Possibilities with Monique de Maio

Somewhere along the way, women were sold a pretty lousy deal: build a serious career or business, or be the mother who's always there. Pick one.

But who made that rule? And why are we still playing by it?

On this episode of Possibilities, Monique de Maio sits down with Beth Mazza, serial entrepreneur, co-founder of two successful consulting firms, and co-author of Entrepreneur Like a MOTHER: Build a Company That Buys You Freedom, Not Owns Your Life.

Beth built and sold two businesses while raising four children. Her business partner and co-author, Victoria Sivrais, was raising five. They know firsthand that ambition and motherhood can coexist. But here's where the conversation gets interesting: having the freedom to choose requires more than passion, hard work, and a great idea. It requires strategy, financial clarity, and the willingness to bet on yourself.

Monique and Beth challenge some deeply ingrained assumptions about what women should want, what they're supposed to sacrifice, and what actually makes them financially secure.

In this episode:

→ Why following your passion isn't enough to build a profitable, scalable business

→ The illusion of corporate job security and what real independence looks like

→ Your "freedom number" and why knowing your finances changes your options

→ What happens when women get a seat at the table but not the power that should come with it

→ Why every woman needs a Kitchen Cabinet of cheerleaders, compensators, and connectors

→ Mom guilt, raising resilient kids, and letting go of the expectation that you have to do it all

→ Why starting before you're ready may be the smartest move you make

This isn't another conversation about how women can have it all.

It's about having the power to decide what "all" means to you, and building a life and career that support that decision.

This conversation will challenge you to think differently about your next move.

ABOUT OUR GUEST:

Beth Mazza is a serial entrepreneur and speaker who helps women break free from corporate constraints and build scalable, seven-figure businesses. She co-founded and sold two consulting firms, Ashton Partners and Clermont Partners, and has been featured in Forbes and Crain's 40 Under 40. Today she leads Female Mavericks, a resource for women founders, and is the co-author, with Victoria Sivrais, of Entrepreneur Like a MOTHER (Wiley), a USA TODAY bestseller.

Connect with Beth on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bethmazza/

Female Mavericks and the free Founder Files: https://femalemavericks.com

Get the book, Entrepreneur Like a MOTHER: https://www.wiley.com/en-us/Entrepreneur+Like+a+Mother:+Build+a+Company+That+Buys+You+Freedom,+Not+One+That+Owns+Your+Life-p-00477821

TIMESTAMPS:

00:00 Unpacking the False Choice: Why 'Entrepreneur Like a Mother' Was Written07:32 Building a Profitable Business with a Total Addressable Market13:54 Escaping Corporate Fear Through Financial Independence23:31 Why Women Struggle to Reach CEO Roles29:59 Strategic Networking: Cheerleaders, Compensators, and Connectors35:16 Overcoming Mom Guilt and Raising Resilient Children45:20 Defining Financial Non-Negotiables for Business Growth50:08 Embrace Imperfection: Launching Before You're Perfect53:04 Calculated Risks and Empowering Future Generations

This podcast is part of our mission to amplify women who are redefining work, life, and leadership.

Follow Monique for More Possibilities:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/moniquedemaio

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/moniquedemaio

Newsletter: https://www.moniquedemaio.com/newsletter-sign-up

Explore Strategic Advisor Sessions with Monique: https://www.moniquedemaio.com/strategic-advisor/Book Monique as a speaker for your next event: https://www.moniquedemaio.com/contact

Grab her award-winning, bestselling book The 7 Secrets to Creating a Life You Love: A Practical Guide for Women in Leadership: https://www.amazon.com/Secrets-Creating-Life-You-Love/dp/B0CLHV526G

What if loving the mission is the easy part?

Most people don't choose nonprofit work by accident. They care, often deeply. But somewhere along the way, it becomes easy to act as though being mission-driven makes the fundamentals of running a business less relevant.

It doesn't.

In this episode of Possibilities with Monique de Maio, Monique sits down with Dr. Kimberly Iozzi, who has spent more than 25 years making mission-driven organizations stronger. Her message to nonprofit leaders is direct: "It's a business.

