you are building a community within your organization, you are still talking to coworkers. It is difficult to get that same authenticity and confidentiality with a co-worker rather than people outside your work. This helps her members drive advancement and to become invested in themselves as leaders. Carolyn adds that in this new hybrid world of remote working, the biggest challenge is loneliness. She says working from home is efficient, but you are still missing the social aspect. You miss out on building relationships and connections. Chief helps in this way because it not only opens up doors, but it allows women to fill that very human void of loneliness that occurred during the pandemic, and continues to occur today with everyone now working from home. So, where is Chief going to be in 5-10 years? Carolyn says, with being only three years old she is just so proud of where they are now. They have some of the most powerful women in the country as a part of this network. She is just always focusing on building the best experience possible for their members. If you want to learn more about Chief's memberships, or even apply for membership check out their website at https://chief.com. Listen to Chief's new podcast here! (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-new-rules-of-business/id1591963543)

This month, our See It To Be It podcast guest is another inspiring female leader, Tonita Webb, who is the CEO of Verity Credit Union. She tells us about her journey to becoming CEO in a male-dominated industry and the struggles she faced along the way being a BIPOC woman. But how did she get to be CEO of a credit union? Well, Tonita grew up in a single-parent household and her mom was sick with Lupus, so her responsibilities were to take care of her mom and her siblings at the same time. She has always dreamt of living in a different place while she was growing up, due to the trauma she experienced in her hometown along with the limited opportunities. She didn't know where that place was but she knew it was not in her hometown. She always kept that possibility in front of her and when she got older and started school she found a liking for science and math. She said in her high school there was a big push for African Americans to become engineers. She joined an engineering group in Highschool and then it led to her going to college to study engineering. Looking back though, she does not think she was built to be an engineer. She says she is a people person and LOVES to help people achieve their goals and that is how she got into management, although being able to think like an engineer did help her to get into the business world. When she got into college she did not want to be in a lot of debt, and the thought of debt just stressed her out. She asked herself, how could you finish school and not be in a ton of debt? The Air Force answered her question. She had the opportunity to go into the Air Force and come right back to Hampton University in Virginia to finish school, which she had every intention of doing. She said four months later she was stationed in Berlin, Germany, and was a police officer, laughingly she said, “and that was not in the plan”. She did that the whole time she was in the military. She ended up finishing school but not in the way she thought. Fast forward four years, Tonita got married and had children. When she was in the Air Force, her heart would ache from missing her children, so she decided to get out of the military and got a night shift job at a bank. She then became interested in the training which is what introduced her to Human Resources. She loves working with people and that is what started her HR career. She then went to Florida and started working for the Department of Health with their HR department. Tonita says, “this is what helped me awaken a desire to help people''. Fast forward another year or two, she had another kid and her husband then decided to resign from the military after ten years. They went back to Seattle and had two more kids. With four kids now, she wanted to go back to work. She had three options of work: a bakery, credit union, and Seattle's supersonics. She said the credit union job just spoke to her because she could have a better opportunity to help people. Tonita says that one of the things that drive her as a BIPOC woman is that she gets to change the system and be part of making that system more inclusive. She says the one thing she wants people to know, especially people in the BIPOC community, is that people make mistakes. No one is perfect, and you do not need to be. She says, “I learned what I know today by trial and error.” Tonita didn't have great examples of how to plot a great financial future and she has made a lot of mistakes along the way, but she wants to be that example for the future generation. She saw firsthand her mom struggle with debt because of her illness, it was hard for her to work. She just knew that that was not the life she wanted for herself. She says that her mistakes are her greatest education because you just learn as you go. You can take ten steps forwards and five steps backward but all that matters is that you are moving forward. Melinda then talks about how Tonita is a black woman in a male-dominated industry and asks her what struggles or challenges she had on the way coming up in this world. She said it wasn't easy and the world of management, leadership, and business was designed by white males. Because of this, she did not feel comfortable in her own skin because she did not grow up with a white male figure in her life, and cannot relate to them easily. She said what she learned was that she had to discover herself first before she could navigate her career journey. She would talk to a therapist as a BIPOC woman about the hardships she had to face with navigating her career in this industry. Once she discovered herself in this way, it allowed her to help more people. Melinda asks Tonita what is her favorite piece of advice. Tonita says that she has learned that women have to balance and accept their humanity, take space for themselves and step aside from the expectations that society has on women. We have to stop labeling and putting expectations on women. Women have to balance workspace issues along with balancing relationships and motherhood. You need to allow yourself to have space.

Eleanor Beaton, an incredible role model from Canada that is on a mission to empower female entrepreneurs. When Eleanor was a little girl, she had big dreams to become either a supermodel or an investment banker. This is because she grew up in the age of the biggest supermodels and always looked up to these glamorous, empowered, feminine women such as Naomi Campbell and Cindy Crawford. As for why she wanted to be an investment banker, she had an Aunt who was a really successful investment banker in London that was such an inspiration to her. These were her role models growing up and looking up to these women has paved the way to where she is now. After eventually eliminating the supermodel and investment banker career, she went into journalism and then translated that into a communications consulting business. In 2015, she created a new business that focuses on women leadership development. Eleanor says she remembers when a news report came out one day that said, Naomi Campbell, a role model of Elenor since she was a young girl, wouldn't get out of bed for less than ten thousand dollars a day. She said at that time she was “flabbergasted” to heat this because that seemed like an enormous amount of money, but then she realized that Naomi was owning her worth and recognizing her own value. Eleanor says when women share their stories, lead the way and inspire, it can make a difference to other women in the world. When that news report came out she said it was the best guidepost of how valuable it was to recognize your worth. She takes this advice into her business, Safimedia, whose mission is to double the number of female founders who sustainably scale past a million dollars in annual revenue. In her business, Eleanor says that the one thing she sees over and over again is how do you scale a service business. She explains that most service businesses get to the first quarter million by hyper customization. She says that these types of businesses start to become like a prison because they are making money but they can't get out of it. That is the most common issue she sees that people come to her for. Melinda goes into the next topic by talking about how the scale of businesses today are skyrocketing. A million-dollar business seems like nothing today because businesses are growing so fast. She asks Eleanor how she frames that and what is the mindset she has and is it challenging to her? Eleanor responds with, “Absolutely”. She says running a bigger business is easier than a smaller business because you have a bigger team and Melinda agrees! Melinda says with running a small business she always gets trapped with thinking the bigger business is better just by their revenue but she then realizes that it is harder to run a smaller business. Eleanor says that when the business was small it was much harder and she even missed her kids growing up, but now the business is much bigger and she has more time. It is much simpler because they sell two things rather than a hundred. She says that you have to be okay with letting go of certain things and just focusing on a couple of things, and allow that to be enough. Eleanor says with men still being in the center of the business world and women being kind of off-centered that it can take a women's mindset off track, thinking you are not enough and thinking you have to hustle to become successful and valuable. She says there's so much hustle for worthiness. She says that you just have to allow what you do to be enough and you don't have to give people everything they want, choose a lane and stay in it and create a business that will provide by just doing a couple of things that you really excel at. She says that is a mindset shift that she had to go through and thinks that other women need to also. Next, Melinda asks Eleanor if a million is still the number? If by 2030 will a million still be the barometer or is it going to keep getting higher and reach 3 million especially in today's economy? She says, according to the research she and her business have done, their goal is to double the number of women-owned companies that scale past a million dollars in annual revenue by 2030. She says if they inspire, support, and educate an additional 200,000 female founders that their goals can be accomplished. Eleanor thought about what was important to her and the female founders she works with and she says it really comes down to cash, influence, autonomy, and creating a model that drives those three things. She created a model called the Jule business model, which is a company that grows at 30% or more a year until the founder wants to decelerate or accelerate their business growth. The founder has 30% profitability and has 30% open-time. She says the 30-30-30 concept is a great rule of thumb and there are so many benefits from doing it this way. Learn more about Eleanor and SafiMedia by visiting her website, or by checking out her podcast Power Presence Position. The show delivers practical insight for female founders.

