How Women Inspire: Invest, Lead, Give

Venture capital is the most expensive form of capital there is because of the equity and control you’re giving up so it is in your best interest to do your due diligence to research the people behind the big decision-making. This week’s episode 48 of How Women Inspire Podcast is about securing the right VC as a female entrepreneur!

In this episode of How Women Inspire Podcast, Julie Castro Abrams and Lara Druyan share the importance of women mentoring, supporting, and lending a helping hand to other women in the ways that men often do and actionable steps you can take right now to pitch yourself to secure VC with investors that are in alignment. 

Today’s guest, Lara Druyan is the managing director with Silicon Valley Data Capital, a seed and early stage venture capital fund focused on enterprise software and financial technology Fintech. She serves on the board of directors of CIBC, US Bancorp and Syncron, the leading global digital transformation consulting firm focused on financial services. Lara also has 25 years of experience in all phases of technology, product creation, and associated change management. She is an award winning business transformation leader and leverages her understanding of how large enterprise buys technology to advance startups in which she invests. As she puts it, she is one of the very few venture capitalists who has been on the buying side of technology, an impressive accomplishment to say the least. 

Some of the talking points Julie and Lara go over in this episode include:

• What it means to be a product manager in every role you hold. 
• Advice for female entrepreneurs to find the right investor for them (not all money is good money).
• Starting a company and investing in an economic downturn.  
• The impact and influence working moms have on their children.  
• Prioritizing relationships to maintain and expand your network. 

Achieving things that are difficult means that you are going to fail a lot of the time and that’s totally fine. The whole point is to dust yourself off, realize it wasn’t the right opportunity for you, and have the tenacity to keep going. 

Thank you for listening! If you enjoyed this episode, take a screenshot of the episode to post in your stories and tag me!  And don’t forget to follow, rate, and review the podcast and tell me your key takeaways!

CONNECT WITH LARA DRUYAN:

LinkedIn

CONNECT WITH JULIE CASTRO ABRAMS:

LinkedIn - Julie

How Women Lead

How Women Invest

How Women Give

Instagram - HWL

LinkedIn - HWL

Facebook - HWL

The climate crisis has seen major changes in the past few decades. We’ve seen companies starting to step up to make positive climate changes and there are ways you can help with that. This week’s episode 47 of How Women Inspire Podcast is about how you can positively impact the climate crisis!  

In this episode of the How Women Inspire Podcast, Julie Castro Abrams and Virginia Klausmeier share the importance of massively curbing carbon emissions. We also chat about actionable steps you can take right now to make changes in your own business and life to support our climate. 

Virginia has dedicated the last 10 years to solving climate change, and on this life path, she founded a venture-backed climate tech company, Sylvatex (SVX) Inc. Sylvatex has won numerous awards/funding at industry conferences and venture competitions and is an affiliate with National Laboratories (LNBL) and USDA. Virginia is currently active in advising climate tech and minority-led organizations as well as a fellow/member of All Raise, Unreasonable Group, Alliance of CEO’s, Astia, Silicon Valley Leadership Group and is actively working on the growth and commercialization of Sylvatex Inc. 

Virginia attended Singularity University and the University of Oregon earning her B.S. in Chemistry/Economics and a M.S. in Engineering. Virginia currently has a number of patents pending and has been a speaker at a number of domestic and international events. Prior to this venture, she managed the new development ideas for a fortune 500 medical device companies and led the US clinical and biomechanical research. Virginia was featured as one of the "Top 10 women in biofuels" and was selected by Forbes for "30 under 30 in Energy". Last but not least, she is the proud partner to Ryan Irwin Klausmeier and the mother to two little boys River and Dakota.

Some of the talking points Julie and Virginia go over in this episode include:

• How her life journey has been a series of epiphanies that have led her to this moment. 
• The power of being a coachable person and how that helps her bring her education and interests into her work and business.
• How to create substantial amounts of carbon change in our world. 
• Ways that collaboration has had such a huge impact on being able to create positive climate change. 

Thank you for listening! If you enjoyed this episode, take a screenshot of the episode to post in your stories and tag me!  And don’t forget to follow, rate and review the podcast and tell me your key takeaways!

CONNECT WITH VIRGINIA KLAUSMEIER:

LinkedIn

Sylvatex

CONNECT WITH JULIE CASTRO ABRAMS:

LinkedIn - Julie

How Women Lead

How Women Invest

How Women Give

Instagram - HWL

LinkedIn - HWL

Facebook - HWL

When you start to do simple things every day that make an impact, those things will start to add up and cause a ripple effect to make a larger, more impactful change. This week’s episode 46 of How Women Inspire Podcast is about taking small steps to cause a ripple effect of change!

