We’re juggling jobs, relationships, households, and, if we’re lucky, time to breathe. Jackie Waller, co-host of the Beauty, Bags & Bravo podcast, talks with Kara about the reality of holding multiple roles as women, and how she navigates being a researcher, wife, mom, friend, and creator. They get into why community is non-negotiable, how Bravo became her best therapy, and what it really means to honor the people in your life.

Chapters:

00:00 Wearing all the hats: life, work, motherhood, podcasting

01:45 What led Jackie to launch Beauty, Bags & Bravo

04:00 Her unexpected path into marketing research

06:10 Why Bravo TV hits so deep

08:45 Balancing her podcast with full-time work and family

11:30 Real talk about emotional labor and invisible work

14:00 Why girlfriends are the ultimate support system

16:15 Learning how to ask for help

18:40 What she’s teaching her kids about being human

20:10 The power of gratitude and daily appreciation

22:45 Redefining what “doing it all” means

25:00 Her favorite Bravo characters and why

28:15 What powerful really means to Jackie

30:30 The messy middle of self-care

32:00 Why staying in the lines doesn’t work

34:15 Advice for women who are overwhelmed but driven

36:00 Finding joy even in the chaos

The Powerful Ladies podcast, hosted by business coach and strategist Kara Duffy features candid conversations with entrepreneurs, creatives, athletes, chefs, writers, scientists, and more. Every Wednesday, new episodes explore what it means to lead with purpose, create with intention, and define success on your own terms.

Whether you're growing a business, changing careers, or asking bigger questions, these stories remind you: you're not alone, and you're more powerful than you think.

Explore more at thepowerfulladies.com and karaduffy.com.

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What if your best idea started in a college dorm room? That’s exactly what happened to Abby Michaelsen, the founder of Statement Home and creator of the viral tray that launched the fast-growing product brand. Abby shares how she took a single prototype and turned it into a full business, with no co-founder, no paid ads, and no formal product design experience.

They talk about building confidence, learning on the job, and staying scrappy.

Chapters:

00:00 The tray that started it all

01:15 From dorm room prototype to product brand

03:20 Testing ideas without a product background

05:10 What it takes to go viral on TikTok

07:30 Growing without ads or a team

09:00 Navigating manufacturing and fulfillment

11:00 Learning to believe in your own vision

13:15 The myth of needing everything figured out

15:00 Staying grounded through rapid growth

17:30 Creating products that solve real-life problems

19:00 Lessons from launching a business during college

21:15 Personal growth through entrepreneurship

23:00 Advice for first-time founders

25:15 What powerful really means

The Powerful Ladies podcast, hosted by business coach and strategist Kara Duffy features candid conversations with entrepreneurs, creatives, athletes, chefs, writers, scientists, and more. Every Wednesday, new episodes explore what it means to lead with purpose, create with intention, and define success on your own terms.

Whether you're growing a business, changing careers, or asking bigger questions, these stories remind you: you're not alone, and you're more powerful than you think.

Explore more at thepowerfulladies.com and karaduffy.com.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What does it really mean to be fierce? For Tara Wilson, it’s not about being loud or intense. It’s about ownership and action. Tara is the founder of Fierce Lab, an empowerment platform helping women take charge of their careers, finances, mental health, and risk-taking. Tara breaks down why women often hesitate to claim their power, how to move past perfectionism, and why knowing your numbers is non-negotiable for business success. We talk about building teams, building confidence, and why control starts between your ears. If you’re ready to lead your life more boldly, this conversation is your call to action.

Chapters:

00:00 What fierce really means

01:20 Building a platform for women through Fierce Lab

03:15 Tara’s journey from lost 20-something to confident founder

05:10 The four pillars of Fierce Lab

07:00 Quiet confidence and redefining the word fierce

09:30 Owning your story and taking action

11:00 The role of community in achieving big goals

13:00 From events to experiential marketing

15:20 Why she pivoted her business

17:00 Letting go of control and trusting your team

19:00 How contractors can grow your business

21:30 Stats every entrepreneur should know

23:15 Knowing your numbers and what they mean

25:00 Facing fear with clarity

26:45 The perfectionism trap

28:15 Lessons from cold-calling and Girl Scout cookie sales

30:30 Early business role models and mentors

33:00 How to stay informed without getting overwhelmed

35:15 Why input needs boundaries

37:00 Tara’s support system

39:30 Advice for tough days

41:15 What powerful and lady mean together

43:00 How to join or support Fierce Lab

The Powerful Ladies podcast, hosted by business coach and strategist Kara Duffy features candid conversations with entrepreneurs, creatives, athletes, chefs, writers, scientists, and more. Every Wednesday, new episodes explore what it means to lead with purpose, create with intention, and define success on your own terms.