In this month's episode, we talk with Shelly Dominquez Lieder who is the VP of Accounts at TEN35 ad agency. To start the episode, Melinda first asks Shelly what her big dream was growing up and Shelly says that it was to be an Avon lady. She thought it was the coolest thing to walk around, ring people's doorbells, and make women feel their best selves. Her family always likes to bring this dream of hers up and embarrass her about it because they always thought that she would go to school and do much bigger things than that, which she did. Shelly says now that she is in marketing and advertising, she is still showing up and helping people think about what they need to do to be the best version of themselves. So, in some ways, she is doing what she dreamt of but in a bigger way. Shelly then talks about her growing up in a Latina family and how the women are supposed to cook, clean, take care of the house and they don't look beyond that. She is grateful that she could talk about her dreams with her mom and grandmother and they were always encouraging. They would say to her, you are going to do that and so much more. She says growing up, she always had that pressure on her shoulders because the women in her family would tell her that she will become the best version of herself and succeed in ways she didn't know were possible. Melinda then asks Shelly how growing up with a Hispanic background shaped her journey and what kind of hurdles did she have along the way? Shelly responds with, growing up with a Mexican family they had aspirations for her but also, very strong opinions. She says when she first selected her major at college her family would question her and ask “what are you going to do with that?". She says at first, she thought she was going to go to law school because she wanted to argue, fight and bring social justice to all. Her family would say to her things like, “there is no way you're going to make money right away” or, “that is ridiculous, try again”. She says when she finally told them that she was going to major in marketing they were very supportive and could see the picture. She says she always planned on graduating, then working at an ad agency. However, when she graduated in San Antonio, Texas, there were not a lot of ad agencies around her. She had to think fast about what she could do and where she could go. Very luckily, she received a job with a beer company in her early twenties. She says that the beer industry is very male-dominated but her company was Mexican-owned, so it felt familiar. She says that every day she felt like she was just trying to be heard, seen, and feel important. She knew at that point she wanted to go do other things and finally find the ad agency she has been dreaming about. Through her connections, she was able to get her next job at a Hispanic-owned ad agency in Dallas, Texas. She said she still didn't feel right at this one because they never took her ideas seriously, so she moved on to another Hispanic-owned agency. She said it was the same thing again, she was constantly fighting for a promotion and staying quiet about how women weren't being treated equally in the workplace there. She says at the same time she happened to meet her current partner at TEN35. She would notice when their teams were pitching how much she loved how he led their team, he would empower everyone in the room to speak and be heard. She knew that they were her connection and she wanted a future with TEN35. Later on, he was opening up an agency in Houston, Texas, and asked Shelly if she wanted to be a part of it. She said, “YES!”. She says ever since then she has been a part of TEN35 and that they empower women in a way she never knew was possible. Shelly says it's phenomenal that close to 70% of their team members are women, and almost 90% are in a leadership role. She felt very excited that finally after being put down at her previous companies, she found a home and a place to truly utilize her skills and to also empower and bring other people along so they don't have to go through the same struggles that she had to go through. Next, Melinda asks Shelly if she thinks this happens to other Hispanic, Latina, young women that are recruited into companies but in reality, are held back and restricted at their job. Shelly responds with yes. She says when you find that tribe, like the one she has at TEN35, they make it a point to get together. Whenever they pull out a junior from their team and hear that they are struggling, Shelly and her tribe always want to help them find their voice. Shelly's tribe being filled with other Latina women has helped shape the leader she has become. Melinda then asks since Shelly is in a leadership position, how does she lead differently to make sure she is bringing other women of color into the mix? She answers with, “I lead with purpose and grace”. She says if she is going to be involved in a leadership role, it needs to be purposeful and actionable. She doesn't want to be there just to look pretty and check a box. She wants to have an actual purpose in what role she plays. She says with grace, everyone stumbles and falls and you recover. She says, “how do you extract that out for it to not happen again and how to rise stronger.” For her, whether it be personally or professionally is done with purpose and grace. So how does TEN35 make companies more culturally conscious? She says it comes to them in different ways. A lot of companies were ones they previously worked with before they were asked to take a harder look at themselves and to make sure that they were doing what was right. Current partners often ask them for advice and make them double-check videos, ads, casting, music and more, to make sure they looked right. A part of what they do is to make sure brands are being culturally conscious and relevant. The next question Melinda asks Shelly is if she has a role model that has stuck with her and how did she come about finding this role model? Shelly says that there is one woman who sticks out in her memory and she is so fortunate she met her. This woman is the one who started telling Shelly that she can do it and taught Shelly how to find her confidence in the workplace. She would always remind Shelly of who she was and how other women outside of her bubble are were overcoming the same hurdles she had. They tie the podcast together by explaining the importance of networking for women and how far it can take an individual. Melinda also shines a light on how important it is to push your team and how it is incredible that Shelly always does so, even when someone is uncomfortable, and that is what makes her a great leader. Shelly says that she wants to continue to grow with TEN35 and help other women grow within her organization. Learn more about TEN35 and Shelly by visiting their website (https://ten35.com).

On this episode of the See It To Be It podcast, we talk to Shayla Varnado, who is a fashion stylist turned entrepreneur and wine connoisseur. She is passionate about inspiring women to live the life of their dreams and is the founder of Black Girl's Wine, which is an international organization for black women who share a passion and love for wine, while being committed to celebrating Black Girl Magic. Shayla's background consists of her growing up wanting to be a fashion stylist. She says she has always had a passion for fashion and she even studied fashion in college at Old Dominion University. She later in life started a fashion business, that specialized in helping the everyday women show up better in their lives, by piecing together a wardrobe that was suited for a woman going to work, having a date night, a girls night out, or even just attending a soccer game. She would make sure that her customers would have an outfit ready for wherever life may take them. She said that she would have key pieces in their closet to always make them feel fabulous. Now Shayla runs an international organization called Black Girl's Wine. She says that it is for black women who love wine. Running this organization, along with the sisterhood full of amazing women she has created, brings her immense amounts of joy. As for what inspired Shayla, she said she looked around the wine industry and noticed a huge lack of diversity and inclusion. She noticed that there was never a black person on a wine advertisement in the media or even in stores. She then realized there was a whole market being ignored, a market that loves wine, having a good time and hanging out and trying new things. Shayla knew that she had to step in. That is mainly where her inspiration came from for her society. The wine industry is very white-male dominated and it's amazing that black women are becoming a part of this industry with the help of Shayla. Shayla talks about how she runs a partner program to include other black and women owned wine companies in her society. This partner program refers her members to black winemakers and women winemakers. They host events together and offer discounts to their members in exchange. She says to drive memberships, they just started a live partner show which is a live event in their private Facebook group that introduces wine makers to over a thousand wine lovers. This offers exposure to women winemakers and winemakers of color. She also says that the partner program is not just about exposure, but gives a chance for the winemakers themselves to build a relationship with their audience. Shalya loves helping out other black and women owned winemakers, while also sharing her love for wine with her society. Shayla also recently co-authored the book, 44 Prayers for the Christian Entrepreneur, which was inspired by her faith. Shayla said she is just the copilot and her captain is God. She co-wrote the book with her God sister who is an entrepreneur as well. She wanted to share some of the prayers that have got her through all of life's challenges. These prayers have helped navigate and guide her through the entrepreneurship lifestyle and hardships that come along the way. Want to become a member of Black Girl's Wine? Memberships open quarterly and you can go to https://www.blackgirlswine.com to find all the information needed to take the first steps to join the sisterhood!

