Heather Carver, Chief Customer Officer at tvScientific by Pinterest, joins host Stacy Bohrer to share the career risks and lessons that shaped her leadership journey. Heather reflects on leaving Magnite after a decade, navigating Amazon and Freestar, stepping into executive leadership, building trust, embracing ambiguity, and learning that saying no can be just as important as saying yes.

Vanessa Otero, Founder and CEO of Ad Fontes Media, joins Stacey Bohrer to share how a side project became the viral Media Bias Chart and ultimately transformed her career.

Vanessa opens up about leaving a secure career in patent law, navigating rejection and criticism, stepping into her identity as a founder and CEO, and finding an unexpected path into ad tech. She also explores the importance of funding quality journalism and why success often requires learning to move forward without knowing how the story will end.

Takeaways

- Failure and rejection can be preparation for entrepreneurship.

- Stepping into a new professional identity often requires confidence before certainty.

- The Media Bias Chart began as a side project before reaching millions online.

- Vanessa found an unexpected opportunity to bring Ad Fontes Media's data into ad tech and brand safety.

- Taking a risk does not guarantee success, but giving it your best effort is something you can control.

Chapters

00:00 Welcome to Beta Tested

00:28 Meet Vanessa Otero, Founder & CEO of Ad Fontes Media

01:11 From Sales to Patent Law to Entrepreneurship

03:43 Learning to Embrace Failure in Sales

05:11 The Story Behind the Media Bias Chart

09:21 How the Media Bias Chart Went Viral

13:33 Turning a Passion Project Into a Business

16:17 Leaving Behind a Professional Identity

19:50 Learning to Own the Founder & CEO Title

23:35 Building Confidence and Overcoming Imposter Syndrome

25:18 Representation and Women in Leadership

27:57 The Reality of Gender Equality Later in a Career

29:14 How Ad Fontes Media Found Its Way Into Ad Tech

32:38 Making Quality News Easier for Advertisers to Buy

34:33 Why Advertising Matters to Journalism

37:03 Leaving a Secure Law Career to Go All In

37:55 Crowdfunding, Rejection and Raising Capital

40:44 The Reality Behind Entrepreneurial Success

43:07 Balancing Profit With a Public Mission

46:49 Learning What You Don't Know

47:35 Authenticity, Criticism and Building in Public

50:28 What Vanessa Is Beta Testing Now

52:54 Trying Even When Success Isn't Guaranteed

54:06 Final Thoughts

Stacy Bohrer sits down with Zoe Mann, VP of Inventory Partnerships at The Trade Desk, for a personal conversation about taking calculated risks, building resilience, and learning to trust yourself.

Drawing on her career at Google, Amazon, and The Trade Desk, Zoe shares how embracing imperfect first attempts helped her grow as a leader, why titles don’t define your value, and why strong leadership doesn’t mean being the loudest person in the room.

Takeaways:

- Titles don't define your value: What matters is the impact you create, the results you deliver, and how you show up for others.

- Confidence comes from repetition: Taking imperfect action, learning from mistakes, and getting more reps can build confidence over time.

- Calculated risks can change your trajectory: Zoe explains why data matters, but sometimes your gut has to guide the decision.

- Strong leadership doesn't require being the loudest: Being thoughtful, direct, authentic, and results-oriented can carry more weight than dominating a room.

- Leadership is about scaling through others: Building great teams means trusting people and accomplishing together what you couldn't accomplish alone.

- Life is always being beta tested: Growth comes from trying new things, expanding your horizons, and accepting that you'll never have everything figured out.

Chapters:

00:00 Welcome to Beta Tested

00:18 Meet Zoe Mann

02:08 Joining The Trade Desk

03:46 Separating Self-Worth From Job Titles

05:48 Confidence, Vulnerability, and the "Shitty First Draft"

07:43 Building SupplyDesk and Taking Calculated Risks

10:52 Trusting Your Gut on Big Career Decisions

12:48 Family, Confidence, and Early Influences

17:42 Women, Leadership, Power, and Finding Your Voice

20:19 Learning to Speak Less and Mean More

21:15 Why It's Powerful to Say "I Don't Know"

22:48 Balancing Ambition With Being Present

23:33 Zoe Shares Harper's Story

26:30 How Loss Changes Your Perspective

28:19 Family, Motherhood, and Marriage

31:27 Perfectionism and Learning From Mistakes

33:26 Friendship, Connection, and Fulfillment

36:15 What Zoe Is Beta Testing Right Now

38:18 Finding Strength, Healing, and Living Fully

Stacy Bohrer sits down with Anne Coghlan, Co-Founder and COO of Scope3, to explore her journey from AppNexus to entrepreneurship, the rise of agentic advertising, and the realities of becoming a confident leader.

