The Story Behind Her Success

Adoption is a lifelong journey. I don’t know if we are ever fully healed. There is always that missing puzzle piece . – Jennifer Eckert November is National Adoption Month, so we went searching for a woman who could teach us all about it. Meet Jennifer Eckert, adopted child and founder of Boston Post Adoption Services , a non-profit she created to support individuals and families touched by...

My music is a mixture of everything I listen to. It sits in my brain, it stews, and then it spits out GRACIFIED! –Grace Kelly Have you ever met a prodigy? I have…and you can, too. Her name is Grace Kelly. Inspired by the music of Stan Getz and Paul Desmond, Brookline, MA. native Grace Kelly picked up the alto sax at age 10 and never looked back. Her incredible musical gifts were nurtured by her pa...

My short term memory was gone. I couldn’t multitask. I’d stumble over my words. I was anxious, depressed and exhausted. Chemo brain changed my whole life in a way that breast cancer should have, but didn’t. I had to raise the white flag . -Debra Doroni As October 2019 comes to a close, we’re wrapping up our series on breast cancer survivors with the story of Debra Doroni. When she was diagnosed wi...

Cancer will take your breath away, like any stressful life event will do. Trust and look inward to the deep well of strength we all have inside of us…and breathe. -Kate Martin Our salute to breast cancer survivors continues with Kate’s story. She was only 40 when an out of the blue, visible mass appeared on her left breast and she imagined it might be her pectoral muscle. The single mother of two...

It’s gonna be a journey, but you still have a lot of life to live . -Alexis Flanagan Alexis Flanagan was living large. At only 33 her personal life was filled with family and friends and her career in finance was thriving. On a business trip to Florida in 2017 with her mother tagging along for some warm sunshine by the hotel pool, Alexis noticed swelling in her left breast. Her mother insisted she...

There is nothing more gratifying than saving a life, or lifting people up around you. The ripple effect cause miracles every day. -Carla Tardif Do you know someone with cancer? Chances are, the answer is “yes”. A cancer diagnosis is terrifying for the patient and the family, but it can also be financially devastating. That’s where Family Reach comes in, providing a financial lifeline for families...

ALS is going to take my son away. I have grieved and my family has grieved every day for seven and a half years. We know what the outcome is, but you cannot speak about this journey without acknowledging the gifts we have also been given.  -Nancy Frates You’ve heard of The Ice Bucket Challenge, right? This is the story of how it came about. On March 13, 2012 Nancy Frates accompanied her son Pete t...

My father told me, “music is a waste of a good mind” and I’ve spent my entire life proving him wrong . -Linda Marks When she was about 3 years old, Linda Marks toddled over to the piano and started to play. She didn’t talk very much…it was the piano that set her free. Ever since that day, this exceptional woman has been singing and writing songs from her heart. What’s really interesting about her...

We all have chapters in our lives and Margaret Carr is the perfect example of that. Armed with a B.S. in Communications from Boston University, an MBA from Boston College and a doctorate in Education Leadership from Drexel University, she is the National VP/Development for a non-profit known as Read To A Child .  With chapters in Greater Boston, Hartford, Los Angeles, Miami and Metro Detroit, Read...

I had a dream that I was going to be the Perry Mason of my day. -Susan Cohen, Immigration Attorney The topic of immigration is on the lips of millions of Americans, so we searched for a woman who could teach us all about it, based on her real-life experience. Meet Susan Cohen, founder & chair of the immigration practice at Mintz, one of the most prestigious law firms in the United States. Susa...

Still to this day, when I wake up, I am grateful to be here in the United States . -Mojgan Anvari Brumby This episode comes to us from a woman raised in Tehran, Iran. The daughter of a 4-time world champion Greco-Roman wrestler who represented Iran in the 1968 and the 1972 Olympics, Mojgan told me her childhood was idyllic. Rolling hills, gigantic trees and orchards filled with fruit trees were al...

Success is not a dollar amount. It is being able to show my children what good feels like. Everything I’ve done over the last 6 years shows them that serving others is so much better than serving yourself . -Krista S. Anderson Sacrifice. Loneliness. Fear and pride. These are four words that come to mind when I think of what it must be like to be a military spouse. Now, let’s increase the stress an...

