Today’s podcast guest, Nicole Lynn Lewis is truly a BRAVE GIRL living her purpose where she is reducing poverty one family at a time. In 2003, Nicole graduated from the College of William & Mary as a teen mother who had overcome homelessness and a drug-infested environment to achieve the impossible. She’s a nationally known author and speaker on topics such as teen pregnancy and parenting, youth development, goal achievement and self empowerment.

After several years in the workforce honing her skills in communications and nonprofit management and learning about the needs of teen parents across the country, Nicole founded Generation Hope in Washington, D.C. in 2010. The 501c3 provides mentoring, resources and services to teen parents to become college graduates and help their children enter kindergarten at higher levels of school readiness. It’s truly a two-generation solution to poverty. 

Named a CNN Hero in 2014, Nicole has used her skills in social entrepreneurship to launch an organization that is making a real difference. Fewer than 2% of teen mothers earn a college degree before age 30, but since 2010, Generation Hope has helped almost 200 teen parents in college, provided more than $600,000 in tuition assistance, and celebrated 76 college degrees. Their Scholars’ graduation rate is almost double the graduation rate of low-income college students and almost nine times the graduation rate of single mothers nationwide. All of their 2018 graduates were living above the poverty line within six months of graduation. 92% were employed full-time and 30% were enrolled in graduate school. This is quite a legacy to say the least.

I know that you will enjoy hearing from Nicole about her work leading Generation Hope and how connected she is to the teen parents that she serves. I encourage you to check out her organization and consider how you can support her work either as a volunteer or donor. 

Today’s podcast guest, Becky Briggs is an expert in both the art and the science of gifting and she shares her thoughts on researching the perfect gift and ensuring the gift makes an impact with the receiver. A master networker and community business leader, Becky left her corporate career to follow her passion.

Her boutique gift business, Our Gift Biz, is known for simplifying the process of gift giving for her clients that lack the time to locate and wrap meaningful gifts. I love that Becky and her team are sensitive to the conservation of our planet and work to use sustainable packaging. Her company also often works with artists to create personalized gifts and she finds that her clients are often searching for something personable, unique and memorable. I love her philosophy of personalization and how she is serving the world in this special way. 

Becky also shares her personal story of becoming the guardian of her brother’s children when he passed away and how this shaped her life. She talks about how much joy this has brought to her life and how it inspires her to be creative and brave with both her clients and her family. 

I’m so grateful that I was able to interview California native and leading independent book publisher, Brooke Warner, for the Brave Girl podcast. Before she launched her own ventures, Brooke was the executive editor of Seal Press, one of the most enduring feminist publishing houses. She currently sits on the boards of the Independent Book Publishers Association, the Bay Area Book Festival, and the National Association of Memoir Writers. We both share a love of books, writing and the life of a creative and we talk about all of this on today’s episode.

In addition to Brooke’s publishing role at She Writes Press and SparkPress, she writes a monthly column for Publishers Weekly and is the president of Warner Coaching where she mentors and coaches authors. You’ll want to check out her website to see how her publishing model works and merges the best of the traditional publishing model with new and innovative strategies for first time writers and emerging creatives. With more than 32,000 members and more than 350 groups, She Writes is the world’s largest online social community for women writers at every stage of their writing lives, working in every genre and representing every generation. 

In addition to her publishing work, Brooke has also written several books and her most recent book, Write On, Sister is now available on Amazon and I highly recommend it. I also recommend Brooke’s weekly podcast Write-Minded that she co-hosts with Grant Faulkner of NaNoWriMo, a community for writers. Each episode features a pep talk, a green-light moment and a writing action. You will also want to watch her TEDx video, Green Light Revolution: Your Creative Life on Your Terms that she talks about on the show.  I hope you enjoy the show as much as I did creating it!

Meet Michelle Mazur, a fellow podcaster, author, teacher and the founder of Communication Rebel based in Seattle, Washington. She tells her unique Brave Girl story on today’s episode and how she came to do the work she does today as well as why she is so obsessed with Duran Duran. Michelle talks about why we all need a 3 word rebellion and how a captivating message makes everything you do in your business more powerful, including calling in the right clients. 

Her podcast, Rebel Rising is chock full of advice on creating a clear and captivating messages. Michelle has a Ph.D. in Communication but sees herself as a researcher at heart. Her superpower is helping her clients figure out what makes them and their message unique. You will want to get a copy of her new book, 3 Word Rebellion to learn step by step how to create your movement. Accelerate Your Speaking is Michelle’s online course that you may want to check out if you are interested in a framework for your signature talk. We also chat about how to overcome your imposter syndrome before you hit the stage. 

