Support is Sexy

Anita Belle knew just two years into her professional career that events and event planning was her passion -- something that she'd love to do -- but it was 12 years before she decided to make a jump and open her own events company, AJB Events. While some of the messaging out in the world today is about job shaming and jumping ship as soon as you find your passion to start a business, there's some...

For Neha Choudhary, her journey to becoming an entrepreneur based in Dubai all led back to one thing: family. After attending college at Northwestern University in Chicago, and then working as an analyst with JP Morgan Chase in Singapore, Neha -- who grew up between Bahrain and Dubai -- eventually returned to Dubai to be near her family. What she also did was leave her corporate job and finally ta...

There is a moment within this episode where I talk about how not accepting support has pushed some of us so far that we end up doing things to hurt ourselves..............   There is a long pause after the first time I say this. It shook me up when I vocalized it. I listened to that segment again and again in editing and debated whether I should take it out. When I began wiping tears away, I decid...

Author, investor and serial entrepreneur Lauren Maillian has always been about deciding what matters and doing her best to make it work. Whether it was deciding that she wanted autonomy over her own money at age 11 so she set up a lemonade stand, deciding to buy 100+ acres of land in Virginia at age 19 and eventually turning it into an award-winning winery, or deciding now to travel the world and...

"I can twerk and not be judged, because that's part of my workout and it's making me sweat!" There lies the genius in Akinah Rahmaan's hit fitness lifestyle brand, Banana Skirt Productions. In her workout classes -- which have grown from two classes per week to 20 classes per week since 2014 -- students get to grind it out (in a good way!) by learning the dance routines from performances and video...

In January of this year, Doreen Oliver went through a period of her life where she felt "dead inside," like she was not doing what God had put her on this earth to do – create.   With a successful career as a producer of film, television and theater productions, Doreen's life had changed dramatically after she became a wife and mother, with new schedules and the needs of the family, including addi...

From the time she spent a semester abroad in Madrid during her years of undergrad at Vassar college, Sienna Brown knew that one day, she was going to make that move. After graduating, and even though she loved her life and her blossoming career in marketing and communications while living in Brooklyn, the New York native decided that time had come. She made the move to Spain three years ago, and h...

What's your ripple? We all have one. But there are times, right, when we forget that?  Don't. You MATTER. Your voice MATTERS. The business you're creating MATTERS. The work you're doing MATTERS. The love you show your children, your family and your friends MATTERS. And you and your work cause a ripple . That infectious something that supports one person, then the next, then the next -- all stemmin...

For MissNowMrs.com CEO Danielle Tate, failure was just a part of the process -- an opportunity to see, well, the opportunities! When she graduated with a degree in biology from college, but failed to get into medical school by just three seats, it lead her to a great opportunity. When she tried to change her name to the newly married last name and failed (three times, thanks to a clunky process!)...

From the time she was 5 years old and stealing pieces of foil from her mom's kitchen so she could craft pieces of jewelry and save them for the "business" she planned to open, Tamiko White knew she was meant to be an entrepreneur. And from the moment she saw (four times, that is) Stephanie Mills bring it "Home" during her performance in The Wiz on Broadway, Tamiko also knew that impacting people t...

"I don't want to learn as I go. I want to learn...and then go!" For Aliya S King, the word "entrepreneur" was always a scary, foreign thing. So after graduating college at Rutgers University, even though she always wanted to be a writer, the East Orange, NJ, native played it safe and became a teacher. And while she now realizes that she greatly impacted the lives of the students she taught for tho...

I admit it: I've got some hangups. And as a woman entrepreneur, and someone who is on a journey of self discovery, I realize these hangups stand in my way. Until recently, I think I owned them -- dare I say embraced them -- as something that were just a part of me and who I am. But they don't have to be. I get to decide the kind of woman I want to be, and that kind of woman is one who doesn't let...

