Podcast

Judy Hoberman is a high energy RenWoman who is speaker, sales trainer, coach, consultant, author and president of Selling in a Skirt. Judy’s experience includes being an award winning Accomplished Corporate Training Director with extensive experience in training, course development and project management.  She was personally selected by the President and CEO of a large Insurance Company, to move to Dallas to bring her talent in training to the Corporate office and share it with over 100 offices in 44 states showing over 300 agents how to break the mystery of the sales process into manageable pieces and create an authentic selling system. Her 30 years in sales has given her both the knowledge and sense of humor about the gender differences that we should all understand and embrace instead of feeling unable to communicate. 

Judy is the host of a weekly radio show on The Women 4 Women Network/iHeart Radio called Selling in A Skirt and is also featured as “The Gender Expert” on Fox News Radio. She has appeared on CNN Headlines, ABC, CBS, CW33 and Good Morning Texas and has contributed articles to Small Business Trends, the Dallas Morning News, Dallas Business Journal, Texas CEO Magazine and appeared on the cover of Exceptional People Magazine. She was recently named as a finalist in the Women of Visionary Influence Mentor of the Year. Judy is also the author of “Selling In A Skirt”, “Famous Isn’t Enough” and “Pure Wealth”,  which are business books for professional women, sales executives and entrepreneurs. Additionally, she created the created the S.K.I.R.T. Sales Playbook 6-week online workshop.

Judy represents the RenWomen traits of creative problem solving, challenging the status quo, the willingness to take risks and the desire to inspire others.

Frances Hesselbein is an eminent leadership development expert, former CEO of Girl Scouts of the U.S.A., author of multiple books, and journal editor. Until recently she was President and CEO of the Frances Hesselbein Leadership Institute and is currently the Chairman of the Advisory Board of The Frances Hesselbein Leadership Forum, through the University of Pittsburgh. She was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1998 for her leadership as CEO of Girl Scouts of the U.S.A. from 1976–1990, as well as her service as “a pioneer for women, volunteerism, diversity and opportunity.” The first President Bush appointed her to two Presidential Commissions on National and Community Service.

In 2009, the University of Pittsburgh introduced The Hesselbein Global Academy for Student Leadership and Civic Engagement. The Academy’s aim is to produce experienced and ethical leaders who will address critical national and international issues and advance positive social and economic initiatives. Also from 2009-2011, she accepted an appointment as the Class of 1951 Chair for the Study of Leadership at the United States Military Academy at West Point. She was the first woman, and the first non-graduate to serve in this chair.

Mrs Hesselbein has been the recipient of 23 honorary doctoral degrees and countless awards and recognitions including a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Girl Scouts Council of New York, the John F. Kennedy Memorial Fellowship by Fulbright New Zealand and the Dwight D. Eisenhower National Security Award. She is editor-in-chief of the award-winning quarterly journal Leader to Leader and is the coeditor of twenty-seven books in twenty-nine languages.  She is the author of Hesselbein on Leadership, My Life in Leadership and most recently, More Hesselbein on Leadership.

Molly-Ann Leikin is an award-winning author, columnist and coach.  She began her career as a staff songwriter at Almo Music (A & M Records), then moved up to Interworld, then Chappell Music.  Over the years, she got her songs recorded by almost every pop and country artist on the Billboard charts. 

Molly has also written themes and songs for over five dozen TV shows and movies, including “Violet” that won an Oscar.   And she’s won eight gold and platinum records, plus an Emmy nomination.

(There are only four gold records on her walls now because Acme Moving and Storage in Rancho Mirage, California, stole the other four.  But that’s another story…).

Molly is a songwriting coach to developing artists and writers all over the world.  Twelve of her clients are Grammy winners.  Fourteen more are Grammy nominees.  And so far, with her help, 7469 other artists and writers have placed their songs in TV shows, movies, on CD’s, in video games, commercials, and their tracks are downloaded all over the web. 

Molly is the author of eight non-fiction books, including “How to Write a Hit Song” and “How to be a Hit Songwriter”, published by the Hal Leonard Corporation.  On her website, songmd.com, she there are hundreds of her columns on songwriting that have been syndicated internationally for the past 20 years. 