Anne shares how she approaches big bets, overcomes perfectionism, builds strong founder relationships, and continues to "beta test" herself as both a leader and a person.

Takeaways:

- Bet on people, not just ideas: Anne explains why the people building the future matter as much as the opportunity itself.

- Agentic advertising is expanding what's possible: Scope3 is working toward a future where advertising can extend far beyond traditional websites and social platforms.

- Perfection can slow progress: Anne shares how she has learned to balance high standards with making decisions and moving forward.

- Leadership doesn't have one mold: Her AppNexus experience taught her that she could lead authentically rather than imitate someone else's leadership style.

- Clarity is kindness: Direct communication can help teams understand the outcomes they need to achieve.

- Growth never really reaches GA: Anne sees herself as continually evolving, improving, and learning how to balance ambition with downtime and family.

Chapters:

00:19 Meet Anne Coghlan, Co-Founder & COO of Scope3

01:46 The Assumptions People Get Wrong About Anne

04:17 Making Big Bets on the Future

06:20 Understanding Technology Through the Hype Cycle

09:20 Scope3 and the Future of Agentic Advertising

11:41 Building Better Advertising Experiences for Consumers

14:22 Confidence, Perfectionism and Self-Doubt

19:24 How AppNexus Shaped Anne's Leadership

23:21 Building a Strong Co-Founder Partnership

26:43 Why Directness and Clarity Matter

28:58 Big Companies vs. Startup Culture

32:35 Curiosity, Childhood and a Love of Learning

36:18 What Anne Is Still Beta Testing

Stacy Bohrer sits down with Ali Manning, co-founder of Chalice, to explore her path from The Atlantic and Razorfish to Google, Snap, and entrepreneurship. Ali shares candid lessons about founding a company with her husband, navigating financial pressure, earning credibility as a woman in tech, and building an AI-powered advertising platform while raising a family.

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Takeaways:

- Authenticity can be a greater leadership strength than conforming to traditional ideas of executive presence.

- Founding a company with a spouse requires mutual respect, productive disagreement, and intentional repair.

- Control over your time can be more valuable than the next title or promotion.

- Women founders often need to establish their expertise and credibility earlier and more directly.

- Chalice helps major brands use AI to connect advertising investments with real business outcomes.

- Trusted friends and colleagues can provide perspective when imposter syndrome takes over.

- Making space for a long-held creative ambition can restore energy and clarity.

00:00 Welcome to Beta Tested

00:50 Ali Manning’s voice and leadership style

02:11 The childhood goal that built her confidence

03:19 From The Atlantic and Razorfish to Google and Snap

06:14 Becoming co-founder of Chalice

06:46 Building a company with her husband

08:05 Leaping from operator to founder

09:38 The financial pressure behind entrepreneurship

11:45 Ali’s hardest moment as a founder

13:49 Writing, self-awareness and finding her voice

15:02 Rejecting feedback that undermined her authenticity

16:41 Why control over your time matters

18:10 Earning credibility as a woman in technology

20:55 How Chalice uses AI to improve advertising outcomes

23:50 Staying ahead of a rapidly changing market

25:39 Disagreeing productively with a spouse and co-founder

28:34 How to invest in a professional partnership

29:44 What Ali’s children are learning from their parents

32:56 Working through imposter syndrome

34:24 Beta testing a lifelong dream of writing a book

35:44 The story behind Ali’s book

36:27 Closing thoughts

Stacy Bohrer joins Priti Ohri, CEO & Co-Founder of Advertible Inc., to share her journey from corporate leadership to entrepreneurship, trusting intuition, bootstrapping a startup, and finding success without sacrificing peace. 

Takeaways

- Why Priti left corporate leadership to build Advertible Inc.

- How intuition and self-awareness shaped her career decisions.

- Lessons from bootstrapping a startup and betting on yourself.

- The importance of community, mentorship, and authentic leadership.

- Why success doesn't have to come at the expense of peace.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction

00:32 Meet Priti Ohri, CEO & Co-Founder of Advertible Inc. 

