SheVentures

💡Have you ever helped friends and colleagues solve a workplace issue only to realize you've discovered a niche business opportunity? That's what happened to Amy Spurling, so she created Compt , an HR tech management solution aimed at personalizing employee perks. After spending more than two decades in mergers and acquisitions as a financial executive, Spurling knows how companies are built. She...

Erectile dysfunction products are widely accepted, but women's sexual health and wellness are far less so. Christine Brown is helping to reclaim the female sexual health and hygiene market with The Kind Cup , an innovative, ergonomically designed silicone menstrual cup. Brown was first introduced to the menstrual cup at their all-women undergraduate college (where they obtained a degree in critica...

When's the last time you had the courage to take a major risk on faith? 🎯 Liziana Carter challenged herself to leave her home and family agriculture business in Romania to start a new life after watching a fitness video filmed more than 8,000 miles away. "Perseverance and hard work (got) me further than just being brilliant," Carter reflects. Her dream took a few years of planning, but she found...

Did you know that half of women don't have personal retirement savings, according to the U.S. Census ? If that's you — whether you are 25 or 55 — it's never too late to find your financial footing. Even if you are contributing to an individual or workplace retirement plan, you don't want to miss this knowledge-packed episode for financial literacy month. Mary Beth Franklin, an award-winning and ve...

Have you ever wondered why there is so much buzz around Big Data? Should it be exalted or feared? Retired Air Force Captain Kimberly Shenk believes data, used responsibly, is a force for good. She earned her master's degree from Massachusetts Institute of Technology as a Draper Fellow, served as a senior data scientist in the Air Force at Pearl Harbor, and worked a few stints exploring how data ca...

Have you ever felt afraid to find your voice and make some noise? Kristen Guillory, Ph. D , thrives on public speaking with a twist of dancing. She shares how to overcome fear, self-doubt, and show your authentic self. A professor turned self-care coach, and author of Look, Stop Hiding! How to Find Your Voice and Never Dim Your Light Again , recalls becoming a professor in social work by age 27, a...

Retired commander Majorie Eastman is not a career politician. Yet, this mom, Army intelligence officer, and award-winning author decided to run for North Carolina's U.S. Senate seat. Why? Having served in both Iraq and Afghanistan, Eastman's decade-long commitment to defending our country speaks for itself. How does she plan on shaking things up as a D.C. outsider if elected? And why is she runnin...

The odds are stark: Women of color in tech raised less than half of 1 percent of all venture capital in 2020, according to Project Diane . Can you imagine using a vision board to inspire you to raise $1.4 million in venture capital? Co-founders Angela Muhwezi-Hall and her sister Deborah Gladney did just that for their career discovery platform, QuickHire . Listen in as these siblings explain how t...

Don't think social entrepreneurship can earn a profit? Think again. Rahama Wright discusses how she built Shea Yeleen , a skincare brand that focuses on high-quality shea butter, produced by women's cooperatives in Ghana. Listen as Wright speaks about the decision to create living wage jobs (nearly five times the minimum wage) for women-owned shea butter cooperatives in Ghana, through Shea Yeleen....

What does it mean to be an organization that promotes equity? Listen as Kerry Mitchell Brown, Ph. D. (a diversity, inclusion, and equity strategist), shares her insights about how organizations can ensure they're practicing workplace impartiality — as in walk the walk, not simply check the boxes and call it a day. Mitchell Brown discusses her pivot from a C-suite finance exec — at companies such a...

If you feel stuck in a career or personal rut, this guest will inspire you. If you're a stay-at-home-mom reentering the workforce, she's got you covered. Finally, if your marriage suddenly ends in divorce and you need to hustle to find your way back into the workforce — she's been there done that. From civil engineer to Secret Service agent to stay-at-home mother of three to divorced mom reenterin...

No, we are not trivializing menopause, a life stage that can include as many as 34 symptoms, but we thought it was a clever wordplay. In truth, menopause is deeply personal and varies from woman to woman. Listen to Catherine Balsam-Schwaber speak about the importance of education and science-backed information to bring menopause to the forefront. After spending 20 years working in leadership posit...

