Women and Work

That’s something Anna DeShawn, Founder of E3 Radio and The Qube, learned as she built a media platform focused on telling stories from the LGBTQ community—especially Black and Brown voices often overlooked by mainstream media.

Along the way, she faced industry barriers, changing political climates, and the realities of entrepreneurship. Instead of forcing a path that didn’t feel right, she embraced what she calls “the power of the p...

Even when you’re accomplished, credentialed, and overqualified, you can still find yourself overlooked, overworked, and questioning your worth.

That’s something Dr. Mazella Fuller, Former Clinical Associate at Duke University, experienced firsthand throughout her 30-year career — watching others with less experience get promoted, seeing ideas appropriated, and navigating the layered challenges of race and gender.

Instead of s...

Despite doing everything right in her corporate tech career — earning her MBA, managing major IT projects, and outperforming expectations — Krystal Tristan still found herself pumping in office bathrooms, working from her hospital bed, and questioning whether she truly belonged in the room.

After years in consulting and Fortune 500 environments, Krystal noticed something: women were quietly pushing through impossible standards w...

If you’re successful on paper but secretly feel overlooked, drained, or stuck in the wrong role, you might not be in your wheelhouse.

That’s what happened to Kim Costa, Author of Live In Your Wheelhouse and Realtor with Sotheby’s International Realty. After decades running a multi-million-dollar construction business behind the scenes, Kim realized she was “fine” at what she did — but she wasn’t lit up by it.

Even though she helped g...

When you’re told that choosing marriage, motherhood, or flexibility means giving up your potential, it can quietly shape the way you show up for years.

That’s exactly what happened to Wendy Guth and Krystal Eicher, co-founders of Serendipitous Rebel. As military spouses, mothers, and ambitious women, they were pushed to shrink themselves, delay dreams, and carry expectations no one places on men.

Instead of accepting that nar...

When you’ve done everything “right” — the education, the pedigree, the experience — yet women still raise a fraction of the capital, it forces a hard question: why?

That happened to Jarah Euston, but she didn’t accept the numbers at face value. Even at Wharton — now majority female — women founders raise just a small share of venture funding.

So Jarah took action. She helped build a powerful network connecting female founders...

When you’re juggling a demanding career, leadership responsibilities, and motherhood, you expect the job to be the hardest part. For Laura Benarosch, it wasn’t.

After years of building high-level careers and leading teams, Laura realized the greatest stress in her life as a working mom wasn’t her workload—it was finding consistent, reliable childcare. From waitlists and caregiver turnover to returning to work just weeks after gi...

When you love your work and keep taking on more responsibility, it’s easy to believe burnout is just the price of success.

That’s exactly what happened to Nandhini Sundaram, after nearly 20 years rising through the ranks of advertising agencies to senior leadership roles. The more capable she proved herself to be, the more work landed on her plate — until exhaustion, physical symptoms, and a loss of joy made it impossible to ign...

When life feels overwhelming, it’s often because the loudest things are stealing our attention — not the most important ones.

For Joe Dillon, clarity comes from calm. After watching countless women navigate divorce, career disruption, and the mental load of parenting, Joe has seen how easily people lose focus on what truly matters — especially during major life transitions.

As the founder of Equitable Mediation Services, Joe ...

When you're doing everything right to get promoted, yet you keep getting passed over, you start to wonder if you will ever reach your career goals.

When that happened to Falguni Shah, she questioned herself and her career -- until she started asking around and realizing other women were experiencing the same thing, but her male colleagues weren't.

That's when she decided to devote her life to studying why women ar...

Martha Razo, CEO of Guero Pallets and President of the Xcelerator Business Summit, leadership didn’t come from following expectations — it came from challenging them.

By 18, Martha had left home, choosing education over traditional roles that never fit her vision. What began as a push against limitation became the foundation for a future built on independence, problem-solving, and grit.

From learning business fundamentals the...

Dr. Nelva Lee, Founder & CEO of Concrete Build Financing and candidate for Superintendent of Schools in Georgia, learned that leadership doesn’t always look like momentum — sometimes it looks like sacrifice.

During a season of homeschooling her child, Dr. Lee placed her career on the back burner, building a business quietly while prioritizing presence over progress. At the time, it felt heavy. The business wasn’t thriving ye...

Shruti Trivedi, Founder & CEO of Tulsi Heals Coaching, learned that resilience at work didn’t come from pushing harder — it came from finally allowing herself to heal.

After enduring multiple pregnancy losses, including the devastating loss of twin boys at 23 weeks, Shruti returned to work almost immediately, convincing herself that staying busy was strength. For years, she carried unprocessed grief while excelling in a dema...

Alexa DePaolo, one of Colorado’s #1 lenders and top 1% in the nation, didn’t rise by staying quiet — she rose by refusing to accept a system designed to undervalue her.

For years, she delivered record-breaking results while being told she was “ungrateful” for wanting fair pay. Behind the accolades was a culture of toxic micro-abusing — subtle control, diminished worth, and the message that success should be enough to keep her co...

For Carson Wagner, excellence in childcare didn’t come from building a business — it came from rebuilding trust in an industry where trust is everything.

Before founding Lifetime of Love Nannies, Carson spent years watching families struggle to find support they could rely on. She saw burnt-out parents trying to do it all, nannies undervalued for the heart-work they provide, and a system failing the very people it was supposed to he...

For Sarah Wallace, impact didn’t come from knowing the technology — it came from understanding the humans behind it.

In an industry driven by systems engineers and technologists, Sarah entered with a different lens: psychology, behavioral economics, and human-computer interaction. She wasn’t there to out-code anyone — she was there to bridge the gap between people and the products built for them.

As a Customer Experience Stra...

Wholeness. Bravery. Alignment.

For Ashley, success wasn’t just about leading at a high level — it was about finally feeling whole.

For years, she felt split in two: “work Ashley” and “real Ashley.” And instead of choosing between them, she built a career where she never had to.

From executive leadership to motherhood to creativity and community, Ashley chose spaces where she could show up as all of herself — not a curated ...

Freedom. Ambition. Design.

For Chandler Stroud, getting her MBA wasn’t about climbing higher — it was about living freer.

Success, for her, wasn’t defined by titles or power. It was about choice — the freedom to design a career that honored both her ambition and her family.

From long commutes to flexible work and paid maternity leave, Chandler set out to find — and create — workplaces that worked for women, not against them.

Her story ...

Bias. Balance. Empowerment.

For Nancy Griffin, success didn’t come from following the rules — it came from realizing the system wasn’t built for her.

When an executive once said, “She has a family,” to deny her an international opportunity, Nancy never even knew. Years later, she found out that decision — made for her — changed the course of her life.

But it also became the moment she decided to rewrite her story.

From one ...