What if there really was something you could do?

ROAR is about the women who stepped in without waiting for the credential, the title, or the permission slip — novelists, femtech founders, breast cancer advocates, and everyone in between, changing how we understand the world and making it better for other women. New episodes every Tuesday.

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What happens when a 25-year-fight for women's health begins with a bedside promise? Twenty-five years later, women's cancer research still hasn't caught up.

In this episode of The Roar Podcast, Danielle Davies sits down with Robin Cohen, founder of the Sandy Rollman Ovarian Cancer Foundation, marketing 25 years of turning isolation into community and fear into advocacy for women facing ovarian cancer.

Robin's work didn't start in a boardroom or with a business plan. It started at Sandy's bedside.

As a young oncology nurse, Robin cared for Sandy Rollman, a 32-year-old woman diagnosed with Stage 4 ovarian cancer who was trying to start a family when her life was upended. Sandy's story—and a deathbed charge from another patient, Reg—became the spark for what's grown into a national movement.

And what stood out most wasn't just the diagnosis. It was everything that was missing: research, treatment options, and a place for women and families to turn.

Danielle and Robin explore what's changed in ovarian cancer care in 25 years, the symptoms too many women dismiss, and why stepping in, even in a small way, is the advice Robin gives to anyone who wants to make a difference.

Together, they talk about:

• The bedside promise that started a movement
• What's changed (and what hasn't) in ovarian cancer treatment over 25 years
• Why there's still no reliable screening test, and what the CA125 blood test can and can't tell you
• Symptoms women dismiss as "normal" that deserve a second look
• Why family history on both sides of the family matters
• The power of peer-to-peer support and knowing you're not alone
• Leading by surrounding yourself with the right people
• Robin's advice for women who want to advocate but don't know where to start

Robin's work reminds us that advocacy doesn't require a plan—it requires showing up.

This conversation is for anyone who has ever needed someone to fight for them, or wondered if they had it in them to fight for someone else.

Key Takeaways

• Ovarian cancer treatment has changed dramatically in 25 years, but there's still no reliable screening test.
• Persistent, unusual bloating, fullness, or urinary changes are worth a doctor visit.
• Family history matters from both your mother's and father's side.
• Peer-to-peer connection can be as powerful as medical treatment.
• You don't need a plan to start. You just need to step in.

Links Mentioned in This Episode

Sandy Rollman Ovarian Cancer Foundation

Sandy Spring Sea Isle City 5K & Family Walk, Juy 18, 2026

Related Conversations:

Gina Lamanna on The Fondle Project

Shaney Jo Darden on Keep a Breast

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Take Action!

Support the Sandy Rollman Ovarian Cancer Foundation at the Sandy Sprint Sea Isle City 5K & Family Walk on Saturday, July 18, 2026, 8:30 AM, Excursion Park, JFK Blvd &Pleasure Avenue, Sea Isle City, NJ. Donate, participate, or show up as a volunteer! More details here!

#RoarPodcast #RobinCohen#SandyRollman #OvarianCancerAwareness #WomensHealth #Advocacy #CancerSupport#SandySprint #DanielleDavies

What if nothing is wrong with you...you've just never been told what's happening? A look at the women's experience aging—what nobody prepares you for, and what nobody needs to."

In this episode of The Roar Podcast, Danielle Davies sits down with therapist, coach, and writer Ellen Scherr to talk about a phase of life many women experience, but few fully understand.

Because for women, it doesn't start with a clear moment or a diagnosis. It starts with a feeling that something is off, something has changed, and no one seems to have a clear answer.

Danielle and Ellen explore what happens when women try to make sense of changes that aren't well explained, openly discussed, or consistently experienced.

Together, they talk about:

• Why so many women assume something is "wrong" with them
• The gap between what women experience and what they're told
• How medical dismissal contributes to confusion and self-doubt
• Why these changes are rarely talked about openly
• The challenge of symptoms that don't look the same for everyone
• How lack of language makes it harder to seek support
• The emotional toll of navigating something you don't fully understand
• Why validation can be just as important as treatment

Ellen's work reminds us that confusion is not a personal failure—it's often the result of not being given the full picture.

