She Pivots

For over two decades, Keli Lee ran talent and casting at ABC and Disney, shaping shows like Grey’s Anatomy, Scandal, and Modern Family while building the industry’s first program designed to get overlooked actors in front of the right people, helping launch the careers of Lupita Nyong’o, Chadwick Boseman, and Pedro Pascal. She created Disney’s first international studio from scratch, all while crisscrossing time zones between London, Australia, and LA for four years straight. And then her heart stopped, leading to eight days in the ICU that changed everything. On this episode of She Pivots, Keli talks about the night Viola Davis made history, the toll of nonstop work, how her father’s illness sent her looking into her own family history, and how that journey became the foundation for her brand Kurioscity, built to help others live with more intention.

Chapters:

00:00 Welcome to She Pivots

00:28 Guest Introduction: Keli Lee

04:28 From South Korea to All Over the USA

10:08 New York City: If You Can Make It Here...

12:39 Getting Into Casting

18:17 Disney and Diverse Representation

27:26 The Toll: A Near-Death Experience

33:13 Pivoting to Women's Soccer Ownership

35:47 The Art of Identifying the Undervalued

39:37 Do You Think You'll Pivot Again?

40:49 Closing Thoughts and Show Information

You can Follow Keli on Instagram @kelilee7 and you can scheck out her substack for Kurioscity  at https://kelilee.substack.com/ 

Be sure to subscribe so you never miss a pivot story, leave us a rating (it really helps!), and share this episode with a woman in your life who you think needs a little inspiration.

She Pivots is a podcast created by host Emily Tisch Sussman to highlight influential women voices, share stories of bold career moves, and inspire women with interviews about career reinvention and how personal pivots can redefine professional success.

Join our Substack community! Subscribe here for exclusive content and to connect with other pivoters: shepivots.substack.com

Learn more about the inspiring women in our pivoter community by following us on instagram @ShePivotsThePodcast, and check out our website shepivotspod.com for resources and updates. 

She Pivots is proud to be an iHeart podcast.

Support the show: https://www.shepivotsthepodcast.com/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Missy Tannen spent five years teaching third grade and a decade as a stay-at-home mom before she ever thought about starting a company. But when she couldn't find bedding that was high-quality, ethically sourced, and traceable, she and her husband Scott started Boll & Branch out of pure frustration. On this episode of She Pivots, Missy talks about betting the family's life savings on an idea, borrowing against their own house even while sales were taking off, and what it took to scale from a garage operation to a 200-person company without losing what made it different in the first place. She's brutally honest about the mess behind the milestones (a full batch of ivory sheets that came out green!) and about running a family business—that’s now worth over $250 million—with her husband while raising their kids. 

Chapters:

00:00 Welcome to She Pivots

01:32 From Teacher to Entrepreneur: Missy Tannen

09:23 Stay-at-home-mom

13:04 The Birth of Boll & Branch

26:15 The Wall Street Journal Breakthrough

33:54 Growing the Business and Family Involvement

39:24 Building a Sustainable Supply Chain

41:25 The Power of Community

42:32 The Tariff Challenge

45:54 Reflecting on Missy's Journey

47:09 Production Credits

Check out Boll & Branch at www.bollandbranch.com 

Be sure to subscribe so you never miss a pivot story, leave us a rating (it really helps!), and share this episode with a woman in your life who you think needs a little inspiration.

She Pivots is a podcast created by host Emily Tisch Sussman to highlight influential women voices, share stories of bold career moves, and inspire women with interviews about career reinvention and how personal pivots can redefine professional success.

Join our Substack community! Subscribe here for exclusive content and to connect with other pivoters: shepivots.substack.com

Learn more about the inspiring women in our pivoter community by following us on instagram @ShePivotsThePodcast, and check out our website shepivotspod.com for resources and updates. 

She Pivots is proud to be an iheart podcast.