First and foremost, it's a business.

That doesn't diminish the mission. It may be exactly what allows the mission to survive.

In this episode:

→ Why heart alone isn't enough, even when the mission is personal

→ The Swiss Army knife problem: why wearing every hat makes it hard to see the organization

→ Breathe, reflect, and the 24-hour rule for not reacting in the moment

→ The question every nonprofit needs to answer: why you?

→ Why a story that works with anyone's logo is a differentiation problem

→ Why "we tried that before" is usually a 20-year-old answer

→ Mission-driven doesn't automatically mean high-performing

→ Why corporate leaders who join nonprofits shouldn't leave their business brain at the door

→ What Kimberly would tell her 30-year-old self

If you lead a nonprofit, serve on a board, or are bringing a corporate career into your next chapter of giving back, this one is for you.

ABOUT OUR GUEST:

Dr. Kimberly Iozzi is Vice-President, Operations & Programming at the Morris County Chamber of Commerce and Economic Development Corporation. She previously led Dress for Success Northern New Jersey and the Housing Authority of the Town of Newton, has trained leaders through Rutgers University, has advised nonprofits as a consultant, and holds a PhD in Organizational Psychology.

Connect with Kimberly on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kimberly-iozzi/

Morris County Chamber of Commerce: https://www.morrischamber.org

TIMESTAMPS:

00:00 Welcome and introduction: who is Dr. Kimberly Iozzi?

01:41 A ride to a community meeting that started a 25-year career

04:04 The Swiss Army knife: a superpower and a trap

05:21 Why heart alone isn't enough

07:03 When the mission is personal08:33 Breathe, reflect, and the 24-hour rule

11:50 "Thank you, Monica": talking to yourself in the third person

13:57 Differentiation and why organizations get stuck

15:38 "We tried that before," COVID as a gift, and riding the wave

17:35 The Shark Tank test: why you?

19:46 First and foremost, it's a business

20:50 Leaders who don't know they don't get it

23:57 Different is better than better

24:43 Mission-driven doesn't mean high-performing

27:00 Don't leave your business brain at the door

28:21 Advice to her 30-year-old self

29:42 Why women are harder on themselves

32:48 Closing thoughts

This podcast is part of our mission to amplify women who are redefining work, life, and leadership.

Follow Monique for More Possibilities

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/moniquedemaio

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/moniquedemaio

Newsletter: https://www.moniquedemaio.com/newsletter-sign-up

Explore Strategic Navigator Sessions with Monique: https://www.moniquedemaio.com/strategic-navigator/

Book Monique as a speaker for your next event: https://www.moniquedemaio.com/contact

Grab her award-winning, bestselling book The 7 Secrets to Creating a Life You Love: A Practical Guide for Women in Leadership: https://www.amazon.com/Secrets-Creating-Life-You-Love/dp/B0CLHV526G

What if the most powerful thing you could do for your career was not a promotion, a pivot, or a plan?

What if it was finally finding your people?

In this episode of Possibilities with Monique de Maio, Monique sits down with Lauren Bailey, known throughout the GTM world as LB: Founder of Factor 8, the award-winning virtual sales training company; creator of Girls Club, a program that has produced over 600 promotions for women in revenue roles across 40 countries; and founder of Legacy Executive Club, a private community for purpose-driven senior leaders and founders who are done climbing and ready to start choosing.

Lauren has spent two decades proving that selling is a skill, not a personality type, and helping people who never saw themselves as salespeople become exceptional at it.

