THE IDEALISTS.

In this episode of The Idealists. (formerly Grit & Grace), host and entrepreneur Melissa Kiguwa interviews Jillian Haslam, an internationally bestselling author, philanthropist, entrepreneur, and motivational speaker, who grew up in the slums of Calcutta where she faced a bruising childhood of extreme poverty, discrimination, abuse, and disease. Jillian’s gift of seeing beauty amongst the grit...

In this episode of The Idealists. (formerly Grit & Grace), host and entrepreneur Melissa Kiguwa interviews Dr. Sian Proctor, who was launched into Earth orbit, on September 15, 2021, as the pilot of the Crew Dragon with SpaceX. A geoscientist, artist, poet, and astronaut, not only was she was on the cover of Times Magazine but she was also in “The Colony” on The Discovery Channel, “Genius by S...

In this episode of The Idealists. (formerly Grit & Grace), host and entrepreneur Melissa Kiguwa interviews Shellye Archambeau who has over 30 years of experience in technology ranging from her role as the former President of Blockbuster.com, as well as, the former CEO of MetricStream, a Silicon Valley-based software company. She currently serves on the boards of Verizon, Nordstrom, Roper Techn...

In this episode of The Idealists. (formerly Grit & Grace), host and entrepreneur Melissa Kiguwa talks to Dr. Anna Pechenkina about Russia’s recent military invasion of Ukraine. Dr. Pechenkina received her PhD in Political Science at Penn State University and works as an assistant professor at the Political Science Department at Utah State University. Her research seeks to understand how peace...

In this episode of The Idealists. (formerly Grit & Grace), host and entrepreneur Melissa Kiguwa interviews Alicia Dara, a nationally recognized speech and presentation coach who has helped thousands of people including CEO’s, Global VPs, Executive Directors and Presidential candidates find their Power Voice and put it to work. Her corporate clients include Microsoft, Amazon, and Planned Parent...

In this episode of The Idealists. (formerly Grit & Grace), host and entrepreneur Melissa Kiguwa interviews Alisa Jacobs, a serial entrepreneur who co-founded and served as CEO of Queens Gaming Collective, a venture backed startup for women gamers, streamers, & competitors. Alisa also founded LOOP, a women-run marketing agency that executes across sports, music, fashion, spirits, gaming and...

In this episode of The Idealists. (formerly Grit & Grace), host and entrepreneur Melissa Kiguwa interviews Torri Yates-Orr, an Emmy-nominated historian who co-hosts the podcast, “Skeleton Keys Pod” dedicated to unlocking the mysteries of mythology and history in pop culture. If you’re a fan of “The 48 Laws of Power” by Robert Greene or “The Art of War” by Sun Tzu, this episode is for you. We’r...

In this episode of The Idealists. (formerly Grit & Grace), host and entrepreneur Melissa Kiguwa interviews award-winning American television writer and producer , Melinda Hsu Taylor. Melinda is currently Executive Producer and show-runner of Nancy Drew and Tom Swift on the CW Network. She is well known for her work on the ABC series Lost where she was nominated for the Writers Guild of America...

In this episode of The Idealists. (formerly Grit & Grace), host and entrepreneur Melissa Kiguwa interviews Dr. Alexis Petra. Alexis received her MD from University of Pittsburgh, is board-certified in Emergency Medicine, and is licensed in more than 25 states in the united states. For the past 20 years, she's been personally and professionally involved in the transgender community. In 202...

In this episode of The Idealists. (formerly Grit & Grace), host and entrepreneur Melissa Kiguwa interviews Dawn Dickson, a serial entrepreneur and inventor with over 20 years of experience in technology entrepreneurship, marketing and business development. She has founded five successful companies and s ince 2017, Dawn has raised over $1M from venture capital and angel investors and she has ra...

About Episode: In this episode of The Idealists. (formerly Grit & Grace), host and entrepreneur Melissa Kiguwa interviews Fariel Salahuddin, the founder and CEO of UpTrade, a bartering service that enables rural communities in Pakistan to exchange livestock for solar-powered water pumps and solar home systems. Over 40% of Pakistan lives off the grid and without lights in their homes and electr...

In this episode of The Idealists. (formerly Grit & Grace), host and entrepreneur Melissa Kiguwa interviews Olayemi Keri, one of the foremost Women in Technology in Nigeria. She is the Chief Executive Officer of Heckerbella, a Technology Business Transformation company, and while her list of accolades and titles runs long, she is especially committed to Rising Tide Africa which she cofounded in...

