How She Got Here

Have you ever found yourself mad at a total stranger because they were obviously pregnant and you still weren’t? Have you ever seen someone treat their child less than kind and want to shake them and tell them they should be thankful they could have that child? Have you ever taken a pregnancy test only to find it read not pregnant…again? Then this episode is for you.

Show Notes:

Links:

Transcript:

Marty McDonald quit her corporate job to pursue Boss Women Media full time and it has been a roller coaster ride of ups, downs, highs, lows and everything in between.

Show Notes:

Links:https://bosswomen.orgBoss Women Media – InstagramMarty Motivates – Instagram

Transcript:

Welcome: Welcome to “How She Got Here – Conversations with Everyday Extraordinary Women.” It is my belief that every woman has something inside her only she can do. The more we share the stories of other women, who have already discovered their thing, the more it inspires, encourages, and empowers other women to do the same.

Intro: Hey Pod Sisters! I am so excited for you to dig in to this conversation. My guest is Marty McDonald, founder of Boss Women Media. Boss Women Media is an offline/online women’s empowerment community and media company. We talk about what that means as well as what it’s like to leave your corporate job and follow your entrepreneurial goals. Y’all Marty is brave and is a huge risk taker. She is not afraid to go after big things. Boss Women Media is everything we talk about here at How She Got Here! It’s women supporting women. It’s a platform for connection. It’s educational. It’s women celebrating women! It’s awesome and I am here for all of it! Make sure to check out bosswomen.org and follow on Instagram @bosswomenmedia and @martymotivates. And don’t forget to get your tickets to Boss Woman of the Year here in Dallas on September 21st. More of that in our upcoming conversation. So without further ado, here is Marty. Susan: Well, good morning, Miss Marty, thank you so much for joining me today. I’m really looking forward to this conversation. And getting to know you a little bit better and hearing a little bit about Boss Women Media. For our audience who does not know you or Boss Women Media yet. If you wouldn’t mind, I’d love to open up by sharing a little bit about yourself and about how Boss Women Media came into being.Marty: Yeah. Thank you. First of all, thank you so much for having me. I’m actually kind of dealing with a little bit of like a nasal sinus infection. So I apologize if I sound like I’m talking out of my nose cause I kind of am. But thank you so much. I’m so thrilled to be here. And just to share my story. Boss Women Media is an offline, online women’s empowerment community and Media Company. And what I mean by offline/online. Offline, we create experiences for women to connect through the lens of brands. Online, we create content that women need to thrive in their careers and in their lives. Boss Women Media was started in 2016 as a personal need for me. I was a girl sitting in corporate America feeling so isolated and feeling like where are my people at? Where are the girls at, who are going through the same things that I’m going through?

Navigating salary negotiation, navigating, moving from manager to director, navigating the corporate space of feeling like a complete imposter. Because, oh, by the way, I’m the only black girl that’s in the board room. And I feel like my voice has been assimilated to someone else’s identity. And so I created this movement because I tried several things in Dallas and I couldn’t find anything that quite felt like this was my tribe of people. In 2016 I had a brunch at Neiman Marcus cafe. I had 25 women attend, 15 of them who I had no idea who they were at all. I put it on event bright and I thought, man, this could really be something incredibly powerful, specifically for millennial women and millennial women of color who need an outlet and a space.

You ask, we deliver. In this bonus episode I sat down to chat with legal expert Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch. Kate is an Austin based immigration attorney and she is here to answer your questions. I hope our conversation will give you a better understanding of the situation and, most importantly, what you can do to help!

Show Notes:Will post at a later date

Links:

www.lincolngoldfinch.com https://www.facebook.com/lincolngoldfinch/ https://twitter.com/lincolngfinch?lang=en

More links to come

Transcript: Will post at a later date

You have a vision and now you want to see it come to life. Where do you start? How do you begin to help it materialize? I don’t know about you, but I am a visual person. My next step was reaching out to graphic artist, Vicky Gouge.

Show Notes: Vicky Gouge is the owner of Full Moon Design Group, a Texas based graphic design and print marketing company with a focus on small to medium sized businesses. Spoiler alert: She is the brains behind the How She Got Here website and logo. She truly helped How She Got Here come to life.

