SheVentures

Imagine leaving your dogs in the care of someone you trust, only to return to find her feigning death just to avoid paying you back your $150. No, really. This actually happened. Shocked at the level to which this dog sitter went to evade her, Jenny Thompson was left to ponder how she could've been more careful. Leaving a 20-year career in the health supplement industry behind, Thompson ventured o...

Unhappy with her senior management positions at ABC and The Oprah Network, Danielle Vincent had a "fuck it" moment that couldn't have come sooner. Leaving the big bucks and job security behind, Vincent went out on a limb and opened her own handmade soap company, Outlaw Soaps .   Imagine a lone cowboy or cowgirl wandering into a new town with a fistful of dollars and the accompanying swagger to boo...

Tired of going on crappy dates, deleting one dating app after the next in the quest to find "the one"? Lily Womble, former matchmaker turned dating coach has been there. Despite being a top matchmaker at a large firm in the U.S., Womble was disappointed with her clients' level of success — and grappling with her own toxic romance. By speaking to hundreds of women and getting personal, Womble disco...

Frustrated with her 13-year career in corporate marketing, Irene Fehr longed for something more fulfilling. When she left her sexless marriage feeling there was something wrong with her, Fehr found herself on a journey of self-discovery. Since then, she has worked as a sex and intimacy coach, helping hundreds of couples get their sexual mojo back by working on their intimacy issues. On this episod...

If you look up "pivot" in the dictionary, Marisa Ricciardi's picture should be front and center. From an intern at a white-shoe financial services firm to a business development and marketing executive, Ricciardi climbed the ladder one hard-earned step at a time. Now, as founder and CEO of the Ricciardi Group in New York, she discusses company acquisitions, being competitive with yourself, and the...

Do you want to be a bad bitch with a power pitch? That's what Precious L. Williams is selling — helping women (and only women!) have the confidence to pitch and build their businesses. Williams pivots include: from attorney to founder and CEO of Curvy Girlz Lingerie to a killer pitch master and professional speaker with 13 pitch competition wins under her belt — including an enviable appearance on...

Laura Rebell Gross's parents instilled female empowerment in her from a young age. Now she is shaping the lives of countless underserved, low-income young women as the Managing Director of Girls' Education at Student Leadership Network, overseeing five all-girls public schools (The Young Women's Leadership Schools) in NYC and 15 affiliate schools nationally.  Listen as she talks about female-focus...

Tara Langdale-Schmidt is no stranger to pain. When sex became impossible for her and her then-fiancé, and doctors were flummoxed, Langdale-Schmidt knew she had to take matters into her own hands. Find out how she created, tested and brought her sexual therapy product to market on this episode of SheVentures.

Imagine representing not one, but two consecutive Grammy-nominated (including one Grammy winner) clients before you even hit 30? For Lydia Liebman, that became a reality this year when she saw herself at the Grammys for the second year in a row. Born to two successful musicians, Liebman was immersed in the jazz scene from the get-go. She took jazz vocal lessons at age 10, but quickly realized that...

Growing up in Durham, North Carolina, D'Shawn Russell was no stranger to racial tensions and prejudices. Her great-grandmother and grandmother were huge influences on her life, and she still applies their values to her business today. After a 22-year stint as a math teacher, Russell realized it wasn't the path she was meant to embrace. So she did what many of us wish we could do: She turned her ho...

It's Financial Literacy Month, and national student loan debt has reached a menacing $1.6 trillion. Yep. Trillion. Talitha Oliveri, businesswoman turned high school teacher, is seeking to combat the debt culture that is so prevalent in the U.S. today. How? By providing stellar financial literacy education at her school in Hopedale, Massachusetts. With 20 years of experience under her belt, Oliveri...

Let's face it. With a $1.6 trillion national student loan debt issue, it's no wonder parents want to know how to save for their kids' education. Enter Ksenia Yudina, who has created an app called U-Nest, which simplifies the college savings process. Originally from Russia, Yudina is a certified financial planner with an MBA from the University of California in Los Angeles (UCLA) and a mom of three...

