She Did It Her Way

Jocelyn Pearson graduated from college and started working a corporate job full time. She began her mornings working on her book The Scholarship System and then headed off to her nine to five job. After planning in advance, crunching numbers, and receiving a little help from her passive income streams, Jocelyn was able to leave the corporate world and enter her own world. Now, Jocelyn is focusing on helping people face the financial burdens of school with her book and enjoying the newly found freedom of working on her own time.

Ashley Logan is the Ceo and editor-in-chief of the Chicago based content marketing firm Yakkety Yak. Ever since she was a little girl, and won the young author's award in her kindergarten class, Ashley knew she wanted to be a writer. However, the path she took to reach her passion began not by a pen, but by selling candy. She even worked in commercial real estate, as a tenant rep office broker, where she practiced her love for solving business problems. She realized what she needed was a way to combine her creative and strategic side into one career, and formed Yakkety Yak.

In college, Lisa Rissetto dreamed of being the next big movie star. When she realized those dreams would not come true, she studied her other passion: fashion and merchandising. Lisa has worked her way up the ladder in the fashion industry, starting in a buying office fresh out of college, to becoming president, CEO, and owner of G. Hensler & Company. On top of that, she brought life to her own vision and created a luxury leather accessory brand, Rissetto.

In 2009, Yvonne Lyngaas started her own creative merchandising firm, Monarch & Company, in Chicago. Monarch & Company gives companies the opportunity to express who they are, and develop emotional connections with their audience through personalized products and apparel. With only 18 months of experience in her field, and no business plan, Yvonne’s determination guided her to make her vision come true and the path she followed was anything but average…

Liz Lidgett has had a passion for art ever since she received her first art lessons for Christmas around age 5. Although her love for art was incorporated in her corporate job for the Department of Cultural Affairs for the state of Iowa, her entrepreneurial tendencies - passed down from her parents - left her craving more. She started her own business called Liz Lidgett Fine Art, which expanded to an even larger audience online as Adore Your Walls. Today, Liz is able to help a variety of people, with varying budgets, finally fill that blank wall that has been bothering them forever with a piece that is uniquely molded to fit their personalities.

It is hard to find a job right out of college, let alone start a business, yet Lauren McKeague defied the odds. She took a leap of faith and created her own clothing company, Pink Slip Boutique. This is her story about creating a successful clothing company.

Kat is a full-time yoga instructor in Chicago and writes a health and wellness blog called the Fit Girl’s Kitchen. She is a certified holistic nutritional health coach through The Institute for Integrative Nutrition and runs the wellness website, Fit Girl Wellness, offering retreats, nutritional coaching, and yoga to the world.

Katy Lynch is the CEO of Techweek and founder of SocialKaty (now ManifestDigital) a social media marketing firm.

Lea is a correspondent at the Fox News Channel, fills in as an anchor and comes on as a national security and aviation expert on the Business Channel and Fox News Channel. Her background is in the military starting out at the Naval Academy and on active duty for 12 years, leaving as an Officer, Lieutenant Commander. After the Naval Academy she was selected to attend Navy Flight School and flew F/A-18s for the Navy.

We Talk About:

· Lea’s background in the Navy

· Her transition from a female fighter pilot into becoming a news reporter

· What it’s like flying a F/A-18 “Hornet” aircraft

· Her scariest experience and proudest moment in flying

· Training to become an aircraft carrier pilot

· Lea’s self-talk to get through every experience

· Being a woman in such a male-dominated arena, and how to be herself

· Lea’s advice to our listeners based on her life experience so far

· How she tests herself every day and our rapid fire questions.

Monica is the founder of Monica + Andy, a clothing brand for children that is majorly organic. In this interview, she chats with SDIHW about being a mom, running a brand, starting a business and maintaining daily routines.