Wings of Inspired Business

Women entrepreneurs are changing the game of business, stepping into our authentic feminine power and growing consciousness to start and scale great companies. Listen to Wings to learn from women who've "been there, built that" with 7, 8 and 9-figure businesses, even billion dollar Unicorns. You'll learn how to manifest the mindset, mojo and money to create, grow and scale a business aligned with what makes your heart sing. Wings is hosted by Melinda Wittstock, a 4-time serial entrepreneur, tech visionary and award-winning journalist. Melinda focuses where personal and business growth meet, her insightful interviews with inspiring female founders and businesswomen providing actionable tips to help listeners to real and tangible results. These innovators, influencers, and investors all share their success secrets, epiphanies, and practical advice on how to get the confidence, connections and capital so you too manifest the success of your dreams in life and in business.

Digital Ethics: Entrepreneur Madeleine Lambert on How Originality AI Ensures Integrity in a World of AI-Generated Content 03/31/2026

Value-Based Healthcare: Entrepreneur Shannon Decker on Innovating Access and Building A Healthier Future 03/24/2026

Value-Based Healthcare: Entrepreneur Shannon Decker on Innovating Access and Building A Healthier Future Dr. Shannon Decker is the Founder and CEO of VBC One, a consulting firm that partners with physician groups, health plans and vendors to optimize value-based care performance. With over 25 years of experience, including 17 in risk adjustment, quality and Medicare, she brings deep expertise in healthcare strategy, analytics, and operations. A published author and national speaker, Dr. Decker currently serves as a RISE fellow and on the faculty at Capella University. 🔑Key Takeaways🔑 💪❤️Proactive, Value-Based Healthcare: Learn about the shift in healthcare from a reactive "sickness" model to a proactive, preventative value-based care approach, and why this not only improves patient outcomes but also offers opportunities for innovation—especially as the industry rapidly changes. 🤔 🚀 Turning Challenges Into Opportunity: How a layoff became a launching pad for Dr. Shannon Decker, and why when doors close, it’s a signal to bring your vision, expertise and unique approach to make an entrepreneurial leap. ✨💡 Embracing Innovation Amid Change: The American healthcare industry is in flux, from new government regulations to the rise of AI and startups innovating in access and personalization. Learn how these changes signal growth opportunities—plus strategy and insights on how small and midsize health plans and provider groups navigating the shift to proactive care can best operate. 🤝 🌱 The Power of Visibility and Relationships: How to build a successful business from your previous contacts and professional networks, and why podcasts and relationship building at conferences can work miracles for finding and keeping clients. “Never burn bridges,” says Dr. Shannon, and continually share your expertise with the world. 🙏 🦄 Grace in Entrepreneurship: How to allow yourself grace when transitioning from a structured employee role to running your own business, plus the secrets of resilience, why you need to expect the unexpected, adapt to new tempos, and remember that not everything has to go as planned to be right. 🎙️Subscribe to Wings and get the full Show Notes at https://bit.ly/Wings974 More about Shannon at VBC One /episode/index/show/wingspodcast/id/40607080

PR From AI to Blockchain: Entrepreneur Victoria Vaughan on How Tech Startups Can Build Influence and Secure Funding 03/17/2026

PR From AI to Blockchain: Entrepreneur Victoria Vaughan on How Tech Startups Can Build Influence and Secure Funding Victoria Vaughan, an award-winning business leader and communication strategist, is the founder of B612, a New York–based PR agency serving high-growth technology companies. B612 clients are featured in top tier outlets such as NYT, WSJ, TechCrunch, Wired and have raised over $100m in funding in 2025. With over a decade in tech communications, Victoria previously served as CEO of the top-tier Web3 media company Cointelegraph, directly managing media strategy and operations. She was named a Best Business Owner by NYX awards’25. 🔑Key Takeaways🔑 🤖 💖 AI for PR: Learn how AI can help your business monitor trends and spot newsjacking opportunities faster than ever—while avoiding the “over-automation” trap. “Human connection now is even more important,” says Victoria, so avoid AI-generated emails and use AI instead for research and targeting, then switch to genuine, human connection for pitching journalists. 💡 🚀 Stand Out in a Noisy World: With tech giants dominating headlines, scrappy emerging tech companies can get noticed by offering authentic, data-driven stories and strong points of view. Focus on building your thought leadership with compelling narratives that highlight your expertise and unique market insights. 🎯🌍 Niche is the New Mainstream: Why the most effective PR moves isn’t always chasing a big outlet—it’s finding the right outlet. Newsletters and Substack’s are on the rise, often delivering better, more targeted results than traditional media because those audiences are loyal and deeply engaged. 🔥🛠️Build Relationships That Last: Why the gold standard in PR remains relationships—getting to know journalists, engaging with their work well before you pitch, and offering expertise proactively (even when there’s nothing in it for you). It’s a long game, but it pays off in trust and coverage when you need it most. 🎙️Subscribe to Wings and get the full Show Notes at https://bit.ly/Wings973 More about Victoria at /episode/index/show/wingspodcast/id/40509980

Revolutionizing Workplace Culture: Entrepreneur Lena McDearmid on the Power of Psychological Safety for High Performing Teams 03/10/2026

Revolutionizing Workplace Culture: Entrepreneur Lena McDearmid on the Power of Psychological Safety for High Performing Teams Lena McDearmid is the founder and CEO of Wryver, a consultancy that helps leaders create company cultures where people and performance thrive together. Previously Lena co-founded the fintech company Momnt, where she served as COO and Chief Culture Officer. With Wryver, she’s on a mission to create teams that trust each other and organizations that are future-ready in an AI world. With more than 20 years in leadership, consulting, and culture strategy, she focuses on strengthening the trust, rhythms, and structures that determine whether teams succeed or stall. 🔑Key Takeaways🔑 ✨💡 Why Culture Isn’t “Nice to Have”—It’s Everything: Company culture spells the difference between success and failure. Study after study finds that 65% of business failures can be traced back to poor culture, not product or market missteps, but to things like leadership misalignment, weak communication, or lack of psychological safety. 🤝 🤎 Purpose Not Perks: Forget the ping pong tables and free snacks. Perks aren’t culture. Culture is about how decisions get made, how disagreements are handled and how your company supports (or shames) failure. Are your team members confident to speak up and innovate or do they fear the consequences? 🌱🧠 Psychological Safety Is Non-Negotiable: To truly innovate, your team needs two big things: psychological safety and playfulness. Without trust and the freedom to fail, bold ideas won’t surface. 🔥🛠️Leaders Go First (With Vulnerability): Learn why the best leaders model mistakes, hold themselves accountable, and invite feedback. It’s not intuitive for everyone, and that’s why not everyone who’s good at their job should be leading people. You may be the CEO but you may need a Chief of Staff or a Chief People Officer. 🤖 ❤️AI Is Changing the Rules: New tools can make teams more efficient, but AI will never replace creativity, empathy, and thoughtful leadership. Now, more than ever, a people-first culture is critical to your success. 👩‍🔬 🤟 For Female Founders—A Competitive Edge: Women are naturally collaborative and are building some of today’s most successful, high-ROAS teams. The data is in—female-led companies consistently deliver higher returns, and their focus on culture is a major driver. 🎙️Subscribe to Wings and get the full Show Notes at https://bit.ly/Wings972 More about Lena at Wryver /episode/index/show/wingspodcast/id/40380420

