Influential Women Podcast

What keeps you moving forward when building something meaningful gets harder than you ever expected? In this episode of the Influential Women Podcast , host Jodie O'Brien sits down with Amy Suzanne Upchurch , founder and CEO of Pink Stork , to discuss faith, entrepreneurship, motherhood, women's wellness, leadership, and why knowing your purpose matters when the hard days come. Amy didn&#3...

What changes when you stop allowing other people, circumstances, and society's timelines to define what your future should look like? In this episode of the Influential Women Podcast , host Jodie O'Brien sits down with Angélica Fuentes , Mexican-American businesswoman, impact investor, founder and CEO of Nowful , and longtime advocate for gender equality and women's empowerment, to dis...

What does it take to grow a beloved brand without losing the heart of what made people love it in the first place? In this episode of the Influential Women Podcast , host Jodie O'Brien sits down with Bobbie Lloyd , Chief Brand Officer and Chief Baking Officer of Magnolia Bakery , to discuss leadership, brand stewardship, company culture, hospitality, innovation, and what it takes to grow while...

What happens when you stop trying to become who everyone else expects you to be and finally decide to bet on yourself? Chef, restaurateur, entrepreneur, and television personality Chef Tiffany Derry joins host Jodie O’Brien on the Influential Women Podcast to talk about purposeful leadership, mentorship, creating opportunities for others, and the grit it takes to bet on yourself. A James Beard Awa...

How do you build a dream that no one else can see yet? In this episode of the Influential Women Podcast , host Jodie O'Brien sits down with celebrated chef, entrepreneur, and restaurateur Aarthi Sampath , founder of Drāvida , to discuss resilience, entrepreneurship, leadership, and the courage to trust your vision. Born and raised in Mumbai, Aarthi moved to the United States and rebuilt her ca...

What if the skills you've spent years building are exactly what a completely different industry needs? In this episode of the Influential Women Podcast , host Jodie O'Brien sits down with Deborah Sass , CEO and Founder of SpaceVrse, to discuss career reinvention, leadership, confidence, and building opportunities where none seem to exist. After spending more than two decades at companies i...

What happens when your biggest opportunity comes after you've already built a successful career? In this episode of the Influential Women Podcast , host Jodie O'Brien sits down with entrepreneur, sales strategist, and FireCoach founder Midori Verity to discuss career reinvention, confidence, artificial intelligence, and why your greatest advantage may be the experience you've already e...

What happens when one of the most decorated Olympians in American history is forced to redefine what winning looks like? In this episode of the Influential Women Podcast , host Jodie O'Brien sits down with six-time Olympic Gold Medalist and Emmy Award-winning NBC Olympic analyst Amy Van Dyken to discuss resilience, perseverance, gratitude, and rebuilding life after unimaginable adversity. Afte...

How will customers find your business in a world where AI is changing the way people search? In this episode of the Influential Women Podcast , host Jodie O'Brien sits down with entrepreneur, author, and AI visibility expert Heather Holmes to discuss how artificial intelligence is transforming brand discovery, why trust has become the most valuable marketing asset, and what founders can do tod...

Is modern dating really broken—or have we been looking for love the wrong way? In this episode of the Influential Women Podcast , host Jodie O'Brien sits down with relationship expert, bestselling author, and founder of The Last Year Single Movement, Jackie Dorman, to explore why dating feels harder than ever, what dating apps get wrong, and how self-awareness is the foundation for building me...

Kelly Roach believes we've been sold the wrong version of success. For years, entrepreneurs have been told that achieving extraordinary results requires extraordinary sacrifice. Work harder. Sleep less. Miss family moments. Push through burnout. Kelly has spent her career proving there's a better way. A former Fortune 500 executive, entrepreneur, bestselling author, and founder of Kelly Ro...

Most leaders spend years trying to fix their behaviors without ever understanding what's driving them. In this episode of the Influential Women Podcast , host Jodie O'Brien sits down with performance coach, speaker, and Enneagram expert Tracy O'Malley to explore the patterns, beliefs, and unconscious conditioning that shape how we lead, communicate, parent, and navigate life's biggest challenges....