Whether you're growing a business, changing careers, or asking bigger questions, these stories remind you: you're not alone, and you're more powerful than you think.

Explore more at thepowerfulladies.com and karaduffy.com.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Marie Garvey spent years as a successful executive coach and crisis comms expert. But when she found herself alone in a bathroom stall during a business dinner she didn’t want to attend, she knew something had to change. Marie joins Kara to talk about rewriting the rules women live by, building her company Crazy Busy Women in Balance, and why “good girl training” is holding so many women back from the lives they actually want. They talk entrepreneurship, parenting, setting boundaries, and why the “quiet quitting” trend isn’t doing what people think it is.

Chapters:

00:00 – Why Marie walked out of a business dinner

01:55 – The pressure women feel to keep it all together

04:20 – Creating Crazy Busy Women in Balance

06:30 – What success used to mean (and what it means now)

08:15 – Quiet quitting vs actual boundaries

11:45 – Why most leaders are still trapped in performance mode

14:10 – The trap of "good girl training"

17:25 – How Marie defines real power

19:00 – Choosing adoption and building her family

21:50 – Why she doesn’t miss her old life

24:40 – What her clients are craving right now

27:15 – Making time for joy when you're a doer

30:30 – Learning to trust yourself again

33:45 – Redefining success, parenting, and leadership

The Powerful Ladies podcast, hosted by business coach and strategist Kara Duffy features candid conversations with entrepreneurs, creatives, athletes, chefs, writers, scientists, and more. Every Wednesday, new episodes explore what it means to lead with purpose, create with intention, and define success on your own terms.

Whether you're growing a business, changing careers, or asking bigger questions, these stories remind you: you're not alone, and you're more powerful than you think.

Explore more at thepowerfulladies.com and karaduffy.com.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This episode is a live & unedited recording of A Powerful Conversation Series: The Rise & Empowerment of Women in Iran.  This recording took place on Saturday October 8th, 2022 in response to and support of the protests happening in Iran being led by brave young women asking for freedom for Women, Life and Liberty. 

Our amazing panelists include:  

Enjoy this episode and please share it so that the efforts of the women and girls in Iran is being heard by as many people as possible. 

Chapters:

00:00 Introduction to the Powerful Ladies Podcast

01:06 Panel Introduction and Purpose

01:41 Marjan Kha Johnson's Perspective

02:48 Dr. Marjan Vici's Insights

03:34 Patti Saro's Reflections

04:23 Sarah Sayed's Contributions

05:30 Danny's Passionate Support

06:06 Pega Gamar's Empathy and Connection

07:28 Current Situation in Iran

08:24 Historical Context and Personal Stories

11:34 Social Media's Role in the Movement

20:59 Global Support and Future Hopes

40:43 Frustrations and Hopes for Change

47:42 Personal Reflections and Family Ties

48:07 Global Support and Hope

48:56 Political Realities and Human Rights

50:52 Strategies for Change

53:00 Powerful Ladies and Human Rights

55:09 Continuous Advocacy and Support

56:00 Final Thoughts and Actions

57:54 Global Perspective and Solidarity

1:01:41 Historical Context and Current Struggles

The Powerful Ladies podcast, hosted by business coach and strategist Kara Duffy features candid conversations with entrepreneurs, creatives, athletes, chefs, writers, scientists, and more. Every Wednesday, new episodes explore what it means to lead with purpose, create with intention, and define success on your own terms.

Whether you're growing a business, changing careers, or asking bigger questions, these stories remind you: you're not alone, and you're more powerful than you think.

