Women We Should Know Podcast

From Secret Misogynist to Women’s Advocacy

Paris Cutler

In this episode Lesley is joined by Australian media personality, Paris Cutler. She shares the story of her early careers where she survived the brutalities of the patriarchal systems she faced on her journey through law to becoming the most successful of the four women on the trading floor in the Australian Stock Exchange and ultimately diving in entrepreneurialism. Paris speaks candidly of her discovery that she was “a secret misogynist” and the tough resilience required to break free from the well-trained tradition expressed by many female professionals, of being a woman in stilettos while addressing business and other women as a men do. Paris reveals to the listeners the brutal treatment she received, predominantly from women, as her entrepreneurial star rose after buying a little cake shop that made her the ‘cake maker to the stars’ and the star of one of the first baking reality TV shows to air. Now a vocal advocate for women and gender parity, Paris articulates the importance of women taking up the task of raising feminist men, in order for all of us to begin to see real change in business and society at large.

Am I Living What I Really Believe In 

Amy Conway-Hatcher

Fierce advocate, warrior career mom, bold change maker and former federal prosecutor, Amy Conway-Hatcher recently joined Lesley for a compelling conversation on women, the professional disparities they face, and daring to live what we really believe in.

Amy speaks of how women are often the frog in the pot, remaining in limiting situations out of necessity. As Amy shared with Lesley, she experienced this as a multitude of papercuts that ultimately became one too many. Asking herself the question, will I continue to let the systems change me, lead me further away from myself, or will I step out and be the change the system needs, was a profound pivot moment.

Lesley and Amy discuss the complexities of women counseling their friends, sisters, daughters to walk away from situations that make them small, while personally remaining in those very systems.

Highly insightful is Amy speaking of conversations with women her senior pointing out the conversations around women in the workplace are the same as 20-30 years ago. Amy speaks clearly about the fact that the second women in law can’t advocate for themselves within the system, they are limited in their ability to advocate for women, as a whole. This conversation between two women committed to contributing to real change will inspire and challenge the listener to take a closer look at their own situation.

Connect with Amy:

• LinkedIn
• Facebook
• Instagram
• Book

Real Talk About Publishing

Juliet Clark

Publisher, author, coach, consultant and podcaster host, Juliet Clark joins Lesley for a deep dive into the nuances of navigating from the traditional publishing world to marketing and advertising and ultimately, developing a boutique publishing company.

Juliet’s first book, which was written as a cathartic exercise during a torturous divorce, allowed her to both process the experience by murdering her husband on paper and introduced her to the, then standing, horrendous self-publishing business models of the moment. Two books and a great deal of focused research later, she was ready to launch a boutique publishing company that supports authors on many essential levels. Juliet speaks to the importance of creating a strong brand in advance of book release, so the book becomes a powerful credibility and nurture tool. She also addresses the growing focus on developing power partnerships vs just a social media presence and elaborates on the difference between the clicks gained through JV relationships and professional acceleration gained through authentic, power-sharing relationships.

Connect with Juliet on her websites www.superbrandpublishing.com & www.breakthroughauthormagazine.com.

How Women Can Speak So Men Will Listen

Elizabeth Bachman

Elizabeth Bachman recently joined Lesley to discuss her journey from actress to director, to directing over 50 operas, featuring such luminaries as Luciano Pavarotti and Placido Domingo, to forming a non-profit opera organization that supported young up and coming opera singers, to becoming THE go-to coach for professional women in leadership, to becoming a much sought-after speaker in her own right. As such, she is highly revered throughout Silicon Valley, as well as nationally and international. Elizabeth shares how this journey revealed that the skills to sell a product or company are not that different from selling a song. Learning how to be the person out front in order to build her non-profit organization taught her how to speak with authority so that both women and men would listen, skills she now passes onto high level women in tech and law. Elizabeth helps women understand how they are sabotaging themselves. One of the key points Elizabeth garnered though her many pivots was being able to ask for help without falling into the trap women fall into, of feeling like a failure because they can’t ‘do it all’ by themselves. Among the many interesting points Elizabeth discusses is understanding she’s developed by owning an international company about the difference in assumptions about how things work, based on different country cultures. Please join us for this fascinating conversation.  

Connect with Elizabeth on her website: https://elizabethbachman.com

Living a Full-Time Travel Dream

Heather Markel

Heather Markel recently joined Lesley for an exciting conversation about her bold decision to shift from successful New York executive to being a single woman living an audaciously free worldwide experience. Sharing pivotal moments in this personal journey, Heather reveals the moment of learning to navigate from her heart instead of her head, the angst of where to land first, and her discovery of a surprising number of people already living either an expat or nomadic life. Heather also shares insights from her inner journey of learning to accept help and care, after a lifetime of supreme independence. Fascinating is how she is maximizing the blessing of our current virtual world, especially since COVID, to create her new full life. Through her business coaching, development of The Expat Coach Association and The Expat Coach Directory, and now coaching people interested in making a similar shift, Heather is building a network of friends that spans the Earth. This is a conversation that is sure to inspire and entertain.

Contact Heather on various platforms:

• Instagram
• Heather’s Website
• Business Coaching
• Expat Coach Association
• Expat Coach Directory
• Facebook profile
• Facebook group
• LinkedIn

Finding Belonging as Humans

Anna McAffee

Anna McAfee recently joined Lesley for a fascinating conversation about belonging, community, purpose, and how to implement social media for good. With a passion for taking the power of implementing values from small community groups to great industry Anna shares what she learned through the development of what became a worldwide phenomenon, #LinkedinLocal. What started as a simple human idea to help people strip away the sales pitch and replace it with a heart for diversity and authenticity, Anna and her team supported people worldwide in learning the importance of how to show up in community. Join Lesley and Anna for a powerful peek into how this simple idea, based on values driven commitment, had a social impact that ranges from special focus charities to support communities for immigrants in a new country. Anna’s vision of building sustainable communities from online to offline is filling gaps in the lives of people in over 92 countries. Anna is continuing to join with global warriors to create brave conversations about how we find belonging as humans, create safe spaces, and how we can lose them, if not intentional.

Learn more about Anna at www.annamcafee.com.au.

STEM & Women as Peace Makers

Tsegga Medhin 

Lesley and Equity Accelerator, Tsegga Medhin recently shared a provocative conversation about how to be a changemaker in today’s complicated world. Tsegga shares the invitation to always Stand in Inquiry. The absence of peace right now is so vivid, across our planet, and standing in inquiry as to what is making us so violent, is a crucial point for developing understanding. Lesley and Tsegga dive into how women can be natural peacebuilders, by sharing the vast equity they have built through collaboration, across all lines. Making a difference everywhere we go by being the difference in order to build a legacy of kindness to our fellow human beings. From speaking at the UN to major major universities and other stages around the world, Tsegga encourages all with whom she speaks to access the universal value of compassion as their GPS. As a technologist she is also deeply involved in STEM education and shares how she sees this as a vehicle for leveling the equity field, referring to it as a weapon of mass connection. Her fascinating insights as to how STEM is a powerful key in resolving equity disparities has captured the fascination of leaders worldwide and will stimulate yours as well.

Learn more about Tsegga at www.thepearleadershipinstite.org.

The Power of Our Stories

Sara Burke

Lesley was recently joined by Sara Burke, International Content Expert, Speaker, Author, Mother, Wife, Dog-mom, and Bourbon Connoisseur to discuss women, business, life and the ups and downs of each that enrich and inspire us. Join them as Sara shares her own story of growing up in extreme poverty, setting her sights on entrepreneurship and placing her feet solidly on the success path, early in life. Now she empowers women to discover their own brilliance and achieve personal freedom by supporting them to tell their stories.

Sara speaks to this being the time for us to build exactly what we want in the business world, and how learning to be okay with things not always being okay is key to this accomplishment. Lesley and Sara weave through conversation on how women work differently and how learning to be excited about knowing that they can figure things out legitimizes their unique experiences.

Connect with Sara at www.hlcc.me.

Transitioning the Dialogue with Fear

Lisa Charles

Lesley recently had the pleasure of engaging in a powerful conversation about dealing with our fears with Lisa Charles, author of; Yes! Commit. Do. Live — a book of transformational change.

“If I don’t do this what will my life look like,” is the question that empowered Lisa to leave a 15-year career as a federal prosecutor to pursue her early dream of being an actor and singer. Lisa shares the fear and the breakthrough moments that fueled her successful stint in that industry, which included developing two well-received Jazz shows and twice appearing at Carnegie Hall. Neither life of fear were ready to let Lisa settle down yet. She shared with Lesley the challenges of a medical throat issue that required her to pivot her entire life, again.

Breaking the Seriousness Trap

Alaya Chadwick

Lesley sits down with Alaya Chadwick, M.Div., M.S.W. for a fun, informative and impactful conversation on how to fill our internal holes by remembering how to play. Alaya walks the listener through the experiences that caused her to become intensely serious about absolutely everything at age 8, and her ultimate emergence from those self-imposed restrictions.

Having translated all she learned from her own journey into a Master Class for clinicians, the work has touched the lives of everyday people around the globe and is now finding footing in the C-Suites of Fortune 250 and 500 companies.

The core of this conversation and Alaya’s work rests in helping individuals to learn to ‘make sense to themselves’ and to do it in a way that invigorates their lives and all that they do.

Check out Alaya’s website at www.sanctuarynh.com.

Rising From the Ashes

Angela Leigh

Angela Legh joined with Lesley to share her fascinating life story is the inspiration for the children’s book series, The Bella Santini Chronicles. Through an unimaginable cycle of life repeating itself, Angela nearly drowned at six, followed by her family home burning to the ground. Years later, her adult family home burnt to ashes in the Tubbs Wildfire, and she nearly drowned while on holiday in Portugal. She shares her journey of life forcing her to stop and examine everything she had ever thought and believed of herself to discover the authentic Angela. Channeling what she was learning for herself into a series of children’s books she presents beautiful tales that give children permission to know their feelings and use them as sources of courage, resilience and inspiration. Join Lesley and Angela for an inspiring conversation filled with nuggets for rising from your own moments of fire and water.

The core of this conversation and Alaya’s work rests in helping individuals to learn to ‘make sense to themselves’ and to do it in a way that invigorates their lives and all that they do.

For more information, visit https://angelalegh.com.

Changing Children’s Lives Through Music

Lori Williams

Claiming Our Passions, Voices, and Freedom

Wendi Kirby

Shaping Your Life-Brand

Irina Soriano

The Edge of Everyday 

Sandra Bergman

Helping Women Win the Entrepreneurial Game 

Kat Ramirez

With Grit and Grace 

Lisa DeFalco

Lesley recently sat in conversation with Lisa DeFalco to discuss how a girl from Newark, New Jersey came to found and then rise to drive a multi-million-dollar enterprise that serves companies around the world. With fierce candor Lisa shares her understanding that to succeed we must be willing to fall down, then get back up, brush off our knees and never give up on ourselves or our dream. In this engaging conversation Lisa shares her commitment to diversity within her company and gender equity as keys to innovation. She reveals that the secret to her success is having learned to listen within the quiet and teaching her team to do the same. Her passion for blending the essence of different people of both genders, multiple cultures and race and sexual orientations has helped her to build a team that knows how to thrive.

Even during the challenges of our pandemic, they were able to maintain coherence and express resilience. Lisa speaks to the ways that has them emerging with a whole new technology that she innovated, and a vigorous enthusiasm to continue to grow, individually and as a company.

Millennials on the Move

Sorché Morgan

Bringing your unique gift to the world starts with brining your whole self and curiosity. Words that Sorchè Morgan lives by and discussed in her recent conversation with Lesley. As a lifelong student, entrepreneur and gypsy, Sorché has traveled through Europe, visited Indonesia, Japan and many other industrialized and 3rd world countries. The insights Sorche’ gained from these differing cultures provided a powerful conversation about how the richness of cultural diversity informs our ability to walk through life with more grace and gratitude.