Today’s Brave Girl is Bridgit Dengel Gaspard, a licensed social worker and creativity coach in New York City that has also appeared as a SAG actress on the daytime soap opera, A Guiding Light and done stand up comedy! Bridgit’s energy is contagious and it comes across in the interview as she shares her story and what she’s focused on teaching the rest of us.

She’s an expert in “voice dialogue” and she explains how she uses this framework in her private practice and to even help her with auditions. Bridgit shares with us what voice dialogue is and how it can be used on your personal transformational development path. She is an active workshop presenter and teaches social workers, nurses, coaches, body workers, mental health practitioners, psychologists, psychiatrists and others. 

We also talk about how so many of our beliefs and habits are formed in our subconscious before the age of 7 (or even in utero) and why we need to interrupt the patterns and pay attention to our self-talk. Bridgit’s book, The Final Eighth is scheduled for release next year. She coined this term as she watched her talented, energetic and motivated clients stall in front of their finish line, for no good reason. The final eighth refers to the transformational process of taking the steps necessary to complete a project, finish a goal, realize a dream, love yourself and flourish. I love that Bridgit has uncovered this phenomenon and that she’s put it into a book form for high achievers to better understand what makes them stop. 

Today’s guest is Carol Cox from sunny Orlando, Florida. A fellow podcaster, she’s a true expert in public speaking and business storytelling that I really connected with. Carol’s also passionate about seeing more women in leadership and sees her mission to help more women secure positions of influence and leadership on stages, in boardrooms, in the media, in communities and in politics. A student of culture and history, Carol has had a storied career in television as a political analyst as well as a college professor and software developer. I loved hearing her Brave Girl story which included working in the technology sector and how she now teaches others how to create their signature talk to gain visibility for their brands. 

Carol and I talk about the power of storytelling and how she teaches her clients best practices in public speaking. Carol also explains the process to create a TedX talk and what she recommends if you are considering creating one. Carol has created a framework to create your signature talk that has resulted in client success on the stage. She talks about how to embed and integrate information into your talk to generate leads. She shares many of her free resources to help you on your path as a speaker. We also talk about how to market yourself as a speaker to include creating a landing page on your website, letting people know that you are available to speak, and how to position yourself on LinkedIn. We also talk about how to build your confidence muscle by practicing public speaking and how to create a “Know, Like and Trust” factor.

We also talk about our podcasting journey and why we both love this medium. Carol’s podcast, Speaking Your Brand is a “must listen to” show. She has produced over 145 episodes that you can download to learn more about leadership, public speaking and creating a framework for your talks. We both agree on the need to be consistent and have interesting content when you commit to launching a podcast. Carol and I talk about how podcasting is a long-game play for your business.

I love the bravest thing that Carol has ever done and how it inspires her today! 

Based in New York City, Jocelyn Arem joins us on the show today. She tells her Brave Girl story and how she came to do the work that she does today as a Grammy nominated producer, musician, archival remix artist, multimedia storyteller, and lecturer with the School of the New York Times. I found Jocelyn to be so knowledgeable and it’s no surprise that she’s been featured in Rolling Stone, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, NPR and PBS. She also recently won the 2019 Creative Thought Matters Award of Distinction from her alma mater, Skidmore College. Originally from the Washington, D.C. area, she grew up on 90’s R&B and 60’s folk music and her work is influenced by Erykah Badu, Prince, Ella Fitzgerald and Mariah Carey.

She talks about how she loves reimagining work of artists and who in the music world inspires her work today. I loved learning more about her projects as a recording performance artist and where she sees the music industry going and why musicians need multiple revenue streams today. Known as “Rabasi Joss”, she is a Brooklyn based soul and jazz singer that has toured internationally and she explains her emotional connection to this type of music. We talk about her studio, Arbo Radiko where she helps creatives transform their historical material into valuable modern day content. We also talk about Liz Gilbert’s book Big Magic and the myth of the starving artist and how you need to create a portfolio career. I love how Jocelyn is a social justice advocate that engages in creative endeavors with other artists and organizations where music and storytelling benefits others.