She also produced “Molly-Ann Leikin’s Master Class in Songwriting, Mp3-CD”, and “Sliced Bread”, a CD of her pop and New Country songs.

In addition, Molly is the CEO of AnythingWithWords.com, where she creates one-of-a-kind speeches for CEO’s, CFO’s and UFO’s.

She represents the RenWomen traits of expansiveness, curiosity, trust in one’s dreams, and the desire to inspire others.

Barbara Lazaroff is a highly regarded restaurateur, interior designer, producer, published author, celebrated philanthropist, humanitarian, entrepreneur, and mother of two sons.

Barbara's career in hospitality commenced after co-founding, marketing and leading the publicity of the Wolfgang Puck Brand & IP in 1979. The brand has been developed to include the separate entities: Wolfgang Puck Fine Dining, WP Catering and WP Worldwide.

Barbara established Imaginings Design, Inc. in 1981 and was the sole designer for Wolfgang Puck restaurants: Spago Hollywood, Spago Beverly Hills, Chinois on Main, Chinois Las Vegas, Eureka, Granita, Obachine and all the WP Cafés, along with designs of other restaurants in the US and abroad.  Her exceptional work in the restaurant industry was recognized with her induction into Hospitality Design Magazine's prestigious Platinum Circle.

Always a strong advocate of women, Barbara raised awareness as an Associate Producer for the film Femme: Women Healing the World.  Additionally, she was one of the founding members of Women Chefs and Restaurateurs  and one of the original members of the Network of Executive Women in Hospitality.   Barbara has also put her energies and expertise into tireless charitable work which has touched most every area of philanthropy from humanitarian, social, and educational to environmental.In 2013 National Association of Women Business Owners awarded her their Legacy Award for Philanthropy.

Kathy Eldon has lived by the credo: "Do more, be more, experience more, create more." She is an extraordinary high-octane RenWoman whose multiple careers have included teacher, journalist, author, filmmaker and founder of Creative Visions Foundation and Creative Visions Productions.  She is an acclaimed speaker and frequent television and radio guest. She has authored 17 books, including her riveting memoir In the Heart of Life.  She has appeared several times on Oprah, and has been a three-time TedX presenter. She has also produced powerful and inspiring documentary films such as Dying to Tell the Tale, Soldiers of Peace, and Extraordinary Moms - which features women such as Christiane Amapour, Hillary Clinton and Rosie O'Donell, and is hosted by Julia Roberts. In 1993, her world was ripped apart when her remarkable photojournalist son, Dan Eldon, was killed by a mob in Somalia.  Although it was the worst thing any mother could go through, she found her way through the grief and founded Creative Visions, which supports creative activism, to honor her son.  Her Ted Talk: "The F-word" is about how she finally came to forgive those who were responsible for her son’s death.  Kathy is all about igniting in others that spark within to allow them to connect with and achieve their highest potential. I was thrilled to profile Kathy in our book RenWomen, and am equally thrilled to welcome her today.

Nadine Lajoie is an adventurous RenWoman who is an entrepreneur, best-selling author, international speaker, singer/ musician, and yes... motorcycle racing champion!  She applies key principles of competitive racing to success strategies in her speaking, business coaching and in her best-selling book, Win the Race of Life with Balance and Passion at 180 MPH!  Nadine has been featured in Forbes and USA Today, and on ABC, FOX and CBS Money Watch, and has been a 4-time Book Award finalist (USA/London). In 1995, she launched a highly successful financial planning business, and was recognized for eight years running with awards from the Excellence Club of Canada.  She retired from that at age 41 to pursue her multiple other interests and enterprises, including professional motorcycle racing, singing, and forming a real estate company which operates in four states of the US.  Nadine is featured in the book, Fight For Your Dreams by Les Brown, and is a inspirational and energizing speaker.

