Lead Like a Woman

Nancie McDonnell Ruder is the owner of Noetic Consultants, a marketing consulting firm providing consumer research, brand strategy, marketing process and training expertise to BtoB and BtoC firms. Nancie has more than 25 years of marketing experience. She began her career at the Leo Burnett Company before starting Noetic Consultants in 2002. The word 'noetic' is related to one's intellect and thin...

Stacy Lill is the Co-founder and CEO of Cashmere Partners, focusing her efforts on corporate networking, marketing and strategic partnerships. She provides strategic consulting in wine industry education and development for many wineries. In 2007, she founded O Wines, which she sold to Chateau Ste Michelle Winery. After the sale of O Wines, Stacy founded the Opportunity for Success Scholarship Pro...

Aimee Carpenter is the CEO and Owner of SolTerra Solar, a Seattle-based solar energy contractor. She leads a team of 25 people to bring solar design and installation services to homeowners and business owners across Washington State, and her leadership has helped grow the company to over 2000 installed solar customers. She's been an entrepreneur in the construction industry since 2004 and is passi...

Cole Banks is the Founder of Sisters Traveling Solo where she helps drive the travel culture for sisters with unmatched global travel experiences. Her passion for traveling, solo experiences, and wanting to help other sisters led to the creation of Sisters Traveling Solo. The idea was sparked after Cole read an online post discouraging black women from traveling solo. As a woman of color, the post...

Fran Biderman-Gross is the Founder and CEO of Advantages, an award-winning New York-based end-to-end communications agency. She is also the co-author of the book, How to Lead a Values-Based Professional Services Firm: 3 Keys to Unlock Purpose and Profit, which she wrote with Don Scales. She is also the creator of the groundbreaking 3 Keys Workshops. Fran leads her clients on an invaluable journey...

Cherry Lao is the Co-founder and Creative Director of Citizen Best, an international brand marketing agency with offices in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Bangkok. She draws design inspiration from different cultures, traditions and everyday beauty. Since moving from Bangkok to California, she sees imagery, colors, storytelling, graphics, and symbols as a way to understand cultural differences an...

Andrea Herrera is the Founder and President of Amazing Edibles Catering, an award-winning catering company that fosters relationship building at ground breaking events. She has served over a million meals in Chicago in the past 25 years and her personal mission is to foster connection to create community. Andrea is also the founder and president of Boxperience, a business that delivers an amazing...

Alexi Cashen is the CEO–or as she prefers to be known, the Chief Executive Optimist–for Elenteny Imports, a fast growing wine business. The company is dedicated to helping its partners grow in the wine, beer, and spirits industry. Alexi is a self proclaimed type A, detail-oriented entrepreneur, and loves dominating in alcohol logistics. She is a board member of the San Francisco chapter of Entrepr...

Therese Jardine is the Principal and Founder of Strategic Event Procurement. She takes the pain out of procurement and provides thought leadership to the event industry. She has over 30 years of business experience and 15 years experience in managing the procurement strategy for Microsoft's event portfolio. She has deep expertise in event procurement strategy with a keen focus on strategic meeting...

Sharelle Klaus is the Founder and CEO of DRY Soda Company. When she was searching for a sophisticated non-alcoholic beverage that wasn't cloyingly sweet or made with artificial flavors, she realized that the ultra-competitive beverage market lacked one. She decided to make one and in 2005, she launched DRY Soda Company. Her brand has quickly become a disruptor in the sparkling beverage sector with...

Dana Manciagli is an author and the President of Job Search Masterclass, the leading job search workshop with instruction, templates, and tools that job seekers need to apply and interview with confidence, that will make them irresistible to employers and land a great job in record time. She has been a corporate executive for more than 30 years and has leveraged her employee hiring and management...

Suzette Patterson is the Founder of STAR-Performance Group, an authorized Sandler Training Center in Frisco, Texas. Suzette spent over 20 years in software sales and implementation before starting her Sandler business. She sold directly to physician practices and also built and managed teams for the largest GE Healthcare value-added reseller in the country. What she learned from all of those years...

