Wake Women

Are you stuck in your career? Do you feel like you’ve done all the things that have been asked of you but you’re not advancing the way you had hoped? Do you get frustrated when you learn how the politics of the workplace actually works? Career Maven Tiffany Tate has some great advice for you.  Together, we explore the challenges and opportunities faced by mid-career professionals. We talk about  l...

By popular demand, Katie Neal ‘03 is back to the Wake Women Podcast, this time giving us tips on how to be bold (and not bitchy) while communicating in the workplace. When you walk into a meeting at work, do you command attention? Or do you think that being assertive may make you look “bossy” to your colleague? Katie is here to tell us that ambition and achievement should not be shamed in women. P...

When Beth Hopkins left the Wake Forest campus in the early 70s, she put her hands on her hips and swore she’d never come back. Instead, she and her late husband Larry ended up spending their entire careers serving Wake Forest in law and medicine. Now, a dorm is being named in their honor to recognize their trailblazing contributions to the university. In this episode, Beth shares her journey from...

Sandi James ‘06 has always been an active athlete. In high school she played on multiple basketball teams, in addition to playing tennis and competing in track and field. When she decided to continue her focus on sports playing basketball for Wake Forest University, she couldn’t have imagined a career as a professional tackle football player and a collegiate flag football coach. But through years...

In 2019, Allison Orr ‘93 was invited to Wake Forest to create an amazing event that someone described as being “as close to a sacred moment on this campus that I’ve seen.” More than two-and-a-half years in the making, “From the Ground Up” was a collaboration between Wake Forest’s iPlace and Allison’s dance company Forklift Danceworks, whose mission is to use creative dance to build community. Hous...

In this engaging conversation, Dianne Dailey reflects on her remarkable 30-year career as a women's golf coach at Wake Forest University. She discusses the evolution of women's athletics, the impact of Title IX, and her journey to becoming a coach. Dianne shares insights on the importance of mentorship, building confidence in athletes, and the challenges of fundraising and recruiting. She...

Can acting skills be valuable in the boardroom? How can we use the tools of theater and improvisation to enhance our leadership skills, foster authenticity, and navigate power dynamics? Well, we are about to find out. Melissa Jones Briggs is a Lecturer in Organizational Behavior at Stanford University's Graduate School of Business and also serves as an Associate Fellow at the Oxford Character...

This conversation explores the creative journeys of two Wake Forest students, Parker Beverly and Sofia Trujillo, as they discuss their experiences in the arts, the importance of supportive faculty and family, and their unique projects focusing on women's stories. The dialogue highlights the transformative power of a liberal arts education and the courage it takes to pursue a career in the arts...

That’s Wake Forest alumna Carol Willis, talking about the resilience of her ancestors, particularly those who hailed from Orange County, Virginia. She’s my guest today on Wake Women, a podcast by and about the women of Wake University. I’m your host, Mary Tribble, class of ‘82. We’re here to bring you intelligent, thought-provoking reflections from successful women whose experiences will inspire y...

At the age of 8, Emily Goodson suffered a brain injury that caused paralysis on the left side of her body. While she was able to recover her speech and mobility through therapy, she was left with a prominent limp and other physical disabilities. Through tools like writing, meditation, and lots of inner work, Emily has emerged from a challenging time in her life to help companies and individuals na...

Ah, sleep . Every night, your brain and body heal, process, clean house, and rejuvenate through sleep. Yet how many mornings do you wake up rested and refreshed? How many times have you had to fight dozing off during a mid-afternoon meeting? How often do you find yourself staring at the ceiling at 3:00 am? In this episode, Dr. Ruth Benca and Dr. Lauren Fowler talk about the importance of sleep to...

Bone health is a critical part of wellbeing for women, so for Osteoporosis Awareness and Prevention Month, Mary sat down with Dr. Diane Schneider ‘75, who has dedicated her career to finding solutions for bone health–the most common issue affecting older women. Osteoporosis is a silent disease that often goes unnoticed until damage has occurred. Bone density and strength is something we need to pa...

