Her CEO Journey™: The Business Finance Podcast for Mission-Driven Women Entrepreneurs

Have you ever thought of your business as one single domino in a long line of dominos? No matter how it might feel, the truth is that your business doesn’t operate alone. Your company is part of a larger ecosystem and economy, one that thrives on mutual support and generosity. That’s how CEO Helen Campbell runs her company. She believes in compassion and kindness over profit and bottom line. That’...

How can you create a company culture that prioritizes giving back? After all, it’s hard enough to build a positive company culture, let alone one that centers around helping others. However, with the right attitude and resources, it’s completely possible. That’s the thinking that fueled entrepreneur and former nurse Victoria Sylvester to develop and scale her company. The first thing Victoria did...

Every small business needs help. Some business owners need financial assistance, some need resources and exposure, and others need mentorship. But no matter how much help you need, you always have room to give, too. Because at the end of the day, the small business ecosystem can only thrive when small businesses help each other. That’s part of business coach and philanthropist Jody Johnson’s ethos...

Is giving back part of your company’s business model? If it is, great! If it’s not, what’s stopping you? Building social impact into your business may seem tricky, but it’s totally doable. All it takes is a willingness to try.  That’s what Aisling Graham realized when she started her promotional marketing agency over a decade ago. Giving back was a part of her personal life, but she wanted to make...

When you’re building a company, it’s normal to have a lot of goals. You probably want to put out a high-quality product or service, create happy customers, and turn a profit. But you probably also want to make a positive difference in the world. So, how do you do it? Building a business that has a strong social impact comes down to the small choices. Think: where you source your materials, how you...

How can you create a positive social impact with your business? Making a difference might seem overwhelming, but it doesn’t have to be. In fact, it’s easier than you might think. You don’t have to change your entire business model to give back. And you don’t have to stop doing the work you do. You just have to commit to caring about a cause. That’s the philosophy that fuels entrepreneur Masami Sat...

Is it possible to bounce back from near-bankruptcy in business? The short answer, of course, is yes. The longer answer is that it takes an incredible amount of persistence and strategy to recover from financial instability and become profitable again. That’s what Leslie Bradford-Scott learned when she brought her company back from the brink of bankruptcy. In our conversation today, Leslie and I ta...

How do you maintain profitability in a business? You might think the key is simply to bring in more revenue than you spend. Or limit your overhead costs. Or hike up your pricing. Or widen your customer base. While all those strategies are helpful, achieving consistent profitability comes down to something much more fundamental. Specialization. To run a profitable business, you have to do something...

How do you successfully transition between two entirely different career paths? There are a few smart ways, including taking time off or educating yourself. But one often-overlooked strategy doesn’t require making any big changes. It just requires combining your interests. That’s what Leeza Zurwick did when she transitioned from her job as a special education teacher to the CEO of a mission-driven...

When is the best time to start your own business?  Is it when you’re straight out of college, when you’re entering your first job, or when you turn 30? You may think the opportune time is when you’re early on in your career, but the truth is: it’s never too late to start your own business. That’s what Nita Tandon realized when she had an idea for a product that would revolutionize her life. Though...

How do you turn a business disaster into a successful new career? You need humility, resilience, and drive, but you also need something else: Passion. Passion for your business’s mission and the work you do. That’s what Laura Wright figured out when she paid off the debt from her failed real estate business, and decided to change course. Today, Laura and I discuss her entrepreneurial background, h...

What does it take to turn a company saddled with debt into a profitable powerhouse? It takes patience, resilience, and careful planning, of course. But the most important quality is financial knowledge. That’s what real estate coach Kathleen Black realized when she became a 50% owner of a company drowning in debt. To pay off the company’s debt and start earning money, she needed to get her financi...

In business—as in life—setbacks are inevitable. But it’s how you recover from setbacks that determine whether or not you’ll be successful. That’s what entrepreneur and author Cristy Nickel realized after she lost all her personal training clients during the 2008 market crash. After paying off her debt, Cristy had to start from scratch to rebuild her clientele, but within one year, she earned her f...