AI for Small Business: Elizabeth Gore on Empowering 1.6 Million Women Entrepreneurs 03/03/2026

AI for Small Business: Elizabeth Gore on Empowering 1.6 Million Women Entrepreneurs Elizabeth Gore is the co-founder and president of Hello Alice, a technology company that provides access to capital, connections, and education to over 1.5 million entrepreneurs. In turn, Hello Alice’s business health engine for banks and enterprise business services helps corporations increase engagement and transactions with small businesses. Hello Alice remains steadfast in its mission to ensure that every small business owner has the resources to thrive and live their dream. Elizabeth is the host of the Yahoo Finance show “The Big Idea,” and is the small business columnist for Inc magazine. 🔑Key Takeaways🔑 💰 📈 Financial Fitness for Female Founders: How to boost your financial fitness before seeking capital, and access some of the $60 million in small business grants and loans from 92 equitable lenders from Hello Alice. 🤖 🎯 AI Adoption Is Non-Negotiable: Whether you own a tech startup or a local bakery, integrating AI isn’t just about innovation—it’s about increasing efficiency, improving financial fitness, and staying competitive. Elizabeth says, “You can’t operate a business today without it.” 💪 🦄 Resilience in the Face of "No": Elizabeth and her co-founder had over 200 rejections on their funding journey, but perseverance paid off: after some lean early rounds, Hello Alice is now profitable and thriving. The lesson? Stay frugal, be capital-efficient, and build your network before you need it. 👩‍🔬 🚀 Why Women Make Outstanding Investors (and Need to Do It More!): It’s not just about receiving capital—it’s time for women to step up as investors, fund managers, and decision-makers. 🌐✨Building Resilience, Mindset & Community: How athletics helps shape the mindset of the best entrepreneurs. Learn how to “fail forward” with the grit of a top athlete. 🎙️Subscribe to Wings and get the full Show Notes at https://bit.ly/Wings971 More about Elizabeth at Hello Alice /episode/index/show/wingspodcast/id/40295040

Scattered Media to Searchable Legacy: Entrepreneur Kristin Thomas on Amplifying Women’s Successes 02/24/2026

Scattered Media to Searchable Legacy: Entrepreneur Kristin Thomas on Amplifying Women’s Successes Kristin Thomas is the Founder of Marble Collective, an AI-powered platform transforming how women’s leadership is preserved, amplified, and discovered to make remarkable women easier to find, follow, and book, ensuring their legacies endure. Backed by 300+ women leaders, including more than 70 founding investors, Marble centralizes each leader’s media, milestones, and body of work into a living digital portfolio, redefining visibility and legacy for women everywhere. Kristin’s two-decade career in real estate and her board roles at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory and YFCA shape her mission to elevate women’s impact at scale. 🔑Key Takeaways🔑 💰 📈 Women Investing in Women: Learn how Kristin built an entire community of women who became Marble’s first investors, and why funding models for women-founded businesses must break traditional models. ✨ 🚀 Legacy Amplification Matters: Women have been “succeeding in silence” for too long. Now, a centralized and searchable place for all the digital assets and media coverage of accomplished women, ensuring their stories and expertise don’t get lost in the social media noise or buried in forgotten press releases. 🤝 👩‍💻 A New Era of Protected Networking: How Marble allows users to follow and engage with women at the forefront of industries—from science to entrepreneurship to leadership—without relying on algorithms, intrusive sales pitches, or unsolicited DMs—making meaningful connections possible while respecting time and boundaries. 📚🤖 AI-Driven Knowledge Sharing: By curating podcasts, articles, books, and lectures recommended by featured leaders, Marble isn’t just celebrating achievements—it’s creating a rich resource for inspiration and education, in turn shaping future AI training to better represent women. 🎙️Subscribe to Wings and get the full Show Notes at More about Kristin at Marble Collective /episode/index/show/wingspodcast/id/40210245

Engineer to Entrepreneur: Swati Vauthrin on Leaving Big Tech to Shape the Future of Parenting 02/17/2026

Engineer to Entrepreneur: Swati Vauthrin on Leaving Big Tech to Shape the Future of Parenting Swati Vauthrin is the Co-Founder and CEO of Recess, the parenting platform redefining how families connect, learn, and shop through community and circular commerce. A seasoned engineering leader turned mission-driven founder, Swati spent over 15 years as an engineer building and scaling products at Instagram, BuzzFeed, ESPN, and Disney—most notably leading global growth for Instagram Reels. Her inspiration for Recess came directly from her own motherhood journey. As a mom of three, Swati experienced firsthand how isolating, overwhelming, and expensive parenting can be so she’s building Recess to create the trusted, spam-free, AI-powered space she wished existed when she became a parent—where families can get real advice, find community, and shop high-quality secondhand gear safely and affordably. 🔑Key Takeaways🔑 🤝🌐 Why Purpose-Built Communities Are the Future: Why it’s time to move on from the toxicity of social media, and build community around shared interests. Recess was born from real-life parenting challenges—aiming to combine trusted advice, local connections, and sustainable recommerce in one supportive digital village. 🤖💪 Women in Tech: What’s the secret of successful women in tech? For Swati it started with curiosity and a Commodore 64, and it led her to become one of the few women innovating in engineering—the “0.1% of the 0.1%” as she puts it. ❤️ 🛠️Empathy Drives Product Success: Women engineers bring empathy as a differentiating superpower to all things code, often outperforming male counterparts by understanding the "why," not just the "what," leading to products that genuinely help people and foster strong communities. 👩‍🍼 🚀 Motherhood and Entrepreneurship: Learn what motherhood teaches about leadership, time management, personal identity, and what real work-life integration looks like—and why no two journeys as a mom or a founder are exactly alike. 🦄✨ What Makes Recess Different: Built to be “a village”, Recess focuses on community matched to your circumstances and interests, with advice, tips, and an innovative “re-commerce” feature that makes it easy to save money by passing along used products with a story, so every transaction is infused with warmth and meaning. 🎙️Subscribe to Wings and get the full Show Notes at https://bit.ly/Wings969 More about Swati at RecessParenting.App /episode/index/show/wingspodcast/id/40134960

Unapologetic Wealth for Women: Investor Marcia Dawood on Breaking Barriers to Unlock Capital for Female Founders 02/10/2026

