Cynthia Johnson, Co-Founder & CEO of Bell + Ivy wrote Platform: The Art & Science of Personal Branding for “normal people.” She is on the podcast today to share whether we are a CEO, entrepreneur, or employee why it is important for us to own our personal brand and some steps we can take audit our online brand. Cynthia shares why it is important for us to advocate for ourselves, our work, and learn how to ask for what we want.

Vicki Saunders is an entrepreneur, award-winning mentor, advisor to the next generation of change makers and leading advocate for entrepreneurship as a way of creating positive transformation in the world. Vicki is Founder of SheEO and #radicalgenerosity a global initiative to radically transform how we support finance and celebrate female entrepreneurs.

Jess Ekstrom, Founder & CEO of Headbands of Hope shares the humble beginnings of Headbands of Hope, why she started a social enterprise instead of a nonprofit, and some of the lessons learned from her book Chasing the Bright Side. They discuss some of the challenges Jess faced growing her company, how she redefines what entrepreneurship means, and how she’s passionate about humanizing the hustle.

 

Melissa N. Aldridge is the Director of Corporate Strategy and Development for  Unum Group and the new COO and CFO of Her Story of Success. These roles allow her to fulfil her twin passions of deriving actionable insights to transform businesses and positively impacting women and families.

Marcie Allen and Maria Aspan joined host, Leah Hayes for a lively and fun conversation recorded live in New York City where they discuss starting, running and growing a business from a woman’s perspective. They cover the types and amounts of financing needed at different business stages, common struggles of entrepreneurs, unique challenges women face as business owners, and why you need to start planning for your exit early.

As the only woman and the only person of color on her company’s executive team, Joy knows how hard it can be to deal with discrimination in the workplace, but she hasn’t let that stop her. She’s built her life and career on her own terms. As a working mom in NYC, Joy understands the importance of surrounding herself with a tribe of amazing women and has learned that the choices she makes for her family might look different than how she was raised.