Explore more at thepowerfulladies.com and karaduffy.com.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

From growing up on a dirt road in Vermont to dancing in NYC with Prince, Jasmine Carey has always followed her curiosity. Jasmine crafted a life around freedom, creativity, and self-expression. A writer and teacher as well as editor of LiT Magazine, Jasmine talks about what it means to live deliberately, why storytelling bridges divides, and how we all benefit from honoring what lights us up. We get into her Quaker upbringing, her name change, and the memoir she never planned to write. It's a conversation about reverence, rebellion, and choosing joy, especially when the world tells you not to.

Chapters:

00:00 Being powerful means redistributing power

01:20 Meet Jasmine Carey

03:00 Why she writes and teaches unconventionally

05:10 What’s broken in the way we teach kids

07:00 Shaping the world through stories

09:20 Jasmine’s law-of-attraction fantasy series for kids

11:10 Her perspective on bridging societal divides

13:00 What it was like growing up Quaker and adopted

16:15 The story behind her name change

19:00 Meeting and partying with Prince

23:00 Looking back on her many “lives”

25:00 Why freedom, not goals, has been her true compass

27:20 The role of fun in building a meaningful life

30:10 Powerful women who shaped her

33:00 What Vermont and NYC each taught her

36:30 The stories she’s writing now

38:00 What she’s looking for next

39:00 Where to find Jasmine online

The Powerful Ladies podcast, hosted by business coach and strategist Kara Duffy features candid conversations with entrepreneurs, creatives, athletes, chefs, writers, scientists, and more. Every Wednesday, new episodes explore what it means to lead with purpose, create with intention, and define success on your own terms.

Whether you're growing a business, changing careers, or asking bigger questions, these stories remind you: you're not alone, and you're more powerful than you think.

Explore more at thepowerfulladies.com and karaduffy.com.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What started as a wedding favor turned into a million-dollar gourmet cookie business. Kara talks with Vicki Kotris, founder of Cleveland Cookie Dough Company, about turning passion into profit, and why your support system might be your most valuable business asset. They unpack how to grow a small idea into a serious operation, the difference between momentum and burnout, and the surprising sales channels that changed everything. Vicki opens up about the real behind-the-scenes of building a brand, managing a partnership, and why joy matters as much as strategy.

Chapters:

00:00 The cookie that started it all

01:15 From wedding favors to full-time business

03:00 Launching with confidence (and no storefront)

04:20 Building brand recognition through food trucks

06:00 The role of friends and family in early growth

08:10 When to go from farmers markets to wholesale

10:30 Managing growth without losing quality

13:00 The surprising sales channel that unlocked 7 figures

14:45 The decision to expand into a second kitchen

17:00 Working with your partner and staying married

19:15 The invisible labor of female entrepreneurs

21:30 Rest, hustle, and choosing momentum over burnout

24:00 Social media and building a community

26:30 Vicki’s biggest lesson after $1M in sales

28:00 What powerful means now

30:15 Advice for entrepreneurs ready to start

The Powerful Ladies podcast, hosted by business coach and strategist Kara Duffy features candid conversations with entrepreneurs, creatives, athletes, chefs, writers, scientists, and more. Every Wednesday, new episodes explore what it means to lead with purpose, create with intention, and define success on your own terms.

Whether you're growing a business, changing careers, or asking bigger questions, these stories remind you: you're not alone, and you're more powerful than you think.

Explore more at thepowerfulladies.com and karaduffy.com.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

For Tracy Christian, fashion is about power, visibility, and legacy. A legendary Hollywood talent agent and the founder of the fashion house Sante Grace, Tracy is on a mission to help plus-size women show up as boldly as they feel. She shares how she built her own line from scratch, why self-love is the ultimate emancipation, and what it means to lead with integrity in an industry that wasn’t built with you in mind. This is a conversation about fashion, confidence, entrepreneurship, women empowerment, and the ripple effect of choosing to do it your way. Tracy opens up about her career, her values, and how she’s making it easier for the next generation of Black women to be seen, heard, and celebrated.

