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Angela Zeng, PhD, MBA, is the founder and CEO of Karviva, an award-winning wellness beverage company that blends Traditional Chinese Medicine with modern nutritional science. A pathologist by training, Angela immigrated from China to the U.S., built her own factory in St. Louis when co-packers couldn’t support her unique formulations, and has since carved out a space in the competitive natural food and beverage industry. In this episode of Badass Women in Business, she shares her story of resilience, cultural heritage, and the relentless pursuit of quality. Angela opens up about facing bias as a woman of color in business, the importance of educating consumers, and why she believes food is the best medicine. Her journey is both inspiring and practical for anyone looking to build something meaningful while staying true to their values.

Show Notes
In this conversation, Angela Zeng discusses:

• Her early fascination with Traditional Chinese Medicine and how it shaped her entrepreneurial vision
• Transitioning from pathology and pharmaceutical research into launching her own wellness beverage company
• Why she built her own production facility instead of outsourcing to co-packers
• Challenges of entering the U.S. market with products rooted in Eastern medicine
• Navigating systemic bias in funding and retail as a woman and immigrant founder
• The importance of consumer education in driving health-focused innovation
• Lessons on resilience, rejection, and thinking outside the box when scaling a CPG brand
• Advice for entrepreneurs on staying aligned with their mission while adapting to market realities

Guest Contact

• Website: https://karviva.com
• Facebook: Karviva Wellness
• LinkedIn: Angela Zeng
• TikTok: @karvivawellness
• Instagram: @karvivawellness

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At just 27 years old, Julie Smolyansky became the youngest female CEO of a publicly traded company when she stepped into leadership at Lifeway Foods in 2002. What began as her family’s immigrant dream has grown into the dominant kefir brand in the U.S., with revenues projected at over $185 million in 2024 and distribution across the U.S., Mexico, Europe, and beyond.

In this episode, Julie shares her remarkable journey from Soviet refugee to global business leader. She talks about taking over the company after the sudden passing of her father, the challenges of family business succession, and how resilience, mindfulness, and self-care sustain her as a CEO and mother. We dive into the science of gut health, the power of kefir, the innovation behind Lifeway’s product line, and Julie’s ability to spot trends years ahead of competitors. Along the way, Julie highlights why wellness, mental health, and intentional leadership are non-negotiables in both business and life.

Episode Notes

• Julie’s childhood story: defecting from the Soviet Union and starting over in Chicago
• How her parents launched Lifeway Foods and introduced kefir to the American market
• Taking over as CEO at 27 after her father’s sudden passing and proving the skeptics wrong
• Family business lessons on succession, contracts, and navigating conflict
• Why her psychology background shapes her leadership style and decision-making
• The role of mindfulness, therapy, and marathon running in preventing burnout
• Gut health explained: kefir, the microbiome, immunity, and the mind-gut connection
• Lifeway’s innovation strategy: from early adoption of social media to trend-driven flavors
• Balancing global growth with her roles as mother, author, and activist
• Julie’s advocacy work, including producing documentaries and co-founding Test400k
• Her book The Kefir Cookbook and creative ways to bring kefir into everyday meals

Contact Information

• Website: https://lifewaykefir.com
• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/julie-smolyansky-05304612
• Instagram: @juliesmolyansky
• Facebook: facebook.com/LifewayKefir
  
  

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Jennifer Dulski’s career journey is anything but linear. She started as a high school teacher, moved into the nonprofit world, and went on to hold executive roles at Yahoo, Google, Facebook, and Change.org. Today she is the Founder and CEO of Rising Team, a platform that equips managers with the tools to build trust, connection, and effectiveness across distributed teams, while also serving on the faculty at Stanford Graduate School of Business.

In this episode of Badass Women in Business, Jennifer shares her hard-earned lessons on resilience, leadership, and entrepreneurship. She explains why the ability to get back up after being knocked down is the most critical entrepreneurial skill, introduces her “Three Cs” framework for managers (clarify, coach, connect), and reflects on her own experience balancing executive leadership with motherhood. From insights on hybrid work and AI to the power of small movements that snowball into lasting change, Jennifer offers a candid and practical playbook for leaders who want to make a bigger impact.

Show Notes

• Jennifer’s unconventional path from teaching to tech and why amplifying others has always been at the heart of her leadership
• The lessons she carried from leading at Yahoo, Google, Facebook, and Change.org into founding Rising Team
• Why resilience is the defining trait of successful entrepreneurs and how to build it in yourself and your teams
• The Three Cs of leadership—clarify, coach, connect—and how they apply in today’s hybrid workplace
• How Rising Team blends AI with human connection to improve manager effectiveness and employee engagement
• Why guilt doesn’t help when balancing parenthood and leadership, and how Jennifer developed her own “work-life mash-up”
• The core principles behind her Wall Street Journal bestselling book Purposeful and what it really takes to start movements that matter
• Practical strategies to build trust and connection on distributed teams without overwhelming your calendar
• Why women need to stop pre-apologizing in the workplace and lead with clarity and confidence

Contact Information

• Guest: Jennifer Dulski
• Company: Rising Team
• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jdulski
• Book: Purposeful: Are You a Manager or a Movement Starter? (Wall Street Journal Bestseller)

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Anne Marie Dougherty is the CEO of the Bob Woodruff Foundation, where she has led the organization from $4.3 million to nearly $40 million in annual revenue. With no formal business training, she built a high-performing, data-driven nonprofit by applying principles from the for-profit world and building long-term partnerships with companies like the NFL, UBS, and Capital One.

In this episode, she shares how her identity as a military child, spouse, and mother informs the way she leads, why nonprofit organizations need to stop playing small, and how the Foundation is preparing for the evolving needs of veterans and military families in a changing world. We talk about building trust, addressing mental health, managing transitions, and why leading well starts with hiring the right team.

Show Notes

In this episode, we discuss:

• Anne Marie’s path to leading the Bob Woodruff Foundation and how she scaled it from $4.3M to nearly $40M
• Why leaving the military is often more stressful than combat, and how the Foundation is working to ease that transition
• How she brought a business lens to nonprofit leadership without formal training
• Building long-term corporate partnerships by speaking the language of business
• What she looks for in high-impact programs and how the Foundation uses data to drive funding decisions
• Why imposter syndrome shows up even in rooms she earned her way into—and how she manages it
• How she built and manages a board of directors made up of top leaders across military, media, and finance
• The growing mental health crisis among veterans, caregivers, spouses, and children—and what needs to change
• The importance of local networks, town-by-town coordination, and long-term infrastructure
• Her approach to leadership, team building, and personal sustainability as the organization matures
• Why the Foundation’s agility and trust model allow it to respond faster than traditional institutions

Contact Information

Bob Woodruff Foundation
Website: https://bobwoodrufffoundation.org
LinkedIn: Bob Woodruff Foundation
Instagram: @bwforg
Facebook: facebook.com/BobWoodruffFoundation

Anne Marie Dougherty
LinkedIn: Anne Marie Dougherty
Instagram: @ammdougherty

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Kate Wolff walked away from big agency life with no safety net and built four companies from the ground up. Lupine Creative. No Sheep Studios. Do the WeRQ. LumiTerra. Each one different. Each one intentional. And each one pushing against the industry norms she was told to follow.

In this episode, Kate tells the truth about launching a business weeks before the pandemic hit, losing everything, then rebuilding on her own terms. She shares what it really takes to close a Series A as a queer founder, how to scale without selling your soul, and why the best leaders are the ones willing to sit in the discomfort. This is not a highlight reel. It is an unfiltered look at ambition, failure, fundraising, and the fight to build something that actually matters.

If you're building anything at all, press play. Kate’s story will make you rethink what’s possible.