Sheri West is a former corporate executive who has transitioned into a phenomenal advocate for young women by founding her own nonprofit organization, Live Girl, which mission is to prepare the next generation of diverse, brave female leaders with skills, community and connections so that all girls can thrive and make a positive impace on the world. As for Sheri West's background, she grew up on a farm in Michigan and later on went to Michigan State University where she got her undergrad and Masters. She later on found her way into corporate America and worked with fortune 500 companies such as Pepsi. This experience allowed her to live out her dreams and travel the world. While traveling, she had to make hard sacrifices such as losing precious time with her family and friends, which definitley effected her wanting to start a family. During her career, and similar to many other women, she faced an array of obstacles in corporate America. These obstacles highlighted the importance for women to have a network of mentors and sponsors. Sheri belives that female mentors are of the utmost importance for a women's professinal success. When she left corporate America in 2014, she founded Live Girl with a mission to provide that network of not only mentors, but other resources for young professional women. She wanted to create this organization to pay it forward to the next generation of female leaders and make a real difference to women in the workspace. Live Girl works with girls from 5th grade all the way into college, offering career readiness and internship programs to young girls who might not otherwise be given such oppurtuinities. Being given these resources from such a young age really benefit young women's mental health in the long term, and this is something Sheri really believes we should be proactive about as a society, instead of reactive. She emphasizses how it is so important to be a good example to these young women and to constantly make sure she is leaving a positive impact on them. We love a woman who dedicates her career to lifting other women up!! About LiveGirl: Founded in 2014, LiveGirl, Inc. is a Connecticut-based nonprofit girls leadership organization that builds confident, inclusive leaders. Our mission is to prepare the next generation of diverse, brave female leaders with the skills, community, and connections so that ALL girls may thrive and make a positive impact on the world. LiveGirl serves thousands of girls in grade 5 through college annually through its free-of-charge, innovative leadership development and mentoring programs. To date, LiveGirl has reached over 10,000 young women. Learn more: https://golivegirl.org/ Connect @goLiveGirl. About Confident Podcast with Sheri & Olivia West: A mother - daughter podcast featuring conversations with fierce, unapologetically ambitious women about what it means to be an inclusive leader. Learn more: https://golivegirl.org/podcast

This month on the See It To Be It podcast Melinda talks with Dr. Shirley Davis, who is the CEO of SDS Enterprises, a woman and minority-owned C-Corporation that provides strategic development solutions that enable organizational leaders to build high performing and inclusive cultures that thrive in a competitive and changing environment. When Dr. Davis was a child, she had a very vivid imagination. She had no fears or limitations, and dreamed of being either an allstar athlete, lawyer, fashion model or actress. She talks about how as children, we don't have any of those experiences that cause hurt, rejection or pain which causes us to have fears and limitations. She explains however that once she went to college and got out in the real world, she did start to have those experiences that brought about feelings of self-doubt and caused her to "shrink". Now, her doubts and fears have been minimized almost completley, but like anyone still seep through from time to time. For example, when she was asked to be on a national board, she thought "they want me?" and almost talked herself out of the oppurtunity. She then reminded herself of how wonderful, educated and deserving of this oppurtunity she was. This prompted her book, "Living Beyond Your What Ifs", which tells the story that we can all relate to of having those fears and overcoming them to be the best version of yourself. Her inspiration for the book was to inspire other people to live beyond their what ifs, she says "we have an obligation, responsibility and even an oppurtunity to help other people who may be facing the same things too". In the book, she shares personal stories as well as stories of other people, who she mentored and were also stuck in their what ifs and overcame them. The book is full of tips and tricks to feel your best self and live in confidence and peace, sounds like a must-read to us! Dr. Davis spent 30 years in corporate america and mentions her career found her. As a child she never dreamed of being in HR or being a Chief Diversity Officer but she says "I do believe that in life your past will collide, you collide with destiny". She believes that the things she learned in early childhood were preparing her for her career. Companies would say to her that they needed someone for DEI, and she fit the bill being a woman of color. As for how business is doing post-COVID, Dr. Davis claims that ever since the murder of George Floyd last year her firm been overhwlemed and has not slowed down. They have been on the forefront as a full service firm, they did more listening sessions in the last year than in the past 20 years. Dr. Davis doesn't believe DEI is going anywhere, it has been a relevant hot topic for a number of years because of the pervasive demographic shift we are seeing today. When the new generation of talent comes into the workforce, they have expectations, and if companies don't accomodate them, they will miss out on top talent. She mentions that in 2020, some of the top words used were "pivot" and "you are muted" (LOL). When people pivoted last year, they not only reinvented themselves, they reinvented work places and relationships and looked at life saying "is this what I want to do?" 3.9 million people in June and July quit their jobs, and we're calling this "the great resignation", because people are choosing a different path in their lives. People now ask themselves "is this where I want to work? Is my boss toxic, is this workplace toxic?" and are choosing hapiness and quitting their jobs, so employers must get with the program or they will miss out. As far as the mass resgination, women are a lot of the ones leaving the workforce. Currently, women make up nearly half of the workforce, says Dr. Davis, and companies need to do something to retain them. Women are overwhelmed with not only work responsibilites, but also child care and other home responsibilities. She calls out to companies to make their workplace cultures and policies more flexible, and to create the enviorment that allows women to excel. She belives women were leaving the workforce in higher droves this past year because not only were they many of them laid off, they made choices to leave because childcare centers were shut down and children were home from school. Her firm has been overwhelmed with a lot of calls about implicit bias training, because at the core of it, women still have biases that keep us from being payed fairly, hired in certain positions or being promoted as fast as men. She even brings up that out of the fortune 500 companies, only 41 of the heads of those corporations are women. We have work to do! It starts with equity, inclusion, bias training, but then it goes to accountability: change your policies, update your strategies and put programs in place that are much more flexibile and accomidating to bring women in. But what about things like the new requirement by Wall Street about mandating women on boards, is it enough? Will it bring about enough change (since it only specifies women and not race or sexual orientation)? Dr. Davis thinks its a start for boards to diversify, but it needs to trickle down to not just women but people of color and those that have different experiences, thoughts, perspectives and ideas. Talent comes from a lot of places, and companies need to know to look for leaders that have transferable skills and recognize that talent comes from all different backgrounds, you HAVE to look outside your traditional network, cast your net broader. She brings up that when she is asked to be on a board, even if they are all white men, she knows that she may be the first and may even be the only, but she won't be the last. As for Dr. Davis' mentors, she has a great network of other senior executive women. She also finds people who are five to ten years ahead of her in their careers, and emulates some of what they do, even if they are not formal mentors. A lot of our podcast guest bring up a network of other women, Melinda mentions the statistic that when women have a network of other women, they get further, and even more so when they have a mixed network of men and women. The most powerful thing we can do is to share our networks with other women. Dr. Davis says relationships are the new currency. A lot of her business comes from referrals and recomendations. People do business with people they like, trust and know. To learn more about Dr. Shirley Davis, check out her YouTube channel or buy her book on Amazon "Living Beyond Your What Ifs", follow her on social media. Dr. Shirley Davis is the author of the new book Living Beyond “What If?” Release the Limits and Realize Your Dreams (Berrett-Koehler Publishers, August 10, 2021, Available for order at Amazon.com). She's also the author of the books Reinvent Yourself: Strategies for Achieving Success in Every Area of Your Life and The Seat: How to Get Invited to the Table When You're Over-Performing but Undervalued. Additionally, she is a popular author for several LinkedIn Learning courses on Leadership and DEI. Connect with Dr. Shirley Davis on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/shirley.davisphd/), Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/DrShirleyDavisPhD/), Twitter (https://twitter.com/DrShirleyDavis), YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5eETU9ZJ8heqzQNwNPBRNw), Clubhouse (https://www.clubhouse.com/@drshirleydavis) and LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/drshirleydavis/), TikTok, or visit www.drshirleydavis.com. "Challenges are brilliantly disguised as oppurtunities for us to take them on by the horn, not be afraid and make a difference" See It To Be It Content Corner Looking for more tips, motivation and direction? Tune into the See It To Be It podcast the first Thursday of every month on your favorite streaming service. Subscribe to our email newsletter to be notified of new episodes! Check us out on social! We are dedicated to providing inspiring female role models to women around the world, so let us know what you think by chatting with us on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/seeittobeitpodcast/) and Twitter (https://twitter.com/seeit_tobeit), Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/seeittobeitpodcast) and LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/company/onthedotwoman) Special Guest: Dr. Shirley Davis.

