Today on Purse Strings we are joined Dr. Michele Meek PHD. Dr. Meek is a writer, filmmaker, and Assistant Professor in Communication Studies at Bridgewater State University. She recently presented her TEDx talk “Why We’re Confused About Consent—Rewriting Our Stories of Seduction,” in which she explains how moments in movies and television blur consent with coercion. Her most recent book Independent Female Filmmakers—A Chronicle Through Interviews, Profiles and Manifestos is currently available with the publisher Routledge or on Amazon. Also, read her recent op-ed “It’s not just the Oscars: The Library of Congress fails women filmmakers too,” in Salon, and check out the documentary feature she worked as associate producer on, Salvage, which premiered at the 2019 SXSW Film Festival.

Our guest today is Michelle Ward, founder of When I Grow Up. She has been offering dream business guidance for creative women as The When I Grow Up Coach since 2008. You may have seen or heard her in New York Magazine, The Huffington Post, Etsy, Newsweek, Freelancers Union, USA Today, the Forbes Top 100 Websites for your Career List or 150+ other media outlets. She’s the co-author of The Declaration of You, which was published by North Light Books, and the teacher of Create Your Dream Career and Ditch Your Day Job, which were watched by tens of thousands of people live on CreativeLive. When she’s not coaching, teaching or speaking, she can be found building a fort for her little girl, sitcom-binging with her husband, or belting out show tunes.

One in four women experience some form of sexual assault, and the #MeToo movement empower women to take back their voice and shatter the power paradigm. With that said today's guest is April Kirkwood, author of working my way back to me, a memoir that brings readers up close and personal to her journey back to wholeness. As a therapist and author, April helps others past their pain and create a new life where they are stronger as a result.

Rhonda Moret, founder of Elevate For Her , a professional development organization with tactical programming designed to help women claim their value and step forward from inferiority, with drive, passion, and action to achieve their goals-- stemming from learning and education. From humble beginnings, growing up as a Latina woman in South Central Los Angeles, Rhonda was the first woman in her family to graduate from college and has forged a path of empowerment for women after her. As a branding and marketing expert, Rhonda directed campaigns for Google, Nike Golf, the PGA of America, Universal Studios, and Subway as well as working with high profile personalities including Tiger Woods, Billie Jean King, best selling author Robert Kiyosaki, and even Donald Trump. Over the course of her professional career, Moret's work and viewpoints have garnered media attention as she has been interviewed by The Washington Post, Adobe’ s CMO. com, The Business Journal, PBS, USA Today, and several other media outlets. Moret's most recent venture, Elevate for Her, has her focused on helping women elevate the critical business skills needed to reach the upper levels of leadership and management. With offerings including negotiations, leadership, personal branding and communications, Moret views this work as her passion project and an effort to ultimately create greater gender and pay parity in the workplace.

Today on Purse Strings we are joined by Peggy Chen, Chief Marketing Officer, SDL. SDL (LSE: SDL) is the global leader in content creation, translation and delivery. For over 25 years SDL has helped companies communicate with confidence and deliver transformative business results by enabling powerful experiences that engage customers across multiple touchpoints worldwide. Peggy is responsible for driving global go-to-market strategy for SDL’s portfolio of solutions.

Michelle L. Evans walked away from her global marketing strategy role at Microsoft in 2012 after a successful 16-year corporate career spanning many industries and now works with a fantastic community of business owners - coaches, consultants, experts, speakers, authors and solopreneurs - helping them go from simply surviving to predictably SOLD OUT. Using her 20+ years of successful marketing experience she helps her clients create income-producing, client-generating, stress-reducing marketing funnels. Michelle has been featured in Mirasee, Huffington Post, Online Marketing Made Easy and 30+ other places over the internet and worked with household names like Microsoft, LinkedIn and others as a well-paid employee and consultant. Check out her best tips on adventures in building a business as a mom of 3, marketing hacks and more at MichelleLEvans.com or tune in to her weekly podcast, The Marketing Funnel Show.

Maria Reitan speaks with Karen Abbott, the author of Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy: Four Women Undercover in the Civil War. Abbott illuminates one of the most fascinating yet little known aspects of the Civil War: the stories of four courageous women--a socialite, a farm girl, an abolitionist, and a widow--who were spies.

Maria Reitan welcomes Andrea Barnet, the author of Visionary Women: How Rachel Carson, Jane Jacobs, Jane Goodall, and Alice Waters Changed Our World. Andrea explains how she traced the arc of each woman's career and explores how their work collectively changed the course of history.

Today on Purse Strings Kate Schatz is our guest. Kate Schatz is a feminist writer, activist, and educator. She is the author of the New York Times bestsellers Rad American Women A-Z and Rad Women Worldwide, and the accompanying journal, My Rad Life. Kate is the co-founder of Solidarity Sundays, a nationwide network of feminist activist groups, and she speaks often about politics, resistance, feminism, race, parenting, and more. In her latest book with Miriam Klein Stahl, Rad Girls Can, you’ll learn about a diverse group of young women who are living rad lives, whether excelling in male-dominated sports like boxing, rock climbing, or skateboarding; speaking out against injustice and discrimination; expressing

Today on Purse Strings Maria is joined by Christina Nicholson, TV news reporter anchor turned marketing agency owner. Christina is an award-winning journalist with more than a decade of experience anchoring, reporting, writing, blogging, video production, editing, excelling in social media, photography, and live TV. She has been featured in Forbes, Fast Company, the Huffington Post, and many other media outlets. Because of Christina's experience in the communications industry, shes networked and connected with the best in the business to build a team of true professionals who can handle almost any and every marketing needs a business or brand has. With a bachelor’s degree in public affairs journalism and more than a decade of storytelling, she understands the importance of creating content and delivering it to the public.