Unapologetic Wealth for Women: Investor Marcia Dawood on Breaking Barriers to Unlock Capital for Female Founders Marcia Dawood is an early-stage investor and author of Do Good While Doing Well, TEDx speaker and host of The Angel Next Door podcast, with a new book debuting next month called Unapologetic Wealth. Marcia serves as the chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Small Business Capital Formation Advisory Committee. She is a venture partner with Mindshift Capital and the chair emeritus of the Angel Capital Association (ACA), a global professional society for angel investors. She is also an associate producer on the award-winning documentary Show Her the Money. 🔑Key Takeaways🔑 💰 🌐 The Current Investment Landscape: Learn why raising capital has become tougher than ever, especially for women and underrepresented founders. After the capital boom of 2020-2021, liquidity dried up, uncertainty spiked, and exit timelines stretched—all making it harder for startups to survive, let alone thrive. 👩‍🔬 💡 The Female Founder Advantage: Did you know women return up to 72 cents more on every invested dollar compared to men? So, what will it take for female-founded companies to overcome all the funding barriers and extra scrutiny—even though the data’s on our side? 🌱 🤝 Why Women Must Start Investing in Startups: High net worth women can change the game, but what does it take for them to shift from charity donations to funding their mission-driven sister entrepreneurs? Hint: Women need to get more comfortable talking about money, deals, and investments, and learn about the benefits of angel and venture investing. 📈 💸 Generational Wealth Transfer: Women will have more money than ever to invest. Learn about the risks of underinvestment, the need for education about wealth stewardship, and how to move from a scarcity to an abundance mindset. 🔥 🚀 Boldness Wins: Women founders often pitch conservatively, while many male counterparts swing for the fences with confidence. The message? Don’t underplay your vision or undervalue your business—be bold, ask for what you need, and own your big goals, because you are worth investing in. 🎙️Subscribe to Wings and get the full Show Notes at More about Marcia at 📚 Resources for Action : Pre-order Marcia’s new book : Listen in for real stories and advice on angel investing and how to get started. Show Her the Money: Keep an eye out for this inspiring documentary coming to streaming in March 2026 /episode/index/show/wingspodcast/id/40054120

Communities for the Neurodivergent: Synchrony Co-founders Rebecca Matchett, Brittany Moser, and Jamie Pastrano on Leveraging AI for Social Connection 02/03/2026

Salon to Software: Entrepreneur Erin Mills on When to Walk Away and Build Something Better 01/27/2026

Salon to Software: Entrepreneur Erin Mills on When to Walk Away and Build Something Better Erin Mills is a visionary serial entrepreneur, salon owner, and advocate for women’s healing and empowerment, driven by a mission to create spaces where safety, growth, and authenticity thrive. From real estate to salon stylist, Erin built her salon business, Theory Salons, to challenge the male-dominated salon industry and its often-unsafe environments, before walking away from all but one of her locations to reinvent herself as a software entrepreneur with a new technology, Flamingo Salon Software, launching later this year. Her journey of reinvention also inspired her to create the Be Brave Community and a new podcast, I Think You Should Be Brave. 🔑Key Takeaways🔑 💼 🚀 Closing Chapters, Opening Doors: The power of reinvention, and how, after seven years as a multi-salon owner in the beauty industry, Erin Mills closed all but one of her locations—a process that forced real self-reflection about identity, ego, and the drive we attach to our businesses. Her story is a powerful reminder that “letting go” can feel like the ultimate failure but often brings new freedom and clarity. 🤝✨ Lessons in Leadership and Resilience: Learn about the psychological impact of shifting gears, and why our self-worth is not tied to the tangible money and success that comes from any one venture. Erin shares how even the best leader can’t control every outcome—people leave, change happens, and that doesn’t mean you failed. 🤖📈 A Tech-Driven Future: Learn about Erin’s journey from service-based salon ownership to scalable software, and how she’s building Flamingo Salon Software, a dynamic new platform designed for salons, spas, and service-based businesses, built on her real, lived experience in the industry. Beta testing is in full swing, and a launch is planned for Q3. 👩‍🔬❤️ Balancing Marriage and Entrepreneurship: Working with a spouse? Erin shares honest thoughts on balancing roles, staying in their lanes, and cultivating strong boundaries at home and work. 🔥🦄 It’s Time to Be Brave: Erin shares how she built the Be Brave Community to help women entrepreneurs with the unique pressures of comparison, judgment, the need to constantly prove “you’re enough,” and why vulnerability gives everyone permission to show up authentically. 🎙️Subscribe to Wings and get the full Show Notes at https://bit.ly/Wings966 More about Erin at Theory Salons and Be Brave Community https://bebravecommunity.com /episode/index/show/wingspodcast/id/39895425

Personalized Ayurvedic Wellness: Serial Entrepreneur Arjita Sehti on Revenue, Resilience and AI Ethics 01/20/2026

Personalized Ayurvedic Wellness: Serial Entrepreneur Arjita Sehti on Revenue, Resilience and AI Ethics Arjita Sethi is a serial entrepreneur, physical therapist, certified yoga teacher, Ayurveda practitioner, and meditation expert, recognized as a leading voice at the intersection of AI and wellbeing. She is the founder of Shaanti, an AI-powered wellness platform creating personalized rituals rooted in Ayurveda, and New Founder School, which equips entrepreneurs with practical strategies to launch and grow sustainably. Arjita sits on the advisory board of the NASDAQ Entrepreneurial Center, teaches entrepreneurship at San Francisco State University, and has impacted hundreds of thousands of people across 40 countries through her businesses, teaching, and advisory work. A TEDx speaker, angel investor, and advocate for women in technology, she brings her philosophy of life-synced success into her work as a partner and mother. 🔑Key Takeaways🔑 📝 🤖 Ancient Meets AI: How AI enables highly personalized and holistic Ayurvedic wellness rituals, routines and practices to your unique body type and your current season of life. While Ayurveda teaches that every person is unique and needs personalized wellness routines, AI and data makes those customized health recommendations available 24/7. 🛠️🔥 Redefine Success by Your Own Metrics: After scaling then shutting down a venture-backed AI startup, Arjita made a conscious decision to bootstrap her businesses for more autonomy, sustainability, and alignment with her personal values. There is no “one size fits all” in entrepreneurship. Learn how she bootstrapped her virtual business school, grew it to $1 million in annual sales, and stayed true to her values (and wellbeing!). ❤️ 🤝 Transparency & Vulnerability Build Community: Learn how Arjita created a thriving support network for other entrepreneurs by openly sharing her struggles and learning from failure. She says: “99% of businesses might fail, but 99% of entrepreneurs don’t.” 🌱 ✨Entrepreneurship as a Spiritual Journey: Forget overnight success stories—real entrepreneurship involves failure, resilience, vulnerability, and growth. Learn the importance of self-awareness and sharing our journeys to support other women. 🎙️Subscribe to Wings and get the full Show Notes at https://bit.ly/Wings965 More about Arjita at New Founder School Special January Launch Offer: Start the year with intention! Visit to access Shanti at the launch price of $200/year. PLUS get access to Arjita Sethi’s masterclass on the foundations of Ayurveda and how to build holistic habits. /episode/index/show/wingspodcast/id/39796130

Fear to Freedom: Transformation Coach Martine Cohen on Mastering Aligned and Authentic Entrepreneurship 01/13/2026