In this episode:

→  Why selling is helping, not pitching, and the training gap that keeps most sales teams stuck in a cycle of suck

→  Why people who enter consultative sales roles often find their natural strengths rewarded there, once the ick and risk factors are addressed

→  The real story behind the name Factor 8, drawn on a whiteboard the day Lauren named her company

→  Girls Club: five months, confidence and competency building, and a community that has generated 600 promotions across 40 countries

→  The Unintentional Boys Club: what Lauren learned when she put her former nemesis on stage to explain how it actually forms

→  Legacy Executive Club: the bathrobe epiphany, the no-asshole policy, and what it means to be in a room full of your people

→  What Lauren would tell every woman who has been the giver in every group she has ever been in

ABOUT OUR GUEST:

Lauren Bailey is the Founder of Factor 8, an award-winning virtual sales training company; Girls Club, a program that has generated over 600 promotions for women in revenue roles; and Legacy Executive Club, a curated community for purpose-driven senior executives and founders. Before founding three companies, Lauren spent 20 years launching call-center sales teams globally for SAP and IBM. She is a celebrated keynote speaker, a Top 100 Women in Revenue honoree, and one of the most recognized voices in inside sales and women in leadership. Known to most people who matter simply as LB.

Connect with Lauren:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/insidesalesadvisor/

Factor 8: https://factor8.com

Girls Club: https://wearegirlsclub.com

Legacy Executive Club: https://legacy.vip

TIMESTAMPS:

05:03 - Selling is helping: the reframe that changes

07:15 - The real story behind the name Factor 8

09:06 - The used car story: locked in the back of a Jaguar and nobody came

16:06 - Women in sales: job posting language, the ick factor, and what keeps women out

18:18 - Sales is the one profession where when you excel, you get paid more

24:03 - Girls Club: five months, confidence, competency, community

28:40 - VP of Sales who made my life a living hell

32:48 - The bathrobe epiphany: how Legacy Executive Club was born

39:09 - Each company filled a gap LB felt five years before founding it

43:15 - Three pillars of Legacy: leadership, business growth, life and legacy

44:54 - Legacy's three golden rules: you show up

46:24 - Owning your narrative: what you can control

46:53 - If you are the smartest person in the room, get another room

This podcast is part of our mission to amplify women who are redefining work, life, and leadership.

Follow Monique for More Possibilities:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/moniquedemaio

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/moniquedemaio

Newsletter: https://www.moniquedemaio.com/newsletter-sign-up

Explore Strategic Navigator Sessions with Monique: https://www.moniquedemaio.com/strategic-navigator/

Book Monique as a speaker for your next event: https://www.moniquedemaio.com/contact

Grab her award-winning, bestselling book The 7 Secrets to Creating a Life You Love: A Practical Guide for Women in Leadership:

https://www.amazon.com/Secrets-Creating-Life-You-Love/dp/B0CLHV526G

There is a conversation happening about you before you are ever in the room.

Before your next prospect picks up the phone, they have probably already typed your name into ChatGPT. They have looked at what comes up. They have formed an opinion. And they have moved on to the next thing on their list.

That is the new first impression. And most people have no idea what it looks like.

In this episode, Monique de Maio unpacks what the data is actually telling us about how B2B buyers make decisions in 2026 and what it means for how you show up. She shares the story of a cybersecurity CEO whose consistent thought leadership content became part of how an acquiring company assessed him, not just his pitch deck, but his published point of view. And she gives you seven moves you can make starting this week.

The stat that drives this conversation: 94% of B2B buyers are now using generative AI somewhere in their buying process. LinkedIn has gone from the 11th to the 1st most-cited domain for professional AI search queries in a matter of months. And if your content could belong to anyone, an AI system will treat it that way.

In this episode:

→  Why buyers are meeting AI before they meet you, and what AI is saying

→  How LinkedIn became the #1 source for professional AI citations

→  The cybersecurity CEO who was acquired, in part, because of what he published

→  Why vague content has become invisible and specific content gets cited

→  How your newsletter may now be building an AI signal with your prospects

→  Seven moves to improve your visibility starting this week

Different is better than better. This episode is about what that looks like in the AI era.

TIMESTAMPS

00:00 - Different is better than better: Monique's foundational principle

01:24 - The stat that changes everything: 94% of B2B buyers use AI in their buying process

02:22 - LinkedIn is now the #1 AI-cited domain for professional queries

03:21 - Stop measuring rankings. Start measuring citations.