In this episode of The Idealists. (formerly Grit & Grace), host and entrepreneur Melissa Kiguwa interviews Jenn Harper, founder and CEO of Cheekbone Beauty, a Canadian, Indigenous-owned beauty brand that gained popularity after being on the hit show, Dragons Den. And excitingly, on November 6th, Cheekbone Beauty products will be available in Sephora. So make sure to support and pick up a Warri...

In this episode of The Idealists. (formerly Grit & Grace), host and entrepreneur Melissa Kiguwa interviews Charlotte Luzuka and Lee Zuks, two of the four co-founders of Dazzle Angels, South Africa's first female-focused angel fund. They chose their name because a group of Zebras is called a Dazzle and after you hear how they describe the potential of African entrepreneurs, you'll und...

In this episode of The Idealists. (formerly Grit & Grace), host and entrepreneur Melissa Kiguwa interviews Dr. Silvia Mah, the founder and Chairwoman of Stella Labs, an accelerator for women-owned businesses. Silvia is also the founding member of Stella Angels, a female angel investment group, and a founding partner of Ad Astra Ventures, a fund that invests in female founders who are redefinin...

In this episode of The Idealists. (formerly Grit & Grace), host and entrepreneur Melissa Kiguwa interviews the second man on the show, John E.B. Myers, an authority on child abuse and domestic violence. He has written fifteen books and more than 100 articles and chapters on child maltreatment, domestic violence, evidence, criminal law, and family law. Professor Myers’ writing has been cited by...

In this episode of The Idealists. (formerly Grit & Grace), host and entrepreneur Melissa Kiguwa interviews Dr. Faten Ghosn, a Political Scientist and Professor at the University of Arizona's School of Government and Public Policy. Dr. Ghosn received her Bachelors and Masters from the American University of Beirut, and her Ph. D. from Pennsylvania State University. Her research and teachin...

In this episode of The Idealists. (formerly Grit & Grace), host and entrepreneur Melissa Kiguwa interviews Elise Loehnen Fissmer, writer and editor best known for being the former chief content officer of goop, the lifestyle and e-commerce company established by Gwyneth Paltrow in 2008. You may have also seen and heard Elise co-host The goop Podcast and The goop Lab on Netflix. Now she's...

In this episode of The Idealists. (formerly Grit & Grace), host and entrepreneur Melissa Kiguwa interviews Brigette Romanek, one of Los Angeles’ most sought after Interior Designers and one of Architectural Digest’s 2019 “AD 100,” which lists their picks for the one hundred top designers in the world. In this episode, Brigette shares the importance of filling your life with what is marvelous a...

In this episode of The Idealists. (formerly Grit & Grace), host and entrepreneur Melissa Kiguwa interviews Scilla Owusu, the face of Africa Forbes last 30 under 30 cohort. Scilla is a Ghanaian-British director and producer. Working in both narrative film and music videos, she is best known for directing music videos for some of Africa's most prominent musicians like Burna Boy and Mr. Eazi...

In this episode of The Idealists. (formerly Grit & Grace), host and entrepreneur Melissa Kiguwa partners with Sadie Nash Leadership Project, a not for profit that strengthens, empowers, and equips young women and gender-expansive youth of color as agents for change in their lives and in the world. Melissa co-hosts this episode with a Sadie Nash student, Sammi Lin, and together they interview K...

In this episode of The Idealists. (formerly Grit & Grace), host and entrepreneur Melissa Kiguwa partners with Sadie Nash Leadership Project, a not for profit that strengthens, empowers, and equips young women and gender-expansive youth of color as agents for change in their lives and in the world. Melissa co-hosts this episode with a Sadie Nash student, Tasnuva Shehrin, and together they inter...

In this episode of The Idealists. (formerly Grit & Grace), entrepreneur and host Melissa Kiguwa talks to the amazing Dr. Vivienne Ming. Frequently featured for her research and inventions in The Financial Times, The Atlantic, The Guardian, Quartz and the New York Times, Vivienne is a theoretical neuroscientist, entrepreneur, and author. She co-founded Socos Labs, her fifth company, an independ...

In this episode of The Idealists. (formerly Grit & Grace), entrepreneur and host Melissa Kiguwa talks to Anna Jones and Debbie Wosskow, the founders of Allbright which connects smart-minded women through digital and physical spaces all over the world. Anna Jones is the former CEO of Hearst Magazine and Debbie Wosskow (OBE) is a serial entrepreneur with multiple exits. Debbie is also a Member o...

In this episode of The Idealists. (formerly Grit & Grace), entrepreneur and host Melissa Kiguwa talks to Ti Chang, award-winning industrial designer and co-founder of CRAVE which makes luxury sensual products for women. Ti has been the leading voice in bringing modern sex toys to the mainstream and her work has helped pioneer the category of sex jewelry. She shares why it's so important t...