Fear to Freedom: Transformation Coach Martine Cohen on Mastering Aligned and Authentic Entrepreneurship Martine Cohen is a transformative coach and former corporate attorney dedicated to empowering individuals to lead themselves authentically, separate their identity from their emotions and thoughts, and make choices from a place of deep inner awareness and alignment. Author of No More Layers: Discover Your Inner Power and Reclaim True Freedom From the Inside Out, Martine believes that true success comes from within, and she is passionate about guiding others to find ease, joy, and fulfillment by removing the layers that obscure their inner light. As both a lawyer and corporate leadership consultant, Martine is known for her ability to help high-achieving professionals navigate personal and professional transitions. 🔑Key Takeaways🔑 📝✨How to be a Master Communicator: Why everything starts within you, and how to reframe your inner dialogue, show up to the person not conversation topic, and engage through active listening, negotiation, and compassion. 💬💪The Antidote to Fear is Curiosity: Why fear only exists in future; not in the present. “When the brain gets curious, it forgets to be afraid. And when the brain gets curious, it leans into something rather than away from it…. fear does not exist in the present.” ❤️ 🚀 Awareness, Adventure and Alignment Drive Growth: Learn Martine’s 3-pillar process, starting each day with a check-in: get curious about your thoughts, notice what’s driving your actions, and make decisions that feel truly aligned with who you are. 🧠 💡 Success Blocks Are Layered and Unique: How women entrepreneurs often grapple with both the fear of failure and the fear of success, usually rooted in early conditioning or societal expectations. Rather than adopting a “masculine” approach to leadership and business, Martine urges women to lean into their authentic strengths—intuition, communication, multitasking, and a creative vision—for sustainable success. 🛑🔥From Crisis to Calling: Martine’s own journey was catalyzed by a traumatic brain injury. Losing her identity as a high-achieving strategist, she faced fear and darkness head-on. This led her to discover that “we’re not our brains,” and propelled her to help others transform from the inside out. 🎙️Subscribe to Wings and get the full Show Notes at https://bit.ly/Wings964 More about Martine at /episode/index/show/wingspodcast/id/39711840

Plateaus to Profits: Entrepreneur Celi Arias on Scaling With the “Grown Ass Business” Method 01/06/2026

Plateaus to Profits: Entrepreneur Celi Arias on Scaling With the “Grown Ass Business” Method Celi Arias is the CEO and Founder of The Grown Ass Business, where she guides entrepreneurs through her proprietary methodology, Key Growth Systems, to build strong business foundations. Recognized as a top coach by The Upside in 2024, Celi helps clients break free from revenue plateaus and burnout by focusing on core business principles over quick fixes. Her approach emphasizes clarity and control, optimizing essential business departments to ensure solid foundations for scaling up to seven figures and beyond. She’s busy building software to scale her own business, now in beta at Get Scale. 🔑Key Takeaways🔑 🚀 🤝 Moving from the “Messy Middle”: How to get past the “invisible ceiling” in your business and scale past the plateau. Often ambitious founders plateau because we’re told to “lean into your strengths” and stay in our zone of genius. That works—until it doesn’t. So many founders reach an invisible ceiling, and the tempting response is to just double down on what you’re already good at. But doing more of what worked before isn’t enough to create multi-seven-figure growth. Hint: the answer is never working harder, hiring more people like you, or doing more of what you’re already doing. 🌱 🔄 GAB Method: Learn the Grown Ass Business method to overcome your blind spots. It’s all about SHOWING (not just telling) you where you’re missing the mark. By visualizing the six core “growth engines” of your business, she helps founders pinpoint the weak spots—be it sales projections, marketing effectiveness, or operational systems. This approach helps solopreneurs and early-stage teams work smarter, not just harder, as they scale. 📈 💰More is not a Number: Whether you’re at six figures or scaling beyond, having clear sales projections, knowing your cycles and analyzing your financial data and other KPIs is foundational. “More” isn’t a number you can measure! 🎯 🔥Focus on Profitable, Simple Offers: Service businesses often overwhelm themselves and their prospects with too many options. Get laser-focused—2-3 clear offers with intentional, strategic pricing can make all the difference. 💪⚡Build the Right Team (and Systems): Scaling isn’t about hiring more people who are just like you. Fill the gaps in your business by mapping your blind spots and bringing in complementary skills, so all growth engines are aligned and working together. 🎙️Subscribe to Wings and get the full Show Notes at https://bit.ly/Wings963 /episode/index/show/wingspodcast/id/39625375

Red Carpets to Rest Wear: Celebrity Stylist and Entrepreneur Engie Hassan on Building Community for Women 12/30/2025

Red Carpets to Rest Wear: Celebrity Stylist and Entrepreneur Engie Hassan on Building Community for Women Engie Hassan is a celebrated red-carpet fashion stylist turned CEO and Founder of The Revelist, a membership community to help women in midlife feel better about themselves. An alum of Vogue, French Vogue, Teen Vogue and Numero, Engie is a sought-after arbiter of taste and a go-to connector, helping clients broker meaningful alliances with the who’s who of the fashion industry in the U.S., Europe and across the Arab world. Tastemakers such as Anna Wintour have lauded Engie for her vision for clients and the late Karl Lagerfeld singled out her eye for accessories. From The Oscars to the SAG Awards, Hassan dresses some of the most glamorous women and men in the world, and as a Style Commentator she has hosted red carpet style interviews and offered insights for ET Arabia, InStyle, NBC, Vogue Arabia, Grazia Middle East, Conde Nast Travel, The Express, The NJ Morning Show and many others. Engie has also styled music videos for Zach Matari (Fl!p it), Lauryn Hill, Tony Nominee Joshua Henry (Grow!), Jackie Nese, Frances Rose, Lily Massie, Mikel James, Deanna Demola and Young GVD. She’s also worked as a personal stylist for Orlando Bloom, Miranda Kerr, Lady Gaga, Kanye West, Andre Holland, Amir Arison and more. 🔑Key Takeaways🔑 ✨🔥 Celebrity Stylist to Community Builder: From a personal shopper to red carpet celebrity stylist, Engie shares her entrepreneurial path and purpose helping women navigate major transitions—career changes, perimenopause, and even postpartum—through her new venture, the Revelist. ❤️💬 What You Wear Matters More Than You Think: How years of seeing women transform emotionally through styling led Engie to a powerful insight: feeling good in our clothes can spark real internal change, build confidence, and help us reach new heights. 👩‍🔬 🚀 The Power of Women’s Communities: Women facing major life changes crave a safe, relatable space to talk openly. That’s why the Revelist is all about connection—both online (with a newsletter reaching 250,000 women!) and now increasingly in-person, with retreats and wellness events. 💡 🎯 Actionable Styling Tips (No Big Budgets Needed!): Styling doesn’t have to be expensive or overwhelming. The golden rule on rebuilding your closet and confidence, at any price point? Start by getting clear on your goals, shop your closet first, and always use a good tailor. 🎙️Subscribe to Wings and get the full Show Notes at https://bit.ly/Wings962 More about Engie at The Revelist /episode/index/show/wingspodcast/id/39564330

Scaling Pediatric Therapy: Entrepreneur Luba Patlakh on Resilience and Navigating Uncertain Times 12/23/2025

