What She Does Podcast

What does a forensic genetic genealogist do? Christine Burke uses DNA and family trees to name unidentified remains, solve cold cases, and give families answers. A former undercover officer, police detective, and the first female sergeant in her department, Christine discovered through a 2017 DNA test that she wasn't who she thought she was. It took her years to find her own answers. Now she helps...

What does it really take to become a certified sex therapist? Abby Neuberg joins Liane and Annie to talk about her path from trauma work to sex therapy, the training behind the title, and the skills the job demands. This episode covers: How Abby went from trauma therapy to sex therapy What it takes to become a certified sex therapist Why sex addiction is often better understood as compulsivity Spo...

Chainmail jewelry designer Vanessa Walilko has made armor for Broadway, WWE's Cody Rhodes, and a very niche art-fair crowd. In this episode, she shares how one cold DM led to five WrestleManias, why tenacity — not patience — is the real skill behind the work, and what two decades of hand-linking rings has done to her wrists. In this episode: • How a college metal-smithing class became an 18-year c...

Dr. Angie Boyer is a multi-species animal nutritionist and founder of Grain & Grace Consulting. She breaks down what actually goes into the food we feed pets and livestock, why “complete and balanced” matters more than the format, and the real story behind the push for human-grade pet food. In this episode: • What an animal nutritionist actually does, across pets and livestock • Why “complete...

Licensed clinical social worker Alexa Servodidio opens up about trauma therapy, EMDR, and helping clients rebuild their sense of self. In this episode: • How a single field placement redirected her from law school to social work • What EMDR is and how bilateral stimulation reprocesses stuck trauma • The realities of crisis intervention, safety contracts, and staying safe as a therapist • A career-...

We're taking a week off from new interviews to look back and catch you up if you're new here. This compilation pulls moments from 10 conversations across Season One: from Labor & Delivery Nurse Julia Parker, calm in the highest-stakes moments, to Wealth Advisor Heidi Foster, helping women rewrite their money mindset, to Daycare Owner Britt Riley, who built the childcare village she couldn't fi...

Kitty Sum is a pharmacist who chose medicine without the blood, needles, and procedures, and found her chemistry with pediatrics almost by accident. Kitty joins Liane and Annie to talk about why she chose the science and study of treatment over hands-on procedures, and how getting every dose exactly right is its own kind of chemistry, plus how landing in pediatrics almost by chance changed the way...

Can your body tell real laughter from fake laughter? Laughter Yoga Teacher Cathy Nesbitt says it can't, and that's exactly the point behind laughing on purpose. She also shares how a 24-year worm-composting business led her to Laughter Yoga, and why she believes managing our own joy is one of the most underused tools we have. In this episode: • What Laughter Yoga actually is (and the myths it isn'...

Marriage proposal planner Ash Fox has orchestrated 3,000+ engagements in 15 years — and never once heard a "no." As founder of Ash Fox Proposals, she's helped orchestrate everything from private rooftop reveals with skyline views to a proposal staged inside a designer sample sale — and along the way, coached hundreds of men through one of the most vulnerable moments of their lives. In this episode...

Steffy Simms is a systems engineer and the founder of Guava & Co, a sustainable, Hawaiʻi-based resort wear brand — built out of late-night doodles during maternity leave. Also an Oʻahu physics teacher and robotics coordinator, Steffy joins Liane and Annie to talk about pivoting from engineering into entrepreneurship, why her son's eczema shaped Guava & Co's non-toxic materials, and how gro...

What does it actually take to find real connection in the age of dating apps? Matchmaker Jill Dunn, founder of Jillin' It, joins Annie & Liane to unpack why modern dating feels so exhausting — and what to do about it. Jill shares the divorce that accidentally launched her matchmaking career, how she screens singles before ever introducing them to a client, and the one mindset shift that can ch...

Sawsan Abublan spent years building a career as a pharmacist before an idea she had with her husband led to an entirely new path. She's now a restaurant franchisor. In this episode, Sawsan joins Annie & Liane to talk about walking away from a license she'd worked hard for, learning a completely new industry from the ground up, and what it actually took to build confidence as a woman stepping i...