In this episode, we cover:

• Why Kate left the traditional agency world to build her own path
• How launching right before the pandemic forced her to fail fast and rebuild smarter
• What actually goes into closing a Series A as a queer founder in a trade war
• The emotional cost of leadership and why being uncomfortable is part of the job
• Building brands that hold real cultural value and impact
• Creating space for queer visibility through Do the WeRQ
• The marketing mistakes that crush burn rate and how to avoid them
• What founders need to know before taking outside capital
• How Lupine and LumiTerra work together to bring sustainable products to life
• What joy and hard work really look like when you're doing both at full speed

Mic drop moments:

“If you’re not willing to sit in the bad, you don’t get to touch the good.”
 “You do not have a company if you don’t know where the money is coming from.”
 “The value is not just in the product, it’s in the thought behind it.”

Guest Contact Information

Kate Wolff
Founder and CEO, Lupine Creative
Co-Founder, No Sheep Studios, LumiTerra, and Do the WeRQ

Website:
Email: [email protected]
Lupine Creative: https://lupinecreative.com
The LumiCup: https://lumicup.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LupineCreative/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kate-wolff-she-her-hers/
Instagram: @lupinecreative @thelumicup

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• Website: Badasswomeninbusinesspodcast.com
• Athena: athenaac.com

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What if the real ROI of being on a podcast isn't the interview itself, but the relationships that come afterward?

In this high-energy, straight-talking episode, we sit down with Christina Lenkowski, founder of Publicity by Christina, to hear how she transformed her PR background into a niche agency that helps women entrepreneurs get visible, get paid, and get taken seriously. Christina has landed her clients on more than 900 top-rated shows and has appeared on 100 podcasts herself. She knows what works, what doesn’t, and why visibility isn’t just about showing up.

She shares how she built her business by doing the opposite of what most agencies do, how she tracks real visibility metrics in her own company, and why she believes podcast guesting is the most powerful tool in a business owner’s playbook.

If you’ve ever wondered how to stand out, what to prioritize when you pitch, or how to turn one podcast into long-term opportunity, this episode will show you how to stop playing small and start showing up where it counts.

Episode Notes

In this episode, Christina shares:

• Why podcast guesting still works and how to approach it strategically
• The biggest misconceptions business owners have about publicity
• What she changed when leaving agency life to build her own business
• How she uses a “visibility KPI” to track ROI and growth
• Why strong host relationships often lead to consulting, speaking, and long-term leads
• Why podcasts are perfect for introverts
• What she learned from launching a course that flopped—and how she bounced back

Plus, Christina shares the one thing every guest should do before a show, and how being prepared sets you apart from 90% of people showing up to the mic.

Guest Contact Info

Christina Lenkowski
Founder, Publicity by Christina

•  Website: https://www.publicityxchristina.com
•  Instagram: @publicityxchristina
•  Facebook: Publicity by Christina
•  Email: [email protected]

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• Facebook: Empowered Women Leaders
• Instagram: @badass_women_in_business
• LinkedIn: ProveHer - Badass Women in Business
• Website: Badasswomeninbusinesspodcast.com
• Athena: athenaac.com

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In this episode of Badass Women in Business, we sit down with Yuki Bi, global advertising executive and co-founder of Helios Worldwide. Yuki shares how her journey from a Canadian ad intern to leading a private equity-backed global consultancy has been shaped by risk, reinvention, and relentless self-awareness.

This conversation goes beyond the polished version of success. Yuki opens up about leading a 500-person team at the height of her career, losing half that team in one difficult moment, and how that experience transformed her approach to leadership. She talks about learning to lead across cultures, building long-term partnerships, and how she has grown by facing her own vulnerabilities rather than hiding them.

From navigating gender bias in conservative markets to rethinking business as a deeply personal endeavor, Yuki brings nuance, honesty, and strategic clarity. Whether you are scaling globally or just trying to figure out your next move, her story will leave you grounded and inspired.