Scaling Pediatric Therapy: Entrepreneur Luba Patlakh on Resilience and Navigating Uncertain Times Luba Patlakh, a passionate and dedicated speech language pathologist, is the founder and director of Kidology, Inc., a pediatric practice specializing in speech, occupational therapy, physical therapy, and ABA services. With over 15 years of experience in the field, Luba's expertise and compassion have shaped her approach to child development. She has built a thriving private practice over the past decade, where her innovative and client-centered approach has empowered families to help their children achieve significant milestones in speech and development. Her deep commitment to fostering inclusive and community-rooted services has earned her recognition as a winner of the Entreprenista 100 Award, and in 2024, she was named to the Inc. 5000 list for growing her business at an impressive rate. 🔑Key Takeaways🔑 🚀 🛠️Scaling Secrets: Why resilience, constant learning, and adaptability drive growth, and how Luba scaled her pediatric therapy business from a solo practice to nearly $4 million in annual revenue in 10 years. “Once you have a stable process, it’s repeatable—that’s where scalability comes from.” ❤️✨Mission Always Comes First: Despite healthcare and education funding cuts and insurance reimbursement hurdles, Luba’s commitment to her team and to underserved families has never wavered. “Everyone here has to have the heart for it—you’re not just here for the money, but it is still a business.” 📉 💪Navigating Turbulence: Individualized Education Plans (IEPs) are vital for more than 7.5 million American children, yet Kidology must grapple with insurance cuts and delayed reimbursements to keep doors open for the families who need its services most. Luba’s top tip? Get smart with finances, diversify service offerings, and always, always put people first. 🎙️Subscribe to Wings and get the full Show Notes at https://bit.ly/Wings961 More about Luba at Kidology Inc Listen to Luba’s podcast, The Growth Lab /episode/index/show/wingspodcast/id/39514580

Living Longer, Better: Longevity Entrepreneur Leslie Kenny on Innovating the Anti-Aging Vitamin Primeadine 12/16/2025

Real Estate Empire: “Selling the Hamptons” Bianca D’Alessio on Resilience, Confidence and Mastering Sales 12/09/2025

Real Estate Empire: “Selling the Hamptons” Bianca D’Alessio on Resilience, Confidence and Mastering Sales Bianca D’Alessio, star of HBO Max’s acclaimed series Selling The Hamptons, is recognized as the top real estate broker in both New York City and New York state. Bianca founded one of the top real estate brokerage teams in the United States, where she manages a $10 billion international real estate portfolio. Having rebuilt her career through adversity, Bianca attributes her success to the art of mastering intention. Author of Mastering Intentions: 10 Practices to Amplify Power and Lead with Lasting Impact, she emphasizes the vital synergy between personal branding and business culture, advocating for the transformative power of manifestation, mindset control, and resilience in achieving exceptional success across all facets of life. Bianca is regularly featured on Fox Business News, CNN, Bloomberg, Mansion Global, and Forbes, and she has a weekly real estate column in Money Magazine. 🔑Key Takeaways🔑 ✨💡 Confidence and Authenticity Matter: Bianca’s success didn’t happen overnight. She emphasizes that confidence—especially in sales—comes from doing the self-work and learning to value your unique strengths. Sales isn’t about being “smarmy”; it’s about authentic connection, empathy, and understanding your client’s true desires. ✨❤️ The Power of Intentional Living: After pushing herself to the brink, Bianca realized a balanced life fuels even greater business success. When she made time for relationships, fun, and self-care, not only did she “glow up” personally, but her business thrived too. Perfectionism can limit innovation, while vulnerability and intention create lasting impact. ✨🦄 Redefining Success & Embracing Failure: Learn how to move away from comparison and “aspirational” metrics because true growth comes from competing with yourself, learning quickly from failures (rather than fearing them), and giving your team permission to innovate—even if that means making mistakes. ✨💰 $11k to $10 Billion: What it takes to overcome self-doubt, imposter syndrome, and redefining what it means to “sell”—understanding people at a deep level and having the confidence to lead them through their biggest life decisions. ✨📈 Real Estate Outlook: Rising costs, low inventory, and creative ways to build wealth even when the “dream home” feels out of reach. Whether you’re a buyer, seller, or real estate fan, Bianca’s shares to help you see new possibilities. 🎙️Subscribe to Wings and get the full Show Notes at https://bit.ly/Wings959 More about Bianca at BiancaDalessio.com https://www.biancadalessio.com /episode/index/show/wingspodcast/id/39336365

Authenticity in an AI World: PR Maven Nicole Rodrigues on Building a Trustworthy Brand in a Polarized, Uncertain Times 12/02/2025

Authenticity in an AI World: PR Maven Nicole Rodrigues on Building a Trustworthy Brand in a Polarized, Uncertain Times Nicole Rodrigues is the CEO and Founder of NRPR Group, the Beverly Bills public relations and marketing machine serving game changing companies from entertainment to tech around the world. NRPR focuses on building relationships that build long-lasting ties between clients, the media and their audiences. From startups to Fortune 500 companies within consumer tech, FinTech, HealthTech, enterprise, mobile, digital entertainment, lifestyle, sports, and consumer products, NRPR prides itself on a high-touch, results-focused approach to boost their clients’ bottom line. 🔑Key Takeaways🔑 🔥 📝 PR as an Insurance Policy: In an age of AI deepfakes and viral scandals, its vital to be proactive and start creating and curating a steady flow of positive, authentic leadership content across your platforms, so you have a strong track record to counteract any attacks or fakes that threaten to damage your brand. ✨🤖AI is Productivity Hack Not a Job Replacer: Learn how AI can boost team productivity and eliminate “busywork”—think streamlined brainstorming and better workflow—for marketing and other tasks, while leaving room for the irreplaceable human touch in building authentic relationships and strategy. Hint: Use AI as your “intern,” not your strategy. 🎭 👩‍🔬 The Authenticity Dilemma: Authenticity does not require “radically transparency”. Be yourself, but avoid venting political or divisive opinions as a CEO. Protect your brand—choose when, where, and how you show your values. 🚀 🤝 The Power of Thoughtful Human Connection: From handwritten thank-you notes to in-person meetups—what’s old is new (and so effective) again. Taking the time to engage personally and meaningfully has never mattered more in a digital world that can feel disconnected. 🛠️💪Quick Takeaways & Action Steps: Start building positive, authentic content about you and your business now—think of it as your online “armor” Leverage AI as your creative assistant, not your boss Thoughtful, selective in-person connections are more powerful than ever CEOs and founders: keep your personal and business brands strategic, aligned, and intentionally public 🎙️Subscribe to Wings and get the full Show Notes at https://bit.ly/Wings958 More about Nicole at NRPR Group https://www.nrprgroup.com/ /episode/index/show/wingspodcast/id/39234940

Gratitude & Giving Back: Winery Entrepreneur Maria Castellucci Moore on Navigating Change and Uncertainty 11/25/2025