This month on See It To Be It podcast, Melinda speaks with Bonnie Marcus, an award winning entrepreneur, Forbes contributing writer, and executive coach. Bonnie Marcus, M.Ed., assists professional women to successfully navigate the workplace and position and promote themselves to advance their careers. With 20+ years of sales and management experience, Bonnie's extensive business background includes CEO of a ServiceMaster company and VP of Sales at Medical Staffing Network and other national companies in the healthcare and software industries. She has held executive positions in startups as well as Fortune 500 companies. A certified coach, Bonnie has been honored by Global Gurus as one of the world's top 30 coaches in 2015-2020. Her acclaimed first book, The Politics of Promotion: How High-Achieving Women Get Ahead and Stay Ahead, was first published in 2015. Bonnie shares her message globally through speaking engagements, blogging, and her podcast, Badass Women at Any Age. She begins the episode by discussing how she wanted to be a ballerina growing up, but people try to squash her ambitions; however, still today, she loves to dance. Bonnie started her career as a kindergarten teacher but transitioned to teaching aerobics at a cardiac rehabilitation center. She left the corporate arena in 2007 and got certified as a coach helping women advance their careers. Bonnie wanted to help women who are getting passed up for opportunities, couldn't advocate for themselves, and struggle to get rehired after getting pushed out of their careers. She discusses the inspiration for her book: Not Done Yet! It covers how women over 50 can regain their confidence and claim workplace power. Additionally, she covers ageism, discrimination in the workplace, even on platforms like LinkedIn. She elaborates by encouraging women not to pull themselves out of the arena, remain visible, and continue to build their network by staying marketable. Bonnie finishes up the episode revealing the power of girlfriends and social circles. She encourages women to find like-minded women by joining organizations to bring together who have something in common and find that support. She emphasizes that your mindset is essential regardless of age. Learn more about Bonnie: Bonniemarcusleadership.com _5:26 “I learned business by doing it” _5:44 “It was never my ambition to run a national company. I just said yes to a lot of opportunities that came along, I guess that's the lesson.” See It To Be It Content Corner Looking for more tips, motivation and direction? Tune into the See It To Be It podcast the first Thursday of every month on your favorite streaming service. Subscribe to our weekly email newsletter and audio brief, Four Minutes with On The Dot. You'll receive examples of relatable female role models in over 10 industries, plus quick stats on empowering women in the world, and to top it off, an inspirational quote that's sure to jumpstart your day. Check us out on social! We are focused on your success, so let us know what you think by chatting with us at @seeittobeitpodcast on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. Special Guest: Bonnie Marcus.

This month on See It To Be It podcast, Melinda speaks with Pat Bondurant, a famed business partner, and wife of legendary World Driving Champion Bob Bondurant. Pat takes us through her successful careers in aerospace, architecture, television, cars, and investing with her. She discusses how she's gotten to where she is today, obstacles she's overcome in the process, and how your trust should not be given out haphazardly.   She begins the episode describing how she was born into a family of five brothers, which ultimately contributes to how she carved her way as a female in numerous male-dominated career fields. Her mother was the second-highest-ranking woman in the civilian division of the government and instilled in her that there was no ceiling on what she could do. Pat started runway modeling for wedding gowns and eventually moved on to regional Ford commercials. She decided a career in fashion was her next move and took a drafting course for fashion school. Her talents in drafting ultimately led her down another path, and she worked for NASA on the first space shuttle. After NASA, she took her skills to interior design and subsequently architecture, designing the Tomahawk cruise missile facility. Later, after seeing an opportunity and seizing it, she started her own extremely successful architectural firm.  She finally met the love of her life, CEO and president of the number one racing school in the world, Bob Bondurant. Bob Bondurant is a world-renowned expert on driver training and safety. He has taught Hollywood's biggest stars to drive race cars for films, including Christian Bale in Ford vs. Ferrari. Pat discusses her and Bob's one-of-a-kind love story. However, she did fall into some traps of abusive husbands before finding her "twin flame." Despite going through a traumatically violent marriage, fighting for her son's safety, moving across the country, and ultimately facing a heartbreaking betrayal by her own son that she fought so relentlessly to protect as a child, she kept moving forward.  She discusses how she gained her success by "letting life unfold." She elaborates by explaining that when she sees an opportunity, she takes it. However, she describes how if a door to an opportunity is difficult to open, she simply moves on to the next door. She emphasizes that no matter what happened, she continued to move forward without any rains on her. Pat wraps up the episode by revealing her two go-to pieces of advice for other women. First, she encourages women to be careful who they trust because salt can be mistaken for sugar. Second, she also explains how the Bible serves as a handbook, and choosing to pick it up is the key to success.  Learn more about Pat Bondurant: https://bondurantracingschool.com/ Pat Bondurant on being a woman in male-dominated industries: _8:47 “I do not take any BS off of anybody, and let me set the tone right up front." Pat Bondurant on how she continued to achieve success while enduring a painful time in her life: _12:41 “...it's just all the components of being a powerful, self-willed woman that had to make a living, and when I saw opportunities, I knew when to move." See It To Be It Content Corner Looking for more tips, motivation and direction? Tune into the See It To Be It podcast the first Thursday of every month on your favorite streaming service. Subscribe to our weekly email newsletter and audio brief, Four Minutes with On The Dot. You'll receive examples of relatable female role models in over 10 industries, plus quick stats on empowering women in the world, and to top it off, an inspirational quote that's sure to jumpstart your day. Check us out on social! We are focused on your success, so let us know what you think by chatting with us at @seeittobeitpodcast (https://twitter.com/seeit_tobeit) on Twitter, Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/seeittobeitpodcast/), and Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/seeittobeitpodcast). Special Guest: Pat Bondurant.

This week on See It To Be It podcast, Melinda speaks with engineer, wife, cancer conqueror, mother, and ambassador; Foram Brown. Foram is based in London, England, and has dedicated her life to learning and empowering women with the knowledge she has obtained.  She begins this episode by discussing her "big dream" when she was growing up and how she wanted to be a drama queen, movie star, and glamorous Bollywood actress. However, she felt that her only two options from a cultural standpoint were either to be a doctor or an engineer. She felt that to be able to be a self-sustaining, successful woman, she had to pick from those careers. She felt she did not have the memorization skills to be a doctor, so it became clear to her that STEM was the best option because of its key component of problem-solving. Starting off her post-college career, she landed her first job at a pharmaceutical company as a systems engineer. From there, she worked for Rolls-Royce on civil engines for 11 years. Bombardier Transportation soon followed, where she worked on UK trains, and she now works for Alstom as the head of mechanical engineering. She has noticed an increased awareness of women in the STEM industry. She works to continually increase the number of women that are recruited into engineering roles due to the fact that she has always had a strong desire to help other women. She explains how she was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2019 and this changed her perspective in life. Furthermore, she decided she was going to do what she had always wanted, to help women. She ultimately started her business, Foram Brown, with the purpose of filling companies' STEM openings with women employees. Foram Brown utilizes a simple model that requires companies to hire women and then fills those positions with a world-class candidate. Due to her experience in the industry, she is skilled in finding the right person for these jobs. She also nurtures the sustainment of women in these positions, helping create an inclusive company culture. She discusses the five key elements of inclusivity of women in the workplace; flexibility, support, trust, empowerment, and listen.  She talks about the toll that being a mom in a pandemic takes on a women's career, which results in a decrease in women in the workforce. Likewise, she discusses the unequal disbursement of responsibilities among women throughout the pandemic that can create stress and burnout. She encourages the embracement of the change and differences that the pandemic has contributed to so that women can work at home. She discusses how to deal with the gender pay gap, focusing on awareness. She approaches this pay gap with the mindset of knowing one's own worth and being goal-oriented. Ultimately, she wraps up with the advice to go get what you want and create the life you want to live.  Learn more about Foram Brown: https://forambrown.com/ Follow Foram Brown on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/forambrown/?hl=en (@forambrown) Connect with Foram Brown on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/foram-brown Follow Foram Brown on Twitter: https://twitter.com/forambrown?lang=en (@ForamBrown) Like Foram Brown's page on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/forambrownfb/ https://www.facebook.com/groups/forambrowncommunity Foram Brown on inclusivity of women in the workplace: _13:08 “You make a change, and you will see a massive shift." Foram Brown on her go-to piece of advice: _22:35 “Life is exactly how you want it to be." See It To Be It Content Corner Looking for more tips, motivation and direction? Tune into the See It To Be It podcast the first Thursday of every month on your favorite streaming service. Subscribe to our weekly email newsletter and audio brief, Four Minutes with On The Dot. You'll receive examples of relatable female role models in over 10 industries, plus quick stats on empowering women in the world, and to top it off, an inspirational quote that's sure to jumpstart your day. Check us out on social! We are focused on your success, so let us know what you think by chatting with us at @seeittobeitpodcast (https://twitter.com/seeit_tobeit) on Twitter, Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/seeittobeitpodcast/), and Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/seeittobeitpodcast).

