What happens when you give yourself permission to reimagine your life? In this inspiring conversation, three brilliant women share how travel, art, and courageous transitions unlocked their purpose and power.

Host Linette Cottrell sits down with Tania P. Brown, Bianca Nelson, and Christine D. Johnson to explore how bold decisions, creative expression, and global experiences can transform the way women build their lives, careers, and impact.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• How Tania P. Brown helps women 40+ create a corporate escape financial plan and reimagine life beyond the 9–5
• How Bianca Nelson turned a life-changing solo trip into the Learning To Live Movement, creating global travel opportunities for students of color
• How Christine D. Johnson uses mixed media art, poetry, and storytelling to inspire inner healing and personal reflection
• Why travel, creativity, and intentional transitions can unlock new levels of courage, clarity, and purpose
• How Black women entrepreneurs can reimagine success on their own terms

If you’re in your first five years of business and feeling the pull toward something bigger, this episode will remind you that reinvention is always possible.

Follow the podcast and share it with a sister who needs this conversation. We’re on a mission to help Black women make it through the first five years in business — and thrive far beyond them.

#EmpowerHERPodcast #BlackWomenEntrepreneurs #WomenInBusiness #ReimagineYourLife #TravelAndTransformation #CreativeEntrepreneur #CorporateEscapePlan #WomenWhoTravel #PurposeDrivenLife #BlackWomenInBusiness #EntrepreneurMindset #WomenSupportingWomen #CreativeHealing #TravelForGrowth #WomenEmpowerment #ArtForWellness #BuildYourLegacy #BlackWomenLead #EntrepreneurJourney #WomenWithVision

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Become an EmpowerHER Insider for $10/month → HERE

🌐 Visit website: www.empowerherbusiness.us
📧 For speaking & sponsorships: [email protected] 
📱 Connect on Instagram: HERE @empowerher_biz 

Together, we’re helping women entrepreneurs thrive beyond Year Five!

You’re putting in the effort—but the results still aren’t showing up.
In Part 2, we go deeper into why hard work alone doesn’t always lead to growth.

In this reflective Soul Spa moment on the EmpowerHER Business Podcast, Linette continues the conversation around feeling “lazy” when results don’t match your effort. For many Black women entrepreneurs in their first five years, the instinct is to push harder. But sometimes the real issue isn’t effort—it’s direction, alignment, and where your energy is being invested.

This deeper pause invites you to examine what you’re doing, why you’re doing it, and whether your actions actually support the outcomes you’re expecting. When effort is misdirected, exhaustion grows while progress stalls. This moment helps you reconnect with intentional, aligned movement instead of constant pushing.

In this Lazy or Misdirected Part 2 episode, you’ll experience:

• A deeper look at effort that doesn’t translate into results 
• Insight into misdirected energy in business growth 
• A grounding pause to reassess your current focus 
• Permission to shift direction without self-judgment 
• Encouragement to choose aligned, sustainable action 

This episode is part of The Soul Spa — short solo pauses you can return to whenever you need a moment of grounding.

From Busy to Building free download: https://forms.gle/HDmMg8wXWn72tVPg6

#EmpowerHERBusinessPodcast #SoulSpa #LazyOrMisdirected #WomenInBusiness #BlackWomenEntrepreneurs #BlackWomenInBusiness #EntrepreneurMindset #BusinessClarity #WorkingHardNotSeeingResults #AlignedAction #EntrepreneurGrowth #MindfulEntrepreneur #BusinessStrategy #ProductivityMyth #SustainableSuccess #BusinessAlignment #WomenEntrepreneurs #ClarityAndCalm #HolisticEntrepreneurship #WorkSmarterNotHarder

Support the show

✨ Support the Podcast ✨ 
Become an EmpowerHER Insider for $10/month → HERE

🌐 Visit website: www.empowerherbusiness.us
📧 For speaking & sponsorships: [email protected] 
📱 Connect on Instagram: HERE @empowerher_biz 

Together, we’re helping women entrepreneurs thrive beyond Year Five!

You’re putting in the work—so why aren’t the results showing up?
This Soul Spa pause explores the difference between being lazy and being misdirected.

In this reflective Soul Spa moment on the EmpowerHER Business Podcast, Linette gently reframes a common experience for Black women entrepreneurs in their first five years: working hard but not seeing the growth you expected. When outcomes don’t match effort, it’s easy to assume you’re not doing enough. But often, the issue isn’t laziness—it’s direction. Your energy may be going toward strategies, tasks, or expectations that no longer align with where your business needs to go.

This grounding pause invites you to step back, release self-judgment, and reassess where your effort is flowing. Sometimes relief comes not from doing more—but from redirecting what you’re already doing.