04:19 - How to reverse-engineer your content from the questions buyers are actually asking

05:37 - Google AI Overviews: 48% of all searches, and climbing

07:08 - The newsletter-as-AI-signal: Google's Personal Intelligence feature explained

08:31 - The cybersecurity CEO who got acquired, in part, because of his content

09:27 - Vague is out. Specific wins. Here is what that looks like.

11:34 - AI can tell the difference between lived experience and recycled research

13:26 - Seven moves for visibility in the AI era

15:50 - If your content could belong to anyone, it belongs to no one

ABOUT MONIQUE

Author. Speaker. Strategic Navigator.

Monique de Maio helps women leaders and organizations move from chaos to clarity, in business and in life. Founder of OnDemandCMO and an active CMO, Monique brings more than 30 years of marketing and leadership experience across global brands, Wall Street, nonprofit, and publishing.

As host of the Possibilities with Monique de Maio podcast, Monique explores the real conversations behind growth, reinvention, and decision-making. Through her Strategic Navigator work, she applies the same rigor used in business strategy to help women think clearly about their careers, wellness, and life design.

Follow Monique for More Possibilities:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/moniquedemaio

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/moniquedemaio

Newsletter: https://www.moniquedemaio.com/newsletter-sign-up

Book Monique as a speaker: https://www.moniquedemaio.com/contact

Grab her award-winning, bestselling book The 7 Secrets to Creating a Life You Love: A Practical Guide for Women in Leadership:

https://www.amazon.com/Secrets-Creating-Life-You-Love/dp/B0CLHV526G

Referenced in this episode:

EP108: When AI Rewards Good Marketing

Your resume should write itself by now. You have the title, the results, and the experience. So why isn't it working?

Because a resume that lists what you've done isn't the same as one that sells what you can do next.

In this episode of Possibilities with Monique de Maio, Monique sits down with Lisa Rangel, Founder and CEO of Chameleon Resumes, former executive recruiter, and one of the most trusted voices in executive career strategy. Her expertise has been featured in more than 200 media outlets, including CNN, Fortune, Time, CNBC, BBC, Business Insider, Newsweek, Fast Company, and Good Morning America.

Lisa's premise is simple: the job search is a marketing exercise, and most senior leaders are the worst marketers of the one product they control themselves.

This isn't about resume templates or keyword hacks. It's about repositioning your story, experience, and next move in a rapidly changing job market.

In this episode:
→ Why Lisa left a 13-year recruiting career to launch Chameleon Resumes during the 2009 recession

→ The two resume mistakes holding executives back: backward-looking messaging and the "kitchen sink" approach

→ Why leading with "30 years of experience" hurts more than it helps

→ What today's executive job market actually looks like

→ The objective vs. summary debate and when each makes sense

→ Why vague positioning causes job seekers to get overlooked

→ How employers view long tenure versus frequent career moves

→ What AI is really changing in recruiting

→ Lisa's best and worst career advice and what she'd tell her 30-year-old self

Monique and Lisa have been friends and colleagues for more than a decade, making this conversation candid, insightful, and practical.

If you've ever struggled to write a resume that sounds like you, wondered whether AI is helping or hurting your job search, or felt you're underselling yourself, this episode is for you.

ABOUT OUR GUEST

Lisa Rangel is Founder and CEO of Chameleon Resumes, an executive resume writing and career consulting firm. Since 2009, she has helped executives land leadership roles by combining strategic personal branding with modern recruiting practices. A former executive recruiter, Cornell University graduate, first-generation college student, Presidential Council for Cornell Women member, and Advisory Board member at Lex Duo, Lisa is on a mission to make the world a better place—one fulfilling job change at a time.

Connect with Lisa:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisarangel/
Chameleon Resumes: https://chameleonresumes.com/

TIMESTAMPS
00:00 – What's happening inside recruiting today

00:47 – Meet Lisa Rangel

02:34 – Launching Chameleon Resumes during the recession

05:25 – The biggest executive resume mistakes

07:53 – Authenticity on LinkedIn

16:44 – Why experience alone isn't enough

18:09 – The executive job market today

21:21 – Objective or summary?