This week on See It To Be It podcast, Melinda speaks with author, speaker, and social entrepreneur; Rebecca Powers. Rebecca is based here in Austin, Texas and has made a HUGE impact within the community throughout her years of philanthropy. She begins this episode discussing her "big dream" in life and how this was to simply go to college and be a good student with good grades. Rebecca began her college career believing she wanted to be a physician but she quickly moved into business after doing poorly in her first science class. Starting off her post-college career in sales with IBM she faced objections being a woman in the field, but quickly overcame that and went on to have a 14 yearlong successful career with them. From there, Rebecca stepped into the world of entrepreneurship. She found inspiration after seeing a group of women come together and give back to their community, Rebecca felt that if she could do something similar then it would heal the hole in her heart allowing her to move on with her life after experiencing family tragedy. Little did she know, this would lead her down a long road of social entrepreneurship and philanthropy. Impact Austin began as a small group of women wanting to make a change and grew into a huge organization putting 7 million dollars towards underserved citizens of Austin. This once small group turned into a group of powerful women supporting women. Rebecca ran and grew this organization for 10 years before letting go of her leadership role and moving into a new chapter. She discusses the struggles of leaving behind Impact Austin and coming to terms with someone else running the organization that she was so passionate about. Rebecca began a book 10 years ago chronicling her journey with Impact Austin, her original intent was for it to remain in a hope chest for her children to read one day. She was convinced by a fellow woman to turn that into a memoir and allow other people to read this and learn from the vulnerable story that Ms. Powers had to tell. She reflects on never dreaming of being an author but how satisfied she is with this journey. Rebecca Powers book, Trust Your Cape: How Women Find Their Power in Giving Back will be released on May 25th. This book emphasizes women finding their cape and their voice and using it to be unstoppable. Learn more about Rebecca Powers: https://www.impactaustin.org/our-leadership Follow Rebecca Powers on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/trustyourcapebook/?hl=en Connect with Rebecca Powers on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/iafounder Follow Rebecca Powers on Twitter: https://twitter.com/iafounder?lang=en Like Rebecca Powers page on Facebook: https://business.facebook.com/ImpactATX/ Trust Your Cape: How Women Find Their Power in Giving Back will be available on Amazon on May 25th! Rebecca Powers on advice she received when coming to terms with stepping down from Impact Austin: _16:16 “You cannot grab the next trapeze until you let go of the one you’re holding onto and until you let both hands go, impact Austin will not move forward and you will not be able to get to what’s next.” Rebecca Powers on her belief that things will work out: _26:13 “If I do the right things, the right things happen and I don’t know where those opportunities will be but they will come.” See It To Be It Content Corner Looking for more tips, motivation and direction? Tune into the See It To Be It podcast the first Thursday of every month on your favorite streaming service. Subscribe to our weekly email newsletter and audio brief, Four Minutes with On The Dot. You'll receive examples of relatable female role models in over 10 industries, plus quick stats on empowering women in the world, and to top it off, an inspirational quote that’s sure to jumpstart your day. Check us out on social! We are focused on your success, so let us know what you think by chatting with us at @seeittobeitpodcast (https://twitter.com/seeit_tobeit) on Twitter, Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/seeittobeitpodcast/), and Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/seeittobeitpodcast). Special Guest: Rebecca Powers .

Back in 2002, Melinda Garvey was out for drinks with some friends when she got the idea to start a magazine focused on women in Austin. A few months later, the first issue of Austin Woman Magazine was published. Melinda didn't stop there. She continued to innovate and find new ways to support women. In 2019, her company, On The Dot, launched a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion software platform to help all women and diverse employees connect and advance within organizations. In 2020, they expanded the software to include a platform for virtual events and virtual communities. In my conversation with Melinda today, we'll dig deeper into that founding story of Austin Woman Magazine and how she made the next move from founder of a media company to founder of a tech startup. Melinda also shares how each of us can better support diversity and inclusion. To learn more about Melinda and her work, check out the websites below: https://atxwoman.com/ https://onthedotglobal.com/

As a young woman, Ms. Ward always knew she wanted to be an attorney after taking on that role in a play as a young child. Coming from a community that lacked legal resources and frequently experienced police brutality, she knew she wanted to provide that resource to her community. She began her journey believing that her dream of being an attorney wasn’t feasible due to her lifestyle at the time. She feared that what she looked like on paper would prevent her from fulfilling her dreams. Madam Ward states that she was an activist before she became an attorney, this was inspired by the community she grew up in and was in turn, influenced by. She found that reproductive justice deeply resonated with her due to her own experiences in it. This led to her being recruited to organize the March for Women’s Lives in 2004 which ended up being the largest march on Washington in United States history. Ms. Ward moves to the topic of struggles that came along with being a woman of color obtaining a law degree. She was forced to face her past and prove herself once again during her process of being accepted to law school. Ms. Ward speaks on her business architecture venture and how they build infrastructures from the ground up. She touches on how Covid-19 has affected them, having to readjust to a completely new way of life that has changed every aspect of business and has forced her company to dive into new approaches. Ms. Ward is very optimistic towards life moving forward, she states that everything is happening “for us and not to us”, everything the past year that we’ve faced is for us and only leading us to a better future. Learn more about Madam Nselaa Ward: www.ninivafirm.com Follow Madam Nselaa Ward on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nselaaward/?hl=en Connect with Madam Nselaa Ward on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/nselaaward/ Follow Madam Nselaa Ward on Twitter: https://twitter.com/nselaaward?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor Like Madam Nselaa Ward page on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nselaawardfanpage/ Madam Ward on achieving your goals in life: _12:13 “if you have a goal, you can’t be hung up over the hiccups that come along the way” See It To Be It Content Corner Looking for more tips, motivation and direction? Tune into the See It To Be It podcast the first Thursday of every month on your favorite streaming service. Subscribe to our weekly email newsletter and audio brief, Four Minutes with On The Dot. You'll receive examples of relatable female role models in over 10 industries, plus quick stats on empowering women in the world, and to top it off, an inspirational quote that’s sure to jumpstart your day. Check us out on social! We are focused on your success, so let us know what you think by chatting with us at @seeittobeitpodcast (https://twitter.com/seeit_tobeit) on Twitter, Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/seeittobeitpodcast/), and Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/seeittobeitpodcast). Special Guest: Madam Nselaa Ward, J.D..