In this episode of How Women Inspire Podcast, Julie Castro Abrams and Rana Dajani share the importance of fostering the curiosity to continue learning, exploring, and growing in everything we do and actionable steps you can take right now to take responsibility for the change you want to see in the world.

Today’s guest wears many scarves in our society. Rana Dajani is a mother, grandmother, teacher, scientist, social entrepreneur, and human rights activist. She is currently a molecular biology professor at Hashemite University, President of the Society of Advancement of Science and Technology in the Arab World (SASTA), and President of the Jordan chapter of The Organization for Women in Science for the Developing World (OWSD). 

Rana recently won the 2022 Social Entrepreneurship Award from the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship, the sister organization of the World Economic Forum. Her organization We Love Reading aims to install the love of reading and therefore knowledge in women across the world. We love reading won the Best Women in Film Documentary award, The Neighborhood Storyteller at the Mountain Film Festival in Telluride, Colorado, for its work on changing mindsets through reading to create change makers across Jordan. 

Rana is a sister of mine, a Women Leaders for the World graduate alum of that fellowship program. She continues to serve on the Women Leaders for the World Alumni Council. Most recently, her documentary was selected for the LA International Film Festival and she was a speaker at the United Nations to discuss how to achieve the SDGs through social and inclusive innovation. It is no surprise that Rana Dajani is a master of many scarves.

Some of the talking points Julie and Rana go over in this episode include:

• The fundamental values that guide Rana’s life and what she does to reinforce these values. 
• How the organization We Love Reading helps children fall in love with reading through fostering role models.
• Finding balance in your roles by building a support network and following your passions.
• Creating partnerships and investing in the agency of others so that we can all move forward, together. 

When you look at the world as a Kaleidoscope, you can celebrate the idea that everyone brings their unique value together to create something beautiful for the greater whole. 

Thank you for listening! If you enjoyed this episode, take a screenshot of the episode to post in your stories and tag me!  And don’t forget to follow, rate, and review the podcast and tell me your key takeaways!

CONNECT WITH RANA DAJANI:

LinkedIn

Instagram

We Love Reading

Five Scarves book

CONNECT WITH JULIE CASTRO ABRAMS:

LinkedIn - Julie

How Women Lead

How Women Invest

How Women Give

Instagram - HWL

LinkedIn - HWL

Facebook - HWL

Tricia Montalvo Timm was reading an article with a very low statistic of the number of Latinas who get a board seat - and it was at that moment that she realized she had the qualifications to do so herself and be the role model for others to take that step too. Tricia Montalvo Timm, a passionate advocate for Latinas, knows what it means to be the only or one of few in a room. That’s why episode 45 of How Women Inspire Podcast is about believing in your belonging! 

Ms. Timm is an established Silicon Valley leader with cross-functional experience in public and private companies. Ms. Timm has grown and scaled businesses from early-stage to multi-billion-dollar companies, including the sale of Looker to Google for $2.6 billion. She has been the first lawyer at 3 different high-growth start-ups and has extensive public company and corporate governance experience, advising management and boards on executive compensation, financial reporting and compliance matters. Throughout her 25-year career, Ms. Timm has sat in the boardroom at both private and public companies, presenting at board and committee meetings and advising on strategic issues. Given her experience, Ms. Timm can sit all on three board committees - Audit, Compensation and Nominating and Governance.

In addition to the law, Ms. Timm has a passion for diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI). While at Looker she launched the Company’s first DEI program where they developed a multi-prong solution that consisted of recruiting and retaining diverse talent, cultivating a culture of belonging and establishing the company as a DEI thought leader.

In this episode of How Women Inspire Podcast, Tricia Timm is sharing the importance of believing in yourself and that you belong and actionable steps you can take right now to start showing up with confidence. 

Some of the talking points Tricia and I go over in this episode include:

• How Tricia got started with board positions, and the strong power of opportunity women can give each other to succeed and project us all forward.
• How investors look different with different backgrounds, and how the stereotype of what an investor is shouldn’t hold you back from investing.
• The importance of being visible, especially as a Latina, and the power of providing a role model for future generations.
• The power of being let in and why it all begins with you believing you belong in order to succeed.

If you’re in a position of influence, it’s important to let others in, and if you’re not yet in a position of influence it’s important to believe you belong there, even if you’ve never seen someone like you in that seat before. So be sure to tune in to all the episodes and hear even more about the points outlined above.