25:51 – Positioning yourself effectively

28:15 – The two-page resume rule

29:18 – Marketing yourself like a brand

34:54 – Long tenure vs. multiple employers

36:43 – Explaining short job stints

40:14 – AI and the future of recruiting

44:45 – Best and worst career advice

48:19 – Final thoughts

This podcast is part of our mission to amplify women redefining work, leadership, and life.

Follow Monique de Maio
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/moniquedemaio

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/moniquedemaio

Newsletter: https://www.moniquedemaio.com/newsletter-sign-up/
Strategic Navigator Sessions: https://www.moniquedemaio.com/strategic-navigator/
Book Monique: https://www.moniquedemaio.com/contact
The 7 Secrets to Creating a Life You Love: https://www.amazon.com/Secrets-Creating-Life-You-Love/dp/B0CLHV526G

She's so easy to work with.

It sounds like a compliment. But is it?

In this solo episode of Possibilities, Monique asks a question that most high-performing women have never stopped to answer: what does being easy to work with actually cost you? Because behind that phrase there is often a very different story, one about boundaries that were never drawn, yeses that were never really meant, and a quiet pattern of saying yes to other people's priorities while slowly starving your own.

The opposite of easy to work with is not difficult. It is discerning. And there is a significant difference.

This episode covers:

→  Why being easy to work with can be code for something you do not want to own

→  The ROI of saying yes: what you are actually agreeing to when you agree

→  The rocks and the sand: why women keep filling their jars the wrong way

→  The hidden driver behind the yes you never should have given

→  The difference between being easy to work with and being great to work with

→  How Monique's fixer identity started at age five, and what it cost her

→  Why no is a full sentence, and what it takes to actually believe that

→  What discernment, not difficulty, looks like in practice

Don't be generic. Stand for something. Own it.

If you have been saying yes when you mean no, or if you have been proudly called easy to work with while quietly running on empty, this one is for you.

ABOUT MONIQUE

Author. Speaker. Strategic Navigator.

Monique de Maio helps women leaders and organizations move from chaos to clarity, in business and in life. Founder of OnDemandCMO and an active CMO, Monique brings more than 30 years of marketing and leadership experience across global brands, Wall Street, nonprofit, and publishing. Her work sits at the intersection of strategy and humanity, cutting through noise, simplifying the complex, and delivering solutions that actually work.

As host of the Possibilities with Monique de Maio podcast, Monique explores the real conversations behind growth, reinvention, and decision-making. Through her Strategic Navigator work, she applies the same rigor used in business strategy to help women think clearly about their careers, wellness, and life design, without burning everything down.

Follow Monique for More Possibilities:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/moniquedemaio

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/moniquedemaio

Newsletter: https://www.moniquedemaio.com/newsletter-sign-up

Book Monique as a speaker: https://www.moniquedemaio.com/contact

Grab her award-winning, bestselling book The 7 Secrets to Creating a Life You Love: A Practical Guide for Women in Leadership:

https://www.amazon.com/Secrets-Creating-Life-You-Love/dp/B0CLHV526G

Referenced in this episode:

EP81: Mary Lou Quinlan on intentionality and communicating what really matters

EP83: Emily Claire Hughes on betting on yourself and setting boundaries

EP112: Kirsten Sharo on intentionality and listening to your intuition

What if the voice you've spent your entire life trying to silence is actually the one you should trust most?

Most of us were taught, early and repeatedly, not to trust ourselves.

Not directly. Through school systems, social norms, performance metrics, and the constant pressure to be logical, productive, and certain.

We got very good at listening outward.

In this episode of Possibilities with Monique de Maio, Monique sits down with Kirsten: an intuitive coach, energy healer, Reiki Master Teacher, and animal communicator. Her work is built on a single belief: you already know. You have just forgotten how to hear it.

Kirsten Sharo has spent years helping people find their way back to themselves.