Connect with Sorchè at sorche@thehummedia.com, http://www.thehummedia.com and http://www.thehummagazine.com.

Millennials’ New Approach to Fashion Design with Sheyenne Sky

Sheyenne Sky 

Sheyenne Sky is an amazing example of how Gen-Z females are breaking barriers and company business practices that consider people and the planet, dispensable. Sky is a Diné (Navajo) fashion designer and the owner of Hozho Intl. Her collection is named after the Diné spiritual and philosophical concept, Hozho, which roughly translates to Peace, Balance, Harmony, and Beauty.

Connect with Sheyenne at Sheyenne@hozhointl.com and www.hozhointl.com.

The West as Muse for DEI

Betsy Gaines Quammen PhD

Recently, Besty Gaines Quammen PhD sat down to discuss protection of our lands from broader perspectives than Lesley had ever considered. Betsy brings into focus new understandings of the issues around the abuse of our indigenous people in respect to what was their land. She shares knowledge gained from her experiences with religious communities that feel no obligation to care for the land to militia actions intent on removing indigenous people from what little we have left to them. Betsy also reveals her personal journey that informed the dedication to merge conservation with her commitment to DEI. She has a passion for breaking down the walls that have seen our public lands, i.e. national parks etc, as being only ‘white’ spaces. Much of her forward thinking this was impacted by years spent working with women in conservation. Betsy reveals the tremendous progress that she has both participated in and witnessed when women come into collaborative focus to restore what has been damaged and build new systems rooted in respect for both the land and the people that live on it.   

Connect with Betsy at https://www.betsygainesquammen.com.

The War Against Human Trafficking

Dominique Roe-Sepowitz PhD

Are there topics that you find hard to address but know they are essential to understand?

Lesley recently spent a few hours with Dominique Roe-Sepowitz, MSW, Ph.D., a nationally recognized expert on human trafficking. Through WWSK, they are sharing some of that conversation as a means of spreading valuable insights. Join us as they discuss the enormous spread of trafficking in this country and the challenges faced by individuals like Dr. Roe-Sepowitz who are deep in the fight to create resolutions. Dr. Roe-Sepowitz also shares effective approaches for teaching our kids how to avoid becoming victims, along with access to the pamphlets she and her team created for educating parents and educators in easily identifying red flags.

Check out some of Dominique’s work on the School Sex Trafficking Prevention website: http://projectstarfish.education/.

Classical Revolutionaries

Angella Ahn

With a grandmother courageous enough to leave North Korea for South Korea as a very young women, a mother who was a journalist before many women entered the field and who ensured that her three daughters got to see every arts performance and exhibition in South Korea until moving to NYC when they were barely in their double-digits Angella Ahn was born and raised by mighty women to be her own person. In conversation with Lesley, Angella shared her journey of balancing the sensibilities she developed as the product of two dynamically different cultures, her journey to independent personhood and the adventure of rising to be recognized as one of the world’s most respected female violinists. All of this leading her to Bozeman, Montana, where she is currently Associate Professor of Violin and Viola at Montana State University and where she was named both “Most Valuable Professor” and “Professor of the Month”.

Learn more about Angella at https://www.montana.edu/music/directory/1523848/angella-ahn. 

Cultivating Steely Vulnerability

Jenna Ciralli

Have you ever dared to leap into the complete unknown to chase a dream?

This was the path of Jenna Ciralli, from the quiet prairies of Montana to NYC and back again. Lesley sat down with Jenna to discuss her life as an actress, writer. nominee for an Irene Ryan Award for her performance as Liz Morden in Timberlake Wertenberger’s “Our Country’s Good,” and founder of two NYC theater companies. Jenna credits this time with building her spine, teaching her how to produce her own work and build an artistic community.

Connect with Jenna at www.jennaciralli.com.