Chapters:

00:00 Emancipating women through fashion

02:04 Growing up as a bigger person in a beauty-obsessed world

05:10 Building a career in entertainment as a Black woman

08:20 The problem with availability in plus-size fashion

11:30 Why she started designing her own clothes

13:00 The meaning of luxury for women of size

15:20 How fashion became part of her activism

18:30 Clothing as armor—and as freedom

20:45 Pivoting into fashion while still thriving in entertainment

24:15 Lessons from representing Jeremy Piven and iconic bands

27:00 Designing for the women Hollywood forgets

30:10 The importance of female mentorship

32:30 What visibility really means in business

35:00 Her framework for legacy and impact

38:00 The power of doing it your way and still being invited to the table

40:30 Final advice on leadership, community, and being bold

The Powerful Ladies podcast, hosted by business coach and strategist Kara Duffy features candid conversations with entrepreneurs, creatives, athletes, chefs, writers, scientists, and more. Every Wednesday, new episodes explore what it means to lead with purpose, create with intention, and define success on your own terms.

Whether you're growing a business, changing careers, or asking bigger questions, these stories remind you: you're not alone, and you're more powerful than you think.

Explore more at thepowerfulladies.com and karaduffy.com.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What happens when a stay-at-home mom with a passion for baking refuses to let a pandemic crush her dream? Elise Thomas went from filling cookie boxes in her home kitchen to launching one of the fastest-growing dessert franchises in the U.S. Elise shares how she turned a moment of crisis into a movement of kindness and entrepreneurship. They talk about what it means to lead with service, how to build a purpose-driven brand, and what she’s learned about risk, resilience, and growth along the way. This one’s for anyone dreaming bigger than their current circumstances and looking for inspiration to take the next step.

Chapters:

00:00 Meet Elise Thomas, founder of Cookie Co

01:15 Opening a bakery during a global pandemic

03:00 Filling orders late at night while homeschooling kids

04:30 Baking 10 boxes at a time, and selling out

05:45 Giving back to frontline workers

07:00 Community support and viral growth

08:15 Why she turned to franchising

10:00 Making business ownership accessible to more women

11:30 What she’s learned about fear, failure, and family

13:00 Giving people a place to do good

15:00 Building systems for scale and impact

17:30 The heart behind every Cookie Co location

19:00 What success means now

21:00 Advice for moms, makers, and aspiring entrepreneurs

The Powerful Ladies podcast, hosted by business coach and strategist Kara Duffy features candid conversations with entrepreneurs, creatives, athletes, chefs, writers, scientists, and more. Every Wednesday, new episodes explore what it means to lead with purpose, create with intention, and define success on your own terms.

Whether you're growing a business, changing careers, or asking bigger questions, these stories remind you: you're not alone, and you're more powerful than you think.

Explore more at thepowerfulladies.com and karaduffy.com.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What if one plant could solve multiple global problems: environmental degradation, economic instability, and public health? Annie Rouse believes hemp can. Kara talks with Annie about the power and potential of hemp as an industrial crop, a wellness resource, and a tool for climate solutions. They get into how policy, stigma, and industry gatekeeping have slowed hemp's progress, and why Annie’s on a mission to change that. Annie is a Fulbright Scholar, economist, and investigative journalist who’s built a portfolio of businesses and advocacy projects under the Think Hempy Thoughts brand. This conversation covers everything from the war on drugs to sustainable fashion to the underestimated power of female entrepreneurs.

Chapters:

00:00 How Annie first discovered hemp

01:25 What we get wrong about hemp and cannabis

03:10 Hemp’s potential to transform global supply chains

05:00 Getting a Fulbright to study hemp in Canada

07:30 Fighting industry stigma and misinformation

10:20 Think Hempy Thoughts and building hemp businesses

12:15 Why sustainable fashion needs hemp

14:40 Eco-feminism and the power of women entrepreneurs

16:15 How Annie juggles her portfolio of projects

18:00 Running a values-driven business

20:10 How to talk about hemp without getting shut down

22:25 The True Cost documentary and fast fashion's dark side

25:45 Supply chains, certifications, and conscious choices

28:30 Why policy change matters for entrepreneurs

30:15 Work-life balance and wellness as a founder

32:00 Building confidence in male-dominated industries

34:30 What powerful means to Annie right now

The Powerful Ladies podcast, hosted by business coach and strategist Kara Duffy features candid conversations with entrepreneurs, creatives, athletes, chefs, writers, scientists, and more. Every Wednesday, new episodes explore what it means to lead with purpose, create with intention, and define success on your own terms.

Whether you're growing a business, changing careers, or asking bigger questions, these stories remind you: you're not alone, and you're more powerful than you think.

Explore more at thepowerfulladies.com and karaduffy.com.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices