2B Bolder Podcast : Career Growth and Insights from Women in Business, Tech & Sports

How do you change careers when your job looks perfect on paper but feels wrong? In Episode 162 of the 2B Bolder Podcast, host Mary Killelea talks with Ashley Stahl, career coach, two-time TEDx speaker, bestselling author of You Turn, and CEO of Wise Whisper Agency. Ashley left counterterrorism work at the Pentagon after realizing she had built a future that didn’t fit. She turned a side skill in job searching into a career in coaching, speaking, and entrepreneurship.

Ashley explains how to make a career change when you feel stuck, and how to job search in an AI-driven market without panic. She shares why chasing a fast answer backfires, how to move from fear back to alignment, and how to “notice what you’re noticing.” Her core advice for finding your career path is simple: don’t do what you love, do what you are. Separate your hobbies and interests from the natural gifts you’re meant to use at work.

Mary and Ashley also cover personal branding for women in business and tech. They discuss how to find original ideas for a signature talk, how to land a TEDx talk, and what AI can’t replace in public speaking: conviction, humanity, and a story with real stakes. Ashley also talks about building visibility when self-promotion feels uncomfortable.

🎧 Subscribe to the 2B Bolder Podcast for more conversations like this. Share this episode with a friend who’s mid-pivot, and leave a review so more women can find the show.

Connect with Ashley: ashleystahl.com | wisewhisperagency.com

The best careers rarely follow a straight line. They evolve through curiosity, calculated risks, unexpected opportunities, and the courage to keep moving forward, even when the destination isn't clear.

In this episode of the 2B Bolder Podcast, host Mary Killelea sits down with Tracey Miller, co-owner and Managing Partner of 9iFX, an award-winning creative visual studio that helps some of the world's most recognizable brands tell unforgettable stories through visual effects, animation, immersive experiences, and cinematic storytelling.

But this conversation isn't just about visual effects—it's about building a career with intention, embracing uncertainty, and creating opportunities instead of waiting for them.

Tracey shares the unconventional path that led her from backpacking through South America at 18 to graduating into the 2008 financial crisis, launching an entrepreneurial venture, earning a Fulbright Scholarship to complete her MBA in Madrid—in Spanish—and ultimately co-founding 9iFX with her husband. Her journey is a powerful reminder that resilience, adaptability, and a willingness to take thoughtful risks often lead to the most rewarding careers.

Mary and Tracey also explore what it really takes to grow a creative business—from balancing entrepreneurship with marriage and leadership to hiring employees, building client relationships, and navigating the realities of running a studio in an industry that's constantly evolving.

The conversation also dives into one of today's biggest topics: AI and the future of creativity. Tracey shares her perspective on how artificial intelligence is changing visual storytelling, where it creates new opportunities, and why human creativity, taste, collaboration, and craftsmanship remain essential. Together, they discuss the growing importance of originality, copyright, client trust, and creating work that genuinely connects with people.

Whether you're building your career, considering entrepreneurship, leading a creative team, or wondering how AI will reshape the future of work, this episode offers practical insights and inspiration for embracing change with confidence.

In this episode, you'll discover:

•  Why the most fulfilling careers are rarely linear 
•  How curiosity and calculated risk create unexpected opportunities 
•  What it really takes to build a successful creative business 
•  Lessons from partnering with your spouse while growing a company 
•  Why the best visual effects are often the ones you never notice 
•  How great storytelling creates emotional connection 
•  The opportunities—and challenges—AI is bringing to creative industries 
•  Why human judgment, creativity, and craftsmanship still matter 
•  Advice for women considering entrepreneurship or their next bold career move 
•  What it means to build a career you couldn't have predicted, but wouldn't trade for anything 

If you've ever questioned whether you're on the "right" career path, this conversation is a reminder that some of the best opportunities come from following your curiosity, saying yes to the unknown, and trusting yourself to figure it out along the way.

🎧 Tune in to Episode #161 of the 2B Bolder Podcast with host Mary Killelea, and discover how embracing uncertainty can lead to a career that's more meaningful than you ever imagined.

If you enjoyed this episode, subscribe to the 2B Bolder Podcast, leave a review, and share it with someone who's ready to take their next bold step.

AI is already shaping who gets noticed, who gets hired, and who gets promoted. The question is: are you ready for what's next?

In Episode 160 of the 2B Bolder Podcast, I sit down with Leigh Felton, President and Chair of the AI for Job Security Foundation and former leader of Responsible AI Enablement at Microsoft, for a conversation that goes far beyond artificial intelligence. We explore how to build a career with intention while the rules of work continue to evolve.