Ever wonder how a person decides to go from a stable, well-paying job to risking it all as an entrepreneur? Discover how Natalie Palomino pivoted from a lawyer at the Department of Justice pursuing terrorist financing to a bottom-of-the-pit hair assistant (for a minute), where she learned her new trade from the ground up. An avid student, Palomino says she checks her ego at the door, and believes...

🙌 New Season of Bold Women!! 🙌 Are you working in a toxic environment? Listen as Asha Tarry, a trauma-informed corporate consultant, life coach and psychotherapist, offers actionable tips that you can use in the workplace to make your job work for you–not the other way around. Tarry describes her overarching passion to help others as her catalyst to pivot from a mental health practitioner in pri...

Sharon Kan built and successfully exited four startups, acquired by names such as Microsoft, Barnes & Noble, and Oracle. Listen to her pragmatic approach to business and learn what she believes is the one quality all entrepreneurs should embrace. Raised in war-torn Israel, Kan reminisces: "You lived today because you weren't sure what might happen tomorrow." Nonetheless, Kan started her first busi...

Imagine what it's like for any immigrant to embrace the culture and norms of a new nation. Then think about being a highly respected doctor, practicing for years in your native country. When you arrive in the United States, you learn that if you want to practice medicine, you'll have to dust off your organic chemistry and anatomy books and pass a rigorous exam.     That's what happened to Noor Ali...

She joined Microsoft when it was a startup, when it was not uncommon to run into Bill Gates in the hallway. She never envisioned a career where she would travel to 60 countries, while being a parent to three sons, a wife, and an executive.     Though Kate Isler did not start her career with dreams of globe-trotting, she defied expectations with the help of a supportive husband, who was willing to...

Twenty percent of LGBTQ+ people say they are "much worse off" financially because of the pandemic, compared with only 11 percent of the general population. Hadassah Damien, queer femme writer, digital technologist, and financial strategist joins us to provide actionable tips for the LGBTQ+ community to take control of their finances today. Damien grew up in a single-parent household where she expe...

Six months before she was due to receive tenure (which is highly coveted in academia), in the midst of a pandemic, this psychology professor left it all behind.   Janet Ahn, Ph. D., pivoted from academia and entrepreneurship to consulting for large companies such as Procter and Gamble, before joining MindGym (a behavior change company for organizations and corporations) as chief behavioral science...

Nearly 2 billion people lack access to nutritious food — a staggering number likely to increase due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Lara Ramdin, Ph. D., and Barbara Guerpillon are trying to change that. These two global female executives are playing integral roles toward Dole Food's corporate initiative: the Dole Promise Sunshine for All , the goal of which is to make nutritious foods accessible to 1 bi...

What path leads you from NBA marketing exec to the mystic world of shamanism and moon circles?   Ashley Cramer was a burned-out marketer, yearning for change. Becoming a shaman was the last thing on her mind, and even today she understands people may be skeptical of shamanism and what it entails. Cramer's healing journey along with her appreciation of lunar cycles and all they involve inform her p...

COVID-19 required us to be mindful of our physical health like never before. What about our mental health? It's time to talk to about it.   Kristin Miscall is a psychotherapist with nearly two decades of helping others under her belt. She worked initially with homeless LGBTQIA+ youth before pivoting to private practice. Last year, she, like many in the mental health field, transitioned to telemedi...

What is pro-poor financial technology, and how is Mae Watson Grote's company at the forefront of making a difference? Mae Watson Grote is dedicated to improving the lives of the under-served and under-banked in the United States. As founder and CEO of the Change Machine — a nonprofit dedicated to building financial security through technology — she is doing just that. The platform is available to...

Five languages. Three continents. Three kids. Two careers. One foundation. Zankhna Parekh is a trailblazer. Born in India but raised in Nairobi, Kenya, Parekh always knew she would venture into medicine. With a 20-year successful career as a physical therapist under her belt, Parekh was keen to return to her career after having two children.  But, Parekh noticed (as do many women who become mother...

From an early age, Kristi Data knew she wanted to make an impact, and she used sports as her gateway. In the fourth grade, Data petitioned her school to allow girls to play basketball — and got it done the very next season.   Data went on to receive a full athletic scholarship for volleyball — the pressures of which caused her to spiral into an eating disorder that lasted throughout college. Data...