For over 25 years, Tish Hicks has been one of voiceover's most in-demand working artists, including more than 15 years as one of the voices of Subaru. The veteran voiceover artist and founder of The V.O. Dojo joins What She Does to break down how she built a career, a company, and a community in one of entertainment's most misunderstood industries. In this episode, Tish covers: • How she stumbled...

What does a wealth advisor actually do all day? Heidi Foster has a surprising answer: she brings people peace. With more than 30 years of experience managing investments for individuals, families, and charities, Heidi has seen it all — the spenders married to the savers, the retirees who don't know how to stop accumulating, the divorce clients, the inheritance clients, and the 20-somethings who ju...

What does it look like to build a startup inside one of the world's biggest creative companies? Lydia Hall knows. As Venture Lead and Co-Founder of Aqua by Adobe, Lydia pitched Adobe's executives on a bold idea: to take the creative power of Photoshop, Illustrator, and Fresco and rebuild it from the ground up for kids. In this episode, Lydia joins Liane and Annie for a candid conversation about th...

Jennifer Barnwell didn't plan to end up in hotels — but a nudge from her older sister at Cornell changed everything. Today she's the President of Curator Hotel & Resort Collection, a membership platform she launched in the middle of a global pandemic to champion the independent and boutique hotels that go it alone. In this episode, Jen pulls back the curtain on what it actually takes to build...

What does a Physician Assistant who's spent 25 years in medicine wish more people understood about hormones, aging, and feeling like yourself again? Elizabeth Vogstrom breaks down perimenopause, bioidentical hormone therapy, DNA genetic testing, and root-cause medicine — and shares the personal health crisis that changed everything. #WhatSheDoes #HormoneHealth #Perimenopause #BHRT #LongevityMedici...

What if the answer to the childcare crisis wasn't a policy fix — it was a building with a community membership? Britt Riley is the founder and CEO of Haven, an integrated childcare, coworking, and fitness space designed for working parents — where kids learn downstairs while parents work upstairs, all under one roof. What started as Britt's own frustration with the impossible juggle of career and...

What if you could measure anything — even the things that feel impossible to pin down? That's exactly what Dr. Nicole Alioto has spent nearly 30 years helping schools do. As the founder of Alla Breve Educational Consulting, a two-time TEDx speaker, a podcast host, and author of Your School Sucks: Why Schools Fail to Measure Up and What To Do About It and the new You Can Measure Anything , Nicole h...

What happens when a girl from Pacoima who learned to code in fifth grade ends up in the United States Congress? We sit down with Representative Luz Rivas — engineer, educator, nonprofit founder, and the only Latina in Congress with a STEM background — to talk about the winding, unplanned path that took her from MIT to Motorola, from founding DIY Girls to the California State Assembly, and now to r...

Have you ever looked in the mirror and felt like something was just... off — but couldn't put your finger on it? Pilar DeMann says it might be your brows. With over 30 years of beauty experience, Pilar has built an award-winning studio in Washington, Connecticut, a loyal client base of 600+, and a reputation for real, wearable beauty that fits a woman's life. In this episode, she breaks down the t...

What does it take to leave a big law career and build something from the ground up—one that actually changes lives? In this powerful episode of What She Does, we sit down with Allison Mahoney, founder and managing attorney of ALM Law, a firm dedicated entirely to survivors of sexual abuse, intimate partner violence, technology-facilitated abuse, and children harmed in foster care and juvenile just...

What do civil engineering and bourbon have in common? More than you'd think. Morgan Salsman, founder of LQD Assets and BRBN Storage, grew up in Bardstown, Kentucky, the Bourbon Capital of the World, and turned a $5,000 barrel investment at 21 into a full-fledged whiskey business. She breaks down the surprisingly fascinating world of bourbon barrel investing, what it actually means to warehouse whi...

What if someone else could write your book — and do it in your voice? We sat down with Dr. Marcia Layton Turner, New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestselling ghostwriter and founder of the Association of Ghostwriters (AOG), to pull back the curtain on the fascinating world of professional ghostwriting. Marcia shares how she stumbled into the field, what it really takes to write in someone el...

Lauren Winter didn't plan to land in digital advertising — but 15 years later, she's running the full operations engine at Vox Media, one of the most recognized names in modern media. As Head of Operations, Advertising, Lauren oversees everything from pricing and planning to campaign execution and delivery — and she's currently building AI and automation into how her teams work every day. In this...