A few of my favorite highlights from our conversation include: – Don’t be afraid to utilize the knowledge of others. – Know your financial situation. Budgets aren’t always fun to talk about, but they are necessary. – Failure is inevitable. Learn from it. – Even in todays digital world there is still value in networking and meeting people in person.

Links: https://fullmoondesigngroup.com https://www.facebook.com/fullmoondesign/

Transcript: Welcome: Welcome to “How She Got Here – Conversations with Everyday Extraordinary Women.” It is my belief that every woman has something inside her only she can do. The more we share the stories of other women, who have already discovered their thing, the more it inspires, encourages, and empowers other women to do the same.

Intro: Hey Pod Sisters! I am so excited about todays guest. That is because I get to introduce you to one of the gurus behind the scenes at How She Got Here. Today’s guest is Vicky Gouge. Vicky is the owner of Full Moon Design Group. She is my graphic artist, website developer and basically all things web related wizard. I am so excited she was willing to come on and share a little bit about herself and her business. So without further ado, here’s Vicky.

Susan: Okay, Vicky, I am so excited to have you with me today. For my guests who have not listened to a podcast, who have not heard me talk about you before, you are my internet guru. You are the person I call whenever I have a website question, whenever I have a “how do I make this happen” question. And there is a lot of work that you do for How She Got Here behind the scenes. So it is fantastic to finally have you on. I’m so excited. Vicky: I’m happy to be here and join you on this podcast today.

Susan: Tell us a little bit about yourself and where you got started, and then how Full Moon kind of came into being. That’s the name of your company.

Vicky: Yes, so my name is Vicky Gouge, I own a company called Full Moon Design Group. And we are a full service graphic design and web development company. We started April 1 of 2004—and that’s no joke, so recently celebrated my company’s 15th birthday. Prior to that, I went to college at Southwest Texas University and received my degree in art and journalism. And then also at the same time, got my secondary education certification with the idea that from college, I wanted to teach high school, which I did, directly out of college. I landed my first job down in Austin, Texas, and I taught at a local high school down there. I taught art, yearbook, and photojournalism. At the time I was going to college, they didn’t really have any formalized graphic design programs. And I had always had a passion for art, which is why I got my degree in art. And one of the things that I learned quickly when I started teaching was the students in the yearbook and photo journalism classes were beginning to lay out the page designs on the computer using PageMaker, which I had very, very little knowledge about. And so I was kind of thrown into a gauntlet, so to speak,

Have you ever visited a national park?  Did you know you grants were available to live in national parks and write about them? Did you know that the land the government used to create our national parks used to be inhabited by people?  Latria Graham shares a snippet of what she has been working on as a Steve Kemp Writer in Residence in The Great Smoky Mountains.

Show Notes:

Latria

Graham is a freelance writer and journalist who has written for many

publications including, but not limited to, ESPNW, The Guardian, Teen Vogue,

The New York Times, the LA Times, Southern Living and my personal favorite

(because it was my home paper) The Spartanburg Herald Journal.

In this two

part series Latria takes us behind the scenes in her life as a freelance

journalist. 

A few of my

favorite take aways from part two include:

* Everyone’s story matters.* Even well renowned writers get intimidated.  * Take risks. Go outside your comfort zone. It can lead to tremendous opportunity.

Links:

https://www.latriagraham.com

Latria Graham – LinkedIn

Latria Graham – Twitter

Latria

Graham – Instagram

Latria Graham E-mail –  [email protected]

Latria Graham Article: Outside Magazinehttps://www.outsideonline.com/2296351/were-here-you-just-dont-see-us

https://hubcity.org

https://www.smokiesinformation.org/writers-residency

Transcript

Welcome: 

Welcome to “How She Got Here – Conversations with Everyday

Extraordinary Women.” It is my belief that every woman has something inside her

only she can do. The more we share the stories of other women, who have already

discovered their thing, the more it inspires, encourages, and empowers other

women to do the same.

Intro: 

Hey Pod Sisters!  I hope you

enjoyed part one of my conversation with writer extraordinaire, Latria Graham.

Today I am excited to share part 2.  As

you may recall, Latria and I both happen to be from the same home town though

we never knew each other. I am thankful to have met her by chance at Hub City

Bookshop over winter break in 2018. Per her website: she is “a writer, editor

and cultural critic currently living in South Carolina.

Her “writing interests revolve around the dynamics of race, gender norms,

class, nerd culture, and- yes, football.” 

She is “ keeping her eye on publishers that are invested in celebrating

the diversity of the human experience. Contributing to online publications that

focus their attention on social justice and equality resonates with her

values.”  She loves “speaking with people

who challenge the status quo and care about living and learning without

inhibitions.”  Latria has written for

many publications including, but not limited to, ESPNW, The Guardian, Teen

Vogue, The New York Times, the LA Times, Southern Living and my personal

favorite (because it was my home paper) The Spartanburg Her...

Have you ever read an amazing piece in a magazine or newspaper and wondered what the writers life might be like?  Maybe you have even wondered if you have what it takes to be a professional writer or journalist.  Latria Graham takes us behind the scenes in her life as a freelance journalist in this two part series.

Show Notes:

Latria

Graham is a freelance writer and journalist who has written for many

publications including, but not limited to, ESPNW, The Guardian, Teen Vogue,

The New York Times, the LA Times, Southern Living and my personal favorite

(because it was my home paper) The Spartanburg Herald Journal.

In this two

part series Latria takes us behind the scenes in her life as a freelance

journalist.  We discuss everything from

getting started to how to build a community within your profession when you

often work alone.

A few of my

favorite take aways from part one include:

* We all have different strengths and weaknesses.  Figuring out a niche within your own profession will help differentiate you from the rest of the pack.* Having a partner, mentor or colleague to bounce ideas off of is beneficial.  There is strength in numbers.* When hard days come, its helpful to look back at words from people who believe in you.  Keep a stash of those e-mails or letters within reach.

Links:

https://www.latriagraham.com

Latria Graham – LinkedIn

Latria Graham – Twitter

Latria

Graham E-mail –  [email protected]

https://hubcity.org

Transcript:

Welcome:  Welcome to “How She Got Here – Conversations with Everyday

Extraordinary Women.” It is my belief that every woman has something inside her

only she can do. The more we share the stories of other women, who have already

discovered their thing, the more it inspires, encourages, and empowers other

women to do the same.

Intro:  Hey Pod Sisters!  I am

so excited about today’s episode. That is because I am sharing my conversation

with Latria Graham.  Latria and I both

happen to be from the same home town though we never knew each other. I am

thankful to have met her by chance at Hub City Bookshop over winter break in

2018. Per her website: she is “a writer, editor and cultural critic currently

living in South Carolina.

Her “writing interests revolve around the dynamics of race, gender norms,

class, nerd culture, and- yes, football.” 

She is “ keeping her eye on publishers that are invested in celebrating

the diversity of the human experience. Contributing to online publications that

focus their attention on social justice and equality resonates with her

values.”  She loves “speaking with people

who challenge the status quo and care about living and learning without

inhibitions.”  Latria has written for

many publications including, but not limited to, ESPNW, The Guardian, Teen

Vogue, The New York Times, the LA Times, Southern Living and my personal

favorite (because it was my home paper) The Spartanburg Herald Journal.  So without further ado…here is Latria

Susan: Well, hey, Latria Graham, thank you

so much for joining us today.

We have all played the “What If” game, but have you ever followed through?  Rachael Piper asked herself “What if I just quit”…so she did. 

Show Notes:

Quitting? Even the word makes us sweat!  I don’t think we ever want to be labeled a

quitter, but is that the right way to think about it?

In this episode, Rachael shares the invaluable experience

she gleaned from entering the workforce in 2007 that she still leans into today

while running her own company. 

A few of my favorite take aways include:

*  The person in the room that “has all the

answers” probably knows the least. 

The person in the room that’s asking the most questions, is who you want

on your team.

*  It is important to make decisions that will

keep you true to yourself, even when they are hard

*  Spend a little, save a lot (there is freedom

in living below your means)

–  “I’m not going to

limit myself just because people wont accept the fact that I can do something else”

Dolly Parton

Rachael reminds us of the importance of being true to

yourself and that taking calculated risks (although scary and perhaps

intimidating) can be fun and life giving. 

She also helps us remember that we are the only ones who can define success

for ourselves.

Links:

Linked In

Instagram

Brené Brown

Dolly Parton

Transcript:

Welcome: Welcome to “How She Got Here – Conversations

with Everyday Extraordinary Women.” It is my belief that every woman has

something inside her only she can do. The more we share the stories of other

women, who have already discovered their thing, the more it inspires,

encourages, and empowers other women to do the same.