I’m terrified of heights. I’m terrified of falling. I was at a moment in my life when I needed a goal to focus on, so I decided to climb all 48 of New Hampshire’s tallest mountains. -Diane Pisciotta This episode is all about the mountains we have to climb to get to where we want to go. Meet Diana Pisciotta, President of Denterlein , a Boston-based PR & communications company. While Diana’s exp...

You are the author of the story of your life. Who do you want to be? What’s the footprint you want to leave on this earth? -Katie Wood If you are in need of a push in the right direction, Katie Wood is just the woman to show you the way! Meet a woman who has devoted her career to helping women reach their fullest potential, to believe in themselves, and to not only dream, but DO! Determined to fin...

When the red light goes on and I’m on the air, I don’t think about the thousands of people who are watching me. I just try to connect with one person . -Joy Lim Nakrin Words of wisdom from NBC 10 & NECN Boston news anchor Joy Lim Nakrin . She has spent much of her professional life in front of the camera, not just here in the United States, but on ESPN and MTV Asia and as the host of a reality...

Ten days after our son was born, the doctors sat us down and said that he was going to be a vegetable. -Lauren Pimpare Lauren’s story is both heartbreaking and uplifting, all at the same time. A successful executive in the healthcare field, Lauren is a big believer in the power of the word “we”, so she founded two organizations called Tomorrow’s Women Today and the Boston Women’s Leadership...

Nothing feels more incredible than saving someone’s life . -Shannon Silvestri Meet Shannon Silvestri: wife, mother, marathoner, coach, fitness instructor and organ donor. A longtime resident of the little seaside town of Beverly, Massachusetts, Shannon was a champion field hockey player who received a scholarship to Boston College where she was later inducted into the school’s athletic Hall of Fam...

In a room full of men, I have to be decisive, clear and succinct. I have to own whatever it is I believe in . -Jennifer Hanes I’ve been looking for women in powerful, senior leadership roles and I’ve found one. Meet Jennifer Hanes, Division Executive, Securities Finance & Processing for Capital Markets, FIS. The world’s largest global provider dedicated to banking and payment technologies, FIS...

Joy. Inspiration. These are contagious emotions and I’m always on the lookout for women who embody them. In the spotlight, Cathy Poulin, an exceptional woman I first interviewed about 10 years ago. I remember thinking that meeting her had been just as exciting as watching her on TV. You see, Cathy was the sidekick to a guy named Bob, owner of Bob’s Discount Furniture. Together, they jumped on couc...

The more you reach out…the more you tell your story…the more you share…the more will come back to you.  -Liz Ryan In this episode, we hear the story of a mom whose son has a rare, incurable and potentially deadly disease. Meet Liz Ryan, wife, mother of two, career woman and first generation American. What started as flu-like symptoms in January 2018 turned out to be Juvenile Myositis. For nearly 4...

Throughout the course of my career, I’ve had the good fortune of working with incredible women who have overcome hurdles and are willing to talk about it.   -Susan Brady And talk about it, she does. Meet Susan Brady, newly named Managing Director of the Simmons University Institute for Leadership and author of Mastering Your Inner Critic and 7 Other High Hurdles To Advancement. A wife, mother and...

One of her artists paints on canvas, using only the wheels of his wheelchair. Another just had one of his creations licensed to Starbucks. Meet Liz Powers, co-founder & Chief Happiness Spreader at ArtLifting , a socially conscious business that provides a marketplace for homeless and disabled artists to sell their artwork. Founded by Liz and her brother, Spencer in 2013, Art Lifting now has ov...

You wake up, make your coffee, check your phone, and flip on the TV to catch the local news. You see gorgeous women and handsome men, telling you what’s happening in the world. But what is it REALLY like to be a news anchor? Meet Elizabeth Hopkins , news anchor for Boston 25 Morning News . The daughter of an educator and an NYPD police captain, Elizabeth thought she might like to follow in her fat...

True success in business is when you can do what you want, when you want, and know that you are being paid equally. -Katie Donovan If you believe in equal pay for women and minorities, this episode is for you. Meet Katie Donovan, the founder of Equal Pay Negotiations . She’s a pay equity expert and a trailblazer in this field. In fact, it was Katie who started a movement to ban the use of salary h...

Science and music: it is rare to have a career in both of these fields, but for Sheilah Dorsey, they are a perfect match.  She’s been singing all of her life, but she also gets plenty of joy from working in biotech where the goal is to discover life-saving drugs and treatments.  Her love of music goes way back to her childhood when her father rescued an old jukebox from a restaurant.  On tha...