Behind Her Empire

Beatrice Dixon is the Founder of The Honey Pot Company, a plant-based feminine hygiene line created to provide women with healthy alternatives to feminine care. The Honey Pot Company began with a dream - literally. In 2014, Beatrice was struggling with an ongoing case of bacterial vaginosis. She visited her doctor and tried everything they recommended, but nothing worked.  One early morning s...

Lindsay McCormick is the Founder and CEO of Bite, a brand of sustainable oral care products. Back in 2016, Lindsay was working as a TV producer on HGTV’s “House Hunters.” She was traveling the country, living out of her carry-on, and relying heavily on travel-size toiletries. While she was staying at hotels, she noticed how many of those tiny tubes of toothpaste she was using and throwing away eve...

Alexandra (Alex) Friedman is the Co-Founder and CEO of LOLA, the first lifelong brand for a woman’s body.  The idea came about when Alex met her partner, Jordana Kier, and they started asking questions about what tampons are made from. In attempting to research this seemingly simple fact, they realized that next to nothing was disclosed online and they could hardly find anything about the che...

Today we’re mixing things up in a big way! After a year of interviewing the top women in business and entrepreneurship, we’re officially inviting our first male guest on the Behind Her Empire podcast, Marcus Lemonis. If you tune into today's interview, you’ll immediately understand why.  Marcus is known for helping struggling businesses get back on their feet by investing his own money on the...

Afton Vechery is the Co-Founder and CEO of Modern Fertility, a women's health company focused on making fertility information more accessible for women everywhere.  In 2016, Afton embarked on a journey to understand her own fertility, and her realizations from this time laid the foundation for the company. She saw that women were not able to get the information that they needed to plan ahead...

Alexandra (Alex) Carter is a world-renowned negotiation expert, bestselling author of the book, Ask for More, and Columbia Law School Professor. The image that most of us have in our heads when we think about negotiation is people speaking over one another, fighting for the prize. But this is not what it takes to be a masterful negotiator. In fact, quite the opposite.  As Alex explains in our...

Cate Luzio is the founder and CEO of Luminary, a membership-based career and personal growth platform and collaboration hub. Walking away from your career when you're at the top of your game might sound like a huge gamble, but one that has certainly paid off for today’s guest. In 2018, Cate left an incredibly successful banking career to found Luminary to help women see a path toward advancement b...

Desi Perkins is a digital content creator and Founder/CEO of her eyewear brand, Dezi, and skincare line, Dezi Skin. Before becoming a mega beauty influencer with over 4 million Instagram followers and over 3 million Youtube subscribers, Desi was working as a cocktail waitress looking to make a change in her life but wasn’t sure which step she was going to take.  It all started with a last-min...

Aishwarya Iyer is the founder and CEO of Brightland, a modern olive oil company that champions authenticity in the olive oil industry and celebrates good design & California living.  Aishwarya was living in New York City for years, enjoying all the restaurants the city had to offer before she started cooking at home. She started to make more meals at home but, instead of feeling better, s...

Rebecca Minkoff is the co-founder and creative director of her namesake company Rebecca Minkoff, a global lifestyle brand that spans apparel, handbags, accessories, footwear, and jewelry. She has also created a community of superwomen through her platform, Female Founder Collective, and is dedicated to devoting resources and time to promote and uplift other women-owned businesses.  Despite be...

Lia Valencia Key is the founder of Valencia Key, a jewelry line with beautiful, unique pieces that feature inspirational messages designed to empower women.  Raised in an impoverished Philadelphia neighborhood, Lia lived in a homeless shelter with her mother, sister, and brother. Even in the darkest of times, her mom told her, "your predicament does not determine your destiny." She encouraged...

Eva Yazhari is the seasoned investor, entrepreneur, author, and CEO of Beyond Capital, an early-stage impact investment fund that is dedicated to improving lives and helping create access to basic goods and services.  Eva started her career going up the ranks in Wall Street and working alongside top hedge fund managers in NY. Although she was thriving in her position and enjoyed investing, Ev...

Jamila Souffrant is the founder and CEO of the popular financial blog and podcast, Journey to Launch, where she shares her journey to reach financial independence while helping others do the same.  Is this really what you want to do for the rest of your life? This was the question that Jamila asked herself a few years ago on a four-hour commute from Brooklyn to New Jersey for work while she w...