Support the show: https://www.shepivotsthepodcast.com/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Amanda Kloots has never been able to keep her personal and professional lives separate, which is exactly why her story resonates. She's taken on so many roles: Radio City Rockette, Broadway performer, fitness entrepreneur, bestselling author, daytime TV host, and founder of the wellness brand, Proper. And every pivot she's made was sparked by something deeply personal: a divorce, a new marriage, a cross-country move, and the sudden loss of her husband, Broadway star Nick Cordero, to COVID in 2020. On this episode of She Pivots, Amanda talks about clawing her way back after losing her Broadway income, building a fitness business from scratch in LA, and how an Instagram Live during the darkest ninety-five days of her life turned into a movement she never could have anticipated. She opens up about grief cracking her life wide open, why she calls her divorce the low point she's most grateful for, and how she's carried every version of herself (dancer, teacher, founder, widow, mom) into the next chapter, including her new podcast and her role in Netflix's Let's Marry Harry.

Chapters:

00:00 Welcome to She Pivots

02:05 Family Background and Childhood

03:33 The Broadway Dream Takes Shape

09:38 Navigating New York City and Early Auditions

18:30 The Radio City Rockette Experience

25:26 From Broadway to Fitness Entrepreneurship

33:49 The Struggle to Launch in Los Angeles

36:55 Nick's COVID Battle

40:50 Nick's Death and the Nation's Shock

46:51 Navigating Grief and Work

51:37 Future Plans and Aspirations

57:48 Reflections on Amanda's Pivots

58:51 Podcast Credits

Be sure to check out Amanda’s new podcast (launching TODAY) called Good Grief with Amanda Kloots. 

Be sure to subscribe so you never miss a pivot story, leave us a rating (it really helps!), and share this episode with a woman in your life who you think needs a little inspiration.

She Pivots is a podcast created by host Emily Tisch Sussman to highlight influential women voices, share stories of bold career moves, and inspire women with interviews about career reinvention and how personal pivots can redefine professional success.

Join our Substack community! Subscribe here for exclusive content and to connect with other pivoters: shepivots.substack.com

Learn more about the inspiring women in our pivoter community by following us on instagram @ShePivotsThePodcast, and check out our website shepivotspod.com for resources and updates. 

She Pivots is proud to be an iheart podcast.

Support the show: https://www.shepivotsthepodcast.com/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Amanda Calabrese was a middle schooler at a swim meet when she got her period for the first time. Her team captain told her to figure it out in thirty minutes or she was off the relay. That moment stuck with her all the way to Stanford, where she met her future co-founder Greta Meyer and started sketching what would become Sequel, the first tampon redesign in nearly a hundred years. On this episode of She Pivots, Amanda talks about the four-year fight to get a tiny piece of cotton past the FDA, why she treats the tampon as game-day equipment rather than something to whisper about, and how Sequel landed in locker rooms from middle schools to Audi Field, Yankees Stadium, and the Indiana Fever. Now a nine-time champion turned product design engineer, Amanda is on a mission to change how period care is talked about in sports and in every space where women show up to compete.

Chapters:

00:00 Welcome to She Pivots

01:46 Amanda's Childhood in East Hampton

05:43 From Junior Lifeguard to National Champion

12:14 The Challenges of Periods in Sports

16:09 Amanda's Journey to Product Design

21:01 The Birth of Sequel and the Spiral Tampon

27:02 Overcoming Obstacles and Securing Funding

29:37 The Evolution of Tampon Design

35:44 The Power of Self-Awareness in Team Building

38:13 Navigating the Challenges of Fundraising

42:16 The Rise of Women's Sports and Sequel's Timing

48:12 The Future of Sequel and Period Care

49:46 Low Point to Launch

50:52 Closing Thoughts

51:44 Podcast Credits

You can keep up with Amanda’s work with sequel at www.trysequel.com

Be sure to subscribe so you never miss a pivot story, leave us a rating (it really helps!), and share this episode with a woman in your life who you think needs a little inspiration.

She Pivots is a podcast created by host Emily Tisch Sussman to highlight influential women voices, share stories of bold career moves, and inspire women with interviews about career reinvention and how personal pivots can redefine professional success.

Join our Substack community! Subscribe here for exclusive content and to connect with other pivoters: shepivots.substack.com

Learn more about the inspiring women in our pivoter community by following us on instagram @ShePivotsThePodcast, and check out our website shepivotspod.com for resources and updates. 

She Pivots is proud to be an iHeart podcast.

