Step Into Next

Join Leanne, Helaine, and their amazing guest MK Getler as they explore the evolving landscape of AI, surrendering to change, and the balance between hustle and flow in this summer special episode.  Recorded remotely, they share candid reflections on career pivots, embracing uncertainty, and cultivating gratitude amidst rapid technological shifts, offering insights for navigating liminal space wit...

What does it look like to return to entrepreneurship after failure, burnout, therapy, and rebuilding your life? In this episode of Step Into Next , Leanne and Helaine sit down with their friend and founder, investor, coach, and storyteller Andy Ellwood for a deeply honest and personal conversation about authenticity, startup life, resilience, and learning how to build success differently the secon...

What happens when you finally achieve the thing you thought would make you happy… and it doesn’t? In this episode of Step Into Next , co-hosts Leanne and Helaine unpack the concept of the Arrival Fallacy - the belief that happiness lives on the other side of a milestone, promotion, relationship, financial goal, or major life achievement. From startup culture and founder burnout to Olympic athletes...

What happens when one “just in case” appointment changes everything? In this episode of Step Into Next , Leanne and Helaine sit down with Mindie Kaplan, entrepreneur, executive, and founder of the Million Mammogram Challenge, to talk about intuition, reinvention, entrepreneurship, breast cancer, and the power of turning a deeply personal experience into a movement. Mindie shares how she left corpo...

What if the biggest wealth gap for women isn’t just about earning, but also exiting? In this episode of Step Into Next , Leanne and Helaine sit down with entrepreneur, author, and advisor Carrie Kerpen to unpack a critical (and often overlooked) truth: women aren’t just underfunded in business….they’re under-exiting, too. That means they’re selling or getting acquired far less often and for far le...

In this episode of Step Into Next , Leanne and Helaine pull back the curtain on their origin stories: how they each found their way into business, creativity, reinvention, and ultimately this podcast! Leanne shares her path from young writer and bartender in New York to personal trainer, founder of Uplift, and women’s empowerment entrepreneur. Helaine reflects on her early career in magazines, her...

In this deeply honest episode of Step Into Next , Leanne and Helaine sit down with entrepreneur, finance leader, and coach Jonathan Gass Arieli for a conversation about resilience, reinvention, and what it really takes to move through the space between what was and what’s next. Jonathan shares the story of building Nomad Financial , supporting high-growth founders, navigating major business succes...

What happens when a world-class journalist discovers she’s being paid less than her male colleagues….and that speaking up may cost her? In this episode of Step Into Next , Leanne and Helaine sit down with Maggie Palmer - founder of PepTalkHer , former journalist, and fierce advocate for women’s economic empowerment - for a candid, energizing conversation about money, work, activism, and the system...

On ‘Step Into Next’ Leanne and Helaine love to cover what they call the “liminal” space; and that in-between can mean a LOT of different things, and this episode certainly proves that. In this one, they unpack what it really means to trust “divine timing” (without bypassing grief, frustration, or real-world messiness). They also (somewhat surprisingly!) explore spirituality as a practical tool for...

After one big chapter ends, the question everyone asks is: “So… what’s next?” But what if what’s next doesn’t have to be the next big thing? In this episode of Step Into Next, Helaine and Leanne get honest about the in-between season, that liminal space after you’ve built something meaningful, closed a chapter, or hit a major milestone, and you’re not quite sure what comes next. They talk about: W...

We’re so excited to welcome our first guest , Jeff Ragovin, to Step Into Next.  Jeff is a longtime friend and mentor to Helaine, an entrepreneur behind $1B+ in exits, and someone whose career has taken a lot of unexpected turns.  Including starting out in meteorology and working as a weatherman…yes, actually.  From Buddy Media to Salesforce and beyond, Jeff’s path has been anything but linear…and...

January is often framed as a fresh start, but for many of us it feels more like an in-between.  The holidays are over, routines haven’t fully returned, big plans aren’t locked in yet, and motivation comes in waves. Instead of rushing to define the year or forcing clarity, this episode is about staying in the liminal space a little longer. The space in  between what ended and what’s still forming. ...

In this episode, Helaine and Leanne pull back the curtain on what they call “the struggle” – those seasons where self doubt, burnout, and rejection are loud, but you keep going anyway. Drawing from the real behind the scenes story of writing and publishing Making Waves , they share how their first version of the book didn’t sell, the painful feedback that “women don’t buy business books,” and what...

What really happens when two women try to build something meaningful together while juggling careers, identity shifts, burnout, and the pressure to have it all figured out? In this episode, Helaine and Leanne pull back the curtain on the messy, funny, and unexpectedly healing process behind writing their book Making Waves and building a creative partnership from the ground up. They talk about what...

Helaine and Leanne kick off the series by looking back at how ambition, burnout, and trust shaped their unlikely partnership. It’s a real talk about what happens when one chapter ends, another begins, and you’re still figuring out who you are in between.

From a legendary snack bag to legacy itself, Helene and Leanne unpack how finding your why helps you find your voice. Highlights: Why purpose, not polish, drives creative work How writing a book became identity therapy What to share (and protect) when telling your story