In this episode:

→  Why children are naturally intuitive and what happens to that ability when we grow up

→  How Kirsten discovered her own gifts: through her kids, her horse Dicey, and a Reiki book she found at the exact right moment

→  What your body is actually telling you: the physical signals most of us override every day

→  The practice of the pause and why the hustle culture we celebrate is working against us

→  How Kirsten stayed calm in a hospital waiting room on Thanksgiving Day while her husband had a heart attack and what that calm was built on

→  How to begin tapping into your own intuition, even if you have never tried

→  What to do when you have unresolved grief or regret with someone who has passed

→  The misconception that holds the most people back from doing this work

Monique has worked with Kirsten personally for years. This conversation is candid, grounded, and more practically useful than you might expect.

If you have ever dismissed a gut feeling, pushed through a signal your body was sending, or wondered why you can trust your instincts at work but not in your own life, this one is for you. 

ABOUT OUR GUEST:

Kirsten is the creator of the Metatron Animal Knowledge System and founder of Diceys Healing LLC, where she offers private sessions and leads two supportive communities: The Empowered Journey and Whispers of Knowing. 

A full overview of her services is available as a free download on my website: https://www.moniquedemaio.com/app/uploads/2026/06/112_Possibilities-with-Monique-de-Maio-Podcast_Kirsten-Sharo-DOWNLOAD-.docx.pdf 

TIMESTAMPS: 

02:00 – What an intuitive medium and energy healer actually does

03:15 – Why children are naturally intuitive and what shuts it down

05:00 – Past lives: the story of Kirsten's youngest and what it started

06:00 – How Kirsten's horse Dicey accelerated her intuitive development

07:50 – The physical signals of intuition: what your body is telling you

08:45 – Practice the pause: the discipline that unlocks everything

09:40 – Hustle culture and why the go-go-go kills our inner knowing

10:30 – Kirsten's journey: from Reiki book to Reiki master teacher

16:30 – Calming the chaos: Thanksgiving, a heart attack, and what inner peace looks like under real pressure

22:00 – How to prepare for an intuitive session and what to expect

24:10 – Everyone has intuition: how to start tapping in

25:25 – Unresolved grief and the deceased: you can fix it, everything is energy

26:55 – Common misconceptions and the dismissal Kirsten still encounters

30:00 – Parting wisdom and final thoughts 

This podcast is part of our mission to amplify women who are redefining work, life, and leadership.

Follow Monique for More Possibilities:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/moniquedemaio

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/moniquedemaio

Newsletter: https://www.moniquedemaio.com/newsletter-sign-up

Explore Strategic Navigator Sessions with Monique: https://www.moniquedemaio.com/strategic-navigator/

Book Monique as a speaker for your next event: https://www.moniquedemaio.com/contact

Grab her award-winning, bestselling book The 7 Secrets to Creating a Life You Love: A Practical Guide for Women in Leadership: https://www.amazon.com/Secrets-Creating-Life-You-Love/dp/B0CLHV526G

When was the last time you stopped to ask yourself how things are really going?

In business, we call it a QBR. A quarterly business review. You know the format: leadership gathers, metrics get reviewed, what is working gets reinforced, what is not gets a plan. It is a discipline most organizations treat as non-negotiable.

Most of us have never run one on our own lives.

In this solo episode of Possibilities, Monique makes the case for the Quarterly Life Review (QLR) and gives you a simple, practical way to start running one today. No fancy tools required. Just honesty, a few categories, and the willingness to look at where your time and energy are actually going versus where you said they would.

This episode covers:

→ Why most high-performing people never pause long enough to assess what is and is not working in their personal lives

→ The "life buckets" framework Monique has used for years and the two tools she has leaned on to do the inventory

→ The year-of-the-fire-horse moment that reframes this quarter as a perfect time to dust off your goals and actually look at them

→ Why your calendar is the most honest document you own

→ How to use your three words as a decision filter when you run your QLR

→ The difference between reflecting on your life and actually making a decision about it

→ Why people do not resist change: they resist change that is hoisted on them

This is not about overhauling everything. It is about stopping long enough to look honestly at what is working, what is not, and what needs your attention next quarter.