Show Notes

Guest: Yuki Bi, CEO and Co-Founder of Helios Worldwide
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/yukun-yuki-bi-08638153

Topics Covered:

• Building a truly global independent agency with a unified culture
• The turning point moment when burnout led to losing half her team
• How WPI supports global collaboration between independent agencies
• The difference between cultural nuance and cultural stereotypes in advertising
• The power of “slow dating” in business partnerships and what to watch for
• Reframing guilt and pressure as a woman in leadership
• Why knowing your weaknesses can be a leadership strength
• Lessons from working across Asia, Europe, North America, and the Middle East
• Moving beyond the service model to become a growth partner
• What she wishes more women would embrace when scaling a business

Three Takeaways

1. Leadership is about responsibility, not ego. You cannot walk away when it gets hard.
2. Weaknesses, when acknowledged and shared, can build deeper trust than strengths ever could.
3. Long-term growth requires clear roles, honest partnership, and the discipline to walk away when values do not align.

Call to Action

If you enjoyed this episode, subscribe to the podcast, leave a review, and share it with someone who is ready to lead with courage and clarity. Stay badass.

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Subscribe and Review
If you loved this episode, drop us a review, share it with a badass woman in your life, and subscribe to Badass Women in Business wherever you get your podcasts.

Stay badass. Stay bold. Build it your way.

Keep up with more content from Aggie and Cristy here:

• Facebook: Empowered Women Leaders
• Instagram: @badass_women_in_business
• LinkedIn: ProveHer - Badass Women in Business
• Website: Badasswomeninbusinesspodcast.com
• Athena: athenaac.com

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In this episode of the Badass Women in Business podcast, Laura Rike, Pinterest strategist and founder of SimplyPintastic®, shares her incredible journey from a burned-out VA to a thriving CEO leveraging Pinterest to create sustainable business growth. Laura’s story is a testament to the power of smart strategies, overcoming obstacles, and finding work-life balance as a mompreneur. Tune in to hear how Pinterest became her secret weapon for passive income, why it’s more than just a visual platform, and how it can serve as a long-term solution for building visibility, generating leads, and scaling sustainably.

In this episode, you'll discover:

• How Pinterest differs from other platforms and why it’s an essential tool for business growth
• The surprising ways Pinterest has helped Laura overcome life’s challenges, including funding her wedding and sustaining her business during tough times
• Tips for business owners to use Pinterest to drive organic sales without the hustle
• How Laura balanced her business growth with motherhood and why she takes Tuesdays off
• The best practices for leveraging Pinterest for passive income and evergreen visibility

Key Takeaways:

• Pinterest is a search engine, not just a social platform, and it can work for all types of businesses, not just those with physical products.
• The power of sustainability and building business systems that work for you, even when you're not physically active in your business.
• How to leverage simple visuals and strategic keywords on Pinterest to rank on Google and generate organic leads.
• Why setting boundaries and creating a business that aligns with your values is the key to long-term success.

Guest Contact Information:

• Website: SimplyPintastic
• Pinterest: SimplyPintastic on Pinterest
• Instagram: @laurarike
• LinkedIn: Laura Rike on LinkedIn
• Podcast: Pinterest Marketing Podcast

Notes:

• Laura shares her personal story of overcoming a severe injury while maintaining her business through Pinterest.
• Pinterest’s power as an underutilized tool for generating organic leads and building a long-term business strategy.
• The importance of simplifying your business model, niching down, and finding ways to create recurring revenue streams.

This episode is a must-listen for any entrepreneur looking to use Pinterest as a powerful business tool or those wanting to find more sustainable ways to grow their business while living life on th

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• Website: Badasswomeninbusinesspodcast.com
• Athena: athenaac.com

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What do Asian elephants, a messy divorce, a housecleaning hustle, and a tech company have in common? Libby DeLucien. In this episode, Libby shares her unapologetically bold journey from growing up in a family of elephant handlers to becoming a serial entrepreneur and systems expert. She opens up about the real reason she started her first company in the middle of a custody battle, the mindset shift that helped her reclaim her time as a mother, and how she scaled her businesses using simple, powerful frameworks.

