When Johanna Gomez felt a rock-hard lump on her breast, she did not panic. She had just put in an offer on a new home. Life felt full. Stable. Promising. But the call came fast: it was breast cancer. She was 37. No family history. Three kids. And no space to fall apart. In this intimate segment, Johanna shares what it was like to hold it all in and to protect her children from the weight of her reality. From shock to strength, this is a story about confronting the unimaginable—and choosing to stay grounded, laser focused, and fiercely grown.

GUEST RESOURCES 

Johanna Gomez 

IG | @johannagomez

RESOURCES 

Shannon Allen 

Grown Website | https://www.grown.org/ 

IG | @swalkerwil 

🌱 Stay Connected & Explore More

🔗 Visit the Grown Website Grown.org

📲 Follow Shannon on Instagram @swalkerwil

🎧 Like, Share & Subscribe If this episode moved you, inspired you, or made you think, don’t keep it to yourself! Like, share, and subscribe to grownwoman on your favorite podcast platform.

grownwoman is produced by EPYC Media Network

Every grownwoman has that moment—the one that split her life into before and after.

In this special best-of episode, we revisit the breakdowns that came first. The inner pain behind the outward strength. The moments when they could’ve quit… but didn’t. From loss to illness, fear, and failure—this is a reminder that every rise starts in the rubble.

These are the stories that cracked them open.

That called them higher.

That made them GROWN.

These are our grown women.

KEY POINTS

6: Dascha Polanco on Loss, Love & Living Out Loud | grownwoman

7: Mielle Organics CEO Monique Rodriguez Turned Grief From Losing Her Son into Empire | grownwoman

8: Denise Woodard: My Daughter’s Allergy Sparked Snack Empire Partake Foods | grownwoman

9: Foster Care to Fortune 500: How Carolyn Aronson Built It's a 10 Haircare | grownwoman

10: Motherhood & Mentorship Helped Me Build a Media Empire | Jessica Hurley on grownwoman

11: Suzanne McKenzie Turned Her Husband’s Sudden Passing Into a Mission | grownwoman

12: How Grief Pushed Isa Watson to Build a Tech Empire Squad | grownwoman

13: Diagnosed at 37: How Johanna Gomez Fought Breast Cancer & Raised 3 Kids | grownwoman

RESOURCES 

Shannon Allen 

Grown Website | https://www.grown.org/ 

IG | @swalkerwil 

🌱 Stay Connected & Explore More

🔗 Visit the Grown Website Grown.org

📲 Follow Shannon on Instagram @swalkerwil

🎧 Like, Share & Subscribe If this episode moved you, inspired you, or made you think, don’t keep it to yourself! Like, share, and subscribe to grownwoman on your favorite podcast platform.

grownwoman is produced by EPYC Media Network 

When Isa Watson set out to earn her degree at MIT, she wasn’t just chasing a dream—she was chasing who she wanted to be. But nothing could have prepared her for the day she found she no longer cared. Isa opens up about the tragic accident that took her father’s life and left her mother without memory—the crash that made her reckless, but only because she couldn’t afford to grieve. Through the overwhelm and holding her family together, Isa shares how MIT showed up—not with words, but with action. They made her feel like she was the only student who mattered. This is not just a story about tragedy. It’s a story about grace, grit, and what true community looks like. It’s a reminder that behind every degree is a journey—and behind this one, a daughter determined to rise.

GUEST RESOURCES 

Isa Watson

Website | www.isawatson.com

RESOURCES 

Shannon Allen 

Grown Website | https://www.grown.org/ 

IG | @swalkerwil 

🌱 Stay Connected & Explore More

🔗 Visit the Grown Website Grown.org

📲 Follow Shannon on Instagram @swalkerwil

🎧 Like, Share & Subscribe If this episode moved you, inspired you, or made you think, don’t keep it to yourself! Like, share, and subscribe to grownwoman on your favorite podcast platform.

grownwoman is produced by EPYC Media Network 

Today, Shannon introduces the Emmy Award-Winning journalist, devoted mother, and breast cancer survivor, Johanna Gomez. Together, they delve into Johanna's unexpected career path from Miami Dolphins cheerleader to winning an Emmy for journalism, all while juggling motherhood, professional ambition, and life's curveballs. 

Johanna credits her Dominican roots for instilling relentless grit & grace and explains how calculated risks led to doors she never imagined walking through. Their conversation shifts when she recounts receiving a breast cancer diagnosis at 37, while still needing to care for 3 children and (even) remaining on air. 