Let's face it: Your inner critic is loud af . She means no harm; in fact, she's there because she wants to keep you safe. But what she ends up doing is keeping you small.   Your whisper, on the other hand, is affirming. She quietly encourages you to go big. Super big. Scary big. She knows it's what you need, she's clear that your magic exists outside of your comfort zone. Your whisper tells you to...

For transformation coach Sylvia High, entrepreneurship was part of her life's journey. After many years of crushing it in corporate sales and reaping all of the perks of that success (the bonus checks, the company car, etc), Sylvia finally accepted her truth: This wasn't it, and there had to be something more. She didn't know the answer to what that more was, but she knew the question: Why am I he...

For Sydney Campos, it's all very simple: She wants "people to be happy and to have fun." It's what she has wanted from the very beginning, since the time she was a little empathic girl growing up in San Francisco. Today, now thriving off the energy of New York, Sydney has created a business that has a similar vibe with her new company Make Only Magic. By combining marketing and branding support wi...

For Juliana Marulanda, CEO of ScaleTime, her mom provided an early example of hustle that the then 7-year-old would never forget. Before Juliana realized it, she was learning important lessons about business, knowing your market, managing the money and more while she and her recently-laid-off-mom sold aguardiente -- a traditional Colombian liqueur -- in the streets of Queens, New York. What she le...

Pamela Macklin always knew she was meant to be three things: a leader, a creative and an educator. Over the past 20+ years in the fashion industry – as a style director for Essence magazine and an image maker, who has created looks for — and told the stories of — some of the most iconic people in the entertainment industry, she has been able to explore all of those parts of herself.   Most recentl...

Wow! Episode 40! What an amazing ride, and this is just the beginning!   It has been an honor to interview and share space with the women we've featured thus far on the Support is Sexy podcast! I cherish the opportunity I've had to learn so much more about them and from them. Beyond tips about business or strategies for success, these creative women drop jewels in the form of life lessons, many of...

Anne Chertoff is the woman you want to help get you down the aisle. Sort of. Since she was younger, Anne has always loved throwing parties and events, and as she matured and began her career as a magazine editor, she fell into bridal and fell completely in love. Today, in addition to being a busy mom of two, Anne consults a bevy of brides on the details of their weddings, works with companies, suc...

If you're going to talk about Eden Duncan-Smith, make sure you get her name right. In response to the dude from TMZ who mispronounced her name when revealing how much money the 16 year old made when she co-starred in the 2014 movie, Annie , Eden says the first thing she thought was: "Boy, you need to get my name right!" Eden, pronounced eh -den, first fell in love with acting when she was 9, but w...

Decisions. They are a part of our lives, day in and day out. Yet we often agonize over them each time we have to face one that we think really matters. But they all matter, don't they? Our decisions shape our lives. I heard Tony Robbins say in a recent interview with Tim Ferriss that, "It's your decisions, not your conditions, that shape your life." And whether the decision is right or wrong, it d...

Author and personal development coach Zara Green didn't realize until she was in her mid 20s that every person who influences you, whether positively or negatively, is influencing you for a purpose. She came to this realization when she accepted that the difficult relationship she had with her mother when growing up was because of their disparate personalities and not because of something that she...

I've interviewed 30+ women for the Support is Sexy podcast -- entrepreneurs, leaders, creatives visionaries -- and I am moved by them all, inspired by them all, in love with them all, with their gifts and with their willingness to share. I always leave each conversation with some nugget of wisdom that I can use, and I often go back and listen to episodes again and again just to feed myself that po...

As women, and as entrepreneurs, it's easy for us to get caught up in what's not working. Is it just me, or do you do that, too? If so, know that you are not alone. When you're an ambitious, results-driven person (as most of us are!) who wants to check things off your must-do list, it can be frustrating to think that you're not making a dent in whatever is standing between you and your dream in tha...

When Camara Aunique Helps first met superstar stylist June Ambrose, she was working at the makeup counter at Lord & Taylor, and June—the creator of unforgettable looks for some of the biggest names in entertainment--was just passing through. But Camara had something she needed the legendary stylist to know, and that something was that she would do a skeptical-but-kind June's makeup one day.   That...