52 Weeks of Me

Lisa Denning was working in ad sales for a Manhattan publishing firm when she came to the realization that the pleasures of the table were her true passion, and where she wanted her professional life to develop. The only problem was that she didn’t know how to cook. Growing up, Lisa had done a lot of baking, but she didn’t have much opportunity to prepare full meals. She decided to leave her lucra...

In a fancy private school where he was one of the poorest students, Francisco was once asked to tell a story in front of his seventh-grade classmates. While that terrified him, he got excited that it might be something that could make a difference in his being an unpopular kid. Fortunately, they liked his story and that gave him one glorious moment of feeling like he was the most popular kid in sc...

Young, driven, ambitious, and very intense, Vivian was focused on execution. Best foot forward, he always felt it was his responsibility to figure things out. But after six months of struggling with a new role in South Africa, he was confronted with the reality that it simply wasn’t possible to know it all. Admitting it and asking for help gave him an enormous sense of relief. Episode Highlights:...

Fifteen years into transformational consultancy in IT spaces and financial service firms, Bibigi got pregnant while on a large-scale project. Her maternity struggles served as her "aha" that she pivoted to personal branding activism. She created a community that helps women figure out what they are spectacular at, own it up, and then find words and a platform to share it with the world....

A graduate of George Washington University, she went on to her master's intending to become a Professor of Holocaust studies. When she got married, she realized that things do not always happen as planned. Although she considered being a mom her most important job, she also wanted to do other meaningful things outside the home. She held a few significant roles in her career at synagogues as w...

There's a Hollywood version of pivoting which is waking up one day and dramatically quitting your job and noticing the bakery in your neighborhood and buying it on a whim to be a baker. We all know this is not how it looks in reality. These career pivots for women are more methodical, more long-term, more scrutinized, and more planned out. It takes women a few years to achieve a real transfor...

Having stayed in her first and only job for over ten years before SheSpeaks, alongside being a wife, a mom, and a daughter, Aliza considers herself a marathoner in many aspects. Working with American Express right after school, meeting her husband there, and exploring a great corporate structure that's friendly even for female employees, she was definitely at a very safe and promising place....

Still bound by the societal stigma and the negative narratives around breadwinning women? It's time we speak more about it and normalize it. Alongside her family, this is Bethany's true passion, and we all can advance this feminine cause by amplifying her voice. Overview of Breadwinning Women - what it does as a community and who are the members Discussing the possible difference it had...

As a Chief Revenue Officer and Chief Diversity Officer, a caregiver, a stepmother, and a wife, there definitely is a lot of things going on in Susan's life both at work and at home. Tracing her journey from the HR value chain, Susan has always been passionate about diversity all of her career. But with all of these as well as the future course and career shifts she might take, taking care of...

Ever heard of a job opening that proactively seeks out parents? Unfortunately, some companies still think that becoming a parent is detrimental to one's ability to perform in the workplace. In today's episode, we are going to learn research-based truths that will not only empower working mothers but all working parents in general. We are joined by Amy Henderson, a mother of three; the au...

Lauren's journey started at five years old when her mom threw her into the pool where her elder sisters were swimming. She slowly began to learn and fall in love with swimming becoming an elite athlete in this highly competitive sport. Being a student of Political Science, the next step she wanted to take was law school, which she failed on her first attempt. But she was not one who easily gi...

As an eighth-grader, today's guest started a column at a school newspaper called "Ask Dr. Rich". While that gave his classmates a chance to ask questions mostly relational in nature, that gave him a glimpse of what he wanted to do and to become in the future. Guided by parents who groomed him to become a medical doctor, at that early age, he was certain he was destined to become a c...

A creativity strategy means understanding the role of beauty, desire, and aesthetics in building consumer insight.  It's the ability to converge unique and divergent experiences by helping people understand that strategy is creative. It is about building better cultures of collaboration and a toggle between wonder and rigor to solve problems and produce noble value.   One of the creativity st...

An alpha woman is anyone comfortable with a leadership position, with delegating and taking control. She is overly independent. She would normally come first in the line, get herself listed quickly, and remind her company to move fast as few people are coming after them.  Being an alpha herself, Jessica knows that this powerhouse personality brings a lot of positivity and energy, but it is not wit...

Landing a career in a tech company, Kim was pleasantly surprised how her psychology background helped her fit into its politics and complexities. She started out great, feeling no particular difference being a woman that she even thought that gender inequality in the workplace was overblown. However, it did not always remain that way. Soon she found herself going home angry over its brotastic cult...

Shelia’s mentor from The Big Sister Little Sister program introduced her to the arts, which resulted in a lifelong love of theatre, music, and all things cultural.  These experiences empowered her curious mind to grow beyond her low-income youth. The college scholarship she got for theater catered to her specific interest in human beings, how they are internalizing, and how they are experiencing t...

After finishing two degrees in London, today's guest decided to sail the seven seas by offering HR services, after a few years later met a man of the seas, and with him started a family.  While she enjoyed colossal success climbing the corporate ladder, it cost her a great price - her health. After being let down by western medicine in failing to find answers, she realized she was sick and ti...

Although this pandemic has locked many of us in our homes and has profoundly changed how we engage with the outside world, it has also enabled many of us to choose to get to know ourselves better without judgment. Since December 2019, today's guest, Rosalin Kriege MA, has been investing a lot of time and effort in healing from anxiety and trauma and helping stuck people, 1:1 and in workshops,...

Believing that business has a role to play for the betterment of society, Torin went into management consulting to learn how things run. However, he soon found out that ultimately, the problem in the workplace is often interpersonal. While many businesses did well at optimizing processes and technology, they remain relatively unsophisticated in the area of people optimization (e.g. neuroscience an...

Many of those who take shifts in life courses such as career change have done so after a particular "Aha!" moment or eureka. For Steven, it was more of a series of small shifts. Specifically, his readiness and willingness to finally get sober after he started suffering the psychological and legal consequences of being an alcoholic.   When he finally had enough of those consequences, that...

Despite knowing the bench marks and actually hitting them one by one, time and again, Deandra realized she could just not stay at the top of the corporate ladder and maintain her sanity at the same time.  A constant misfit, she had always considered herself a disruptor and unemployable. Good thing, life experiences especially raising her child singlehandedly, has made her resilient over the years....

We are trained and taught that success means money and material possessions - the house, the car, and the job - all these material possessions that we are trying to chase. However, we know sometimes, it's the little things that count. In an age of busyness, nothing is more luxurious than having time. In an age of distraction, nothing is more valuable than paying attention. In an age of hustle...

For so long a time, regardless of their work, women take on at least two-thirds of what it takes for the family to thrive. For those who are co-breadwinners, that means even more. Unfortunately, most of these have been left invisible and unheard of. Somehow, this has even become a huge source of mommy guilt, when a wife feels injustice over her disproportionate share of the household labor includi...

Presenters and performers aren’t the only people who need calm and confidence in their everyday lives. After all, confidence is the fuel that drives us toward our ambitions, and calm eases the way. When the two states combine, they form a magical and powerful combination. As a professional journalist who minored in marketing, Patricia worked in broadcasting and performed in various communications...

A child’s world view, including injustices and triumphs, starts within the family of origin-- and that mothers are often responsible for shaping it.  From parenting a child with special needs to advocating for individuals with disabilities, Dionna has a life-long calling of building up vulnerable communities to help them be the best version of themselves.  Dionna at 37-years-old was diagnosed with...