Thank you for listening!

If you enjoyed this episode, take a screenshot of the episode to post in your stories and tag me!  And don’t forget to subscribe, rate and review the podcast and tell me your key takeaways!

CONNECT WITH TRICIA TIMM:

LinkedIn

Twitter

CONNECT WITH JULIE CASTRO ABRAMS:

LinkedIn - Julie

How Women Lead

How Women Invest

How Women Give

Instagram - HWL

LinkedIn - HWL

Facebook - HWL

There is this narrative in the corporate world, particularly for women of color, that they are expected to emulate this white male culture in order to be successful. In reality, everything they need to have a successful corporate career is already innately within themselves. This week’s episode 44 of How Women Inspire Podcast is about courageous and value-based leadership!

In this episode of How Women Inspire Podcast, Julie Castro Abrams and Lizette Williams share the values Lizette lives by that allow her to lead courageously in every role and advice for people of color to stand up for themselves and what they want in a corporate environment.

Lizette Williams is a leading marketing and advertising executive who drives the convergence of brand culture and digital, something we all need. In her current role, she serves as the Global Head of Vertical Solutions and Marketing at Meta (formally known as Facebook). In 2020, Lizette was named Advertising Woman of the Year by the Chicago Advertising Federation and has been listed as Crain’s Chicago Business 40 under 40, Advertising Age Women to Watch, and Black Enterprise Top Women Executives in advertising and marketing. She is a leader and extremely well-known in her field. If you think she's already impressive as is, Lizette also serves on the Board of Directors of Real Self, a leading healthcare marketplace for people considering an elective cosmetic treatment. Additionally, she serves on the American Advertising Federation Hall of Achievements Election Committee. She has a passion for serving young people of color and women and as a result, has countless mentees across the country. Lizette is truly someone who leads courageously with her values. 

Some of the talking points Julie and Lizette go over in this episode include:

• Fostering an inclusive culture in the workplace by weaving it throughout the DNA of the company and measuring it over time. 
• How the mentorship that Lizette received when she was young influences the ways she gives back by mentoring others.
• Investing in your team members to give them the best possible work experience while increasing productivity. 
• Advice for people of color to confidently ask for what they want and courageously demand to be recognized. 
• Removing the guilt of being a working mom by highlighting the lessons we are modeling for our children. 

Thank you for listening! If you enjoyed this episode, take a screenshot of the episode to post in your stories and tag me!  And don’t forget to follow, rate, and review the podcast and tell me your key takeaways!

CONNECT WITH LIZETTE WILLIAMS:

Website

LinkedIn

Instagram 

CONNECT WITH JULIE CASTRO ABRAMS:

LinkedIn - Julie

How Women Lead

How Women Invest

How Women Give

Instagram - HWL

LinkedIn - HWL

Facebook - HWL

When it comes to being a woman of color in the C-suite or corporate side of business, there can be a lot of pressures and residual inner dialogue that can make your own identity a blur. Women have edited themselves to fit the mold or the leader before them for a really long time, and this is even stronger in relation to those of color or with a different cultural belief than their white male counterparts. This week’s episode 43 of How Women Inspire Podcast is about understanding and redefining the shadow side to being a woman of color in business, with Deepa Purushothaman! 

In this episode of How Women Inspire Podcast, Julie Castro Abrams and Deepa Purushothaman are sharing the importance of redefining success for yourself, no matter what culture or society deems accurate for you, and actionable steps you can take right now to step into your power as a woman of color and powerful leader. 

Some of the talking points Julie and Deepa go over in this episode include:

• The significance and role of work on women of color, and how this plays a huge role in their lives and identities.
• How we as women edit ourselves and put ourselves on mute more times than we shout unless that’s the expectation.
• The shadow side to being a woman of color in business, and how this can lead to not only being forced to fit stereotypes but the other significant (unpaid) roles we play in corporations.
• Hiding your identity: why some people choose to do that, and how easy or difficult it may be to do that.

In this episode, Deepa shares her new book, along with a few of the amazing stories held within, to help share how women of color are truly stepping into their calling as the power brokers of the future. Be sure to tune in to all the episodes to receive tons of practical tips and to hear even more about the points outlined above.

Thank you for listening! If you enjoyed this episode, take a screenshot of the episode to post in your stories and tag me!  And don’t forget to follow, rate and review the podcast and tell me your key takeaways!