Audaciously Claiming Your Space

Precious Williams

From being known as the lawyer who audaciously wore bright purple and pink suits into the courtroom, to pivoting into the world of a serial entrepreneur, internationally respected speaker and corporate trainer, Precious Williams brings life, authenticity, strategy, and boldness to the conversation with Lesley today. With courageous transparency Precious speaks of her fall from grace, the years of struggle and homelessness, the challenges she met head-on as a full-figured, woman of color, to rising like the brilliant phoenix she is. Grab a tissue and join Lesley as she and Precious discuss how all of us trip and how everyone of us can, not just rise, but soar higher than we ever dreamed possible. A not to be missed conversation.

As Precious Williams askes, “Have you ever met the full-figured diva who has taken the business world by storm and won BIG?” Williams is a world class master communicator who works with successful entrepreneurs and speakers, helping them to take their professional speaking skills to the next level.

To learn more about Perfect Pitches by Precious, please visit: perfectpitchesbyprecious.com.

Film & Feminism 

Barbara Bentree 

Barbara Bentree joins Lesley to take WWSK listeners on a journey from rural Minnesota, into the heart of California’s music industry, and on to New Mexico as a budding film maker. Each longtime feminists, Barbara and Lesley bring a broad variety of topics to the conversation. Each that pointedly effect the lives of women. From ‘to mother’ or ‘not to mother’, to how we can do better for our boys so they grow into men equipped to engage in full partnerships with women, to the journey of older women who chose to have abortions during a period when it was illegal throughout most of the country. They discuss the power of film as a vehicle for educating society, lawmakers, as a tool for lawyers in court and a stage for giving voice.

Learn more about Barabara at http://www.jindojazz.com

An Improvisational Life

Pati Hernandez

“We all need rehabilitation,” is a belief that has guided Pati Hernandez’s life. Fearless curiosity about others has informed her clear understanding that “We cannot ignore our differences any more than we can ignore our privileges.” Joining Lesley, Pati discusses the value of diving into the muddiness and imperfection of life, and an examination of how we regularly contribute to the building of social walls. Considering how we can reconcile what we are internally with what we have to be out in the world, in order to survive, Pati guides Lesley and you, the audience, on the journey of a lifetime. 

Learn more about Pati’s work at https://tellingmystory.org.

Advocating for Our Planet & Future Generations 

Christi Cooper PhD

As a multi-award winning filmmaker, with an education in Neuroscience and Microbiology and sixteen years in stem cell research in Sweden, Christi Cooper PhD has a passion for making the world a better, healthier place. 

Join Lesley as Christy leads her through the journey of discovering the world of climate change. Through Christi’s story, you will receive an inside view of the courage demonstrated by those leading the charge for a commitment to change from the highest seats in, U.S. government, to include governments around the world. As Christi shares her journey, you will meet the youths who are courageously fighting for the life and wellness of the greatest female of us all. Mother Earth. Christi’s film that features the tenacity and struggles of these young advocates is titles, “Youth vs Gov.”

Connect with Christi at http://www.barrelmakerproductions.com.

Healing our Sexual and Sensual Selves 

Kristy La Mariana

On today’s podcast Lesley is joined by Kristy LaMariana as they discuss how essential it is that, as women, we connect with the power of our own sexuality. We are taught from a young age to relate, exclusively through our sexuality, be this through overt training or subtle messaging. Kristy speaks on how restrictive training around sexuality, has and is still having, a negative effect on women, which is overflowing onto men’s understanding of their own sexuality. She illustrates how we are living through a pandemic but we are also living through a porndemic. Through her beautifully judgment-free delivery Kristy shares understanding around the effects of our cultural perceptions of sexuality and how to move beyond these to develop a greater state of self-love and self-esteem.

Learn more about Kristy’s work at https://www.oflo.co.