How do you pick up the pieces when financial hardship hits your business?  There’s no perfect answer, but one thing is certain.  You need a hefty dose of humility and resilience to rebuild and recover. That’s what entrepreneur Keri Murphy realized after she was forced to shutter her business during the 2008 recession.  Once she made the decision, Keri started reflecting on what went wrong with her...

What does it take to become an effective leader and scale a company?  It’s not money or authority or drive. It’s not even intelligence or skill.  In fact, it’s something much more unexpected: emotional resilience.  The degree to which you can bounce back from adversity plays a big role in your level of success in business.  Kim Ades, an entrepreneur and business coach, knows this to be true.  In o...

What roadblocks keep womxn from advancing in business?  It’s not a lack of intelligence, ambition, or creativity—it’s a lack of access .  Having access to the right opportunities can make all the difference in someone’s career trajectory and social impact.  That’s why entrepreneur Michelle Kwok built her company, FLIK. In our conversation, we discuss what FLIK is, how the platform helps advance wo...

Building a successful company can’t be done alone.  It doesn’t matter how brilliant your idea is or how determined you are as a founder—to scale sustainably, you need a passionate, driven team.  But how do you get your team to invest in your company’s growth?  It all comes down to one often overlooked factor: empathy.  Empathy is what Sherry Stewart Deutschmann used to build her $40 million compan...

Growing a company requires capital—and the right investor can make all the difference.  But who is the right type of investor?  Someone who will contribute more than just money.  After all, investing is a relationship at its core.  As a founder, you need someone who can champion your idea, expand your network, and write a check.  That’s what Marcia Nelson has come to realize in her career as a pro...

Founding a company might be a solo mission, but running a company isn’t.  Successful founders know they need help to thrive.  And good help goes beyond employees—it extends all the way to company leadership.  That’s the philosophy that compelled Breen Sullivan, Sarah Feingold, and Kat de Haën to start their organization, The Fourth Floor.  In my conversation with The Fourth Floor founders, we disc...

You need funding to get your startup off the ground, but how and where do you secure capital? One option is to look for investors. Angel investors and VC funds are always on the hunt for promising startups, but you need more than a brilliant idea to land an investment. You need a game plan. That’s what entrepreneur and investor Judy Robinett talks about in her latest book, “Crack the Funding Code....

How do you give back when you’re building a business? There are countless ways, but one strategy is crowdfunding. More specifically, equity crowdfunding. By inviting people to invest in your business, you’re also giving them the opportunity to earn money from your success. It’s a win-win strategy. That’s what Martha Hernandez realized when she decided to use equity crowdfunding to raise capital fo...

How do you set your business up for fast, sustainable growth? It comes down to having enough resources. One of those resources is financing. You can scale quickly when you have multiple different types of financing to pull from. Think of equity crowdfunding, convertible notes, and friends and family fundraising. That was part of what led entrepreneur Kara Sam to succeed with her company, Bucha Bre...

There are two key steps to business success: financing and building your audience.  You may think the two goals are separate, but they don’t have to be.  Traditional financing gets you money for your business, but crowdfunding gets you money and potential customers.  That’s what entrepreneur and whiskey lover Rachna Hukmani figured out when she started her company, Whiskey Stories LLC.  In my conv...

How do you generate an audience who’s passionate about your business? Here’s the trick: You don’t. You focus on creating a community first . That’s what entrepreneur and community organizer Claire Wasserman did with her company, Ladies Get Paid. Instead of developing a service then searching for an audience to appreciate it, Claire set out to build a community, then created her business offerings...

How do you prove there’s a demand for your product or service before you launch? The answer: reward crowdfunding. Rewards-based crowdfunding can help you drum up excitement for your business idea, gather a viable target audience, and gain access to capital. Entrepreneur Sarah Sommers knows the power of crowdfunding firsthand. Today, I’m interviewing Sarah to talk about her company, IFundWomen, and...