Her profound observation resonates: "As women, we wear so many hats, we forget to wear our own." With remarkable vulnerability, she discusses the cost of self-neglect, the reality of post-traumatic growth, and keeping her power of voice and relentless determination to do whatever the hell she wants.

This episode honors women in transition, offering hope that our greatest struggles can become our strongest foundations. 

KEY POINTS 

00:00 - Diagnosed at 37: How Johanna Gomez Fought Breast Cancer While Raising 3 Kids

03:57 - Being raised by a single Dominican mother 

06:33 - Figuring out what to do with her life

09:30 - Taking dance more seriously, becoming a Miami Dolphin

10:20 - An on-camera opportunity sparked a career in TV

13:25 - Juggling school, dancing with the Miami HEAT, and a new career path

18:40 - When television became “the thing”

29:20 - Getting diagnosed with breast cancer

40:02 - Being so mad and staying laser-focused to beat cancer

45:45 - Remaining connected with her body even after surgery

47:25 - Unreal competition among women in the industry 

49:20 - The true reward of work and companionship 

53:10 - There is enough for all of us to dream

54:30 - Go get checked! Advocate for yourself and bask in your glory

QUOTES 

“I am always competing with myself. I see it as I'm always competing with myself because I'm the one that's getting out there to tell a story, to host a show, to interview someone.” – Johanna Gomez

“Go get checked. It doesn't matter if you're in your 30s. Go get checked. It doesn't matter if you don't have [a] family history.” – Johanna Gomez 

“A grown woman is doing what you want, whatever you want when you want it, and not caring about anyone's feelings.” – Johanna Gomez 

GUEST RESOURCES 

Johanna Gomez 

IG | @johannagomez

RESOURCES 

Shannon Allen 

Grown Website | https://www.grown.org/ 

IG | @swalkerwil 

🌱 Stay Connected & Explore More

🔗 Visit the Grown Website Grown.org

📲 Follow Shannon on Instagram @swalkerwil

🎧 Like, Share & Subscribe If this episode moved you, inspired you, or made you think, don’t keep it to yourself! Like, share, and subscribe to grownwoman on your favorite podcast platform.

grownwoman is produced by EPYC Media Network

Suzanne McKenzie’s life changed in an instant the day her husband, Ucal, collapsed on the soccer field. In this emotional segment, Suzanne opens up about their love story, the moment she lost him, and the brutal weight of grief that followed. She shares how nothing prepared her for the isolation, the silence, and the disorienting chaos that came after, and why grief doesn’t follow a script. From Joan Didion to grief counseling to the choice to keep going, Suzanne offers a rare and honest look into what it really takes to survive the unthinkable.

GUEST RESOURCES 

Suzanne McKenzie 

LinkedIn | @suzanne-mckenzie 

RESOURCES 

Shannon Allen 

Grown Website | https://www.grown.org/ 

IG | @swalkerwil 

🌱 Stay Connected & Explore More

🔗 Visit the Grown Website Grown.org

📲 Follow Shannon on Instagram @swalkerwil

🎧 Like, Share & Subscribe If this episode moved you, inspired you, or made you think, don’t keep it to yourself! Like, share, and subscribe to grownwoman on your favorite podcast platform.

grownwoman is produced by EPYC Media Network 

Isa Watson—Founder & CEO of Squad, MIT MBA, tech innovator, researcher, and skydiver—shares her extraordinary journey from small-town North Carolina to the heart of Silicon Valley.

Growing up in a values-centered home, Isa’s early engineering exposure and innate curiosity became the bedrock of her influential career across STEM, business, and social impact. She opens up about how grief, identity, and ambition collided to create Squad, which now serves major sports leagues throughout the U.S. and U.K. 

As a grownwoman, Isa emphasizes the fundamental flaws in social media and demonstrates how her patented technology is transforming digital relationships. With striking poise and clarity, she also shares insights on using skydiving to manage stress, maintaining boundaries during fundraising, and nurturing billion-dollar ideas with intentionality. 

This conversation between Shannon and Isa speaks directly to anyone whose outward success masks inner chaos. Don’t miss this masterclass episode—build a lasting impact while learning to abandon the performance of perfection! 