CONNECT WITH DEEPA PURUSHOTHAMAN:

Website

LinkedIn

Get Her Book

CONNECT WITH JULIE CASTRO ABRAMS:

LinkedIn - Julie

How Women Lead

How Women Invest

How Women Give

Instagram - HWL

LinkedIn - HWL

Facebook - HWL

When you put yourself out there for the service of others, that will come back to you tenfold in the number of people that show up in support of you. This week’s episode 42 of How Women Inspire Podcast is about supporting women to step into positions of power!

In this episode of How Women Inspire Podcast, Julie Castro Abrams and Jaclyn Jackson share the importance of setting the example of what it looks like to wholeheartedly support others and how you can put yourself out there in service of other women leaders. 

Today’s guest, Jaclyn Jackson is the Senior Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer for our country’s National Equity Fund. She leads talent development, culture, and strategic planning and even oversees marketing communications so that they can meet their mission to deliver innovative and collaborative financial solutions and expand the creation and preservation of affordable housing in this country. Jaclyn is a brilliant, strong, and mission-driven agent of change who has committed her career to maximize the impact of all nonprofits, including her own. She has an MBA and a Masters in Human Resources from the Kellogg School of Management and a Bachelors in Business Administration from Devry University. Jaclyn is a board member of NHRMA Workers Comp Insurance company as well as my board for How Women Lead in Chicago. She sets a brilliant example for the world and I am honored to share her story with you all today. 

Some of the talking points Julie and Jaclyn go over in this episode include:

• The importance of providing access to affordable housing. 
• Creating a network of supportive women to surround yourself with and grow together.
• A common trait that most male allies share that is valuable in their efforts to lift women up alongside them. 
• The call to action for all of us in supporting women to step into positions of even greater power. 
• Leadership skills that allowed Jaclyn to get to where she’s at today. 

It is our purpose in life to support one another and encourage our fellow women to step into the leadership positions that will make an impact. 

Thank you for listening! If you enjoyed this episode, take a screenshot of the episode to post in your stories and tag me!  And don’t forget to follow, rate, and review the podcast and tell me your key takeaways!

CONNECT WITH JACLYN JACKSON:

LinkedIn

CONNECT WITH JULIE CASTRO ABRAMS:

LinkedIn - Julie

How Women Lead

How Women Invest

How Women Give

Instagram - HWL

LinkedIn - HWL

Facebook - HWL

We often talk about scaling your business and team members but lack when it comes to planning and preparing for your exit. This week’s episode 41 of How Women Inspire Podcast is about planning your exit strategy!

In this episode of How Women Inspire Podcast, Julie Castro Abrams and Stephanie Gaffin discuss the upcoming wave of exits for women-owned business owners and actionable steps you can take right now to prepare your exit strategy BEFORE you’re ready to leave your business behind. 

Today’s guest is an accidental entrepreneur that leveraged her passion for helping people and integrated it into every aspect of her very successful career. After spending her career in healthcare, Stephanie Gaffin became the co-founder and Managing Partner of SLS Capital Investors and the Gaffin Group, where she now works with companies to innovate and build infrastructure for growth and successful exits. She is a proven executive with a strong track record for driving change in organizations. Stephanie helps create a common vision and a pragmatic plan to get there so everyone involved wins. She has such a unique ability to bring people together and, let’s be clear, we’re all more effective, find common ground, and solve problems better when we come together. 

Some of the talking points Julie and Stephanie go over in this episode include:

• The rate at which women-owned businesses and women-owned firms have grown over the years. 
• Advice for women-owned business owners planning their exit strategy.
• Scaling goals you should prepare to hit in order to have a higher chance of selling your business. 
• The challenges women entrepreneurs face when it comes to securing funding.
• Stephanie’s mantra that covers the 3 elements that, in the right proportions, are critical to doing anything worthwhile. 

Before you settle on closing your business, I invite you to see the value in the company you’ve built and consider selling it to continue your wealth. 

Thank you for listening! If you enjoyed this episode, take a screenshot of the episode to post in your stories and tag me!  And don’t forget to follow, rate, and review the podcast and tell me your key takeaways!

CONNECT WITH STEPHANIE GAFFIN:

SLS Capital Advisors & The Gaffin Group

LinkedIn

CONNECT WITH JULIE CASTRO ABRAMS:

LinkedIn - Julie

How Women Lead

How Women Invest

How Women Give

Instagram - HWL

LinkedIn - HWL

Facebook - HWL

When we take calculated risks, we are rewarded with new opportunities and experiences that will have an impact both personally and professionally. This week’s episode 40 of How Women Inspire Podcast is about taking calculated risks!