This conversation is for anyone who has ever thought, "What is happening to me? " during midlife and felt like they were the only one.

Key Takeaways

• You are not the only one experiencing this
• Lack of information often leads to self-doubt
• Not all women experience this the same way
• Medical systems don't always provide full explanations
• Understanding what's happening can change how you experience it

Links Mentioned in this Episode

Ellen's substack

Ellen's website

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What if the problem isn't your confidence, but the system measuring it?

In this episode of Roar, Danielle Davies sits down with investor, founder, and power strategist, Jingjin Liu, for a conversation that dismantles one of the most persistent myths women are handed: that success is simply a matter of confidence, effort, or doing everything right.

Jingjin moved from China to Germany at 16, learned German, and rose fast in the male-dominated commercial vehicle industry, championed by senior leaders who saw something in her. Not despite the system, but in many ways because of how she moved within it. That experience became the foundation for a much larger realization about how power actually works, who gets recognized, and why.

Together, Danielle and Jingjin unpack the invisible dynamics shaping whose ambition gets rewarded, and what women can actually do about it, starting today.

In this episode:

• Why some women advance fast, and why it's not purely about merit
• The apology habit: how women enter rooms already diminished
• The word 'just,' and other language women use to shrink themselves
• Invisible labor and the operational trap that keeps women stuck
• Why being the "workhorse" actually makes you invisible to your manager
• The critical shift from managing down to managing up
• Tiny habits that compound: growing vs. shrinking
• Why the glass ceiling starts at home, not in the office
• The 9-to-5 and 5-to-9 framework: how your home life shapes your professional power
• How to approach your manager about a promotion without making it about you
• Why self-respect is the foundation of everything

Links Mentioned in this Episode:

Jingjin Liu on LinkedIN

Jingin's TED Talk

The Elevate Group

Atomic Habits by James Clear (referenced)

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Far to often, we hear about sexual assault after it happens. But what if we could stop it before it begins?

This week on Roar, Danielle is joined by two women working at the forefront of an effort most people don't talk about nearly enough: prevention.

Jess Ladd and Kristin Hatcher are the co-founders of The Fund to Prevent Sexual Assault, an organization with a bold public health vision: to reduce rape in the United States by 70% by the year 2050.

They're funding ambitious research, breakthrough prevention ideas, and innovators who are reimagining what safety could look like in terms of sexual assault. We talk about why prevention has been chronically underfunded, what real progress could look like, and why this work has to be led by people committed to sexual safety and agency. We also get into the Epstein files, the role of porn and gaming culture in shaping teen behavior, why a perpetrator-led organization might actually be the most powerful model, and a whole lot more.

This episode will make you think. And even better, give you some hope for the future.

What we talked about:

• Why the field has historically focused on response over prevention, and why that has to change
• Why prevention isn't just school assemblies and consent lectures—it's a full public health approach, like what worked for teen smoking
• The driver's ed analogy: why we've built so many guardrails around getting in a car, and almost none around a teenager's first sexual experience
• The role of porn, TikTok, gaming culture, and the manosphere in shaping teen norms around consent
• Why some people—including some in the sexual assault field—believe prevention is impossible and what the research actually says
• The Epstein effect: how high-profile cases shape public understanding, and complicate the work
• The 5% statistic that should change the way every parent thinks
• What you can do right now, from your role as a parent, employer, PTA member, or just a person who ccares

The Three Grantees

The Fund ran an open call focused on preventing high school-age, peer-on-peer rape perpetration using technology or social media. They received over 100 applications. Here are the three they are currently funding:

1. Teach Us Consent: An initiative originally from Australia, now expanding into the U.S. They're using social media to teach young people about consent through the platforms they're already on.
2. The Kaisa Project: This project is working inside gaming culture—one of the primary spaces where teen boys spend time—by partnering with streamers who already have large followings.
3. Is This Ok? A standalone web app functioning as an AI-powered coach for young people navigating sexual and romantic situations. Teens can use it to evaluate whether a situation was consensual, what they might do differently, or how to approach something they're planning.

Resources & Links Mentioned

The Fund to Prevent Sexual Assault Donate, sign up for their newsletter, or contact them directly.

South of Forgiveness by Thordis Elva & Tom Stranger—a perpetrator and his victim write about the journey of accountability and repair, together.

Ted Women Talk with Thordis Elva and Tom Stranger

Callisto: the survivor platform where Jess and Kristin first worked together

Moxie: directed by Amy Poehler & available on Netflix. A fantastic depiction of female advocacy and male allyship in a high school setting. Highly recommend watching with your teen.

The Truth Campaign - the Anti-tobacco campaign Jess referenced as a model for what culture-level change can look like

Alex Robboy, sex therapist in Philadelphia—mentioned in context of this episode; featured in ROAR Season 3 and Season 4.

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What if the anxiety you feel for your kids—the urge to step in, fix it, smooth it over—is actually wired into your brain? Andwhat if the wine you pour at the end of that exhausting day is quietly making everything worse?

In this episode, Danielle sits down with Jessica Lahey—educator, journalist, author of The Gift of Failure andThe Addiction Inoculation, and a woman nearly 14 years into her own recovery—for a conversation about what the research actually tells us about raising kids who are resilient, substance-aware, and capable of handling difficulty on their own.

This isn’t a parenting lecture. It’s part science, partconfession, and part permission slip, for the mother who’s quietly wondering if she’s doing it right, and reaching for something to take the edge off when she’s not sure.

In this conversation, we talk about

• Why the parental brain reads a child’s struggle as afull-blown emergency, and what to do with that impulse

• The “mommy wine culture” problem: what our kids are absorbing when every hard moment ends with“I need a drink”

• Why the European moderation myth is just that, and what theWHO data actually says

• How competence, mastery, and self-efficacy protect kidsbetter than any single conversation about drugs

• What’s different for women and alcohol: metabolism, anxiety, and the breast cancer connection

• How to reset the rules in your house, even if you feel like you’ve already “messed it up”

Key Takeaways

• The single most consistent finding: delay first use aslong as possible. The younger the first use, the higher the lifetime risk.

•When you ask parents why kids drink, they say peer pressure. When you ask kids, they say stress and anxiety.

• Kids who learn to handle hard things and feel thedopamine hit of real achievement have a genuinely lower risk.

• Women metabolize alcohol differently, and drinking to manage anxiety almost always backfires.

•It’s never too late to change the conversation.

Links Mentioned in This Episode⁠

Jessica's website ⁠(Includesall her videos, books, etc.)

⁠Jessica's substack⁠⁠

HumanUp⁠⁠

Jessica's writing podcast⁠

Related Conversations⁠

Raising Resisters with Renee Niemann⁠⁠

Why "Doing it All" Is Making Women Sick with Gifty Enright⁠

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#RoarPodcast #MidlifeWomen #Parenting#SubstanceUsePrevention #AlcoholAwareness #GiftOfFailure #AddictionInoculation#DanielleDavies #womensvoices