In this Soul Spa episode, you’ll experience:

• A reframe of “laziness” as possible misalignment or misdirection 
• Insight into why effort doesn’t always equal results 
• A grounding check-in to reassess where your energy is going 
• Permission to pivot without questioning your work ethic 
• A gentle reset to support clarity and aligned action 

This episode is part of The Soul Spa — short solo pauses you can return to whenever you need a moment of grounding.

From Busy to Building free download: https://forms.gle/HDmMg8wXWn72tVPg6

#EmpowerHERBusinessPodcast #SoulSpa #WomenInBusiness #BlackWomenEntrepreneurs #BlackWomenInBusiness #EntrepreneurMindset #BusinessClarity #AlignedAction #EntrepreneurGrowth #MindfulEntrepreneur #BusinessStrategy #NotLazyJustMisdirected #WomenEntrepreneurs #ProductivityMyth #SustainableSuccess #BusinessAlignment #EntrepreneurWellbeing #ClarityAndCalm #HolisticEntrepreneurship #WorkSmarterNotHarder

Support the show

✨ Support the Podcast ✨ 
Become an EmpowerHER Insider for $10/month → HERE

🌐 Visit website: www.empowerherbusiness.us
📧 For speaking & sponsorships: [email protected] 
📱 Connect on Instagram: HERE @empowerher_biz 

Together, we’re helping women entrepreneurs thrive beyond Year Five!

What happens when a culture-shaping creative pivots into purpose-driven impact? Dara Cook shares how she went from leading at MTV to building a company transforming maternal health.

If you’re building a business for impact, this conversation will challenge, inspire, and equip you to create with intention and longevity.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• How to pivot your career into purpose without losing momentum
• The power of maternal fitness in reducing pregnancy & postpartum risks
• What it takes to build a mission-driven brand that actually saves lives
• How to balance ambition, creativity, and business
• Why having expert-backed products (like OB-GYN-approved fitness) matters

👉 Follow the podcast and share it with a sister who needs this conversation. We’re on a mission to help Black women make it through the first five years in business — and thrive far beyond them.

#BlackWomenInBusiness #WomenEntrepreneurs #MompreneurLife #MaternalHealth #PostpartumWellness #PregnancyFitness #StartupJourney #PurposeDrivenBusiness #EmpowerHER #BusinessGrowth #CreativeEntrepreneur #WellnessBusiness #FounderStory #BuildInPublic #HealthyMotherhood #SideHustleToCEO #WomenSupportingWomen #OBGYNApproved #PodcastForWomen #EntrepreneurMindset

Support the show

✨ Support the Podcast ✨ 
Become an EmpowerHER Insider for $10/month → HERE

🌐 Visit website: www.empowerherbusiness.us
📧 For speaking & sponsorships: [email protected] 
📱 Connect on Instagram: HERE @empowerher_biz 

Together, we’re helping women entrepreneurs thrive beyond Year Five!

Many women start businesses with passion—but the wrong business structure and messy finances can cost you thousands. In this powerful finance roundtable, we break down the money moves every woman entrepreneur needs to make in 2026.

Host Linette Cottrell sits down with three powerhouse women in finance—Monique Vassall, Rhonda Brown, and Nikki Moteng—to talk about choosing the right business structure, avoiding costly financial mistakes, and claiming tax deductions many women business owners miss.

In this episode, we discuss:

• How to know when it’s time to move from side hustle to CEO
• The business structures every entrepreneur should understand in 2026
• Tax deductions women business owners commonly leave on the table
• How disorganized financials quietly cost small businesses thousands
• Simple systems that help you run your business like a true CEO

If you’re in your first five years of business, this conversation could save you money, stress, and major headaches down the road.

👉 Follow the podcast and share it with a sister who needs this conversation.
We’re on a mission to help Black women make it through the first five years in business—and thrive far beyond them.

#BlackWomenEntrepreneurs  #WomenInBusiness #SmallBusinessFinance
#BusinessStructure #SideHustleToCEO #EntrepreneurMoney #TaxTipsForEntrepreneurs #BusinessTaxDeductions #WomenEntrepreneurship #CEOLevelThinking #FinancialLiteracy #SmallBusinessTaxes #WomenInFinance #EmpowerHERPodcast #BusinessGrowthTips #MoneyMoves2026 #EntrepreneurMindset #BuildGenerationalWealth

Support the show

✨ Support the Podcast ✨ 
Become an EmpowerHER Insider for $10/month → HERE

🌐 Visit website: www.empowerherbusiness.us
📧 For speaking & sponsorships: [email protected] 
📱 Connect on Instagram: HERE @empowerher_biz 

Together, we’re helping women entrepreneurs thrive beyond Year Five!