In this episode of How Women Inspire Podcast, Julie Castro Abrams and Racquel Harris are sharing how Racquel has designed her life around finding curiosity and joy through a fulfilling career and the encouragement you need to open yourself to taking risks and reaping the rewards that come. 

Today’s guest, Racquel Harris is an experienced leader with over 25 years working with Fortune 500 companies under her belt, including expat assignments in Canada, the UK and Switzerland. She has been a brand builder, leader, and former VP of merchandising for a billion dollar adult beverage business and the SVP of marketing for Sam’s Club, the $500 billion division of Walmart. If you thought she was impressive already, Racquel also spent 15 years leading the marketing portfolio of several grocery brands at Kraft Foods, working in brands like Digiorno Pizza, Kraft Singles, Cheez Whiz, Cool Whip, Jello and more. Now that she is retired, she spends her time as an independent director, mentoring aspiring executives, and most important of all- enjoying her life. She is the director on the board of Beta Rudder, an advertising and marketing services company and also serves on the Board of Trustees of our favorite theatre company, the Steppenwolf Theatre Company. The list goes on. Racquel is also on the advisory board of a family owned industrial products company and recently joined me and our community on the Chicago Executive Board for How Women Lead. She has one of the most impressive resumes and I am honored to call her my friend. 

Some of the talking points Julie and Racquel go over in this episode include:

• The top leadership skills that allowed Racquel to have such a huge impact everywhere she went. 
• Taking risks to further yourself in your career and how to know which risks are right for you to take. 
• Advice for people looking to travel and get the gift that experiencing other cultures brings. 
• The 3 question buckets to ask yourself in figuring out if you are on the right career path. 
• What you need to know and do if you are preparing to retire early.

We encourage you to life your life fully with intention, be open to evolving, and focusing on becoming the happiest version of yourself by taking whatever risks it takes to get you there. 

Thank you for listening! If you enjoyed this episode, take a screenshot of the episode to post in your stories and tag me!  And don’t forget to follow, rate, and review the podcast and tell me your key takeaways!

CONNECT WITH RACQUEL HARRIS:

LinkedIn

CONNECT WITH JULIE CASTRO ABRAMS:

LinkedIn - Julie

How Women Lead

How Women Invest

How Women Give

Instagram - HWL

LinkedIn - HWL

Facebook - HWL

As empowered women in thought leadership, we spend the majority of our careers making an impact in the industry we serve. But what happens after you retire? Retirement opens a new set of doors for you to explore your interests, find your passion and expand your impact in new ways, using what you’ve learned in your career to do so. This week’s episode 39 of How Women Inspire Podcast is about repositioning yourself after retirement and extending your impact beyond your professional career. 

In this episode of How Women Inspire Podcast, Julie Castro Abrams and Violet Clark are sharing how you can reposition yourself after retirement and giving you the permission to explore and experiment with your interests to find what it truly is you want to do with your life.  

Today’s guest is undoubtedly a ceiling breaker. Violet Clark has been with Laner Muchin since 1988 and has been a partner at the firm since 1994. She collaborates with CEOs and their management teams to really focus on designing strategies, helping them achieve all of their business goals regarding human resource management to avoid the pain of labor issues and employment liability. She has more than 3 decades of experience representing both for-profit and nonprofit companies of all sizes and industries, as well as working with and for government and regulatory bodies, both on the local and federal levels. Violet was the first female and the first African American partner in her firm and has continued her legacy as a role model showing other women that they too can break ceilings and be successful in any position they set their goals to. 

Some of the talking points Julie and Violet go over in this episode include:

• The resilience it took for Violet to become the first female and the first African American partner at her firm and stick with that same firm for 35 years before retiring. 
• Advice for making the greatest impact on society this season. 
• Permission to play with your interests and release the things that are no longer adding value to your life. 
• Extending your impact beyond your professional career through mentoring or using your knowledge and experience and applying it to something new. 

Thank you for listening! If you enjoyed this episode, take a screenshot of the episode to post in your stories and tag me!  And don’t forget to follow, rate, and review the podcast and tell me your key takeaways!

CONNECT WITH VIOLET CLARK:

LinkedIn

Laner Muchin

CONNECT WITH JULIE CASTRO ABRAMS:

LinkedIn - Julie

How Women Lead

How Women Invest

How Women Give

Instagram - HWL

LinkedIn - HWL

Facebook - HWL