What makes us choose to love the people we love? When things fall apart, who will be at our sides to help us pick up the pieces? These are questions Emily Giffin explores in The Summer Pact , her latest best selling novel. In this episode, you’ll hear about Emily’s journey from managing the Wake Forest men’s basketball team to pursuing a law career before becoming a successful writer.  We’ll talk...

After President Harry Truman broke the ground for the new Wake Forest campus in 1951, Barbee Oakes’ paternal grandfather, a man named David Myers, was one of the team members that helped clear the land to build the university there. Then, a couple of decades later, Barbee came to Wake Forest to help students from all walks of life navigate life at a major university–in essence, clearing the land f...

How do you quiet the inner critic inside your head? What are the external biases that women face and how might they prevent us from achieving our aspirations? What are the three things that women need to feel good about their work? How can you keep your inner critic from sabotaging your career? If those questions interest you, you’ll enjoy my conversation with Jen McCollum ‘91, the CEO of Catalyst...

In the late 18th century, a young enslaved man named Peter Oliver was sold into the Moravian community of Bethania, North Carolina. He eventually served as a potter under the direction of master potter Rudolph Christ in the thriving town of Salem. By all accounts a talented and tenacious man, Oliver was able to save enough money to buy his own freedom, and later had a farm adjacent to Salem until...

Do you get hamstrung by trying to make everything perfect? Are you afraid that people will find out you don’t really know what you are doing? Are you sliding from low grade ennui into all-out burnout in your job? Then this conversation is for you! Career communications veteran Katie Neal, Wake Forest class of 2003, pulls the veil away from all the things that might be holding you back in your care...

Why aren’t there more women in the C-suite? How can organizations design their culture and systems to allow all of their employees to thrive? What is the “double-bind” that women experience in the workplace and how do we navigate around that? If those questions interest you, you’ll enjoy my conversation with Jen McCollum, the CEO of Catalyst, a powerful organization that helps institutions address...

Can the perfect cup of coffee make you happy? When is a coffee shop NOT a coffee shop? How does coffee reflect and expand the culture that it comes from? And how does Hip Hop fit into the coffee vibe? Michelle Loyd and her husband Michael Loyd, both Wake Forest Alumni, have spent much of their careers both pondering and answering these questions. They co-founded DOPE COFFEE, a trendsetting coffee...

Mary Tribble and Alison Smith explore the profound impact of transformational travel on personal growth and self-discovery. They discuss the significance of study abroad experiences, the role of empathy in travel, and the concept of pilgrimage, particularly through the lens of the Camino de Santiago. The dialogue highlights how stepping out of one's comfort zone can lead to deep self-reflection an...

Bonita Brown, the new chancellor of Winston-Salem State University discusses her upbringing, educational journey, and career path that led her to higher education. Bonita shares insights on the importance of historically Black colleges and universities, community engagement, and her initiatives to enhance academic success for minority students.

Allison McWilliams, Ph. D., talks with Mary about setting a course for career success. Through mentoring and connecting with others, you can create a plan to make the coming year one of curiosity, learning, and advancement. Allison helps women figure out what they want in their careers, whether it’s their first act or one later in life.

In this engaging conversation, Mary Tribble interviews Kate Kennedy about her journey of writing “'Once Upon a School', a memoir which chronicles her experience starting a school for homeless children in Atlanta. The discussion delves into themes of personal growth, vulnerability, and the importance of community engagement. Kate shares her motivations, the challenges she faced, and the profound im...

In this episode, Kasha Patel ‘12 discusses her journey in combining humor and science. She outlines her unusual career path from working at NASA, the Washington Post, and science-themed comedy. She shares her experiences performing comedy for penguins in Antarctica and explores her identity as an Indian woman from West Virginia. Kasha also talks about the importance of humor in science communicati...

Chef and food stylist Ashton Keefe discusses her philosophy on food: that it is as an act of love and an opportunity for beauty. Food is not just about the taste, but also about the way it makes you feel and the memories it creates. Ashton shares her career path, from working in a gourmet food shop to becoming a chef and then a food stylist. She talks about the differences between styling food for...