What if the discomfort you’ve been feeling is actually guiding you somewhere new?
Sometimes the pinch isn’t a problem to fix—it’s an invitation to shift.

In PINCH Part 5 of The Soul Spa on the EmpowerHER Business Podcast, Linette closes this reflective mini-series by exploring what happens after we notice the pinch. For many Black women entrepreneurs in their first five years of business, the tension, fatigue, or misalignment we feel isn’t failure—it’s feedback. It’s the moment where life asks us to adjust, evolve, and trust the next version of our path.

This gentle pause invites you to release the pressure to “push through” and instead listen to what your body, business, and spirit may be asking of you now. When we honor the signals instead of ignoring them, the next step becomes clearer—and more aligned.

In this Soul Spa PINCH Part 5 episode, you’ll experience:

• A closing reflection on what the “pinch” has been teaching you
• Insight into how discomfort can guide growth and alignment
• A grounding moment to reconnect with your inner guidance
• Permission to shift direction without shame or starting over
• Encouragement to trust the evolution of your business and life

This episode is part of The Soul Spa — short solo pauses you can return to whenever you need a moment of grounding.

#EmpowerHERBusinessPodcast #SoulSpa #PinchSeries #EntrepreneurGrowth #BlackWomenEntrepreneurs #BlackWomenInBusiness #WomenInBusiness #BusinessMindset #MindfulEntrepreneur #EntrepreneurWellbeing #NervousSystemSupport #AlignedBusiness #PersonalGrowthJourney #BusinessEvolution #WomenEntrepreneurs #ClarityAndCalm #HolisticEntrepreneurship #TrustTheProcess #PurposeDrivenBusiness #SustainableSuccess

Support the show

✨ Support the Podcast ✨ 
Become an EmpowerHER Insider for $10/month → HERE

🌐 Visit website: www.empowerherbusiness.us
📧 For speaking & sponsorships: [email protected] 
📱 Connect on Instagram: HERE @empowerher_biz 

Together, we’re helping women entrepreneurs thrive beyond Year Five!

What if your exhaustion isn’t a discipline problem—but a systems problem?
Relief begins when your business works with you, not against you.

In PINCH Part 4 of The Soul Spa on the EmpowerHER Business Podcast, Linette explores how the quiet tension many Black women entrepreneurs feel is often rooted in misaligned systems. If your workflows, expectations, and structures weren’t designed with your full humanity in mind, of course they feel heavy. Sustainable success requires holistic integration—systems that support your nervous system, your capacity, and your real life.

This reflective pause invites you to rethink how you design your business. Relief doesn’t come from pushing harder. It comes from creating structures that honor the human behind the brand.

In this Soul Spa PINCH Part 4 episode, you’ll experience:

• A reframe of burnout as a systems misalignment issue
• Insight into holistic business design for real human capacity
• A grounding check-in around where your systems feel heavy
• Permission to redesign structures that no longer fit
• Encouragement to build sustainable, relief-centered success
  
  

This episode is part of The Soul Spa — short solo pauses you can return to whenever you need a moment of grounding.


#EmpowerHERBusinessPodcast #SoulSpa #PinchSeries #BusinessSystems #HolisticBusiness #BlackWomenEntrepreneurs #BlackWomenInBusiness #WomenInBusiness #SustainableSuccess #EntrepreneurWellbeing #NervousSystemSupport #BurnoutPrevention #MindfulEntrepreneur #AlignedBusiness #SystemDesign #WomenEntrepreneurs #BusinessClarity #ReliefOverBurnout #HolisticEntrepreneurship #WorkWithYourBody

Support the show

✨ Support the Podcast ✨ 
Become an EmpowerHER Insider for $10/month → HERE

🌐 Visit website: www.empowerherbusiness.us
📧 For speaking & sponsorships: [email protected] 
📱 Connect on Instagram: HERE @empowerher_biz 

Together, we’re helping women entrepreneurs thrive beyond Year Five!

What do you do when you lose 98% of your income overnight?
Melva LaJoy chose to dress for the job she was praying for — and rebuilt bigger than ever.

In this powerful episode of the EmpowerHER Business Podcast, host Linette Cottrell sits down with Melva LaJoy, founder of LaJoy Creative — a comprehensive events management agency based in Washington, D.C. and New York, servicing clients globally. With 18 years in business, Melva shares her journey from educator to nonprofit leader to visionary CEO. She opens up about rebranding in 2019, losing nearly everything in 2020, being closed for 18 months, and how discipline, faith, and mindset helped her business double year after year from 2022–2024 — including 58% growth last year alone.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• How to pivot when your business income drops almost overnight
• The mindset shift that helped her survive an 18-month shutdown
• Why “dressing for work” changed everything during uncertainty
• The power of rebranding and long-term vision in scaling sustainably
• What it really takes to stay in business for 18 years as a Black woman entrepreneur

👉 Follow the podcast and share it with a sister who needs this conversation. We’re on a mission to help Black women make it through the first five years in business — and thrive far beyond them.