Support the show: https://www.shepivotsthepodcast.com/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Dystany Spurlock has been fast her whole life—and is now a She Pivots-sponsored NASCAR driver! This is She Pivots’ first-ever sports sponsorship, because we believe in Dystany’s ability to break records and win. From a Barbie Corvette and go-karts at five, to fighting her way onto the boys' football team in middle school, to setting a motorcycle world record in a sport built for anyone but her, Dystany is a powerhouse. Getting to NASCAR meant driving trucks, working flight attendant shifts, and living in her mom's RV while she waited for the call that would change everything. On this episode of She Pivots, Dystany talks about that winding road to becoming the first Black woman to race in NASCAR, the family that held her together through the hardest parts, and why she refuses to leave her signature face sparkles at the door. We also discuss what it means when little girls stop her in the grocery store to say they want to drive too and the details behind the She Pivots purple car she's racing in this week at Indianapolis.

Chapters:

00:00 Guest Introduction: Dystany Spurlock

02:43 An Early Love of Racing

08:18 Breaking into Drag Racing

19:48 The Journey to NASCAR: Personal Obstacles

22:45 The Athleticism of Racing

27:52 The Impact of Being a Trailblazer in NASCAR

33:30 Dystany's Signature Sparkle Look

39:45 She Pivots Sponsorship of Dystany

40:28 Understanding the Racing Process

44:03 Low Point to Launch

45:40 Reflections on Dystany the Disruptor

46:52 Podcast Credits

Tune in to watch the big race THIS FRIDAY, July 24th, at 5:30pm on FS1/Fox Sports App

You can keep up with Dystany @dystanyspurlock on Instagram, and check out her Docuseries “Driven by Dystany: The Road to NASCAR” on Foxxtecca’s YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL6q2OuXcHRf4w2pJxwqHP34rH8Iyprgcy 

Be sure to subscribe so you never miss a pivot story, leave us a rating (it really helps!), and share this episode with a woman in your life who you think needs a little inspiration.

She Pivots is a podcast created by host Emily Tisch Sussman to highlight influential women voices, share stories of bold career moves, and inspire women with interviews about career reinvention and how personal pivots can redefine professional success.

Join our Substack community! Subscribe here for exclusive content and to connect with other pivoters: shepivots.substack.com

Learn more about the inspiring women in our pivoter community by following us on instagram @ShePivotsThePodcast, and check out our website shepivotspod.com for resources and updates. 

She Pivots is proud to be an iheart podcast.

Support the show: https://www.shepivotsthepodcast.com/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

For the first time ever, She Pivots is flipping the mic to a man. Flavor Flav joins Emily for our very first "He Pivots" episode to talk about his work as a hype man for women's sports. From sponsoring the US women's water polo team (yes, he got in the pool) to throwing this weekend's three-day "She Got Game" celebration in Vegas for female Olympians and Paralympians the White House snubbed, Flav explains why he's become one of the loudest voices for female athletes who rarely get their flowers. He also opens up about cutting class to teach himself piano, chasing a real Grammy after his Lifetime Achievement win, bowling at the White House with Dr. Jill Biden, and why, nearly 40 years into his career, he still doesn't think he's made it to the top.

Chapters:

00:00 Welcome to HE Pivots

00:28 Guest Introduction: Flavor Flav

02:22 Flavor Flav's Musical Roots

07:08 Reality TV and Flavor of Love

13:51 The Pivot to Supporting Women's Sports

18:53 In the Pool with the Women's Water Polo Team

22:52 The Birth of SHE Weekend

30:26 Closing Thoughts on Flav's Impact

31:46 Podcast Credits

Keep up with Flavor Flav on Instagram @flavorflavofficial, and with SHE Weekend @flavorflavsshe. 

Learn more about SHE Weekend at sheweekend.com

Be sure to subscribe so you never miss a pivot story, leave us a rating (it really helps!), and share this episode with a woman in your life who you think needs a little inspiration.

She Pivots is a podcast created by host Emily Tisch Sussman to highlight influential women voices, share stories of bold career moves, and inspire women with interviews about career reinvention and how personal pivots can redefine professional success.

Join our Substack community! Subscribe here for exclusive content and to connect with other pivoters: shepivots.substack.com

Learn more about the inspiring women in our pivoter community by following us on instagram @ShePivotsThePodcast, and check out our website shepivotspod.com for resources and updates. 

She Pivots is proud to be an iheart podcast.