Georgia Green is the Founder and CEO of BEU Revolution which she created with the hopes of sparking a revolution – a movement where people and companies are empowered to thrive. Georgia is the author of leadership curriculum, The Broken Business Model, and she is also a speaker, trusted organizational development advisor, and executive consultant. She is passionate about creating collaborative, st...

Sarah Nichols is an attorney who has more than 20 years of experience in HR employment law. She is the founder of Nichols Law P.C. where she represents individuals who experience discrimination and retaliation at work and helps them with wage and hour claims. She assists employees in negotiating their exits from their employers and she is a tough and conscientious advocate for her clients. Sarah b...

Wendy Pease is the President of Rapport International, a translation, interpretation, and language services company that eliminates spoken and written language barriers in 200+ languages. Prior to this, she served in corporate senior management positions in international marketing and business development. She has an MBA from Dartmouth College and a BA in Foreign Service from Penn State. Wendy is...

Stephanie Dalfonzo is an integrative hypnotist, coach, and speaker. She has spent over 20 years researching simple ways to calm stress, anxiety and fear. She has authored a very timely book called Goodbye Anxiety, Hello Freedom: How to Build Resilience and Overcome Anxiety . Stephanie helps women heal and find freedom from the past, reclaim their lives, and create the life they deserve with ease a...

Sue Peterson is a Managing Director of Client Management at Cornerstone Advisors. She has more than 30 years of experience in the financial industry, helping high-net-worth individuals and families achieve their financial goals. Over the course of her career, she has developed expertise in helping widows and divorcees, women business owners, and couples approaching retirement. She enjoys helping c...

Andrea Heuston is the CEO and Creative Principal of Artitudes Design , an award-winning creative agency. She has over 20 years of experience in the design industry and has won several awards such as the Puget Sound Business Journal's 40 under 40, the Annual Enterprising Women of the Year Awards for Enterprising Women Magazine, Cambridge Who's Who, and the Key4Women Achieve Award.  Andrea holds a d...

Jan Levy is a former Executive Director of Leadership Tomorrow, a Seattle organization that inspires, prepares, and connects leaders across the public, private, and nonprofit sectors. She knew the moment she joined Leadership Tomorrow that she wanted to work in the field of leadership development and she served as the organization's Executive Director for 29 years. Jan was named Citizen of the Yea...

Gillian Muessig is a serial entrepreneur noted for her ability to form indelible brands, claim critical markets, sustain fiercely loyal customers, and attract investors and best-in-class talent. She co-founded and built SEOMoz.org into Moz.com , turning it from a blog site and directory to the world's leading provider of marketing applications and metrics reporting software and the global hub for...

Jennifer Scott is the Founder, CEO, and Chief People Officer of HireEffect . She brings a unique view to small business leadership after moving from corporate roles to solopreneurship and then to owning and running a growing multi state consulting firm. Jennifer and her team helps business owners create and sustain the kind of culture that promotes growth and success whether it's through the deplo...

Dr. Cortney Baker is an award-winning entrepreneur, host of The Women in Business podcast, TEDx speaker, and a nationally-recognized authority on women's leadership. She's been featured on Fox News, Forbes, iHeartRadio, and Huffington Post, among other publications. As a leadership expert, mentor, business coach to female entrepreneurs and mother of three, she is passionate about empowering women...

Pastor Chanda Mills Crutcher is the President and CEO of the American Senior Assistance Program, Inc. (ASAP) . She began her career as a certified nursing assistant in Louisiana and continued working in nursing homes to help pay her way through college. In 2004, she founded the American Senior Assistance Program whose primary focus is to provide services to the aging disabled adults and children i...

Zoey Mann is a fourth generation jeweler and President of Fox's Seattle. She graduated from Whitman college with a Degree in Theater and Elementary Education and joined the family business full time after earning her Degree in 2003. After working in Fox's Seattle for 10 years, Zoey took over as the majority shareholder and President in 2013. She's a member of Seattle Executives Association, and th...

Jaci Russo is a brand strategist, author, podcast and radio host, and the co-founder & CEO of brandRUSSO , a strategic branding agency. Jaci began her career in Hollywood as a Junior Talent Agent at Creative Artists Agency working with clients such as Helen Hunt, David Letterman and Gwyneth Paltrow. After that, she worked as the Executive Assistant to Chairman and CEO Barry Diller, adding strategi...