01:47 From Corporate Leadership to Entrepreneurship

06:24 Why Data Became Her Career Compass

07:45 Trusting Intuition and Taking the Leap

10:52 Getting Laid Off and Starting a Company

13:13 The Reality of Bootstrapping a Startup

16:03 Why She Chose Not to Raise Funding

17:24 Finding Balance Beyond Work

19:26 Building Community and Supporting Women

21:53 Why Women Should Bet on Themselves

23:13 The Power of Self-Awareness and Reflection

24:50 Advice to Her Younger Self

26:01 Achievement and Peace Can Coexist

26:50 Final Thoughts

Stacy Bohrer sits down with Anjlee Majmudar, VP Programmatic at Level Agency, to discuss authentic leadership, career growth, AI, mentorship, motherhood, and defining success on your own terms. Anjlee shares how taking a career break helped reshape her values, leadership style, and approach to balancing work and family while embracing the future of AI in advertising.

Stacy Bohrer sits down with Jill Steinhauser, Group Senior Vice President, Platform Monetization & Partnerships at Warner Bros. Discovery, to discuss resilience, leadership, career growth, and balancing work with personal well-being. Jill shares how navigating grief, embracing feedback, and prioritizing health helped her become a stronger leader while offering practical advice for professionals facing change and uncertainty.

Takeaways:

Chapters:

00:00 Introduction

00:37 Meet Jill Steinhauser

01:36 What resilience really means

02:58 Growing up independent and building resilience

07:37 Leading through personal challenges

10:15 Developing executive presence and communication

12:45 Rebuilding after grief and prioritizing health

15:56 Learning to give yourself grace

20:12 Feedback, leadership, and owning mistakes

23:20 Managing workplace anxiety through preparation

25:43 Women in leadership and working smarter

29:03 Advice for anyone feeling overwhelmed

31:37 How Jill is using AI to work smarter

33:03 Final thoughts and closing conversation

Sarah Caputo, Founder of Fraction Method, joins Stacy Bohrer for a candid conversation about leaving a Chief Digital Officer role without a backup plan, building her own consultancy, and navigating the challenges of leadership, entrepreneurship, and self-belief.

Sarah shares how curiosity became her competitive advantage, why asking questions unlocks growth, and how reframing imposter syndrome helped her take bigger risks. From overcoming adversity to helping technology companies refine their go-to-market strategies, Sarah offers a powerful perspective on resilience, authenticity, and finding success on your own terms.

Takeaways

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to Sarah Caputo

01:54 Leaving a CDO role without a plan

03:46 Why discomfort drives growth

05:31 Growing up independent and resilient

07:26 Taking risks despite uncertainty

09:28 Building a career through curiosity

11:45 The power of asking better questions

12:53 Managing imposter syndrome

15:26 Handling criticism and public disagreement

17:11 Navigating challenges in a male-dominated industry

19:07 Why women need to advocate for themselves

21:10 Building Fraction Method and advising founders

23:12 Creating value through strategic partnerships

27:08 What Sarah is still beta testing

29:39 Standing by your convictions

31:49 Understanding and communicating your value

33:00 Final reflections and closing thoughts

Stacy Bohrer sits down with Kimberly Jones, CEO of Butler Till, and Amanda DeVito, CMO, to discuss leadership, employee ownership, company culture, psychological safety, delegation, decision-making, and building a business designed for long-term success. Learn how empathy, accountability, ownership, and purpose-driven leadership create stronger teams, better client outcomes, and sustainable growth.

Takeaways

- Employee ownership creates accountability, engagement, and long-term thinking.

- Culture isn't a campaign. It must be demonstrated through actions and behaviors.

- Empathy, authenticity, and vulnerability are leadership strengths that drive growth.

- Great leaders pause to consider stakeholders who aren't in the room.

- Psychological safety starts with making people feel seen and heard.

- Strong leadership teams invest in relationships, trust, and alignment.

- Delegation means allowing others to make decisions you wouldn't necessarily make.

- Imposter syndrome is normal and often a sign that you care deeply.- Decision-making should balance speed with the reversibility of outcomes.

- Sustainable growth happens when people, purpose, and profit are aligned.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to Butler Till and Shareholder Summit

02:21 What It Means to Be Woman-Owned

06:21 The Power of Employee Ownership

09:31 Communicating Company Values Without Being Performative

12:25 Choosing Culture Over Short-Term Gains

14:26 Leadership, B Corp Values, and Long-Term Thinking

18:11 Protecting Culture and Maintaining High Standards

20:48 Leadership Norms and Psychological Safety

22:37 Why Great Leadership Teams Invest in Relationships

24:10 Overcoming Imposter Syndrome

27:48 Leadership Lessons and Continuous Growth

28:18 What Kimberly and Amanda Are Currently Beta Testing

31:11 Delegation, Decision-Making, and Leadership Scale

33:03 Final Reflections and Closing Thoughts