#BlackWomenInBusiness #WomenEntrepreneurs #EntrepreneurJourney #BusinessGrowth #EventPlannerLife #EventManagement #CEOStory #BusinessResilience #WomenInLeadership #FaithAndBusiness #StartupToScale #SmallBusinessOwner #EmpowerHERPodcast  #BusinessMindset #RebrandYourBusiness #BlackWomenCEO #EntrepreneurMotivation #FirstFiveYears

Support the show

✨ Support the Podcast ✨ 
Become an EmpowerHER Insider for $10/month → HERE

🌐 Visit website: www.empowerherbusiness.us
📧 For speaking & sponsorships: [email protected] 
📱 Connect on Instagram: HERE @empowerher_biz 

Together, we’re helping women entrepreneurs thrive beyond Year Five!

Have you tied your worth to how much you produce, achieve, or prove?
This Soul Spa moment gently untangles worthiness from overworking.

In PINCH Part 3 of The Soul Spa on the EmpowerHER Business Podcast, Linette explores the quiet “pinch” around worthiness many Black women entrepreneurs carry—especially in the first five years of business. The pressure to outperform, overdeliver, and constantly validate your value can create chronic stress in your body and business. But your worth was never meant to be earned through exhaustion.

This reflective pause helps you notice where you may be striving for validation instead of operating from inherent worth. You’ll be invited to soften performance-based identity and reconnect with the truth that you are already enough.

In this Soul Spa PINCH Part 3 episode, you’ll experience:

• A compassionate reframe of worthiness beyond productivity
• Insight into how overworking becomes a trauma-informed pattern
• A nervous system check-in around pressure and proving
• Permission to release performance-based validation
• A grounding reset to anchor into inherent self-worth

This episode is part of The Soul Spa — short solo pauses you can return to whenever you need a moment of grounding.

#EmpowerHERBusinessPodcast #SoulSpa #PinchSeries #Worthiness #BlackWomenEntrepreneurs #BlackWomenInBusiness #WomenInBusiness #EntrepreneurMindset #OverworkingCulture #BurnoutRecovery #NervousSystemHealing #SelfWorthJourney #MindfulEntrepreneur #HealingInBusiness #WomenEntrepreneurs #GroundingPractice #HolisticEntrepreneurship #ClarityAndCalm #EmotionalWellbeing #SustainableSuccess

Support the show

✨ Support the Podcast ✨ 
Become an EmpowerHER Insider for $10/month → HERE

🌐 Visit website: www.empowerherbusiness.us
📧 For speaking & sponsorships: [email protected] 
📱 Connect on Instagram: HERE @empowerher_biz 

Together, we’re helping women entrepreneurs thrive beyond Year Five!

Are you always “on,” always preparing for the next problem?
That constant bracing might feel productive—but it slowly turns into exhaustion.

In PINCH Part 2 of The Soul Spa on the EmpowerHER Business Podcast, Linette explores the subtle but powerful habit of bracing—the ongoing state of alertness many women in business live in without realizing it. Especially for Black women entrepreneurs navigating their first five years, bracing can feel necessary for survival. But staying in fight-or-flight mode isn’t sustainable. This reflective pause helps you recognize the tension, soften your nervous system, and choose a different way forward.

In this Soul Spa PINCH Part 2 episode, you’ll experience:

• Clarity on what “bracing” looks like in everyday entrepreneurship
• Insight into how chronic alertness becomes burnout
• A nervous system reset to release tension in your body
• Permission to stop operating in constant survival mode
• Encouragement to build success without self-abandonment

 This episode is part of The Soul Spa — short solo pauses you can return to whenever you need a moment of grounding.

#EmpowerHERBusinessPodcast #SoulSpa #PinchSeries #Bracing #BurnoutPrevention #BlackWomenEntrepreneurs #BlackWomenInBusiness #EntrepreneurWellbeing #MindfulEntrepreneur #NervousSystemReset #WomenInBusiness #BusinessMindset #OvercomingBurnout #StressAwareness #GroundingPractice #EntrepreneurLife #HolisticEntrepreneurship #EmotionalWellbeing #RestAndReset #SustainableSuccess

Support the show

✨ Support the Podcast ✨ 
Become an EmpowerHER Insider for $10/month → HERE

🌐 Visit website: www.empowerherbusiness.us
📧 For speaking & sponsorships: [email protected] 
📱 Connect on Instagram: HERE @empowerher_biz 

Together, we’re helping women entrepreneurs thrive beyond Year Five!