Melinda Garvey became an Austinite in the spring of 2001, and after just a few short months, she knew she had a mission give a voice to the incredible women in Austin. Garvey decided to use her media background to empower, engage and inspire the women of Austin with the launch of Austin Woman magazine, now in its 19th year.Then, in 2016 On The Dot was born so that women around the globe could have that same access to role models. And to expand her mission further, in 2019 Garvey developed and launched a software platform to bring employee communities and membership communities together in our ever-expanding virtual world with On The Dot Global. In 2020, with the pandemic bearing down and virtual events becoming the norm, Garvey expanded her software capabilities to become the most robust and interactive platform for both virtual events and virtual communities.In Garvey’s words: “It’s really all about leveling the playing field for women and diverse individuals in companies and members of organizations by giving them access to mentors, peers, content and events within their organizations, creating opportunity for advancement, connection and ultimately equality.”When not on her soapbox, you can find Garvey and her Kiwi husband and business partner, Kip, at a soccer or football game cheering on their 13 year-old son, Beckom. Other than that, you will find her surrounded by a gaggle of women drinking wine and dreaming up how to create change in the world!Garvey recently received the prestigious Diversity First Certification from the National Diversity Council and is a frequent speaker on the topics of women’s advancement and diversity, equity and inclusion issues.Melinda's Calls to Action:FIND YOUR TRIBE! They will be instrumental in helping get you where you want to go.Make Introductions—SHARE your network and it will grow exponentiallyQuit trying to get off the roller coaster—manifest the “kiddie coaster” instead!Melinda's Recommendations:See It To Be It Podcast (by yours truly

“I never turn down a lunch. I never turn down a dinner.”Such is the infinite wisdom of Melinda Garvey, founder of both On the Dot and Austin Woman Magazine. After building a media empire to lift women up, Melinda created a model for modern networking that speaks precisely to this cultural moment. In this episode, she talks to us about:-The most powerful thing women can do to help each other succeed in business-How she tuned her ear for women's stories, then turned those conversations into opportunity -Her daily habit of introducing two people to one another (yes, during 2020!)-Some of her most memorable Austin Woman Magazine cover women Melinda is the best kind of influencer: humble, passionate about others' success, and endlessly curious. Her energy is the perfect antidote for these times, and her words will inspire you to expand your network...starting today. We hope you enjoy this episode of I Am Enough. While you're here, subscribe + leave a review!

Melinda Garvey is regarded as one of the most dynamic women in the greater Austin area for her work as a successful female entrepreneur, community philanthropist and role model. In 2006, Garvey was one of nine women nationwide selected to receive Office Depot’s “Businesswoman of the Year” Award. She also is the 2006 winner of BIG Austin’s “Most Creative Company Award” and the Greater Austin Business “Community Advocate Award.” Austinwoman also recently won the Hispanic Chamber “Best Media” award and BIG Austin’s award for “Best Business Practices”. As founder and Publisher of Austin Woman Magazine, and the new ATXMAN Magazine she is responsible for leading the fastest-growing niche publications in Central Texas. As a community leader, she is a powerful contributor to many Austin organizations and serves as a mentor for young organizations and businesses. Currently, Garvey is serving as Entrepreneur In Residence for The McCombs Business School at The University of Texas.

- Why women's networks have been a driving force behind Melinda's work since day 1- The future of work and why diversity is suffering in a fully distributed world- Identifying the barriers for women in entrepreneurship, and how purposeful allyship can move the needleMelinda (@melindagarvey) is founder of Austin Woman Magazine, running 18 years strong, as well On the Dot, a tech platform dedicated to providing connection, content, and mentors to individuals looking to build their networks and careers and for companies to help drive an inclusive workforce. As a community leader, she is a powerful contributor to many Austin, Texas organizations and serves as a mentor for young organizations and businesses.Notes from this episode: - What's in the glass? 2018 Frank Family Vineyards Pinot Noir - Bright ruby in color, lively and fresh with a beautiful exploration of rose petal, pomegranate, and cranberry. It shows a wealth of flavor and texture with a full-bodied figure of ripeness and structured acidity. https://www.wine.com/product/frank-family-vineyards-pinot-noir-2018/550380- On The Spot with Melinda Garvey Podcast- Austin Woman Magazine- On The Dot- Follow @melindagarvey TwitterFollow Neha at @nehasfFollow @Contentstack

Austin Tx has one of the largest women in business networks than any other city in the U.S, we'd like to think that is because of this amazing organization of ladies at Austin Woman Magazine. Melinda Garvey, founder of Austin Woman Magazine & On The Dot, has been connecting & highlighting women based businesses and products for over 15 years. Join host, Mel Afflerbach & guest, Melinda Garvey as they discuss topics like Being a Woman in Business and Tech, How the #Metoo Movement has allowed women to speak their truths and their experiences in the workforce, and most importantly what inspired Melinda to be such an advocate for women and women networking for the city of Austin. Melinda started Austin Woman Magazine for many reasons and she has A BIG ANNOUNCEMENT on her new endeavor, listen to this episode to find out!! Oh, and don't miss out on nan awesome Tequila based cocktail recipe using ingredients from local female companies!!! Discover & Support Austin Woman Magazine: www.atxwoman.com Follow Austin Woman & On The Dot: IG: @austinwoman + @onthedot

If you ask Melinda Garvey what her big dream is, you will probably hear her say: “I want to brainwash women!” Now, don’t be alarmed. She just sees this as the fastest way to ensure that ALL women know their worth, have a tribe of other women supporting them and can see their own path to success through access to the millions of women that came before them.“It’s really all about creating a mindset of abundance, rather than scarcity,” Melinda explains. “There are millions of non-celeb, non-corporate titan women who are successful. We just simply don’t ever hear their stories, so we believe that the landscape is barren. On The Dot is on a mission to change that by giving access to successful women and their stories every day.”It all started in a little Texas town called Austin. One day in 2002, Melinda decided (after one too many glasses of wine) to use her media background to empower, engage and inspire the women of Austin by launching Austin Woman Magazine. Now in its 18th year and hailed as the go-to resource for women looking to move ahead and build a legacy, Austin Woman is going strong…But what about women around the globe? “When I heard that one of the very top reasons women were not achieving equal success was the lack of access to relatable role models,” Melinda continues, “I just got mad.” And so, On The Dot was born, starting with little more than a deep passion for championing women, an expertise in storytelling and the moxie to believe that On The Dot could change the conversation about women’s advancement. What if, every morning, millions of women around the world heard a story about a successful, relatable role model? How would our mindset change if we could SEE it and then know that we, too could BE it? What if we took that concept and turned it into a tool for enterprise level corporations to manage & report on their diversity and inclusion initiatives?...well that's what she did.When not on her soapbox, you can find Melinda and her Kiwi husband and business partner, Kip, at a soccer game or swim meet cheering on their 11 year old feminist son, Beckom. Other than that—you guessed it—you can find her surrounded by a gaggle of women drinking wine, of course!Oh, and in case you’re still reading, Melinda has also won a few awards for being such a badass:Awards2006: one of nine women nationwide selected to receive Office Depot’s “Businesswoman of the Year” Award.2006: Community Advocate Award, Greater Austin Chamber2011-2012: Entrepreneur in Residence for The McCombs School of Business at The University of Texas Austin2011: Outstanding Austin Communicator Award, The Association for Women in Communication2012: Woman of Distinction winner, Girl Scouts of Central Texas2013: Women of Influence, Austin Business Journal2015: Enterprising Woman of the Year, Enterprising Woman Magazine2017: Folio Top Women in Media Honoree

Former beauty queen, Genecia Alluora, is challenging the status quo of what women in Southeast Asia believe they can accomplish. Between juggling household duties and busy family schedules, Genecia believes women need the tools and support to find their sense of self to make their dreams a reality. In this episode, Melinda Garvey talks with the mentor about how to help ourselves be open to opportunity and break the glass ceiling. On the top three limiting beliefs that Genecia believes is holding women back: _8:40: "... Number one is they have forgotten completely who they are and their dreams, and that really do(es) affect it. Because to them by taking care of their family, in our culture is family first, they have completely forgotten about self-care.." On the power of Soul Rich Woman, Genecia's company for interpersonal networking: _10:15: "When these women get their soul awakened they already know there is a possibility of having financial independence or freedom through other ways. Their minds open up. But the people around them are not opened up yet." To learn more about Soul Rich Woman, visit https://www.soulrichwoman.com/ To tune into Genecia's podcast "FOR WOMEN WHO LOVE THE F WORD," available on iTunes and SoundCloud. On The Dot Woman Content Corner Looking for more tips, motivation and direction? Tune into the See It To Be It podcast every Thursday on your favorite streaming service. Subscribe to our weekly email newsletter and audio brief, Four Minutes with On The Dot. You'll receive examples of relatable female role models in over 10 industries, plus quick stats on empowering women in the world, and to top it off, an inspirational quote that’s sure to jumpstart your day. Check us out on social! We are focused on your success, so let us know what you think by chatting with us at @onthedotwoman (www.twitter.com/onthedotwoman) on Twitter, Instagram (www.instagram.com/onthedotwoman), and Facebook (www.facebook.com/onthedotwoman). Special Guest: Genecia Alluora.