Gratitude & Giving Back: Winery Entrepreneur Maria Castellucci Moore on Navigating Change and Uncertainty Maria Castellucci Moore is the founder of the boutique winery and real estate business, Castellucci Napa Valley. She’s also a multi-award-winning author of the children’s book series Traveling Mindfulness, including Vivian in Paris and Sophia in Rome, and winner of the Gold Mom's Choice Award. First-generation American and mother to four children, Maria is also a board member of the San Francisco Opera Guild and Napa Valley's Ambassador to Charitable nonprofit organization, Roots of Peace— an organization that demines war torn lands and plants fruit orchards and vineyards worldwide. Maria also received the 2023 Most Intriguing Award for Napa Valley. 🔑Key Takeaways🔑 🍷🌱 Navigating Challenges: Pressures facing the wine industry, from shifting consumer tastes and competition from seltzers and European wines to reduced Napa tourism and a changing luxury market, how both hospitality and agriculture are feeling the economic squeeze, and creative strategies for weathering economic storms. ✨💡 Purpose Beyond Profit: Why diversifying your interests beyond building your business to also focus on positive social impact builds your resilience, joy and happiness. Maria shares her involvement with organizations like Roots of Peace and the San Francisco Opera Guild. 🤎 🤝 Immigration & Community: the critical role of hardworking migrant workers in agriculture, and the impact of the Trump Administration’s anti-immigrant roundups on the California wine business. ✈️ 📚 Traveling Mindfulness – A Creative Journey for Kids: Maria’s shares her inspiration for the children’s book series, which blends the joy of travel with mindfulness, inviting kids to use their senses to find their unique happiness in Paris, Rome, London, and beyond. 🔥🛠️Advice for Entrepreneurs: Stay hungry, stay curious, stay creative. In uncertain times, its vital to grow, pivot, and diversify. Maria reminds us: “If you’re not growing, you’re going backwards.” 🎙️Subscribe to Wings and get the full Show Notes at https://bit.ly/Wings957 More about /episode/index/show/wingspodcast/id/39165500

Raising Debt-Free College Grads: Entrepreneur Shellee Howard on College Prep and Empowering Kids for Self-Discovery 11/18/2025

Raising Debt-Free College Grads: Entrepreneur Shellee Howard on College Prep and Empowering Kids for Self-Discovery Shellee Howard is the Founder and CEO of College Ready and CR Future Now, a Certified Independent College Strategist, and a best-selling author. A member of HECA and SOFA, she helps students gain admission to their best-fit colleges—often debt-free. As a mother of four, Shellee has firsthand experience with college success. Her son graduated debt-free from Harvard, earned his MD from UCSD, and is now an Orthopedic Surgery Resident at UCLA. Her daughter earned her BSN debt-free and became an RN in 2021. A sought-after speaker and consultant, Shellee has guided hundreds of students worldwide to top universities, ensuring they graduate debt-free and land jobs they love. Shellee also hosts the podcast, Parents: Is Your Teen College Ready? 🔑Key Takeaways🔑 🌱🤔 Start Early, Self-Discovery Comes First: Why college prep should start in middle school, with parents guiding their kids to reflect on their interests, strengths, and values. Learn how to help your kids figure out who they are before choosing what to study with a mix of community service, internships, and real-world conversations with professionals. 💸 🎯 A Strategic (Not Emotional) Path to College: Why it’s not about chasing school prestige or following the crowd. The best path involves empowering students to build standout resumes, match with colleges that value their unique qualities, and—most importantly—graduate without crushing student loans. 🎓💡 Scholarships (and How to Win Them): One of Shellee’s most compelling stats: her seniors earned over $10 million in scholarships last year alone. Her secret? Treat the process like building a business—from early planning, crafting applications, and strategically picking colleges that want to reward your child’s excellence. 👩‍💼 🛠️ For Young Entrepreneurs and Non-Traditional Paths: Not every student is destined for the Ivy League—or even a traditional four-year college. Learn how to explore all options, including trade schools and entrepreneurial ventures. There is no “one size fits all” path to success. ✨🤖 How AI Is Impacting College Decisions: How to best prepare your teen for an AI world, why teaching nimbleness, flexibility and resilience is key. 🎙️Subscribe to Wings and get the full Show Notes at https://bit.ly/Wings956 More about Shellee at College Ready Plan /episode/index/show/wingspodcast/id/39075845

Reinventing Photography: Entrepreneur Jennifer Tsay on Empowering Creatives with a Pay-Per-Photo Model 11/11/2025

Reinventing Photography: Entrepreneur Jennifer Tsay on Empowering Creatives with a Pay-Per-Photo Model Jennifer Tsay is the CEO and Co-Founder of the professional photography platform Shoott, which uniquely offers free photoshoots where clients only pay for the photos they love. Shoott operates in over 60 U.S. cities, supporting more than 750 freelance photographers with supplemental income, and maintain a 4.9 rating on Google across 2400 reviews and counting. With a diverse background in investment banking, strategic finance, project management, documentary film producing, and acting, Jennifer combines her passion for process with her love of art and storytelling to manage growth, strategy, and operations for Shoott. You may know Jennifer from her acting gigs on The Other Two, High Fidelity, The Village, The Blacklist, and Bored to Death as well as spots for Citi, AT&T Wifi, Samsung, Geico, and Manhattan Mini Storage. Jennifer is a Forbes #Next1000 entrepreneur and one of Brit + Co's 30 AAPI Founders We Love to Support, and recently appeared on Entrepreneur.com's Elevator Pitch Season 11. 🔑Key Takeaways🔑 🚀 📷 Disruptive Business Models Drive Growth: Learn how free photoshoots that let customers pay for the shots they love benefit consumers and creatives alike, allowing photographers to earn a steady income, find clients, and conserve their time. 🤟💰Solving the Artist Gig Dilemma: How photographic artists and gig workers can escape the feast-or-famine cycle with a platform that aggregates demand and creates accessible sessions in centralized, scenic locations, for steady income that supplements the work of talented photographers. 🦄 🎯 The 14-Day Rule: How to master lean, efficient marketing that gets results by testing quickly, abandoning things that don’t work after 14 days, avoiding the impulse to get “stuck on theory” and trust your own data over fads. Plus, why chasing marketing trends isn’t always best. 🎭📈 Acting to Investment Banking: How Jennifer’s diverse experiences shape how she’s building Shoott, blending creativity with data-driven problem solving. 🌍💡Scaling from NYC to 60 Cities (and Counting!): Learn how to navigate a double-sided marketplace, turn challenges into growth opportunities, hire remotely, and expand into new markets. 🎙️Subscribe to Wings and get the full Show Notes at More about Jennifer at /episode/index/show/wingspodcast/id/38991265

Cannabis Opportunities: Entrepreneur Wendy Bronfein on Funding, Franchises and Scaling Wellness 11/04/2025

Reinventing Healthcare: Entrepreneur Chelsea Ryckis on Overcoming “The Big Lie” to Rethink Employer Benefits and Lower Costs 10/28/2025