Intro: Hey Pod Sisters, have you ever thought, what

if I just quit? How does that phrase even make you feel? Does it inspire and

empower you? Or does it terrify you? Maybe it does a little bit of both. My

guest today is Rachael Piper. And one day, she did just that.

Susan: Rachael, thank you so much for joining us

today and sharing a little bit about you and your story. But for those of our

audience who don’t know you, would you share a little bit about who you are,

what you do, and your life in digital marketing.

Rachael Piper: Absolutely. Well, thanks for having me

on as well. So kind of my quick background, if you will, for the most part, I

grew up in Flower Mound, Texas, which is just outside of Dallas. And then I

went to college at SMU, which is in Dallas proper. I was a double major there

with advertising and sociology. I put myself through school and was able to get

both majors completed in the four years that I was there. So I graduated from

there in 2007. So I entered the workforce right around the same time as the

recession. So it was a kind of trial by fire, learned a lot through that, you

know, experience kind of got a good taste of the real world right off the bat,

if you will. Originally…Know too that I talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, so feel

free to interrupt me as needed.

But,

We all have skills.  We all have passions.  Marrying them can be tricky.  Combine that with the season of motherhood and it might seem impossible.  Liz Navarro is here to share how she has successfully made her skills work for her in this season of life.

Show Notes:

What if you took a few of the skills that you were really

good at and made them work for you no matter the stage of life?  That is exactly what Liz Navarro has

done.  Liz is a mom, writer, blogger,

Tedx speaker, professor, content creator, and more.  She has taken the skills she has mastered

over the years and combined them with her love of writing and launched a new

venture in the season of mothering young children.

A few of my favorite take aways from our conversation

include:

 – It is totally

possible to make the skills you have work for you no matter your season of life

– It is “hard to read the label from inside the bottle.”

Gaining perspective is crucial

* There

is room for everyone’s voice, just make sure you speak with authenticity

Liz inspires us to think inside the box we already

have.  You might have to punch up an area

here or there, but there is a good chance you already have everything you need

inside you.  You might just need to take

a different look at the puzzle.

Links:

https://www.liznavarroco.com

Ted Talk

Shonda Rhimes speech

Instagram

Facebook

Linked

In

Twitter

Transcript:

Welcome: Welcome to “How She Got Here – Conversations

with Everyday Extraordinary Women.” It is my belief that every woman has

something inside her only she can do. The more we share the stories of other

women, who have already discovered their thing, the more it inspires,

encourages, and empowers other women to do the same.

Intro: Hey Pod Sisters, I’m so excited to share my

guest with you today. My friend, Liz Navarro was on the show a little bit ago

to share her experience from the Dallas Women’s March. Today, I’m excited to

have her back to share a little about her work as a writer and content creator.

We talk a lot about what it’s like being a professional writer, figuring out

how to do what you love for a living, and why there’s room for everyone at the

table to share their voice; hint, because no one else can share it exactly the

way you do. So without further ado, here’s Liz.

Susan: Well, hey, Liz, thank you so much for agreeing

to join me today, you are my first repeat guest, because you were so kind to

share your experience with the Women’s March back in March. Was it was in

March? No, it was January, it was January. Yeah, it was January. But anyway,

you came on to chat with us today about what you actually do for a living. And

for my audience out there, Liz and I collaborate together on a regular basis.

But I wanted you to come on today and kind of sh...

Have you ever found yourself totally out of your element?  How did you handle it?  Were you able to grow from it?  Brandi Brown, founder of Hype Freedom School found herself out of her element at Southern Methodist University.  When she expressed an interest to “come home” she was connected with an organization that would change the trajectory of her life.

Show Notes:

Have you ever wondered what it would be like if you ever

really found and followed your calling? 

Brandi Brown did just that.  After

graduating from Southern Methodist University she set out to establish a

Children’s Defense Fund Freedom School in her hometown of Houston, TX. 

In this episode, Brandi shares her experience of attending

SMU and how a connection with a fellow Mustang (the SMU mascot) lead to an

opportunity with the Children’s Defense Fund Freedom School in Dallas, TX that

changed the trajectory of her life.