Welcome to the inaugural episode of the new See It To Be It podcast, formerly On The Spot with Melinda Garvey! Our very first guest is Randi Zuckerberg, an inspiration and advocate for women in tech everywhere. While Facebook was still just a start-up, Randi was there from the beginning helping out Mark Zuckerberg with marketing. By the end of her time there, she created Facebook Live, the social network's first introduction to live broadcasting. One of the biggest challenges she faced in Silicon Valley was the shockingly low amount of women in tech compared to her home in New York. She says "... the glass ceiling was really low. If I sat up I'm was gonna bump my head on it!." Since then, Randi has devoted so much of her work to teaching young girls interested in STEM, and investing in female-led start-ups. Most recently, she launched Zuckerberg Institute - the virtual hub for entrepreneur's that offers mentorship, online sessions to build important skills, and even small-group intensives and all-day seminars all with the same goal of helping you build your business. Randi's favorite job is being a mom to her 3 kids. Though she travels a lot, she always makes time to play boardgames with her husband and children, even if it's on Facetime! For more on Randi and the Zuckerberg Institute, visit: https://www.linkedin.com/in/randizuckerberg/ https://www.suestechkitchen.com https://www.zuckerbergmedia.com https://www.zuckerberginstitute.com Highlights "By the end of next year... there will be 1 million open technology jobs that are just sitting open, that can't be filled because there aren't enough people graduating with the skills and degrees to fill those jobs. So here we are sitting in maybe a recession economy with a million high-paying jobs just sitting open. It really is a crisis level of getting more young girls and women to focus on these areas." [12:18] On The Dot Woman Content Corner Looking for more tips, motivation and direction? Tune into the See It To Be It podcast every Thursday on your favorite streaming service. Subscribe to our weekly email newsletter and audio brief, Four Minutes with On The Dot. You'll receive examples of relatable female role models in over 10 industries, plus quick stats on empowering women in the world, and to top it off, an inspirational quote that’s sure to jumpstart your day. Check us out on social! We are focused on your success, so let us know what you think by chatting with us at @onthedotwoman (www.twitter.com/onthedotwoman) on Twitter, Instagram (www.instagram.com/onthedotwoman), and Facebook (www.facebook.com/onthedotwoman). Special Guest: Randi Zuckerberg.

Melinda Garvey has made an incredibly successful career out of motivating women, and highlighting inspirational female role models. But where did she get her start? After moving to Austin and starting a new job, Melinda was struggling with feeling like she belonged and was desperate to make a change. Luckily, inspiration struck at the perfect time. During the first tech boom in Austin, it seemed like notable men were the face of every cover of every magazine. There was a serious lack of female voices in the conversation, Melinda knew it was her job to change that. In September of 2002, Austin Woman Magazine was launched. Now, nearly 17 years later Ausitn Woman is the leading magazine for women in Austin. And in April of 2016, Melinda launched On The Dot Woman, the global online newsletter for female empowerment everywhere. Melinda believes that all women should know their worth, and her career reflects that in every way. Learn more about Austin Woman and On The Dot Woman below! Austin Woman Magazine: https://atxwoman.com On The Dot Woman: http://onthedotwoman.com/survey On The Dot Woman Content Corner Looking for more tips, motivation and direction? Subscribe to our daily email newsletter and audio brief, Four Minutes. You'll receive examples of relatable female role models in over 10 industries, plus quick stats on empowering women in the world, and to top it off, an inspirational quote that’s sure to jumpstart your day. Tune in to the audio brief—uploaded daily to all streaming apps— or check your email for a little daily boost of positivity and empowerment. Subscribe to Four Minutes today! We are focused on your success, so let us know what you think by chatting with us at @onthedotwoman (www.twitter.com/onthedotwoman) on Twitter, Instagram (www.instagram.com/onthedotwoman), and Facebook (www.facebook.com/onthedotwoman). Special Guest: Melinda Garvey.

There are so many women who are blazing new trails and doing incredible work everyday and they deserved to be seen and celebrated. That's mission-critical for Melinda Garvey every single day.  Melinda Garvey is a media force working to shine the spotlight on women who are changing the world every day. Her media empire, On The Dot Woman, along with Austin Woman Magazine are showing women that what they want is possible, it's in reach, and that there's someone with experience doing it, and that they can help you on your path.  It's all about connecting for Melinda, a self-proclaimed "people collector" and she's building new bridges for connection every day.    In this episode, we discuss:  - How important it is to show young women that there are other women working in the places and industries that they aspire to work in and how the See It To Be It Success Summit was created for that purpose.    - Why building your tribe and nurturing those relationships is the most important thing you can put energy into while building your career.   - Lessons she's learned from being a media trailblazer for almost 20 years     Join The Power Body Language Community     Connect with Melinda Garvey - Website - LinkedIN  - Instagram: @onthedotwoman     Connect with Lisa Mitchell & Power Body Language   - Website - LinkedIN - Facebook - Email   Work With Me:  Communications Master Class  Executive Coaching  Corporate Training  Keynote Speaking    Join The Power Body Language Community    Music Credit: Purple Planet 

In today's episode of On The Spot with Melinda Garvey, we sat down with Andrea Dinnick, the CEO & Founder of DESAVERY (https://www.desavery.co.uk/). DESAVERY is a wellness brand of serums specially formulated with botanical ingredients to enhance the body's inherent biochemistry. It's skincare that goes beyond the surface to enrich body, mood and mind. Jill says she's always had an entrepreneurial streak and she loves building and creating things, so the idea of starting her own businesses was never a foreign concept for her. She co-founded a business several years ago, and when the partnership stopped working, she made the difficult decision to walk away. Slowly, she put together the pieces of DESAVERY, and while she thought the revenue and sales would be the best part, the best part is when someone tells her how much they love the product. At 50 years old, she now posseses the energy and self-confidence to run her own business. "I find selling and talking about my products very easy. Put me in a room in front of a thousand people and I'm so hapy to talk about it. Most people would have a hard time with that, or many would. But then there's other things that I'm very cautious with in terms of growing the business, and that's something that I've got to get over. There's always going to be things that you're uncomfortable with and you have to recognize that and kind of cut the emotion out of it and say, 'this isn't about feeling comfortable or uncomfortable, you need to do this for your business, so just get out and do it." Key takeaways: "Just get out and do it. Talking about it and harboring some secret desire to do something or thinking you've got half an idea buy you're not really sure, I kind of want to say to people, 'well you're not going to get to the whole idea until you start trying to execute half of that idea because then the other half may come along and you don't know until you start doing it. There is no half-way doing this. You can have half an idea and start developing to get to the whole idea but you can't do it unless you start, and you have to start." ICYMI: Make sure to check out Andrea's On The Dot #WomanToWatch feature on our website OnTheDotWoman.com (https://onthedotwoman.com/woman/andrea-dinnick) and on our daily newsletter and podcast Four Minutes With On The Dot! A few months into her new venture, Andrea found herself in the grocery store around 7 pm surrounded by her neighbours who were returning home at the end of their workday. In that moment, she saw everything she missed about not working in an office: stylish clothes, smart brief cases and blow-dried hair. Since she knew she wasn’t going to be getting an office anytime soon, she made working from home work for her. Click here (https://onthedotwoman.com/tips/work-from-home) to learn more about how you can make working from home work for you! Looking for more inspiration, advice and direction? Subscribe to our daily email newsletter and podcast Four Minutes with On The Dot where we provide you with the tools and motivation you need to get out there and be the badass babe you were meant to be. Sign up here! (https://signup.onthedotwoman.com/) We are focused on your success, so let us know what you think by chatting with us at @onthedotwoman on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. We’d love to hear your voice! In observation of the Christmas holiday, we will not be airing a new episode next Thursday, December 27th. Instead we will be speinding time with our family and loved ones. From all of here at On The Dot, we wish you a very Merry Christmas and a very Happy Holiday season. Special Guest: Andrea Dinnick.