Tired of the lack of female role models in the STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) field, Sarita Menon, Ph. D. in cancer biology, decided to take matters into her own hands. With a multitude of amazing women in the sciences, Menon is featuring them on a platform where science doesn't normally shine — glossy magazines. Smore, a bimonthly glossy for girls aged 7-12, features promising...

Finance often has a way of controlling our lives, whether we want it to or not. But what if you were already two steps behind before the financial race began? Cait Howerton, financial coach and CFP candidate, turned her "mess" into her "message," and is speaking openly about the pitfalls that the LGBTQ+ community faces in the financial sphere. Howerton, who talks in detail of her difficulties comi...

After losing her husband to cancer around the same time she herself was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, an incurable blood cancer, you might think a woman left to raise three teenagers on her own would crumble. But Sally Kalksma took her anger out on, well, stairs. She channeled her emotions into stair-climbing competitions, racing up some of the world's most notable buildings like the Empire Sta...

Only 2 percent of women secure venture capital, but this mother of eight recently raised a cool $1.75 million. What gives? Larson takes a seat at the head of the table when pitching her business, knowing that no one knows it better than her. She is passionate, business-minded, and a great reminder that women do not have to ask for permission. Larson's app, Momni — the Airbnb and Uber for child car...

What better way to celebrate International Women's Day than with an in-depth look at a woman who is tirelessly working to improve women's lives globally? Pamela Nathanson and her dedication to helping women and girls across the globe is an inspiration. As executive director of World Connect, Nathanson and her team focus on issues ranging from sex trafficking to entrepreneurship. Each project has t...

What started as a personal, fun side blog for math and science teacher Erin Chase skyrocketed to a multifaceted digital brand that garnered 2 million users after it went viral. $5 Dinners, Chase's brainchild, started in 2008 and stemmed from the overwhelming urge to coupon everything after she returned from living in the Dominican Republic for many years doing missionary work. The blog's popularit...

After immigrating to the U.S. from Morocco as a teenager, Iman Oubou had to learn not only a new language, but also a new culture. She quickly adapted and went on to earn degrees in biochemistry and biomedical engineering, as well as to become Miss New York. When a pageant judge asked her if she'd rather have beauty or brains, it spurred Oubou's entrepreneurial spirit. Fast forward to today, and O...

Running up the hills by her grandparents' place in Alabama started an illustrious if almost unbelievable career for Renette Dallas, N.D. She's a naturopath who has earned a Bachelor of Science in civil engineering, competed in bodybuilding competitions, joined the U.S. Air Force, become a certified fitness trainer, earned a doctorate in naturopathy, studied raw food preparation, and become a motiv...

When her dad said "no" to buying her lip balm, 9-year-old Zandra Cunningham said "yes." She decided to make her own lip balm instead, and eight years later at the age of 17, she was named 2017's Small Business Award Young Entrepreneur of the Year for her company Zandra Beauty. Zandra is now 19, and her beauty brand is a leading plant-based social good company that inspires young women around the g...

In 2014, four-time Olympian Lauryn Williams became the first American woman to win medals in both the summer and the winter Olympics. While she began in track and field, an injury sidelined her, and a chance encounter led to a silver medal in bobsledding. As lucrative endorsements started racing in, the then 20-year-old realized that she lacked the knowledge to make informed financial decisions. N...

After 16 years working for Congress in Washington as a communications director and lobbyist for small businesses, Becky MacDicken finally realized what she wanted to be when she grew up. A chance job offer based in Pennsylvania led to the discovery of her passion for teaching financial literacy to prison inmates and the disabled community. Now, having touched over 10,000 lives with her classes, Ma...

Across all branches of the U.S. military, only 14 percent of active service members are women. Veteran, mother, and entrepreneur, Marjorie K. Eastman is a marvel who wants to change that number. Her book, The Frontline Generation, was the first of its kind to define post-9/11 service and leadership and what it means for this country. After 10 years in the military, Eastman's journey is far from ov...

Former American Express marketing executive Yi-Hsian Godfrey yearned to create a business that would help ease the all too common struggle with work-life balance. Godfrey co-founded Apiari — a play on the word apiary, or beehive — an AI-driven home-care "colony" that offers vetted, experienced part-time housekeeping and childcare help for parents. Yi-Hsian and her co-founders built an online match...