KEY POINTS 

00:00 - MIT, Loss, & Building Squad: How Isa Watson Turned Grief Into Tech Innovation

02:42 - Growing up around research and engineering 

04:03 - The influence of her parents’ grit and resilience

08:36 - Working at a research lab at only 14 years old

12:35 - Being Hampton-University-MADE

16:16 - Pursuing a PhD in pharmacology 

21:52 - The bus crash that changed her life, and how MIT cared

26:07 - Working at JP Morgan and navigating her grief journey

29:25 - The foundations of Squad

32:25 - Being approached by the NBA and other major leagues 

34:27 - The realities of fundraising as a Black woman 

36:18 - Staying offline as a tech founder

39:00 - The vision: Squad's technology and evolution within 

QUOTES 

“The day that you stop learning is a day that you stop growing.”  – Isa Watson

‘Social media is actually not social. It's media.” – Isa Watson

“I'm a grown woman who is refined and that is open to evolution, and that is open to continuously iterating on herself and getting to the next version of her, and someone who looks forward to meeting the future versions of her.” – Isa Watson

GUEST RESOURCES 

Isa Watson

Website | www.isawatson.com

RESOURCES 

Shannon Allen 

Grown Website | https://www.grown.org/ 

IG | @swalkerwil 

🌱 Stay Connected & Explore More

🔗 Visit the Grown Website Grown.org

📲 Follow Shannon on Instagram @swalkerwil

🎧 Like, Share & Subscribe If this episode moved you, inspired you, or made you think, don’t keep it to yourself! Like, share, and subscribe to grownwoman on your favorite podcast platform.

grownwoman is produced by EPYC Media Network

At 24 weeks pregnant, Jessica Hurley walked into a routine appointment—and never went back to work. What followed was a nightmare she couldn’t have prepared for: severe preeclampsia, stroke-level blood pressure, an emergency delivery at 25 weeks, and the fight for both her and her son’s lives. In this jaw-dropping and tear-jerking conversation, Jessica opens up about the moment she was told, “It’s you or the baby,” and how the chaos of that day—and the miracle that followed—became the catalyst for everything she built after. Her son Cameron was born at just 1 lb. 11 oz, he cried like a cat, and Jessica’s life was never the same. This is the breakdown before the breakthrough. This is the birth of EPYC.

GUEST RESOURCES 

Jessica Hurley 

IG | @jessicahurley__

Website | www.epyc.co

RESOURCES 

Shannon Allen 

Grown Website | https://www.grown.org/ 

IG | @swalkerwil 

🌱 Stay Connected & Explore More

🔗 Visit the Grown Website Grown.org

📲 Follow Shannon on Instagram @swalkerwil

🎧 Like, Share & Subscribe If this episode moved you, inspired you, or made you think, don’t keep it to yourself! Like, share, and subscribe to grownwoman on your favorite podcast platform.

grownwoman is produced by EPYC Media Network 

In today’s inspiring episode, Shannon welcomes Suzanne McKenzie—creative visionary, founder of Able Made, and the grownwoman leader behind The Ucal McKenzie Breakaway Foundation. She shares her evolution from growing up in Maine to shaping youth empowerment programs and purpose-driven fashion.

Suzanne shares her journey through grief following the sudden loss of her husband and reveals how that life-altering tragedy ignited a movement that continues to change soccer athletes' lives. She brings wisdom and warmth to discussing equity in youth sports, sustainable fashion, and fair pay—all now integral to her mission. 

From cold-calling Vogue to securing partnerships with Puma, Suzanne proves that resilience and purpose can outshine any playbook. Tune in to learn more about post-traumatic growth, building a legacy with intention, and showing up—even when it’s hard. 

This one’s for every grownwoman redefining what success looks like, with heart. 

KEY POINTS 

00:00 - How a Tragedy on the Field Became a Mission for Change - Suzanne McKenzie’s Story

02:55 - From small-town athlete to founder, sports to a career in design

07:00 - Persistence for internships and mentors in top agencies

17:11 - Losing her husband, Ucal, to cardiac arrest

21:25 - Why grief needs more flexible resources

28:35 - Honoring her husband through accessible sports advocacy 

31:42 - Why Able Made? Lifestyle, ethics, sustainability, and equity

40:10 - The future of sports in 10 years time

QUOTES 

“Hard work beats talent when talent doesn't work hard.” – Suzanne McKenzie 

“I wanted to do design and strategy work for brands that we’re doing the Ben and Jerry's of nonprofits, or just people, planet-driven business.” – Suzanne McKenzie