On today's episode of On The Spot with Melinda Garvey we sat down with HeHe Stewart, the founder of the Boston-based Tranquility by HeHe (https://tranquilitybyhehe.com/). Tranquility by HeHe is a Maternity Concierge, Doula and Birthing Service whose mission is to provide high quality, holistic, individualized doula services to families in an empowering and nurturing environment. As a doula, HeHe says she got into this line of work because she wanted to see women take control of their pregnancies, births and postpartum experiences. "Just because you choose a birth option that isn't what the people around you want you to do, first of all listen to that sentence, but just because the people around you aren't getting what they want from you in your birth, that doesn't mean that you don't have choices or that you can't take control of your birth." She wants birth to be a gentle and empowering process, rather than one of fear and anxiety. HeHe has been in Early Childhood Education for many years, and saw that parents entering the work force after their maternity or paternity leave felt lonely and unsupported, prompting her to look into how she could bridge that gap. HeHe says one of the biggest challenges of her business is educating the general public on what a doula is, the support they provide and what benefits can be achieved by using them. HeHe says if she could go back in time and start over, the only thing she would have done differently is to do deeper research into the industry both in general and her region of Boston. With better research, she says, she could have spent more time reaching her target market and specializing in her particular areas of expertise. "I've always been this person that challenged the norm and I always was that child that [asked] 'but why?' If you can't do something, why can't we do it? Is there a way that we could do that? As a child, adults try and squish that, right? They want a really obedient child. Luckily, there are children like me for whom that only fuels our fire. So I was obedient and I knew if I could just get out of high school I could do my own thing. If I could just get to college, I could do my own thing. If I could just quit my job and open up TBH, I could do my own thing. I've always been that person." Key takeaways: "If you don't believe in yourself, nobody else is going to. If you don't believe in that thing that you're selling, in your program, in your product, in your idea, who is going to believe in something that the creator doesn't even believe in? You have the believe in yourself." "Find your tribe, love 'em hard, it's my whole life's motto - life was not meant to be lived alone, surround yourself with people." _"Be intentional. Be intentional about everything. Think about your choices. When you let go of the intentionality in your life, you're letting go of the control. You're putting that power into someone else's hands. If you're comfortable doing that, go for it, one-hundred percent, but don't ever forget it's never too late to pull that power back in and say 'actually, I want to explore my choices here, I wanna see.' Be intentional, it's never too late to change your mind. Listen to your gut and do your work because you get to control your life in more ways than a lot of people realize and it starts with intention." _ - Special Guest: HeHe Stewart.

On today's episode of On The Spot with Melinda Garvey, we sat down with Valerie Sarron, the owner of VS Photography (http://www.vsphotograph.com/), a photography studio that specializes in beauty and boudoir. Valerie says she knew she discovered a medium she was passionate about after photographing one of her first boudoir sessions with a close friend in preparation for her wedding day. When news of her client's session spread, soon all of her friends were requesting to book theirn own boudoir experience with her, which is when she realized she could make a business out of it. "A lot of my sessions become very emotional for both me and the client. Whether we're getting over and insecurity or just highlighting your confidence that was already their, it's just a really empowering experience on both sides." She says if she could go back in time to the early days when she was starting out, she'd tell herself to not be so scared to make the big jump into owning a business. Boudoir photography is an intimate interpretation of portraiture and encourages women to embrace their confidence and unique beauty while creating lasting memories. Valerie knows how important it is to make her clients feel comfortable as soon as they walk in the door. Her professional background involves blogging and editing, which is what she studied in college. Key takeaways: _"I think in the beginning stages (of entrepreneurship), you kind of lack the confidence of just what you're putting out there. I remember in the beginning, I wanted everything to be absolutely perfect before I started. I didn't even start marketing myself before I had everything; all my gear, all of my website looking perfect, my studio, all my forms, just every little detail had to be absolutely perfect before I could begin creating. And I think that's a common thing that happens with creative business in particular. I think that people think everything has to be in place before they can begin, and if I could go back and sort of start over, I would just start so much sooner. You grow your business little by little, and learn from those beginning stages. You don't have to have this entire huge business plan already before you can start creatingand really putting yourself out there." _ ICYMI: Make sure to check out Valerie's On The Dot #WomanToWatch feature on our website OnTheDotWoman.com (https://onthedotwoman.com/woman/valerie-sarron) and on our daily newsletter and podcast Four Minutes With On The Dot! Looking for more inspiration, advice and direction? Subscribe to our daily email newsletter and podcast Four Minutes with On The Dot (https://signup.onthedotwoman.com/) where we provide you with the tools and motivation you need to get out there and be the badass babe you were meant to be. Sign up here! (https://signup.onthedotwoman.com/) We are focused on your success, so let us know what you think by chatting with us at @onthedotwoman on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. We’d love to hear your voice! Special Guest: Valerie Sarron.

Dr Dionne interviews Ms. Melinda Garvey who is a media innovator, pioneer and expert in advancing the success of women and their businesses through her media companies, On the Dot, and Austin Woman Magazine. Listen as Ms. Garvey shares her philosophy on what women need to do to support each other, and how she herself, […]

Today, our host Melinda Garvey interviews the founder of Innovation Women to discuss what she is doing to help women land and monetize public speaking gigs. Read or listen to her #WomenToWatch feature here at OnTheDotWoman.com! https://onthedotwoman.com/woman/bobbie-carlton

Melinda Garvey founded Austin Woman Magazine 14 years ago, then ATXMan, and now Daily Dot, a daily podcast about kickass women all over the planet. Melinda has served as Entrepreneur in Residence for McCombs Business School, has won awards by other publication, business association, and entrepreneurship collectives. In this episode, I get the chance to ask her a few questions.We talk about:What made her want to do a magazine?Having never created a business before, what was the constant battle of doubt v. resilience? How did resilience win?Why is she branching off into podcasts?Is her vision for the advancement of women something she had all her life? Why has that been the mission she has dedicated herself to?She was funny, honest, and honestly, made me feel that I'm not the only one who has major ups and down in a day because of what I'm pursuing.Also, shout out to women entrepreneurs. On my podcast, I interviewed quite a few and I think about nuggets from each episode, sometimes multiple, every single week. Also, my mother is an entrepreneur, and I am proud as hell.Ladies and gents, enjoy.

Austin Woman Melinda Garvey and Sharon Mays of Baby Greens by J.B. Hager

Austin Woman Ingrid Vanderveldt, Melinda Garvey and Sara Rodell by J.B. Hager

Austin Woman Melinda Garvey and Noonday Collection Jessica Honegger by J.B. Hager

Austin Woman Melinda Garvey and Designer Tracey Overbeck Stead by J.B. Hager

Austin Woman Magazine - Liz Fudell and Melinda Garvey by J.B. Hager

Austin Woman Magazine Melinda Garvey and Sara Glakas of Black Barn Financial by J.B. Hager

"Let's Talk" with Austin Woman Magazine Melinda Garvey and Headshot's Y'all Korey Howell by J.B. Hager

Poopy Talk With Kim Eagle Judy Maggio And Melinda Garvey by J.B. Hager