Loren Ridinger is the Co-Founder of internet retailing giants, Shop. Com and Market America. Although Loren is now recognized as an internet mogul who has changed the face of the beauty and e-commerce industries over the past two decades, her life started with very humble beginnings. She moved to Greensboro, NC at a young age, worked in retail when she was sixteen, and at eighteen, Loren and her h...

Divya Gugnani is the CEO and Co-Founder of Wander Beauty, a clean, cruelty-free beauty brand that creates multitasking, beauty essentials Divya began her career in the world of finance and has extensive experience in investment banking, private equity, and venture capital. She calls herself an “accidental entrepreneur” and eventually left finance to pursue her newfound passion as an entrepreneur....

Catherine McCord is the co-founder/CEO of One Potato, an organic family-friendly meal delivery service, and founder of Weelicious, a website dedicated to helping parents expose their children to wholesome, delicious homemade food. Throughout the 90s, Catherine was considered one of the world’s top supermodels, posing for the cover of Vogue, walking the runway for Donna Karen and Calvin Klein, and...

Dr. Iman Abuzeid is the CEO and co-founder of Incredible Health, a digital platform that helps streamline the hiring process for nurses and recruiting hospitals. Iman was heavily influenced to take risks from a young age, as she saw both of her grandfathers make an impact through their businesses in Sudan. However, entrepreneurship seemed to skip a generation and, when her father became an ENT sur...

Dr. Joan Rosenberg is an expert psychologist, best-selling author, and founder of Emotional Mastery & Emotional Mastery Training. After three decades, tens of thousands of hours of clinical practice, and ten years of neuroscience research, Dr. Rosenberg is recognized for her thought leadership and approach that radically changes people’s lives.  In our conversation together, we unpack how...

Sallie Krawcheck, is the CEO and Co-Founder of Ellevest, a digital-first investment platform working to help close the gender wealth gap by “redefining investing for women.” Sallie’s professional mission is to help women reach their financial and professional goals… or as she says to get more money in the hands of women. She’s definitely on her way as Ellevest recently announced they have $1Bn und...

Michelle Cordeiro Grant is the founder & CEO of LIVELY, a community and brand that inspires women to live passionately and purposefully through experiences and products like bras, bralettes, undies, and so much more.  Michelle grew up with immigrant parents, thinking she wanted to become a doctor or a lawyer, but her true passion lay in working with products and building brands. At the en...

Sadie Lincoln is the co-founder and CEO of barre3, a fitness company focused on teaching people to be balanced in body and empowered from within. Sadie was climbing up the ranks, working alongside the founder of 24-hour fitness for over a decade, and realized she was in a crisis when she got pregnant with her first daughter. Despite being financially successful, happily married, and living in the...

In today’s mini-episode, we’re talking about the realities of managing both motherhood and your career. The fundamental question that many women uniquely ask themselves is: Can I still be successful and pursue my desires of being a mother & building a family? The short answer is yes, but there is so much to dig into on this. I’ve specifically picked two incredible entrepreneurs to expand on th...

Laureen Asseo is the Founder and CEO of Fresh n' Lean, the largest organic prepared meal delivery service in the US.  She was only 18 years old in 2010 when she founded the company out of her one-bedroom apartment, all while attending the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising. She had always dreamed of being an entrepreneur, and actually had goals for establishing her own sustainabl...

In today’s mini-episode, we’re talking about imposter syndrome - something we all deal with, including many of the successful, self-made women I’ve interviewed on the podcast. I’m excited to share some advice from three of our most popular interviews to help you overcome imposter syndrome and stop feeling like a fraud.  * Lee Mayer’s full episode: https://www.behindherempire.com/episode/lee-m...

Jordan Salcito is an award-winning sommelier and founder of RAMONA, a delicious organic wine spritzer made with high-quality standards. Jordan began her career in New York as a hostess before becoming a prep cook, sommelier, manager, and eventually, the Wine & Beverage Director at David Chang’s Momofuku restaurants. She is also a 5-time James Beard Award semi-finalist and was named “Most...