Advancing Women Podcast

In this episode of the Advancing Women Podcast, we explore toxic positivity; a phenomenon where positivity is used to minimize one’s experience, and how this has been painfully exacerbated because of social media which thrives on toxically optimistic outlooks. Toxic positivity has perpetuated a brushing over of the real inequities and challenges many women face. With empowerment language forced up...

In her popular TEDTalk titled Teach Girls Bravery Not Perfection, Reshma Saujani, the founder of Girls Who Code asserts that we are raising our girls to be perfect, and we're raising our boys to be brave. Saujani says “I worry about our bravery deficit. The bravery deficit is why women are underrepresented in STEM, C-suites, boardrooms, Congress, and pretty much everywhere you look.” While I don't...

In a world where high salaries and titles are often considered the pinnacle of success, we can sometimes overlook things like personal happiness, satisfaction, purpose, and reaching our full potential. Winning, collecting the most toys, making the most money, earning the big title, attaining and dominating...that tends to be the language of success. But what if we approach success more holisticall...

Have you been called bossy or pushy at work when you were just doing your job? Have you been tough, when necessary, only to be deemed difficult to work for or with? The explanation for this is Tightrope Bias and the Likeability Dilemma. Research shows that in many workplaces’ women wanting to advance often must take on more “masculine qualities” to get ahead, presenting as more ambitious, assertiv...

Warrior women, this is an important and timely episode of the Advancing Women Podcast. Our speech, our “tone”, and even the octave of our voice is under attack! Scrutiny of women’s speaking patterns is the latest frontier in an endless barrage of judgment and undermining women face. It is yet another way to blame women. An attempt to shift the emphasis to fixing women versus doing the hard work of...

If you ask people the purpose of life, a lot of people will say happiness, but I would argue the purpose of life is to find purpose IN life. As Ralph Waldo Emerson famously said “The purpose of life is not to be happy, it is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate. To have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well.” I am delighted to have author Jessica Huie on the Adva...

With guest Leah Noonan Medical gaslighting is when a healthcare provider dismisses your complaints or concerns. They don't take you seriously or blame your symptoms on a vague cause (such as stress) and often send you home without a proper diagnosis or treatment plan. This is what happened to today’s guest for decades. We live in a world where  much of the data we have is based on the male experie...

Today marks the one-year anniversary since I launched the Advancing Women Podcast. That’s 52 consecutive episodes…52 #newepisode Tuesdays! This episode addresses what I have learned along the way. It’s about transcending the roadblocks, overcoming resistance, fear, imposter syndrome, negative self-talk, and silencing the inner saboteur. It’s about gratitude, reaching milestones, and bold radical a...

Gender equity is not an issue for women to solve alone, it’s for all of us to solve. This episode of the Advancing Women Podcast addresses allyship and what I call the 3A’s of allyship…Acknowledgement, Amplification, and Action. Allyship must be more than a philosophy or belief…it is a commitment to action. To being an agent of change. It’s about tangible effort and intent to be a part of the solu...

Somewhere along the line we have found it acceptable to honor mothers one day each year in May, while penalizing them every other day in the workforce. The research data show a very real motherhood penalty exists in the workforce which results in inequity in all aspects of women's careers from the ability to get hired, to evaluations and promotions, to earnings. This contributes to the #genderpayg...

Do you ever find yourself working on anything and everything but the thing that you should be working on? This episode addresses resistance. And I have often referred to resistance in my life as the inner saboteur…that voice in the back of your head that gives you all the reasons NOT to act. This episode is about interrupting procrastination but more importantly, to stop blaming YOURSELF for procr...

In the last episode of the Advancing Women Podcast I talked about letting go of FOMO (fear of missing out) to make way for JOMO (joy of missing out). This episode addresses why women disproportionately experience fear of missing because of the COST of missing out. I acknowledge and address societal expectations, stereotypes, and gender bias which can unfairly lead to missing out on future opportun...