What if the anxiety you feel for your kids—the urge to step in, fix it, smooth it over—is actually wired into your brain? And what if the wine you pour at the end of that exhausting day is quietly making everything worse?In this episode, Danielle sits down with Jessica Lahey—educator, journalist, author of The Gift of Failure and The Addiction Inoculation, and a woman nearly 14 years into her own recovery—for a conversation about what the research actually tells us about raising kids who are resilient, substance-aware, and capable of handling difficulty on their own.This isn’t a parenting lecture. It’s part science, part confession, and part permission slip, for the mother who’s quietly wondering if she’s doing it right, and reaching for something to take the edge off when she’s not sure.In this conversation, we talk about• Why the parental brain reads a child’s struggle as a full-blown emergency, and what to do with that impulse• The “mommy wine culture” problem: what our kids are absorbing when every hard moment ends with “I need a drink”• Why the European moderation myth is just that, and what the WHO data actually says• How competence, mastery, and self-efficacy protect kids better than any single conversation about drugs• What’s different for women and alcohol: metabolism, anxiety, and the breast cancer connection• How to reset the rules in your house, even if you feel like you’ve already “messed it up”Key Takeaways• The single most consistent finding: delay first use as long as possible. The younger the first use, the higher the lifetime risk.• When you ask parents why kids drink, they say peer pressure. When you ask kids, they say stress and anxiety.• Kids who learn to handle hard things and feel the dopamine hit of real achievement have a genuinely lower risk.• Women metabolize alcohol differently, and drinking to manage anxiety almost always backfires.• It’s never too late to change the conversation.Links Mentioned in This EpisodeJessica's website (Includes all her videos, books, etc.)Jessica's substackHumanUpJessica's writing podcastRelated ConversationsRaising Resisters with Renee NiemannWhy "Doing it All" Is Making Women Sick with Gifty EnrightFollow & Subscribe to Roar 🎧 Apple Podcasts🎧 Spotify▶️ YouTube📩 Newsletter🙋 Be a guestConnect with DanielleInstagramLinkedInWebsite

#RoarPodcast #MidlifeWomen #Parenting #SubstanceUsePrevention #AlcoholAwareness #GiftOfFailure #AddictionInoculation #DanielleDavies #womensvoices

What if the smallest, simplest things...are the ones that carry us through the hardest moments?

In this episode of Roar, Danielle sits down with writer and pie baker Beth Howard for a conversation that starts with something light, and becomes something much deeper.

Because at first glance, pie doesn't feel like a serious topic. But in Beth's world, it means more than one thing.

What began as baking became something else entirely, including a way to process loss, connect with others, and move through moments that don't always have easy answers.

Danielle and Beth explore what it looks like to turn something simple into something meaningful, and how everyday acts can become a form of care, connection, and healing.

Together, they talk about:

• How something as simple as baking can take on deeper meaning
• The connection between creativity and grief
• Why working with your hands can help process emotions
• The role of ritual in a technological world
• Letting go of perfection and focusing on presence
• How sharing something small can create connection
• The accessibility of simple acts, no expertise required
• What it means to do something when there are no words

Beth's perspective reminds us that we don't always need big solutions. Sometimes we just need something to do with our hands, our attention, and our care.

Key Takeaways:

• Simple acts can carry deep meaning
• Creativity can be a tool for processing grief.
• You don't need expertise to create something meaningful.
• Ritual can provide grounding during difficult times.
• Connection often comes through sharing small things.

Links Mentioned in this Episode:

Beth's Website (includes her books, Pieowa showing schedule, classes and more)

Related conversations:

Lisa Field on creative spaces

Katherine Center on finding joy

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#RoarPodcast #BethHoward #Pie #Grief #Creativity #WomenAndCreativity#Healing #Ritual #DanielleDavies

What happens when frustration becomes a lifelong operating system?

In this episode of Roar, Danielle Davies sits down with Jess Ekstrom, an entrepreneur, bestselling author, and founder ofboth Headbands of Hope and Mic Drop Workshop , for a conversation that is equal parts practical, personal, and unexpectedly profound.

 What begins with a childhood camping trip and a tangled Walkman cord quickly expands into a wide-ranging discussion about advocacy, economic empowerment, ambition, legacy, and what it really means to build something without losing yourself in the process.

What You'll Hear in This Episode•      Why Jess's dad's response to a frustrated middle-schooler became the foundation for everything she's built

•      How Jess ended up being the first woman to speak at a conference that had been running for 15 years, and why that's not a compliment

•      The moment she asked an event organizer why they booked her, and what his honest answer revealed about the speaking industry

•      Why women second-guess their place on stage while men confidently ask for $50,000, and what's actually behind that gap

•      Danielle's own experience taking Jess's free course and landing a $2,500 paid speaking gig almost immediately after

•       Jess's philosophy on over-delivering vs. gatekeeping, and why she pushed back on advice to hold more back