Leigh shares her non-linear career journey and the turning points that came from staying open to unexpected opportunities. We also get practical with a 30-60-90 day approach that starts with listening, moves into pattern recognition, and ends with testing meaningful improvements. Whether you're starting a new role, stepping into leadership, or making a career pivot, this framework can help you build confidence without feeling like you need to have all the answers on day one.

We also pull back the curtain on what an executive Chief of Staff really does, how influence is built behind the scenes, and why authentic leadership is far more powerful than trying to fit a leadership mold.

Then we dive into one of the most important conversations facing professionals today: responsible AI, AI literacy, and AI bias. Leigh explains why no AI system is completely unbiased, why it's critical to question AI-generated outputs rather than blindly accept them, and what every professional can do to become a more informed and responsible user of AI.

If you're wondering how AI will impact your career, how to stay relevant as technology reshapes the workplace, or how to lead with confidence through change, this is an episode you won't want to miss.

🎧 Tune in to Episode 160 of the 2B Bolder Podcast, and if you enjoy the conversation, please subscribe, share it with someone navigating their own career journey, and leave a review to help others discover the show.

Networking gets a bad reputation. And honestly? It's earned it.

For most people, the word conjures images of awkward small talk, business cards nobody keeps, and conversations that feel more like auditions than actual human connection. It feels transactional. It feels fake. And for a lot of women, especially, it feels like a game they were never taught how to play.

But what if the problem isn't networking itself — it's the way we've been taught to think about it?

On the 2B Bolder Podcast, host Mary Killelea sits down with Monique Kelley — professor, consultant, and author of Redefining Networking: How to Lead with Your Unique Value, an Amazon #1 Bestseller in Business Ethics — to completely reframe what networking is, what it isn't, and why getting it right might be the single most important career move you make.

Monique is a two-time PRNEWS Top Women in PR award recipient, a founding member of CHIEF, and has been featured in FOX and Fast Company. She's built a career working with some of the biggest names in biopharma — Pfizer, Roche, Lilly, Johnson & Johnson — not by chasing opportunities, but by building meaningful relationships that opened doors long after the conversation ended. Today she teaches the only Career Readiness course at Boston University's College of Communication, shaping how the next generation of professionals show up, connect, and lead.

This conversation covers it all — her career journey from a pre-med detour into communications and healthcare PR, the moment she stepped in to present to a major client when her boss was out and realized that relationships matter just as much as the deck, and the pivots that took her from agency life to in-house roles to fractional consulting and eventually the classroom.

Mary and Monique dig into the real stuff:

• What most people fundamentally get wrong about networking — and why that misunderstanding is costing them real opportunities
• What "leading with your value" actually means in practice, not just as a concept but as a daily behavior
• A clear, three-step framework for defining your unique value, choosing the right audience, and showing up consistently — on LinkedIn and beyond
• Why your network isn't a list of contacts. It's a living system of people who understand what you bring and actively want to advocate for you
• How to build a network from scratch when you feel like you have nothing to offer and nowhere to start
• Why remote work and meeting overload are making organic connection harder than ever — and what to do about it
• The truth about "I don't have time to network" (spoiler: it's a prioritization issue, not a time issue)
• What Monique is seeing right now across executives, students, and mid-career professionals — and the specific behaviors she notices in women who are actually building momentum
• What she teaches her Career Readiness students at BU that experienced professionals desperately need to hear
• And the one thing she wishes she had understood earlier about building a career that lasts

Whether you're in the middle of a career transition, feeling stuck in a role that no longer fits, or just dreading the next industry event — this episode will completely shift how you think about connection, value, and what it actually means to build a career on your own terms.

🎧 Listen now on the 2B Bolder Podcast. Share it with a friend who's making a move. And leave a review so more women can find this show.

Your career doesn’t grow in isolation, and neither does your confidence. When we feel overlooked, stuck, or burned out, we often blame skills, strategy, or a lack of a personal brand. But what if the real lever is connection and community and the quality of the relationships around us?

On episode #158 of the 2B Bolder podcast, I sat down with Dr. Tracy Brower, a sociologist, author, and the VP for Workplace Insights at Steelcase, and got practical about what makes work and life feel meaningful. We talked about why sometimes the  “work is a grind” narrative misses something human and important: we all have an instinct to matter, and work is one of the biggest places we’re seen, supported, and shaped. Tracy breaks down the modern pattern of having more connections but fewer fulfilling relationships, plus how distraction, social media, and post-COVID habits can leave us with shallow “empty calorie” interactions.