From launching WootRecruit and Sell Convert Clean to writing her new book 1 Layer Deep, Libby explains how she built operational freedom and a legacy by trusting herself more than the odds.

SHOW NOTES

Guest: Libby DeLucien

What we cover in this episode:

• Why Libby doesn’t see betting on herself as a gamble
• How a cleaning gig turned into a national franchise
• The power of building businesses out of necessity
• Her pivot from organizing homes to building software
• What “1 Layer Deep” means and why complexity is killing your growth
• The role of micro-playbooks in scaling without burnout
• Rewriting the rules of motherhood and entrepreneurship
• How Libby built systems for her 7-year-old just like her companies
• What to know before franchising your business
• Why vision casting isn’t just for your team, it’s for your family too
• The FastPass lesson: how mentorship accelerates everything

Resources and Mentions:

• Libby’s website
• WootRecruit
• Organize It
• Sell Convert Clean
• 1 Layer Deep – Coming September 2025
• Leading Like an Elephant – Now available on Amazon

Connect with Libby:

• LinkedIn
• Instagram
• YouTube
• Twitter/X
• Facebook

Subscribe and Review
If you loved this episode, drop us a review, share it with a badass woman in your life, and subscribe to Badass Women in Business wherever you get your podcasts.

Stay badass. Stay bold. Build it your way.

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Subscribe and Review
If you loved this episode, drop us a review, share it with a badass woman in your life, and subscribe to Badass Women in Business wherever you get your podcasts.

Stay badass. Stay bold. Build it your way.

Keep up with more content from Aggie and Cristy here:

• Facebook: Empowered Women Leaders
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• Website: Badasswomeninbusinesspodcast.com
• Athena: athenaac.com

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Lisa Troyano-Ascolese is not your average real estate broker. She’s a serial entrepreneur, tech founder, podcast host, and unapologetic advocate for women building their own path to freedom. In this powerful conversation, Lisa shares her evolution from ad sales exec to real estate powerhouse, and the pivotal moment when her CEO told her, “You’re never safe if you work for someone else.”

We cover everything from launching her first business in a corporate cubicle to inheriting a brokerage out of grief, and the inspiration behind her first-to-market mobile staging app, REStaged, aimed at reducing furniture waste. Lisa doesn’t hold back about setbacks, including floods, firings, and nearly losing her life during childbirth, and how each one fueled her mission to show women that entrepreneurship isn’t just possible, it might be the key to happiness.

If you’ve ever wondered whether to leap, pivot, or press pause; this one’s for you.

Episode Notes

In this episode, we explore:

• Why Lisa left corporate America despite "being safe"
• The emotional origin story behind her kids' event planning business—and why she didn’t sell it
• Her rise in real estate and the truth behind luxury markets (beyond the reality TV glam)
• How personal loss led her to take over and rebuild a brokerage
• The origin of REStaged, a mobile app built to fight furniture waste and give agents a smarter way to stage homes
• Navigating leadership, grief, and growth simultaneously
• What freedom actually means for women entrepreneurs
• Why mentorship, cash buffers, and knowing your weaknesses are non-negotiables

Key Quote:
"If you do the research, if there’s a need, and you build a buffer—then you owe it to yourself to try. Freedom is the point of all of this."

Guest Contact & Links

Lisa Troyano-Ascolese
Owner, Engel & Völkers Hoboken + Jersey City
Founder, myHOMEboken Team
Creator of the REStaged App

• Website: LTAendeavors.com
• Real Estate Brands: @myhomeboken, @evhobokenjc
• YouTube: EV Hoboken Jersey City
• LinkedIn: Lisa Troyano-Ascolese
• App: REStaged (Live now; Version 2.0 launching soon)

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If you loved this episode, drop us a review, share it with a badass woman in your life, and subscribe to Badass Women in Business wherever you get your podcasts.

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