Meet my favorite Windy City friend and mastermind buddy, Christine Dyan on today’s podcast. A registered dietitian nutritionist and true change agent, we talk about how she pivoted her focus in the past few years as she more fully stepped into who she is here to be. Christine strongly desires change in her industry and is focused on her legacy. She currently works with registered dietitians across the country to confidently charge more for their valuable services and grow their client portfolios. She focuses on teaching her tribe both marketing and mindset techniques that have worked for her. Relying on her spiritual beliefs, Christine teaches her clients to communicate the value of their work and to shift their money mindset as they create and sell programs for their clients. We talk about worthiness, shame around asking for money and why so many women fall into this trap. 

I also love the advice that Christine dishes out around nutrition and why it’s critical at this time in our history to work with a trained registered dietitian and understand how food impacts how you look and feel. We also talk about how you can heal your body through eating the right foods. We talk about cyberbullying and the impact it has on girls developing eating disorders. Christine has worked in just about every setting a dietitian could work and she is a wealth of knowledge when it comes to what’s happening in her industry.

Christine shares her Brave Girl journey and her moves to Birmingham, Los Angeles, New York and then back to Chicago and what each city meant to her. She shares some of her dreams and aspirations for her work and personal life that are amazing. I love that Christine has invested in herself and done the work her coaches have told her to do as well as remembered who she is at her core. She shares why our brain is our greatest asset and how we must always be investing in ourselves. She shares tips on being a good steward of our time and that being of service is so critical. Christine has recently launched her own podcast, Money Mindset Dietitian and I know it’s going to help her industry as it transforms and will be a part of Christine’s legacy. 

Episode 66: Be Relevant with Dr. Michelle Fritsch

Welcome to Episode 66 of the podcast. I absolutely love today’s Brave Girl, Dr. Michelle Fritsch, a board certified geriatric clinical pharmacist and former academic that has a passion for healthy aging and education. She is an absolute wealth of knowledge in a number of areas to include today’s healthcare system, prescription medication use in people over 60, the aging process, disease and planning for your golden years. Highly educated and accomplished, Dr. Fritsch shares why we all need to stay relevant in whatever field of work we pursue. It’s not a surprise that she is a nationally recognized expert in health at retirement and beyond.

Dr. Fritsch has a passion around educating her clients and their caregivers on a holistic approach to health and wellness and is a great advocate for her patients. Her one company, Meds MASH focuses on medication management, safety assessments and healthcare coaching. She believes that a fragmented healthcare system is hindering a holistic approach but we are getting closer to bringing all of the data together in one place. She also shares how with today’s technology she can work with her clients virtually on a secure video portal and how effectively she’s been able to collaborate across time zones and geographies. If you have caregiving responsibility for an aging parent this is a great option. 

On the show Dr. Michelle also shares some of the market research that she has done around baby boomers, the retirement landscape and why executive men are struggling the most with the transition. Her other company Retirement Wellness Strategies provides strategic planning for these clients that includes help navigating the major life transition of retirement. The focus is on health - physical, mental, emotional, spiritual and social. Working with estate lawyers and financial planners, she is often brought in as part of the team to support families preparing for the transition. We talk about how important it is to enjoy your life in new ways as you approach retirement and why you need a plan. I’m sure you will agree with me when I say that the world is better for having people like Dr. Michelle Fritsch sharing her gifts, talents and know how as we all plan on aging more gracefully.

Today’s guest is public relations expert Jennifer McGinley from JLM Strategic Communications, LLC. Her Brave Girl story includes work in development and fundraising as well as marketing and communications. She started her own practice when she realized that a 9-5 role wasn’t flexible enough for her while allowing her to continue to use her skills on her own terms. A mom to two teenagers, she believes she is role modeling for her children what’s possible for them. A total extrovert, Jennifer explains how she gains her energy by being around people and believes in respecting everyone, regardless of title or position in the workplace. Heavily influenced by her dad’s philosophy of relationship building and delivering superb customer service, Jennifer brings those skills to her own business today when she is pitching the media for small businesses and not-for-profits.

During our conversation, Jennifer shares why she always has to be creating, why self care is so important for her well being and how she works to balance her home and work responsibilities. She also explains why she’s so grateful for her prior work experiences and blessings and how self-reflection informs her decisions today. We talk about the importance of sharpening your listening skills with your children, your friends and your clients and why you need to listen more and talk less. I am sure that you will love Jennifer’s best advice on public relations, entrepreneurship and the importance of relationship building. I’ve gotten to know Jennifer over the past year and I absolutely love her energy, her enthusiasm and her professionalism as a communicator in my community.