Defending Lady Macbeth

How did Lady Macbeth’s character arc help to unravel Queen Elizabeth I legacy? Join me to learn how Shakespeare might have helped the politicians of his day to make Queen Elizabeth I go from sovereign royal body and fierce woman leader, to feeble, controllable woman who should never have been in power. This is SO interesting my friends!

This week we are talking about the BIG F! Feelings. Do you shove yours down to the bottom of your soul with devil dogs and Pinot Noir? This episode is for any person, any leader and ALL WOMEN, a rally cry to bring awareness to the feelings you’re having, because they are the key to your growth.

Listen in as I talk with Jennifer Cho, a DE&I strategist and badass marcomm LEADER about code-switching, her experience as an Asian-American woman and executive, and how we need to be thinking about inclusivity in corporate America.

Today we’re talking with Immersive Theater and Haunted House creator, Jake Ruhl! We talk about “The Femme Fatale”, themes in du Maurier’s ‘Rebecca’, Lady Macbeth vs. Lady Macduff, and so much more. This is a fun and juicy episode!

This week we’re talking about women’s AGENCY, reproductive rights and access to abortions. Learn about RBG’s eloquent arguments in her stance on womens’ rights to make decisions about whether or not they keep a pregnancy as “central to a woman's life, to her dignity. It is a decision she must make for herself. And when the government controls that decision for her, she is being treated as less than a full adult human, responsible for her own choices.”

Today I’m talking with Jasmin Brand, who has built Texas’ first ecosystem powered by women, HER TEXAS.

Jasmin been an entrepreneur since 2009 when she left corporate America after a few short years. She founded an agency that created unforgettable online and offline experiences for companies, she’s done a TEDx talk, she’s a mainstay in the Texas startup community, and is committed to helping women and entrepreneurs of color succeed. 

Jasmin Brand

Texas' First Female Focused Ecosystem (hertexas.co)

This week we talk about Emily Dickinson, the incredibly smart series on Apple TV: Dickinson and the women of the 18-00’s. Their experience was not all that different from our dear Lady M’s and this series by writer and producer, Alena Smith gives us Emily’s brilliant words with modern and edgy “muscle”. It deals with social and political unrest, racial injustice, LGBTQIA community themes, women's rights with the bonus of Wiz Khalifa as the character of “Death” who rides in a carriage drawn by “ghost horses”. What’s not to love?

Hello my friends!

What is going on for you this week? I am so excited because I just planned my little vacation! In fact the week this episode airs I’ll be traveling for the first time since the world changed!

I am going back to Marfa Texas! Marfa is a tiny little town of less than 2,00 people, waaaaay out in the high desert in West Texas pretty close to Mexico. I first found out about Marfa from a series on Amazon Prime called I love Dick that starred Kathryn Hahn and Kevin Bacon. 

Marfa became a sort of arts and cultural center back in the 70’s when minimalist artist Donald Judd moved from NY to Marfa to create large-scale art in the desert. It's the town that has that Fake Prada store out in the middle of nowhere?

I’ve only been there once before in January of 2020, I was feeling restless after Christmas break and Darren was in NY and I was like - I’m going on a road trip! So I drove to Marfa - it’s kind of the only way you can get there - there are planes that can take you into towns that are still like 3 hours away from Marfa so it's kind of not even worth it. So I did the 7+ hour drive and I gotta say, that drive was pretty cathartic. I really thought I was going to hate it but I kinda loved it! I had my podcasts, my audiobooks, my music, and sometimes just the silence.

I remember driving into Marfa around 4:40 pm and the sun was just setting over the mountains, I was still an hour away but I knew it was going to be a really special trip! 

And I don't know what it is about the desert, but that trip, even in January when it was freezing, practically nothing was open, I fell in love with this place and the people.

I’m soooo excited for this trip and I promise I will tell you all about it! I’ll probably be posting pictures on Instagram and LinkedIn so you can check it all out.

All right, we have an incredible guest today!

Meet the #KillerPitchMaster - Precious L. Williams

 13-time elevator pitch champion, she’s successfully appeared on “Shark Tank” and taken her company from $0 to multi-6 figures in less than 2 years. 

Besides helping women entrepreneurs and business leaders, she also conducts corporate trainings, helping teams to create killer communication skills, craft messaging, and understand how to pitch and build sales programs. She’s a world-class speaker for global brands including: Google, LinkedIn, Microsoft, George Washington University, Intuit Quickbooks, NBC Universal, PwC, and more. She gives back by working with organizations like Bottomless Closet, the Bowery Women’s Mission and Dress for Success.

She’s also a 3-time #1 bestselling author for my books, Bad Bitches and Power Pitches: For Women Entrepreneurs and Speakers Only, and The Bad Bitches and Power Pitches Workbook, with my third, Pitching for Profit: The Bad Bitches’ Playbook to Convert Conversations into Currency, available now!

She graduated from Spelman College with a degree in English and then earned her JD from Rutgers Law School. She even practiced law for a hot second!

We have a LOT to talk about so let’s get into it!

Hello my friends! How ARE you all? Back in the studio today and it feels spectacular! 