Dr. Sarah Larsen is trained in western and eastern medicine, is a transformational teacher and coach, a world-class speaker and entrepreneur. Coming from a repressive society and having experienced an arranged abusive marriage from the ages of 14-19, Sarah sought knowledge in science, history, and religious traditions to heal herself and expand her world view. These insights, which transcend traditional borders, are what she offers to her clients and to her audiences around the world. She is committed to the joining of our inner worlds with our outer worlds. She is a certified master trainer and facilitator of Neurolinguistics Programming, hypnotism and intuition development.  She can be seen and heard throughout the world on iHeart Radio, UBN Radio/TV and CRN network - with its 25 million subscribers.  Dr. Sarah represents the RenWomen traits of flexibility and creative problem solving, a willingness to buck the system, a trust in one's inner voice, and the desire to inspire and serve others.

Dale and Alexandra Franzen are amazing mother-daughter RenWomen who both appeared in our book, RenWomen. 

Dale started her career as a classically trained soprano in both musical theater, operetta, and opera working with icons like Placido Domingo, Frederica Von Stade, and Sir Peter Hall to name a few.  After twenty years, Dale's career took a surprising and wonderful turn as she was asked to create a performing arts center in Santa Monica, California. Dale raised over $123-million dollars to build and run The Broad Stage and served as its Founding Director for 17 years and Founding Artistic Director for 7 seasons.  After stepping down, Dale embarked on another new path and is now developing and producing a new musical called Hadestown, which, in its off-Broadway run was praised by reviewers as "luminous and spellbinding."   She is also a public speaking lecturer and strategic mentor to non-profits and artists.

Alexandra has a thriving online business in which she expresses her many skills as entrepreneur, writer, and all over inspirer. She also holds classes and writing/yoga retreats, and is a nonfiction and fiction book author, as well as a multiply published article writer for magazines such as Forbes, Time, Newsweek and the Huffington Post.  Her book, You're Going to Survive, is full of inspiring  stories from people such as authors, chefs, lawyers, website designers, Broadway performers, jazz musicians, business consultants, and more?each describing one of the worst moments in their entire career, and how they got through it. It is available on Amazon. Both Dale and Alexandra represent the RenWomen traits of risk taking, expansive growth, curiosity, creative problem solving, flexibility, and a trust in one's inner voice.

Linda Hollander is a businesswoman, speaker, author, and the industry leader in teaching entrepreneurial women about small business success and how to get corporate sponsors.  She has over 20 years of experience in business, corporate sponsorships, sales, marketing, design, promotion and creating lifetime customers.  She is the founder of Women's Small Business Month and the Women’s Small Business Expo, which takes place every year in Los Angeles, California and has received the Caught in the Act of Excellence Award.  

Linda is sometimes known as the "Wealthy Bag Lady." She started out worse than broke. She was buried in debt and couldn’t find a way out of the poverty trap. Then she and her best friend, Sheryl Felice, launched a packaging business which sells custom-printed shopping bags to leading-edge companies. Linda devised a sales and marketing plan which made the fledgling business profitable in a very short amount of time. Some of her clients include Disney, Cisco Systems, Mattel, Universal Studios, Nissan, Yamaha, Sony, Revlon, Sanyo, and Avery Dennison.

As revenues for the company increased every year, she met entrepreneurial women, understood what motivates them and how she could increase their success. She wrote the book, Bags to Riches: 7  SuccessSecrets for Women in Business and launched a career as an international speaker and sponsorship expert.  She is the president of the International Sponsorship Association. 

Linda is a great example of the RenWomen traits of risk taking, the urge to grow and expand, learning from failure, and creative problem solving.

Cindy Makela is a modern-day Reniassance woman, balancing multiple businesses, non-profit involvement, and raising 4 children!  As a young woman, she held multiple jobs, always bringing a level of commitment and dedication to each.  As a young woman, she held a number of very different jobs, bringing a level of commitment and dedication to each.  She started out as the only female car salesman on a team of men (bringing in strong sales numbers). Then, as a single mom, she worked at a health club teaching aerobics, weight lifting and water exercise classes for people with disabilities. She then became assistant to a publisher of how-to books, enabling him to grow his business exponentially.  She and Craig Makela, whom she married at the age of 26, risked everything to start the Santa Barbara Olive Company - which they grew into a phenomenal success before selling it in 2009.  They currently run the companies California Coast Naturals and Oleavicin (a health and beauty company) along with a nursery!  Cindy represents the RenWomen traits of passion, risk taking, creative problem solving, and service.