The Art of Self-Love

Beth Ann Kennedy

Beth Ann Kennedy, Artistic Managing Director of the Bozeman Film Celebration, has been producing and directing live theatrical events since the mid 90’s throughout the USA, primarily in Washington, DC and NYC. Beth is a founding member of the Colorado Environmental Film Festival and a longtime member of SAG AFTRA. Her entrepreneurial spirit & professional contacts enabled Beth Ann to launch and manage the Bozeman International Film Festival, beginning in 2018. Under Beth Ann’s leadership, BZN Film Celebration is placing a primary focus on films about the great mother to us all, Mother Earth, and films written, directed and produced by women.

Learn more about Beth Ann at aunahil.com.

Be Greater Than Average

Dr. Shelly Gruenig

Robotics is positioned to be an essential component of our future. This is now so broadly accepted that schools in five states have programs that allow kids to letter in STEM and Robotics, the same as they do for sports. 

Lesley speaks with Shelly about her journey from stay-at-home mom to leading an internationally respected robotics team of young people who will become our future STEM leaders. 

Mentoring young people to find their spark is the match that lights Shelly’s fire. Through this fascinating conversation around the importance of helping today’s kids map out their best journey to Become Greater Than Average.

Connect with Shelly at https://begreaterthanaverage.org/about-us/.

Historical and Inter-generational Trauma

Dr. Carolyn Coker Ross

Dr. Carolyn Coker-Ross is an author, speaker and co-founder of the Institute for Antiracism and Equity which works with mental health, eating disorder and addiction treatment centers to develop and provide equitable and unbiased, culturally competent care and increase access to treatment to Black, Indigenous and other People of Color.

Carolyn joins Lesley to offer potent insights and understandings around Historical and Intergenerational Trauma, from its roots to its current generational effects.   

Learn more about Carolyn at https://www.anchorprogram.com.

Age is Just a Number

Jane Bradley

“You did a good job…for a woman” is a back-handed compliment that has followed Jane Bradley throughout her illustrious career. From opening a major Art Gallery in her early 20’s, followed by the largest Art & Crafts Supply store and framing shop in New Mexico (Santa Fe) to being recruited the University of Arkansas as the first director of the Genesis Business Incubator to becoming involved with grants and technology transfer through the Russian Military during Perestroika, to, at the ripe young age of 78, founding one of the first online networks connecting high-level professional consultants and companies seeking their services, it is fair to say Jane Bradley has lived her entire life as a wild adventurer and serial entrepreneur.

Where did Jane find the audacity to go where no women had previously dared? How does she keep reinventing herself to lead and succeed in fascinating new directions?  How did disregard the, “but women can’t…..” naysayers to maintain her excitement for cutting-edge entrepreneurialism? Join as Jane shares her secrets to success, personal strength and unwavering curiosity.

To learn more about Jane’s latest professional development, Smartspider PROS, go to SmartSpider.net.

Racial Disparity in Higher Education

Sarah Berger

Growing up in NYC, Sarah Berger was profoundly affected by the many people and cultures that welcomed her in. This was the beginning of her passion for promoting social justice and equity. 

Join Lesley as she speaks with Sarah about her journey of carrying this focus into her career at Dartmouth College. Sarah shares her respect for the challenges of many of the students she works with and the creation of greater support within the systems of higher education. Translating the continuous learning involved into practical concrete actions, Sarah Berger, is a Senior Advisor for The Health Professions Program at Dartmouth College. 

Connect with Sarah at https://www.dartmouth.edu/prehealth/about/whoweare.html.

Walking Your Right Talk

Anne Sermon Gillis

We are a country that celebrates wealth and chases money under the illusion that it is the doorway to freedom. But freedom requires an ease and confidence that touches us physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. 

Lesley is joined by Anne Sermons Gillis to discuss how, what the majority of us want is freedom from worry about money and the crippling addiction of worrying about money. Not the least of the resets we must achieve in order to experience freedom is learning balance in walking our talk. As Anne shares, “You can walk yourself into Hell walking your talk. So, we’ve got to be saying the things that support us and support others. We are in it together. Humanity is a team sport.”

Learn more about Anne at http://www.annegillis.com/subscribe.html.