Bravo audiences knew Kari Wells as "The Queen of Class" on Married to Medicine . What they didn't know was that she was privately surviving severe PTSD from a violent armed robbery, the loss of her sister, and the relentless pressure of performing strength while everything underneath was falling apart. In this episode of the Influential Women Podcast, host Jodie O'Brien sits down...

Most founders won't tell you what it's actually like to build a company alone. Anna Skaya will. In this episode of the Influential Women Podcast, Anna sits down with host Jodie O'Brien to talk about the eight years she spent solo-founding Basepaws, the pet genetics company that created the first DNA test for cats and ultimately sold to Zoetis. From her early Groupon days to a failed social network...

Every space has two sets of rules: the written ones, and the ones nobody puts on paper. In this episode of the Influential Women Podcast, host Jodie O'Brien sits down with Chitra Nawbatt to talk about what really happens behind closed doors when promotions get decided, why so many qualified women feel invisible in rooms where they belong, and how to reposition yourself for the opportunities yo...

What if visibility isn't a luxury for entrepreneurs? What if it's infrastructure? Jenna Guarneri is the founder and CEO of JMG Public Relations, bestselling author of You Need PR, and host of Call Your Publicist—a rapidly growing podcast that's been recognized as a 2025 Most Shared Show on Spotify and is now expanding to television on Roku. But here's what makes her different: she...

What if the reason you keep dating the same type of person isn't luck? What if it's a pattern you're choosing—unconsciously—because of an old wound? Anna Morgenstern is NYC's top matchmaker and dating expert, having spent over a decade helping men and women worldwide find real partnerships. But here's what makes her different: she's not just a matchmaker. She's a patter...

What if the secret to business success wasn't productivity, efficiency, or profit maximization? What if it was joy? Sarah Burlew walked away from a stable career in consulting to launch Omlie during the pandemic. Someone told her she didn't understand her market value. She proved them wrong by hitting $1.9 million in revenue in year one. Now, just a few years later, her woman-owned consult...

Some of the most important innovations happen in silence. Not because they're secret. Because they solve problems women have been told to accept. Kathy Lee-Sepsick, President and CEO of Femasys, has spent nearly 30 years in medical technology and holds over 200 global patents. But her real impact? She's created non-surgical solutions for two of women's most pressing health challenges: permanent bi...

Real estate isn’t just about buying and selling homes. It’s about building wealth, creating security, and engineering the freedom to focus on what truly matters. Kirsten Jordan, founder of The Kirsten Jordan Team at Corcoran and the first female broker cast on Bravo’s Million Dollar Listing New York , joins us to share her journey—from being underestimated and undervalued to building a $1.5+ billi...

What happens to your identity when you walk away from the title? What do you do when the role that defined your professional life for nearly a decade is no longer yours? Betsy Hamm, former CEO of Duck Donuts and founder of Loud and Lifted (a women-in-leadership platform), knows intimately. She spent nearly a decade scaling Duck Donuts from 20 locations to nearly 200 globally—building a beloved bra...

Dr. Jarrett L. Manning, an accredited dentist, natural hair care innovator, and mentor extraordinaire, joins us to share how she built a career that transcends traditional boundaries—and why it all starts with doing the work. What's remarkable about Dr. Jarrett's journey is how she's woven together healthcare, entrepreneurship, and mentorship into one unified mission: empowering women...

Divorce doesn't have to be an ending—it can be a rebirth. Keni Silva, bestselling author, podcast host, and reinvention expert, joins us to share how one of life's most painful transitions can actually become a moment of clarity, agency, and profound personal growth. With her platforms including "In Heels with Keni Silva" on YouTube and Spotify, Keni has built a community of hund...

Leadership isn't about having all the answers; it's about creating a culture where your people thrive. Julie Schniers, an award-winning leadership speaker, executive coach, and strategic consultant, joins us to share how to move from confusion to clarity, from "faking it" to truly believing in yourself, and how to build authentic leadership that actually lasts. With over 13 years...

Leadership isn't about getting the right people in the room; it's about making sure they thrive once they're there. Angela Tait, leadership strategist and founder of Tait Consulting, shares how to build high-performing, people-first organizations without burning yourself or your team out in the process. From hiring and onboarding to creating cultures that support working mothers, Angel...