•      The Bernie Madoff connection in Jess's family, and how that trauma quietly turbocharged her hustle

•      What happened when Jess accidentally signed up for a death-and-dying silent retreat in Asheville, and how it reframed her entire relationship with ambition

•      The shift from checklists to legacy: how Jess thinks about building things that outlive her goals

•      Practical speaking tips: the 'spotlight to lighthouse' mindset shift, the 'start button' technique, and why being relatable is your competitive edge in the age of AI

•      The 'contribution vss. completion' framework from her upcoming book, and why most of us are exhausted because we keep chasing 'done'

•      Her upcoming book Making It Without Losing It (available TODAY!)

Links & Resources:

📖 Jess's new book, Making It Without Losing It, available TODAY! https://shorturl.at/DC2bi
🌐 Jess’s website: www.JessEkstrom.com
🆓 The FREEBIE Class that Danielle took that TOTALLY WORKED: https://micdropworkshop.com/home-free-webinar🎤 Mic Drop Workshop: https://www.micdropworkshop.com

📚 Headbands of Hope: https://www.headbandsofhope.com

Related Episodes:

Our convo with NYT Bestselling author Katherine Center: https://open.spotify.com/episode/0mBOic9PTXjWbtLwSuYLdV?si=2c46bd9a10934a1a

A chat with visibility dynamo Cheldin Barlatt Rumer: https://open.spotify.com/episode/5H8J8d2zKXqpptZG53k2wr?si=b9fd9904efd74f60

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#RoarPodcast #JessEkstrom#MicDropWorkshop #WomenWhoSpeak #SpeakingForPay #MakingItWithoutLosingIt#WomenInBusiness #WomenInLeadership #DanielleDavies #PublicSpeaking#WomenEmpowerment #HeadbandsOfHope

What You'll Hear in This Episode

Did you ever think of the work you naturally do as a women, mom, and/or teacher, work that holds up the whole system, isn't actually harmless? In fact, Rebekah Pierce uses a different word for it: Destructive.

In this episode of Roar, Danielle Davies sits down with educator, author, and womanist, Rebekah Pierce to talk about something that feels specific to classrooms, but isn't. Because while this conversation starts with teaching, it quickly becomes about something much bigger: who is expected to carry people, absorb pressure, and create stability inside systems that were never designed to support them in the first place.

Rebekah's work challenges one of the most deeply ingrained assumptions in education—that learning begins with productivity. Instead, she asks a different question: what happens when we center humanity first? And even more importantly: Who is already doing that work, without recognition?

Together, Danielle & Rebekah talk about:

🔥Why classrooms often rely on emotional labor more than curriculum

🔥The invisible work teachers do to create safety, stability, and trust

🔥 How "care" becomes an expectation, not a choice

🔥The womanist lens: who is doing the sustaining work, and why

🔥What it means to operate inside systems that were never built for wholeness

🔥 How women internalize the role of "holding everything together"

🔥The cost of constantly choosing humanity inside productivity-driven environments

🔥Why systems don't change

This conversation starts in a classroom, but it doesn't stay there. Because once you see it, you can't unsee the ways women hold space, absorb impact, and make things work that were never designed to.

Key Takeaways:

• Systems often function because of people, not because they work well.
• Emotional labor is not extra. It's what makes environments survivable.
• Women are disproportionately expected to carry that labor.
• Care has been reframed as obligation instead of choice.
• Real change would require systems to stop relying on over-functioning individuals.

Links related to this discussion:

Before the Lesson Begins

Rebekah's Substacks:

https://captainjacknovellaseries.substack.com/

https://rebekahlynnpierce.substack.com/

Rebekah's website

Marcus Garvey

Sojourner TruthRelated Convos:

Why Women Are Taught to Be Palatable with Sophie Jane Lee: https://open.spotify.com/episode/2NK45ObtHFc3G9PTgFoiro?si=FcPMySeIRHSvJNX9MYyc4Q

The Lie of "Doing it All" with Gifty Enright: https://spotifycreators-web.app.link/e/SPCahSAXG2b

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