We also had an incredible LIVE this morning on LINKEDIN, in my WOMen WHo lead community, where we talked all about what I call the confidence myth. 

And I want to dedicate this episode to all the women who show up every Friday morning at 8 am central to be part of a community that helps to empower women to step FULLY into their power in their lives and leadership - you should join us! 

So. I’ve promised to share with you all some more intimate journey’s I’ve had inside the McKittrick And today is the day my friends! I love talking about this more than I love talking about anything else in the world!

This experience that I have been to 49 times in the last 9 years has fundamentally changed me as a human, a woman, a leader, a friend, a mother, and a wife. It has caused me to call into question my entire reality and what’s actually possible in this world.

So let me tell you a story. My story. From the first time I went...

It was way back in August of 2012. I left my 9th-floor office on 31st street and 8th avenue, right across from the huge Macy’s in Herald square.

I decided to walk, because getting a cab on a Friday night in the city is next to impossible, and even though it was August, it was a nice night to be outside. 

The walk was only 20 minutes down to 27th street between 9th and 10th Avenue in Chelsea. I met my friend, we got in line and a large man all in black looked at our ID, and stamped our hands.

I was excited and nervous and just wanted to be inside already, inside this place they call "Sleep No More".

It was my turn that week to figure out what we were going to do that Thursday night. Something that wasn’t a bar or a restaurant. Something that was fun and different. So I researched!

As we stood in line, outside against the brick building,  I thought I had a pretty good idea of what the night had in store. I assumed, from the online descriptions at the time, that this “show” was sort of an "art" installation, where we got to walk around and view contained "scenes" with live actors,  all while drinking cocktails and discussing the "experience". 

I thought it was going to be different and entertaining, a perfectly cultured August evening in NYC. I had no idea that it would change my life. 

Sleep No More is what they call “immersive theatre. It’s a kind of theater that’s more like an experience. Where you are part of the show. 

The storyline is based on Shakespeare's Macbeth, with layers of Daphne Du Maurier’s Rebecca, the true story of The Paisley Witch Trials of 1696, and a strong dose of the history of King James and Queene Anne all woven together in this dream-like intensity.

The Sleep No More “experience” is set in 1939 in  a 5 story 100 room hotel of sorts, they call “The McKittrick”, replete with a  ballroom. A graveyard, a street filled with shops, a detective agency, it has the Macbeths and Macduff’s living quarters, 3 speakeasies and so much more. 

 You experience the “show” by exploring, opening doors and drawers, rifling through books, by watching the actors play out their stories through dance and sometimes, if you’re lucky, interacting with them.. If you see an actor that interests you, follow them, even if it means running upstairs two at a time! 

My friend and I entered after they opened the big front door, we checked out coats in the long dark hallway.

We walked up to the hotel check-in window and got a playing card, like from a deck of cards. We were directed to a dark stairway, stopping first to get our cards punched.

We climb the steep, dark stairs and enter a candlelit maze and I have to keep my hands out to touch the walls so I can keep my balance? 

The maze lets out into the ante room of a bustling speakeasy,

Hello my friends!

How are you today? I am great! Today is a busy day for me in a good way and I’m going to hot today later today and then tonight I am indulging in a virtual immersive theater experience from Candle House Collective called Good Morning.

Candle House collective, their tag line is immersive theater on the other end of the line, and the way they talk about their work is: Candle House Collective creates immersive theatre, performed for one audience member at a time. Our work is typically remote/telephonic, inviting participants worldwide to explore deeply human stories and connections.

So it’s an experience over the phone, with voices and text. Candle House Collective creates immersive theatre, performed for one audience member at a time. Our work is typically remote/telephonic, inviting participants worldwide to explore deeply human stories and connections.

It’s 1:1 experience and I’m gonna tell you, I’m kind of nervous. 

The whole phone call thing is throwing me. It’s like I’ve experienced so many different immersive shows in person, so I’ve built my confidence there. And also you can see people’s faces and react to nuanced emotions in a person and over the phone I can’t do that, we can’t do that right.

So I’m nervous that somehow I’m not gonna do it right. And I’m also excited because the reviews for this show have been really great.

So wish me luck my friends and I promise to tell you ALL ABOUT it!

Today I have an incredible guest for you all, her name is Liane Davey.

Liane Davey is a New York Times Bestselling author of three books, including The Good Fight: Use Productive Conflict to Get Your Team and Your Organization Back on Track and You First: Inspire Your Team to Grow Up, Get Along, and Get Stuff Done. 

Known as the Water Cooler Psychologist, she is a regular contributor to the Harvard Business Review and frequently called on by media outlets for her experience in leadership, team effectiveness, and productivity. 

As the co-founder of 3COze Inc., she advises on strategy and executive team effectiveness at companies such as Amazon, Walmart, TD Bank, Google, 3M, and SONY. 

Liane has a Ph.D. in Organizational Psychology. 

We talk about how we, as women, can use the power of our voice in life, in leadership, at work, and in the world. Liane gives us time-tested tips to help us harness the power of our voice as women to advance our causes in the world.