Fear of missing out (FOMO) is the feeling of apprehension that we are not “in the know.” That we're missing out on events, experiences, or life decisions that could make our lives better. The irony is that the exact opposite tends to be true. Studies suggest that FOMO, that fear of missing out, can lead to extreme dissatisfaction and can have a detrimental effect on our physical and mental health....

OK warriors - let me know if this sounds familiar. You go out without your kids and see a friend. They say…”whose got the kids?” Meanwhile, your husband goes out with the kids, and he hears "Awe, it's so nice of you to babysit and give mom a break." Sigh. Or you’re a mom who works outside the home and are frequently asked “How do you juggle it all?” Conversely, your husband, who also works outside...

April is autism awareness month. It’s about more than awareness though. It’s about acceptance and appreciation because  awareness isn't nearly enough for our kiddos. It is though…a wonderful place to start when we are talking about the experience of autism moms. Research shows that mothers of children with autism have stress levels comparable to those of combat soldiers. As women, as working mothe...

March is Women’s History Month, and it is a time to acknowledge women’s often untold achievements, but also to acknowledge the importance of female narratives and stories in history. French feminist author Simone de Beauvoir famously said “Representation of the world, like the world itself, is the work of men; they describe it from their own point of view, which they confuse with the absolute trut...

This episode addresses a problem which has existed for women, since we entered the workforce. A problem that, despite a host of stated commitment and endless implementation of interventions, persists. The gender pay gap. Let’s debunk the myths that continue to perpetuate a narrative that is both incorrect and does not serve women and contributes to gender inequity. I share data that shows how even...

Despite women’s advancement in the overall workplace, a broken pipeline remains with far too many qualified warrior women not advancing to the top levels. If you have ever felt frustrated when you have done all the things to advance, but still you are passed over, or if you have ever felt like the blame has been placed on your shoulders…that you have deficiencies that need to be “fixed” in order t...

This week’s episode of the Advancing Women Podcast is about busting multiple boundaries, it’s about women in the entrepreneurial space and women in leadership in the publishing industry. Despite increases in women’s entrepreneurship, it is still male dominated, and even though publishing tends to employ many women, as in so many domains, the numbers shift when you look at the top. So, I have the p...

Ever wonder why despite decades of diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives we are still far from leveling the playing field for  women and person of color? We need to lead through and equity lens and create real change that moves the needle in advancing women (and women of color!) to those top-level leadership roles of power, pay, and prestige. A face at the table is not a voice at the table....

This episode of the Advancing Women Podcasts is about interrupting the outer critic and the inner saboteur with words of wisdom from author @miashantel who shares affirmations from her new book Water for your Garden "Just as you water a garden to enrich life, allow these words to enhance you spiritually." You are the garden! Water For Your Garden is a compilation of gems from conversations with wo...

February is black history month, an annual celebration of achievements by African Americans and a time for recognizing their central role in U.S. history. African American women have too often  been overlooked in the history of our fight for gender equity. The struggle against racism, sexism, and all other-isms. All must be addressed simultaneously. This episode honors and quotes many brilliant, b...

I know this Sunday is the big game so many of us have one thing on our mind. Football! Just kidding. We all know that it's just as much about the ads. Don’t miss this week’s interview with Dixon Schwabl CEO Kim Allen as we discuss how women are represented in advertising both in leadership roles and in the advertisements. Advertising has a significant impact on shaping and reflecting culture so it...

Do you ever feel like you have to either be tough on yourself OR self-forgiving and self-compassionate? Self-compassion doesn’t have to be in opposition of being goal driven.  This episode shows how self-compassion, self-caring, and self-forgiveness can all be the path to success…part of your growth mindset! February is a month of love and passion – let’s reframe that warriors, and talk about self...

Sometimes growth is about unlearning. Apologizing when we have done something wrong is a real strength, but compulsive apologizing can present as a weakness at work and in personal relationships. Research shows women apologize often and deflect praise in ways that can undermine our ambition. This episode is NOT about shirking responsibility when we've done something wrong! It IS about ensuring tha...