Four times a year. That is all it takes to feel like you are running your life instead of your life running you.

ABOUT MONIQUE

Author. Speaker. Strategic Navigator.

Monique de Maio helps women leaders and organizations move from chaos to clarity, in business and in life.

Founder of OnDemandCMO and an active CMO, Monique brings more than 30 years of marketing and leadership experience across global brands, Wall Street, nonprofit, and publishing. Her work sits at the intersection of strategy and humanity, cutting through noise, simplifying the complex, and delivering solutions that actually work.

As host of the Possibilities with Monique de Maio podcast, Monique explores the real conversations behind growth, reinvention, and decision-making. Through her Strategic Navigator work, she applies the same rigor used in business strategy to help women think clearly about their careers, wellness, and life design, without burning everything down.

Follow Monique for More Possibilities:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/moniquedemaio

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/moniquedemaio

Newsletter: https://www.moniquedemaio.com/newsletter-sign-up

Book Monique as a speaker for your next event: https://www.moniquedemaio.com/contact

Grab her award-winning, bestselling book The 7 Secrets to Creating a Life You Love: A Practical Guide for Women in Leadership:

https://www.amazon.com/Secrets-Creating-Life-You-Love/dp/B0CLHV526G

Timestamps 

00:00 – Introduction: When did you last do a real personal assessment?

01:00 – What a QBR is and why you should apply it to your life

02:00 – The year of the fire horse: why this quarter is the moment

03:30 – The life buckets framework: what categories to review

05:00 – The Vistage story: Monique's wake-up call about scaling vs. living

06:00 – Doing the inventory: tools, planners, and honest scoring

07:00 – Your calendar is the most honest document you own

08:00 – Using your three words as a decision filter during your QLR

09:30 – Protecting your joy: how to block your calendar strategically

11:00 – Reverse engineering your quarter: what do you want and what will it take?

12:30 – The QLR in practice: quarterly life review, branded

13:30 – Why people do not resist change; they resist change forced on them

14:00 – Closing: take control, take your calendar, do the inventory

Most companies do not have a culture problem. They have a leadership problem.

In this episode of Possibilities with Monique de Maio, Monique sits down with Maria Reis, a senior member of the HR leadership team at LG Electronics, to unpack what actually builds high-performing teams and what quietly destroys them.

Maria Reis is a results-driven HR executive with a career spanning financial services, retail, and global corporate HR. At LG Electronics, she sits at the forefront of creating a better life for people and a better future through smart life solutions, leading strategies that drive employee development, engagement, and retention. She is also a coach, a mentor, and a former president of the Junior League of Bergen County, where she has championed the development of women and community leadership for years.

This is not a surface-level conversation.

This is about:

   →  Why promoting high performers into leadership roles backfires

   →  The difference between culture on paper and culture in practice

   →  Why HR cannot fix the leadership problems leaders create

   →  What feedback actually looks like when it works

   →  Why organizational change fails (and it is not strategy)

   →  What women must unlearn to lead at the highest level

   →  The career risk Maria avoided out of fear and has never forgotten

Maria brings the perspective most people never hear: what is happening inside organizations when no one is saying it out loud.

If you have ever worked somewhere and thought "something is off here," this episode will explain exactly why.

ABOUT OUR GUEST:

Maria Reis is a senior member of the HR leadership team at LG Electronics, where she sits at the forefront of creating a better life for people and a better future for the planet through smart life solutions. With a results-driven focus, she builds employee communities where HR strategies, services, and solutions drive development, engagement, satisfaction, and retention.

Her career spans financial services, retail, and global corporate HR, including significant tenure at Toys R Us where she held global responsibility for compensation and was part of major organizational transformations. She brings both the strategic depth of a senior executive and the hands-on conviction of a coach and mentor who has developed leaders at every level.

Outside of work, Maria is a former president of the Junior League of Bergen County, an organization dedicated to volunteerism, developing the potential of women, and improving communities through effective action and leadership.

Maria is open to connecting on LinkedIn.