“I think of [a grown woman as] against everything that women have been up against, and we just keep going. It's just grace, it's grit.” – Suzanne McKenzie 

GUEST RESOURCES 

Suzanne McKenzie 

LinkedIn | @suzanne-mckenzie 

RESOURCES 

Shannon Allen 

Grown Website | https://www.grown.org/ 

IG | @swalkerwil 

🌱 Stay Connected & Explore More

🔗 Visit the Grown Website Grown.org

📲 Follow Shannon on Instagram @swalkerwil

🎧 Like, Share & Subscribe If this episode moved you, inspired you, or made you think, don’t keep it to yourself! Like, share, and subscribe to grownwoman on your favorite podcast platform.

grownwoman is produced by EPYC Media Network 

Carolyn Aronson had a successful salon, a steady career, and every reason to stay comfortable. But something inside her said this isn’t enough. In this powerful segment, the founder of It’s a 10 Haircare opens up about what made her walk away from stability, risk it all, and build a product that now sells over 11 million bottles a year.

She shares how failure became fuel, how purpose drives every product, and why she believes success is only possible if you’re willing to lay it all on the line.

This clip is for anyone stuck at “good” when they’re meant for “great.”

GUEST RESOURCES 

Carolyn Aronson 

IG | itsa10ceo

RESOURCES 

Shannon Allen 

Grown Website | https://www.grown.org/ 

IG | @swalkerwil 

🌱 Stay Connected & Explore More

🔗 Visit the Grown Website Grown.org

📲 Follow Shannon on Instagram @swalkerwil

🎧 Like, Share & Subscribe If this episode moved you, inspired you, or made you think, don’t keep it to yourself! Like, share, and subscribe to grownwoman on your favorite podcast platform.

grownwoman is produced by EPYC Media Network

Jessica Hurley didn’t set out to build a media company. She just said yes to one woman who saw something in her before she could see it in herself. That woman’s belief - her mentorship, her sacrifice, her fierce accountability - lit the match that changed everything.

But it wasn’t until Jessica gave birth to her son Cameron, 15 weeks early, in the fight of both their lives, that she found her fire. What followed was a breakdown, a rebirth, and a promise: if she could bring her son home, she’d spend the rest of her life showing him why he was born.

This episode is about what happens when a woman says yes to you, when your child becomes your why, and when you realize that nothing can stop a grown ass woman on a mission.

KEY POINTS 

00:00 - How Female Mentorship & Motherhood Shaped Media Mogul Jessica Hurley

04:48 - Getting paid what she deserved and being reminded of what she’s worth 

13:12 - Growing up an only child with entrepreneurial parents

15:51 - Being deemed “most likely to be an entrepreneur”

18:16 - The first in her family to pursue college

22:25 - The life-changing impact of a great mentor 

27:45 - DUI, learning accountability and integrity from the experience

40:00 - Her son’s medical challenges and miracles

57:00 - Spiritual awakening and trusting God’s plan 

01:03:12 - The creation of EPYC Media Network and its mission 

01:10:00 - On embracing evolution as a constant journey 

QUOTES 

“Solve people's problems, you'll never have a problem with money.” – Jessica Hurley

“Tragedy doesn't ruin us. Hopelessness does, and it's the loneliness that hurts us.” – Jessica Hurley

“The darkness is the waiting room. The invitation is to step outside. You can stop the lack of belief. You can stop the fear. You can stop the insecurity. You can stop the silence. You can stop the thing. And the choice is yours.” – Jessica Hurley

“You cannot live one way by day and another by night and expect results.” – Jessica Hurley

“God's vision is bigger than anything that we can conceptualize. He's just waiting for our Yes.” – Jessica Hurley

GUEST RESOURCES 

Jessica Hurley 

IG | @jessicahurley__

Website | www.epyc.co

RESOURCES 

Shannon Allen 

Grown Website | https://www.grown.org/ 

IG | @swalkerwil 

🌱 Stay Connected & Explore More

🔗 Visit the Grown Website Grown.org

📲 Follow Shannon on Instagram @swalkerwil

🎧 Like, Share & Subscribe If this episode moved you, inspired you, or made you think, don’t keep it to yourself! Like, share, and subscribe to grownwoman on your favorite podcast platform.

grownwoman is produced by EPYC Media Network