Support the show: https://www.shepivotsthepodcast.com/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There's one guest Emily brings back every single season: her sister, Carolyn Tisch Blodgett. Carolyn's had one heck of a year: she's Governor of Gotham FC (who won the championship again this year!), and she represents the family's ownership stake in the New York Giants. In this episode of She Pivots, Carolyn dives into what it's actually like to build something as it's happening in real time, the bets that could've gone either way, and all the unglamorous stuff nobody posts about. The sisters get into the night Gotham flew to Kansas City as total underdogs, why the new locker room design has an L-shaped entrance, and what's coming this summer as Gotham takes on the Washington Spirit at Citi Field in front of what could be the biggest crowd in NYC women's sports history.

Chapters:

00:00 Welcome to She Pivots

00:29 The Annual Carolyn She Pivots Episode

02:10 Navigating Women's Sports Ownership

04:01 The Importance of Media Deals in Sports

06:52 Women's Sports as an Investment Opportunity

13:01 Building the First Global Women's Sports Brand

18:57 Breaking into Culture

22:32 The Championship Win and Future Challenges

32:05 Investing in Player Experience and Facilities

35:21 Intentional Design for Women's Soccer

39:29 Lessons from the Giants: Fan Engagement

42:56 Making the Hard Decisions

45:27 Low Point to Launch

46:23 Do You Think You'll Pivot Again?

47:44 Closing Thoughts and Credits

You can keep up with Carolyn’s work by following Gotham FC @gothamfc (gothamfc.com) or checking out Next3.

Be sure to subscribe so you never miss a pivot story, leave us a rating (it really helps!), and share this episode with a woman in your life who you think needs a little inspiration.

She Pivots is a podcast created by host Emily Tisch Sussman to highlight influential women voices, share stories of bold career moves, and inspire women with interviews about career reinvention and how personal pivots can redefine professional success.

Join our Substack community! Subscribe here for exclusive content and to connect with other pivoters: shepivots.substack.com

Learn more about the inspiring women in our pivoter community by following us on instagram @ShePivotsThePodcast, and check out our website shepivotspod.com for resources and updates. 

She Pivots is proud to be an iheart podcast.

Support the show: https://www.shepivotsthepodcast.com/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ana Huang spent years living a double life: international relations scholar, Georgetown grad, geopolitical consultant by day, and secret romance novelist by night. She quietly uploaded chapters to Wattpad under a pen name no one in her life knew, and kept writing even as she built a conventional career that would make her immigrant parents proud. On this episode of She Pivots, Ana shares how COVID cracked her life open, how she taught herself TikTok before BookTok was even a thing, and how she built a community of millions one chapter at a time, all while still clocking in at her day job. She talks about the moment she finally told her family the truth, why she said no to major publishers when Twisted Love blew up, and what it means to bet on yourself. Her Twisted series has now sold over 25 million copies, been translated into 34 languages, and is headed to Netflix—and her new book, King of Gluttony, is out now.

You can keep up with Ana Huang on her website anahuang.com, as well as on Instagram and TikTok @authoranahuang. 

Episode Chapters:

00:00 - Welcome to She Pivots

00:28 - Double Life to Literary Sensation

01:58 - Ana's Childhood and Cultural Identity

05:55 - Early Career and Secret Writing

12:14 - Rediscovering Writing During the Pandemic

13:38 - The Romance Genre and TikTok Success

24:24 - Self-Publishing and Traditional Offers

27:22 - Navigating Fame and Fan Expectations

31:16 - King of Gluttony and Future Plans

33:03 - From Low Point to Launch

34:51 - What Does Success Look Like Now?

36:32 - Do You Think You'll Pivot Again?

37:24 - Reflections on Ana's Writing Evolution

38:11 - Podcast Credits

Be sure to subscribe so you never miss a pivot story, leave us a rating (it really helps!), and share this episode with a woman in your life who you think needs a little inspiration.

She Pivots is a podcast created by host Emily Tisch Sussman to highlight influential women voices, share stories of bold career moves, and inspire women with interviews about career reinvention and how personal pivots can redefine professional success.

Join our Substack community! Subscribe here for exclusive content and to connect with other pivoters: shepivots.substack.com

Learn more about the inspiring women in our pivoter community by following us on instagram @ShePivotsThePodcast, and check out our website shepivotspod.com for resources and updates. 