A few of my favorite take aways include:

– Nobody gets where they are in life without the help of

others

– Starting something from the ground up is not easy

* You

cannot care for other if you haven’t cared for yourself first

Links:

Hype Freedom School – website

Hype Freedom School – Facebook

Hype Freedom School – Instagram

Hype Freedom School – Twitter

Children’s Defense Fund – website

Children’s Defense Fund Freedom School – website

Transcript:

Intro:

Welcome to “How She Got Here – Conversations with Everyday Extraordinary Women.”

It is my belief that every woman has something inside her only she can do. The

more we share the stories of other women, who have already discovered their

thing, the more it inspires, encourages, and empowers other women to do the

same. 

Susan: Hey,

Pod Sisters, there is nothing that unlocks possibility in this country more

than education. It is the key to everything. As a first gen college student, I

can attest to this firsthand. Today, my guest is Brandi Brown. Brandi is

originally from Houston is a graduate of SMU and is the founder of Hype Freedom

School. Please note that at about the 36 or 37-minute mark, it gets pretty loud

in the background. What I want you to know is that that is the sound of about 100

amazing young women attending the Marvelous Girls Summit on the campus of SMU.

You might remember our friend, and previous pod guest,

Shanterra McBride, founder of Marvelous University. Well, she put on a summit

for young girls and Brandi and I were both there to help and support her. And

while we were there, I had the opportunity to catch up with Brandi and learn a

little bit more of her story, and I took it. I cannot wait to share our

conversation. So without further ado, here is Brandi.

Susan:

Well, first, tell me a little bit about how you got started with Hype, how all

of this, how this dream got started. Tell us a little bit of your background

story.

Brandi:

What if we realized that

all anyone wants is the best for their children?  What if we recognized the similarities in

each other rather than our differences? 

Could this help us find peace and common ground in our varying faith

communities? 

Show Notes:

When you think of peace and common

ground, what comes to mind?  For Angelina

Tucker it is her grandfathers work and her faith. 

Angelina is an accomplished Doctor of

Pharmacy specializing in geriatrics. 

Yet, it was becoming a mother that helped reacquaint her with her faith.

It also motivated her to connect with the inter faith community, write about

faith and raising kids for the Fort Worth Mom’s Blog and “advocate for

religious freedom for minority groups globally” on Capitol

Hill.  WHEW!

A few favorite inspiring take aways from

our conversation:

* It

is important to build bridges through dialogue and open communication

– It’s okay to ask questions.  Curiosity is a good thing and many people

welcome it.

* “At

the end of the day, we’re mothers trying to raise our kids, and keep them away

from harm and we want the very, very best for them, and we have that in common.”

Links

http://daughtersofabraham-tx.org

https://fortworth.citymomsblog.com/author/angelinatucker/

www.lajnausa.net

Transcript:

Intro: Welcome to “How She Got Here – Conversations

with Everyday Extraordinary Women.” It is my belief that every woman has

something inside her only she can do. The more we share the stories of other

women, who have already discovered their thing, the more it inspires,

encourages, and empowers other women to do the same.

Susan:  Hey Pod

Sisters, welcome to part two of Daughters of Abraham. Today I’m sharing my

conversation with Muslim Daughter of Abraham member, Angelina Tucker. Angelina

is originally from Trinidad and Tobago, and found her way to Texas via the

University of Florida—Go Gators—and meeting her husband. She is a Doctor of

Pharmacy and specializes in geriatrics. She is a mother and also a writer and

contributor to the Fort Worth Moms blog. So without further ado, here’s

Angelina.

Susan: Hey, Angelina, I am so glad we could chat today.

How are you doing?

Angelina: I’m doing great. Thank you for asking. 

Susan: Good. Well, I’m just really excited to have you

here with us today. For my audience who doesn’t know you, although some may

know you, and we’ll get into that in a little bit. But for my audience who

doesn’t know you, tell us a little bit about your backstory, who you are and

what you’re up to? 

Angelina: Well, you know, Susan, to tell you the truth I’m

just a simple country girl. You know, I was born in a third world country in

Trinidad and Tobago on a beautiful Caribbean island. But even then, you know, I

could never have fathomed that I would one day live in Texas, or that I would

even enter a male-dominated profession, that I would become a Doctor of

Pharmacy specializing in geriatrics and be in charge of doing consultations for

13 locations. It’s a dream.