This podcast is part of our mission to amplify women who are redefining work, life, and leadership.

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Book Monique as a speaker for your next event: https://www.moniquedemaio.com/contact

Grab her award-winning, bestselling book The 7 Secrets to Creating a Life You Love: A Practical Guide for Women in Leadership: https://www.amazon.com/Secrets-Creating-Life-You-Love/dp/B0CLHV526G

Most business podcasts follow a script.

A host asks a question. A guest gives a polished answer. Everyone sounds smart. Nobody says anything new.

This is not that conversation.

In this episode of Possibilities with Monique de Maio, we introduce a new format:

Business Q&A: In the Room

Two leaders. Real decisions. No theory.

Monique sits down with Stephanie Baker, former Chief Commercial Officer, COO, and CMO at EBG, for something different:

A real-time business debrief between two operators with 50+ years of combined experience.

No scripts. No polished talking points.

Just two people who have been in a lot of rooms…

processing out loud what they’ve actually seen, what they’ve gotten wrong, and what they now recognize immediately when they walk into a company that’s in trouble.

In this episode, we explore:

→ Why “we need more sales” is almost never the real problem

→ How to spot a broken org chart in the first 30 days

→ When a rebrand request is actually a symptom

→ What changes first when leadership teams stop being honest

→ Why fighting your way to the top is the wrong strategy

→ The role of value alignment in building teams that actually work

If you’ve ever sat in a room where everyone agreed in the meeting and nothing changed afterward...

If you’ve ever been handed an org chart that looked fine but felt completely broken...

Or if you’re navigating growth that isn’t landing the way it should...

This conversation will feel familiar.

TIMESTAMPS

00:00 Introduction: A Different Kind of Business Conversation

01:53 What 50+ Years of Experience Teaches You to Spot in 30 Days

07:22 The “We Need More Sales” Problem: Why It’s Usually Not the Real Issue

11:43 When the Org Chart Looks Fine on Paper

14:14 The Role of the Consultant vs. the Insider

19:03 When a Rebrand Request Is Actually a Symptom

25:59 Brand Promises You Haven’t Earned the Right to Make

29:51 What Changes First When Honesty Leaves the Room

33:37 Value Alignment: The Non-Negotiable Foundation

36:58 What People Don’t Know About Stephanie (Bikram Yoga for 20 Years)

38:21 What She Now Questions About Leadership

40:26 On Helping Each Other: Why Women Can’t Do It Alone

45:51 Worst and Best Career Advice (The Job in Amsterdam)

50:51 Closing: If This Sounds Like Your Company, You Know Where to Find Us

ABOUT OUR GUEST

Stephanie Baker is a senior executive with more than 20 years of experience leading commercial strategy, operational transformation, and growth across travel, entertainment, and consumer sectors.

Most recently, Stephanie served as Chief Commercial Officer at EBG, one of the largest privately held travel and entertainment companies in the U.S., where she led product strategy, corporate sales, business development, marketing, digital customer experience, and partner development. During her 14 years at EBG, she also held the roles of Chief Operating Officer and Chief Marketing Officer.

Earlier in her career, Stephanie held senior leadership roles at Madison Square Garden Entertainment and Feld Entertainment, where she drove marketing strategy, production growth, and international expansion across Europe.

She currently serves on the Iron Eagle Advisory Board, is a board member of Thrive Women in Travel, and is a member of Chief.

This podcast is part of our mission to amplify women who are redefining work, life, and leadership.

Follow Monique for More Possibilities:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/moniquedemaio

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/moniquedemaio

Newsletter: https://www.moniquedemaio.com/newsletter-sign-up

Explore Strategic Navigator Sessions with Monique: https://www.moniquedemaio.com/strategic-navigator/

Book Monique as a speaker for your next event: https://www.moniquedemaio.com/contact

Grab her award-winning, bestselling book The 7 Secrets to Creating a Life You Love: A Practical Guide for Women in Leadership: https://www.amazon.com/Secrets-Creating-Life-You-Love/dp/B0CLHV526G