We also get tactical about networking for women in business and tech without the icky, transactional vibe. Tracy shares how giving can be asynchronous, why you should build your network before you need it, and how to walk into coffee chats with less pressure by focusing on learning. If visibility is your challenge, she offers a clear framework for the kinds of people you need around you: advocates, honest challengers, and safe-harbor colleagues. You’ll also hear memorable data points from her latest book, Critical Connections, including how long it really takes to make a friend and why diverse relationships boost joy and fulfillment.

If you found this helpful, subscribe, share with a friend, and leave a review so more women can build careers with stronger connection and real belonging.

Resources:
tracybrower.com
Connect with Tracy on LinkedIn
Order Critical Connections Here

Most people don’t fail at sales because they’re “bad at sales.” They fail because fear hijacks their brain at the exact moment they need clarity. That’s why I loved talking with Maggie Pounds, co-founder of Salescoach Pro, an AI-powered sales training platform that helps sales reps practice real conversations before they ever get on the phone with a real customer. If you’ve ever frozen, rambled, or felt your heart rate spike during an objection, you’ll recognize what she describes: even simulated role play can feel shockingly real, and that realism is what builds true confidence.

On episode #157, Maggie shares her unconventional path from urban farming and farmers markets to building an AI product alongside her husband, plus how a simple Thanksgiving dinner conversation with her sister sparked the core idea. We get into what makes effective sales coaching work, why repeated reps matter more than generic advice, and how tailored feedback, scoring, and structured scenarios can improve onboarding and sales enablement without draining a manager’s time. We also talk about the practical question everyone asks: why not just use ChatGPT, and what a purpose-built voice role play experience does differently.

Beyond the product, Maggie brings a refreshing perspective on AI hype and fear, especially for people who worry they’re “behind.” She argues for curiosity, moving slowly, and using technology as a tool to enhance human skill, not replace it. We close with a candid look at intentional living, homeschooling, presence, and giving yourself permission to pause projects in different life chapters, plus what “to be bolder” really means when you listen to yourself and take the next step.

If this conversation helps you rethink confidence, sales practice, or building a business that supports your real life, subscribe, share the episode with a friend, and leave a review so more listeners can find the show.

Resources:
Maggie Pounds on LinkedIn
SalesCoachPro

You can spend your whole career waiting to feel “ready,” or you can do what Kellen Gorman did: jump in, learn fast, and let results speak. Kellen is an engineer and advocate at Redgate Software with nearly three decades across databases, cloud, and AI, plus experience at Microsoft, Oracle, and Delphix. Her path into tech starts with a brutal curveball, recovering from five strokes and rebuilding her work life from the ground up, then turning the hardest, least popular tasks into standout opportunities.

On episode #156, we get concrete about what career boldness looks like in practice: taking on the database no one wants, refusing to be boxed into a single platform, and staying technical even in an advocacy role by working directly with product teams and customers. Kellen shares why “AI exhaustion” is real, how duct-taped AI features can hurt usability, and how to experiment with generative AI without blowing up your cloud bill. If you’re trying to upskill in AI, cloud, or cybersecurity, you’ll leave with sane starting points and a clear warning about AI snake oil salesmen.

We also talk about visibility and personal branding for women in tech: blogging, books, GitHub, and public problem-solving as proof that travels when you’re not in the room. The episode closes with community and support, including the revival of PDX Women in Tech in Portland, and why mentorship alone isn’t enough without sponsorship and real networks.

Subscribe to this podcast for more conversations on topics that matter to women in tech and business, skills, being in the right rooms, gaining opportunities, confidence, visibility, and meaningful career growth, then share this episode with a friend and leave a review so more women can find it.

Resources:
DBAKevlar website
Kelly’s LinkedIn Profile
Pdxwit.net

On episode #155 of the 2B Bolder Podcast, I got to sit down with someone I could have honestly talked to for hours — Dr. Fern Halper. And if you've been feeling overwhelmed by all the AI noise out there, this one is for you.

Fern has been working in data and AI for over 30 years — long before it was a headline — and she is the real deal. What struck me most wasn't just her brilliance or depth of knowledge; it was her warmth, her wisdom, and the genuine human kindness she brings to everything she does. It was such an honor to have her on the show, and I walked away inspired.

We got into all of it — data foundations, governance, trust, and the career skills that keep you valuable as AI tools and agents move faster than most organizations can keep up with. No fluff, just real talk.