Reinventing Healthcare: Entrepreneur Chelsea Ryckis on Overcoming “The Big Lie” to Rethink Employer Benefits and Lower Costs Chelsea Ryckis is the award-winning founder and president of Ethos Benefits, a firm dedicated to advancing fiduciary-driven health insurance strategies for employers nationwide to eliminate fraud, waste, and abuse from employer healthcare plans while increasing savings for both employers and their employees. After suffering a traumatic brain injury as a Division 1 college athlete, Canadian-born Chelsea experienced the US healthcare system firsthand, inspiring her pioneering entrepreneurship in healthcare. Chelsea was awarded the industry’s most prestigious award, Advisor of the Year, by Benefits Pro in 2024. She has also been named the Most Innovative Healthcare Consultant in the United States for 2024. Chelsea is the co-host of the Ethos Effect Podcast with her husband Donovan and producer of the documentary “It’s Not Personal, It’s Just Healthcare.” 🔑Key Takeaways🔑 💰 📈 Misaligned Incentives Are Driving Up Costs: Traditional brokers work on commission, meaning they earn more when your company pays more. Always ask your vendors, brokers, and consultants, “How are you paid? What incentives shape your advice?” 💡🛑 Transparency Is Possible—But Not From the Big Players: Most major carriers bundle all aspects of the health plan in a “closed box,” preventing employers from seeing claim-level data or understanding actual costs. By unbundling and using fee-based advisors, employers can regain control and thoroughly understand where their dollars are going. 🚀 🤝 Employers Have More Power Than They Think: 60-65% of Americans get insurance through work, yet most companies don’t realize they can drive change. Simple steps like questioning your broker’s incentives and exploring open-box plan options can lead to substantial savings and better employee care. ✨🛠️Smaller groups can save, too: Even with as few as 10 employees, innovative options exist—Chelsea shared a client success who saved $110,000 with just 22 workers. 🎙️Subscribe to Wings and get the full Show Notes at https://bit.ly/Wings953 More about Chelsea at Ethos Benefits /episode/index/show/wingspodcast/id/38808575

More Heads to Turn: Entrepreneur Kate Assaraf on Growing A 7-Figure Sustainable Hair Care Without Amazon or Advertising 10/21/2025

More Heads to Turn: Entrepreneur Kate Assaraf on Growing A 7-Figure Sustainable Hair Care Without Amazon or Advertising Kate Assaraf is a serial entrepreneur and the founder and CEO of Dip Sustainable Hair Care, building a 7-figure beauty brand without Amazon, big-box retailers, or influencer gimmicks. Kate is also a Forbes columnist, and a mom of two who proves that entrepreneurship and motherhood can coexist without burnout—by prioritizing presence, purpose, and smart business choices. Kate has been featured in Allure, Cosmopolitan, Modern Salon, and The Unwash, was named NJ’s Mompreneur of the Year (2024), and was honored as a “Woman of Courage” by Insigniam Quarterly. She’s passionate about helping other moms in business build profitable brands without sacrificing their families, values, or sanity. 🔑Key Takeaways🔑 🔥✨Dare to Be Different: When everyone zigged, Kate zagged, rethinking the beauty playbook. She said no to Amazon, no to advertising, and no to paid influencer marketing, and instead let truly delighted customers become the voice of her growing 7-figure brand. 💡 🚀 Product Over Hype: Tired of the “plastic-free at all costs, performance be damned” narrative and marketing tactics that overwhelmed consumers, Kate obsessed over making a product so good it always “overdelivered,” turning skeptics into passionate advocates—her return rate is just 0.006%! 🌱 💰 Sustainable Growth, Real Impact: Learn how slow, meaningful and sustainable growth can mean bigger profits, and how to make sustainability profitable: Kate hires locally, gives back to causes, and fosters a business culture that truly respects employees and customers. 👩‍🔬❤️ Mompreneur Mindset: How to balance motherhood with mission-driven entrepreneurship without burning out. 🎙️Subscribe to Wings and get the full Show Notes at https://bit.ly/Wings952 More about Kate at Dip Already /episode/index/show/wingspodcast/id/38725495

Conscious Entrepreneurship: Lauren Morgan on Co-Creation and Tuning Into Your Business’s Unique Energy 10/14/2025

Insider IRS Secrets: Sherry Peel Jackson on Protecting and Growing Wealth in Uncertain Times 10/07/2025

Insider IRS Secrets: Sherry Peel Jackson on Protecting and Growing Wealth in Uncertain Times Dr. Sherry Peel Jackson is a retired IRS agent, CPA, and Certified Fraud Examiner who’s helped over 100,000 professionals legally reduce taxes and build lasting wealth. With over 35 years of experience, she’s the creator of the KPG System—a proven method to Keep, Protect, and Grow your income without risky investments. She’s also the author of How To Escape The Rat Race and a passionate speaker empowering people to take control of their finances and create generational wealth. 🔑Key Takeaways🔑 💰 📈 What the IRS Doesn’t Want You to Know: Learn the inside secrets of how to reduce your tax burden—from write-offs you never knew existed to paying your children, plus the story of “Chesty Love” and how she succeeded writing off a breast augmentation. Plus, how to audit-proof your business from the get-go. 💪 🚀 From Whistleblower to Wealth Coach: How to turn pain into purpose, and what inspired Sherry to walk away from the IRS and create a mission-driven business dedicated to helping others escape financial traps. 👩‍🔬 🌱 How Women Entrepreneurs Can Build Legacy Wealth Without Overworking or Overspending: Why women need a new financial playbook—and how they can grow wealth without burnout, reclaiming work-life balance. Learn Sherry’s KPG System to Keep, Protect, and Grow income and wealth. 🔥✨ Escaping the Rat Race: The 3 most important moves you can make this year to start building financial freedom and generational wealth, even if you’re drowning in taxes, debt or limited income. 💼 🤝 Lawsuit Protection and Legal Risk: The U.S. business environment is litigious, so learn how to structure your business to protect personal assets, how to use family limited partnerships and trusts as protective tools, plus examples of complex corporate structures by wealthy individuals. Also, the inside skinny on how to protect yourself from challenging employment laws. ⚡📚 Your Business Structure Matters: The way you set up your business can make or break your risk exposure. Sherry shares that corporations often provide better protection for your personal assets than LLCs, especially in a litigious environment like the U.S. 🌍💡 Prepare for Uncertainty—Diversify & Protect: The importance of ‘structuring your business—and personal finances—to weather economic and political storms, plus why now is the time to invest in hard assets (real estate, gold, silver, even global property) and always having a ‘Plan B’ in case of major market shifts. 🎙️Subscribe to Wings and get the full Show Notes at More about Sherry at Sherry Peel Jackson https://sherrypeeljackson.com/ /episode/index/show/wingspodcast/id/38492545

Robots for the Future: Entrepreneur Jenny Young on Empowering Kids’ Creativity Through Hands-On Robotics Development 10/01/2025

Females in Franchising: Entrepreneur Brittney Lincoln on Helping Women Scale Brands and Take Locations from 1 to 100 09/23/2025