She Pivots is proud to be an iHeart podcast.

Support the show: https://www.shepivotsthepodcast.com/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

From child actor to Disney star to pop icon dubbed "Lesbian Jesus," Hayley Kiyoko built a career creating the representation she never had as a half-Japanese, queer artist. In this episode of She Pivots, Hayley opens up about becoming a community's symbol practically overnight while still figuring herself out, and how she moved from leading with fear to leading with confidence and self-love. She also shares how she found her fiancée, Becca Tilley, and reflects on the decade-long journey that culminated in her Girls Like Girls film and album—a project that started with high school heartbreak twenty years ago.

Happy Pride Month, Pivoters!

Girls like girls is out NOW. See it in theatres and check out the companion Girls Like Girls album.

Chapters:

00:00 Welcome to She Pivots

00:39 Guest Intro: Hayley Kiyoko

01:55 Hayley's Childhood

08:12 Early Music Career: Joining Stunners

13:26 The Birth of "Girls Like Girls"

18:27 20GayTeen: Music and Queer Identity

20:27 Music Industry Challenges

28:16 Hayley's Personal Identity Journey

34:33 The Journey to Film Direction

37:16 The Power of Representation on Screen

40:00 From Low Point to Launch

41:43 Do You Think You'll Pivot Again?

43:25 Reflections on Hayley's Journey

44:17 Podcast Credits

Be sure to subscribe so you never miss a pivot story, leave us a rating (it really helps!), and share this episode with a woman in your life who you think needs a little inspiration.

She Pivots is a podcast created by host Emily Tisch Sussman to highlight influential women voices, share stories of bold career moves, and inspire women with interviews about career reinvention and how personal pivots can redefine professional success.

Join our Substack community! Subscribe here for exclusive content and to connect with other pivoters: shepivots.substack.com

Learn more about the inspiring women in our pivoter community by following us on instagram @ShePivotsThePodcast, and check out our website shepivotspod.com for resources and updates. 

She Pivots is proud to be an iheart podcast.

Support the show: https://www.shepivotsthepodcast.com/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Dr. Sian Proctor grew up the daughter of a NASA hidden figure, with the stars in her sights until a pair of glasses at age fourteen seemed to close the door on her dream of becoming a military aviator. She kept reaching anyway, pursuing a career in geoscience and science communication, coming agonizingly close to NASA selection before receiving a rejection that sent her life in a different direction. In this episode, Dr. Sian Proctor talks about the long, winding road from that childhood dream to becoming the first Black woman to pilot a spacecraft; hitting a low point after a painful divorce; and the unexpected creative awakening that ultimately launched her to space. And once she got there, she did what she's always done: made art.

Chapters:

00:00 Welcome to She Pivots

02:10 A NASA Legacy and Childhood Dreams

06:30 From Science to Education: Finding a New Path

08:09 The PhD Journey: Overcoming Obstacles

18:56 NASA's Rejection: A Turning Point

25:14 An Astronaut on Earth

31:13 COVID, Creativity, and Space Postcards

34:54 The Winning Ticket: A Fateful Announcement

40:28 Training and Launch: A Dream Realized

42:29 Creating Art in Zero Gravity

44:59 The Transformative Power of Earthlight

46:52 Pivoting Again: Professor, Astronaut, Artist

47:57 Low Point to Launch

49:51 Closing Thoughts

50:57 Podcast Credits

Keep up with Space Poet on Instagram @drsianproctor and her website ​​https://space2inspire.art/ 

Be sure to subscribe so you never miss a pivot story, leave us a rating (it really helps!), and share this episode with a woman in your life who you think needs a little inspiration.

She Pivots is a podcast created by host Emily Tisch Sussman to highlight influential women voices, share stories of bold career moves, and inspire women with interviews about career reinvention and how personal pivots can redefine professional success.

Join our Substack community! Subscribe here for exclusive content and to connect with other pivoters: shepivots.substack.com

Learn more about the inspiring women in our pivoter community by following us on instagram @ShePivotsThePodcast, and check out our website shepivotspod.com for resources and updates. 

She Pivots is proud to be an iheart podcast.

Support the show: https://www.shepivotsthepodcast.com/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.