Here's what we covered:

• Fern's unexpected path from oceanography research to data and AI leadership
• The career forks that shaped her journey and why speaking up is everything
• What companies are actually coming to her for: strategy, starting points, and governance
• The new roles emerging around responsible AI, ethics, stewardship, and operations
• Why so many enterprises are lagging behind and what "building a foundation" really means
• What feels genuinely different about this AI moment — and why it comes with real risks
• Where agentic AI and multi-agent systems are taking businesses in the next 3 to 5 years
• The skills that stay valuable no matter what: critical thinking, risk, communication, and literacy
• The mistakes leaders keep making — skipping the business need and treating governance like a chore
• Why trust isn't just technical — it's the change management your people can actually believe in
• Why we need more women's voices at the table when it comes to AI governance and ethics

If this resonates with you, please share it with a friend who needs to hear it — and don't forget to like and subscribe!

Resources:

• 📖 Data Makes the World Go 'Round: The Data, Tech, and Trust Behind AI Success by Dr. Fern Halper
• 🔗 Connect with Dr. Fern Halper on LinkedIn
• 🌐 aifoundationsgroup.com

"Different is better than better." It's the belief that drove Monica Nassif to build one of the most beloved household brands in America, and in the latest episode of the 2B Bolder podcast series, she sat down with me to share exactly how she did it. And this was a conversation I didn't want to end.

Monica didn't stumble into entrepreneurship. She grew up the oldest girl in a family of nine kids, all born within 10 years, running the household when her mom needed backup, holding jobs from age 10 onward, babysitting, waitressing at a truck stop (where she lied about her age at 15!), and typing in an ER at 16. Her mom's mantra? "Learn to work with people." That stuck.

What I love most about Monica's story is the boldness of her strategy. She built a beautiful, high-end cleaning brand called Caldria, and then deliberately set out to compete with herself before anyone else could. That's how Mrs. Meyer's was born, inspired by her real Midwestern mom, Thelma Meyer, the original recycler who wasted absolutely nothing.

We cover so much:

• Why she trusted trend-spotting over focus groups 
• How packaging and fragrance turned cleaning products into something people wanted on their countertops 
• The two "belly flops" and the financial guardrails she used to shut one down before it became a sinkhole 
• Building an up-tempo culture with office badminton, ornament contests, and talent shows
• Why authenticity and storytelling are your biggest competitive advantages right now, especially in the age of AI

And she's got a book coming late April, I Bottled My Mother: The Mrs. Meyer Story, Grit, Grime, and Growing a Business, part love letter to her mom, part startup manual. It's the business book that's actually funny and emotionally honest. I cannot wait to get my hands on it. I'm sure it will be a very popular business book.

Her advice to her younger self? Slow down and listen more. Mine too, Monica. Mine too. 😄

🎧 Please check out this episode, drop a review, and share it with a founder or dreamer in your life!

Resources:
I Bottled My Mother: The Mrs. Meyer Story
Monica Nassif on LinkedIn

Interviews can feel overwhelming if you're not prepared, or worse, they can feel discouraging when you know you’re qualified, yet you keep hearing “we went another direction.” In episode #153 of the 2B Bolder podcast, I’m joined by Gina Riley, a former Fortune 50 HR leader turned executive career strategist and author of Qualified Isn’t Enough, to discuss what’s really happening behind the scenes in executive hiring and why great résumés still fall flat without the right story. And yes, even if you're not an executive, this show has great takeaways for you!

We dig into the hiring manager’s reality: a requisition is funded to solve a specific business problem, and the candidate who wins is the one who positions themselves as the clearest solution. Gina shares how to “read the room” across every touch point, why every stakeholder is effectively a decision maker, and how to build a tight set of interview stories that prove leadership, judgment, and results without sounding like everyone else. We also talk about executive presence, including the subtle communication habits that can weaken confidence and decisiveness, especially for women navigating competitive leadership roles.

Gina walks us through her Career Velocity Framework: clarifying your unique value proposition, capturing wins in a career data vault, tightening your “tell me about yourself,” then translating it all into a stronger LinkedIn profile, interview prep, and a relationship-driven job search strategy. We also get practical about today’s job market, layoffs, and how informational interviews can guide AI skill building when the landscape changes too fast for generic advice.

If you’re planning a career transition or you’re in the middle of one, stop what you're doing and listen now, then subscribe, share this with a friend, and leave a review so more women in business and tech can find these career strategy tools.  Gina is amazing at knowing the ins and outs of navigating these waters, so you don't have to go it alone.

Resources:
Gina Riley on LinkedIn
Gina Riley Consulting