Females in Franchising: Entrepreneur Brittney Lincoln on Helping Women Scale Brands and Take Locations from 1 to 100 Brittney Lincoln is the CEO and Founder of Females in Franchising, a dynamic platform dedicated to empowering women in the franchising industry. With over 13 years of experience spanning home services, beauty, and medical franchises, Brittney has built a reputation as a connector, educator, and strategist in the franchising world. She is passionate about providing a space for women to collaborate, learn from industry experts, and grow both personally and professionally. Her expertise lies in helping business owners understand franchising, scale their brands, and take their locations from one to 100. She’s also a partner in Limitless Franchise Growth, a franchise sales organization (FSO). 🔑Key Takeaways🔑 ✨🤝 Why Community Matters in Franchising: Franchising can be isolating for women—whether you’re a franchisee, franchisor, or vendor. While other industries offer executive women robust networks, franchising often leaves women searching for peers who truly understand the unique challenges of this “not-quite-corporate, not-quite-entrepreneurship” field. 💡🚀 Franchising: Is It For You? Whether you’re dreaming of scaling your own brand or exploring business ownership through franchising, learn what it really takes to turn a business into a franchise, how to avoid common mistakes, leverage must-have systems for success, plus how to find—and vet—the right franchise for you. 💼 ⚡Roadmap for Aspiring Franchisees & Owners: Why profitability and repeatability are king when thinking about franchising your business. Plus, systems, documented processes, and team support are musts if you want to scale and support franchisees successfully. And if you’re looking to buy a franchise? Seek a reputable franchise consultant to find the right fit for your goals and lifestyle. 🧠✨ The Mindset Shift: Why abundance, not scarcity, powers women’s success—and how Females in Franchising is setting a culture where women “don’t compete, we complete each other.” 👩‍🔬 📈 Females in Franchising: Learn all about Brittany’s new community platform (now with a waitlist!)—designed to foster authentic connections, mentorship, collaboration, and resource-sharing just for women in franchising. Think: in-depth peer groups, a community-driven job board, and expert-led “mentorship minutes” calls. 🎙️Subscribe to Wings and get the full Show Notes at https://bit.ly/wings-948 More about Brittney at /episode/index/show/wingspodcast/id/38322615

Surviving to Thriving: Entrepreneur Christine Fruehwirth on AI and a Job Market in Flux 09/16/2025

Surviving to Thriving: Entrepreneur Christine Fruehwirth on AI and a Job Market in Flux Christine Fruehwirth is the CEO and Founder of FlexCareers Consulting, and with more than 20 years of career counseling and life coaching experience, she helps college grads land jobs and stay-at-home parents return to the workplace. She’s a passionate advocate for technology, and helps students and “re-launchers” alike hone their skills for the new “AI Age”, including creative problem solving and entrepreneurial skills. A former career consultant and instructor of a Career Management Strategy course at George Washington University, and most recently Georgetown University, developed an expertise in helping undergraduates of all majors recruit for and successfully obtain internships and full-time positions in the financial services industry, where she previously spent a decade focused on consumer and later investment banking at America, Capital One, Wells Fargo, and Lending Tree. Christine is also the author of Surviving Life’s Storms and Thriving in the Aftermath. 🔑Key Takeaways🔑 🚀 📈 Find Your Inner Entrepreneur: Why it’s necessary in the new “Age of AI” to develop problem-solving skills (not just being a “problem identifier”), build a personal brand that reflects your values, interests, and skills, and develop networking strategies and interview skills. 🤖💡Boost Your AI Proficiency: Everyone’s talking about the jobs AI will eliminate, but at the same time, every company needs people who are proficient in AI, from prompts to tools to creating AI systems. Now is the time to take some AI courses. 💼 👥 Rebuild Your Network if You’re a Re-Launcher: For women returning to work after having a child or any other prolonged absence, its vital to make LinkedIn your best friend to connect and reconnect, build an entrepreneurial “flexible work” strategy and professionalize any volunteer or board work as you update your technical skills. ✨💪Adaptability & Mindset Are Everything: Whether you’re starting your career or returning after a break, being adaptable, continuously learning, and shifting your mindset from “problem identifier” to “problem solver” is essential to growth and opportunity. 🛠️👩‍🔬 Technical & Relationship Skills Go Hand-in-Hand: Staying current with technology (especially AI tools) is critical, but so is strengthening your networking and relationship-building skills. Businesses are built on trust, collaboration, and personal connection—qualities that never go out of style. 🤝 🌱 There's No One "Right" Path: Whether through entrepreneurship, upskilling, or redefining your career path entirely, building a fulfilling professional life today means being open to unconventional journeys. Colleges may not be fully prepared for this shift—so it’s up to everyone to create and seize your own opportunities. 🎙️Subscribe to Wings and get the full Show Notes at https://bit.ly/wings-947 More about Christine at /episode/index/show/wingspodcast/id/38236350

Raising VC for Early-Stage AI: Lindsey Mignano on Challenges, Trends and Opportunities for Female Founders 09/09/2025

Raising VC for Early-Stage AI: Lindsey Mignano on Challenges, Trends and Opportunities for Female Founders Lindsey S. Mignano is the founder of SSM Legal, an entrepreneurial Silicon Valley corporate lawyer representing emerging technology companies and industry-adjacent firms and small businesses. Her practice spans technology company business formation and expansion into US markets, M&A (flips, entity or asset sales), commercial and technology transactions, and venture financing. Lindsey has been recognized as a “Rising Star” by Super Lawyers every year from 2016-2024, an honor awarded to only 2.5% of attorneys under the age of 40. In 2025, she was awarded the Super Lawyers distinction for the first time at the age of 40, an honor awarded to only 5% of attorneys. Separate from her law practice, Lindsey speaks often about diversity issues in the fields of law, tech, and venture. In 2023, Lindsey founded Venture Betches, a venture fund of funds, and Syndicate Betches, a real estate syndicate fund of funds, both with a social justice mission to bring investment opportunities to historically underrepresented accredited limited partners who identify as female and/or BIPOC/minorities. 🔑Key Takeaways🔑 💰 🚀 Fewer Early-Stage Deals, But Bigger Checks for the Chosen Few: While overall early-stage investment (seed & Series A) is down sharply, those who do close are raising larger rounds. AI startups are a bright spot—median deal size for early-stage AI is $4.6M vs. $3.5M in other sectors. 🛠️🔥The Funding Bar Is Higher Than Ever: VCs are pickier, demanding traction, ARR, and “proof” even at seed stage. This can be a real Catch-22 for founders who need funding to hit those milestones. 👩‍🔬🛑 The Gender Gap Persists—And Is Widening: Female founders face staggering disparities in deal count and dollars. In 2025, only 5.3% of all deals went to all-female teams, and a shocking 0.8% of total venture dollars. The dynamic is especially tough for solo women founders in technical AI, who often face pressure to take on male CTOs and cede equity to “pass” the VC filter. ✨💡 Tips for Women and Diverse Founders: Feeling daunted? Seek out emerging venture managers and female-run funds for your first checks—but be mindful of not being pigeonholed at the next funding stage. Build authentic relationships with decision-makers (not just associates). Don’t hesitate to get creative about showcasing traction, even with limited resources. Find legal and business partners who share your values and play the long game. 🎙️Subscribe to Wings and get the full Show Notes at https://bit.ly/wings-946 More about Lindsey at /episode/index/show/wingspodcast/id/38140890

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