She's That Founder: Stop Being The Bottleneck and Lead Smarter with AI

If you're a business owner, leader, or dreamer eager for transformation and ready for a reality check served with the side of hilarity, then this is your show. 

Remember that anniversary podcast episode I promised you two months ago? No? Good. Let's pretend I never mentioned it. Just kidding. In this, My Good Woman short, in this MGW short, we are unmasking the not-so-sneaky villain behind that delay.

In this episode:

• To recognize the significance of personal growth over the need for external approval.
• To acknowledge what slows your progress and get to the root of it
• The value of embracing your flaws and harnessing the power of imperfect action.
• How overcoming fear can inspire change on a global scale

This episode at a glance:
[03:48] The fear of not making it perfect; the fear of doing it wrong. I let listening to other people's examples get in the way, get in my head of making this episode.

[05:12] Because the longer we wait to start, the bigger that mountain is to climb the bigger it seems.

[05:49] There were a lot of things going on in the business. I was busy, there were things going on at home. And so it was very easy to justify my delay in recording. .

[07:20] So what if it's not perfect? The sky's not gonna fall. Chickens, won't start speaking French. And I won't be less of a boss. If it's not the most popular episode.  If nobody downloads it, then I'll have it to listen to for posterity

[08:01]  I wish I could like wave my magic Harry Potter wand over here and, and banish it forever. But let's be real, anytime we step up bigger. It's going to show up again.

Resources and Links mentioned in this episode:

• Free Range Thinking
• My Good Woman
• Dawn Andrews
• Follow me on my Social! 

You might also like:

• 3 Ways To Set Focuse Goals For Intentional, Sustainable Business Growth
• 5 Things I’m Doing Differently In My Business This Year
• Brave Conversations Workbook 

More about the “My Good Woman” podcast

My Good Woman is a podcast for bold female leaders hosted by me, Dawn Andrews! Grab a seat at the table for candid conversations with culture-shifting, glass-ceiling-busting, trailblazing women, leading enterprises that are changing the world. Follow along so that you can catch all of the episodes. And before you go, leave us a review!

Send us Fan Mail

Want to increase revenue and impact? Listen to “She's That Founder” for insights on business strategy and female leadership to scale your business. Each episode offers advice on effective communication, team building, and management. Learn to master routines and systems to boost productivity and prevent burnout. Our delegation tips and business consulting will advance your executive leadership skills and presence.

Why haven't you started your own business yet? 

Is it a matter of time? Is it a matter of thinking you're qualified? Is it a matter of money? It could be security or feeling overwhelmed and not knowing what's necessary to get started.  

There are so many reasons that women don't start businesses. Most of them are myths, and we will bust them today.  

In this episode:

• Uncover the misconceptions preventing women from stepping into the world of entrepreneurship.
• Grasp the fundamentals of funding necessities for women-owned businesses.
• Recognize the significance of enthusiasm over conventional business education.
• Tackle the art of balancing entrepreneurial ventures with full-time jobs and self-nurturing.
• Triumph over self-doubt and bolster business confidence.

This episode at a glance:

[03:29] At the time I decided to leave my corporate career, there was nothing that would have indicated I would be where I am today - which is generating high six figures in revenue, making so much more than my previous corporate salary 

[04:15] To make a difference for others and not feel like I was just a small part of somebody's larger plan. And sometimes even an invisible part in someone's much larger plan. 

[11:07] Successful businesses,  in this space in the small business space usually are looking at a common pain point or need in the market rather than reinventing the wheel.

[14:50] Everyone who starts a business learns as they go because they've never started a business before. Once you've had one or sold one and started a new one. Then maybe you do things differently. 

[18:01] There are lots of options for getting your business up and started. Don't let a narrow prescriptive view of how you think it's supposed to go or that there's a right way for it to go stop you from getting started.  

Resources and Links mentioned in this episode:

• Kylie Jenner
• Hello Sunshine
• J-Lo and Virgin Cruises
• Google
• Join the WAITLIST 
• Contact us 

You might also like:

• Getting Out of Your Own Way 
• Why Female Leaders Supporting each other is the Future
• Brave Conversations Workbook 

More about the “My Good Woman” podcast

My Good Woman is a podcast for bold female leaders hosted by me, Dawn Andrews! Grab a seat at the table for candid conversations with culture-shifting, glass-ceiling-busting, trailblazing women, leading enterprises that are changing the world. Follow along so that you can catch all of the episodes. And before you go, leave us a review!

Send us Fan Mail

Want to increase revenue and impact? Listen to “She's That Founder” for insights on business strategy and female leadership to scale your business. Each episode offers advice on effective communication, team building, and management. Learn to master routines and systems to boost productivity and prevent burnout. Our delegation tips and business consulting will advance your executive leadership skills and presence.

Have you ever had a conversation with somebody you just met and felt like they know you better than, you know yourself. So much so you almost feel like you're sitting there naked in the chair in front of them. Well, that's the conversation I just finished with My Good Woman, Tracy Crossley. 

If you are a high achieving woman who prioritizes your business goals over your mental and personal health, this episode is for you. 

Tracy is committed to changing that. With her background in business, marketing, psychology, ontological coaching, and emotional intelligence, Tracy is the game changer for women leaders reinventing how they live and lead from the inside out. 

In this episode, Tracy and I discuss

• The three archetypes of dysfunctional CEOs
• Actionable strategies for mental management
• How to become a limitless leader

This episode at a glance:

[04:09] It's about your self-worth because you derive your self-worth from your accomplishment or your business, whether it's successful or it's failing.  

[08:33] We can be self sabotaging without knowing that that's what we're doing. Even if we're having tremendous success, we may be struggling in certain areas.

[20:30] You may have great ideas, you may be an awesome leader in terms of strategy, but getting everybody on your page doesn't work because you don't have a lot of tolerance for people if they're not like you.

[29:43] There's a limit to how much we can achieve if we rely and lean on those old school patterns. 

[39:23]  You wanna make your decisions not from fear. I'm telling you, most people make it from fear. It's reactionary. It is not original in creative thought at all.

Resources and Links mentioned in this episode:

• Freedom from Attachment Podcast
• Overcoming Insecure Attachment
• TracyCrossley.com
• Contact us 
• Tracy Crossley

You might also like:

• Are Women Holding Themselves Back?
• Why Female Leaders Supporting each other is the Future
• Team Action Plan

More about the “My Good Woman” podcast

My Good Woman is a podcast for bold female leaders hosted by me, Dawn Andrews! Grab a seat at the table for candid conversations with culture-shifting, glass-ceiling-busting, trailblazing women, leading enterprises that are changing the world. Follow along so that you can catch all of the episodes. And before you go, leave us a review!

Send us Fan Mail

Want to increase revenue and impact? Listen to “She's That Founder” for insights on business strategy and female leadership to scale your business. Each episode offers advice on effective communication, team building, and management. Learn to master routines and systems to boost productivity and prevent burnout. Our delegation tips and business consulting will advance your executive leadership skills and presence.

Have you ever thought about the privilege you hold as a white woman?

It's Women's History Month. As we celebrate the progress we've made as women, we also need to acknowledge that work still needs to be done and discuss why we might be the ones holding ourselves back. 

Being raised by strong and self-made women, and only realizing my own privilege in my 40s, I was inspired to become an activist when I attended the 2017 Women's March. Yes, I was a late bloomer.

As the COVID-19 pandemic hit women particularly hard, I was reminded of the systemic inequalities that women still face in society, from unequal pay to lack of access to childcare. 

Inspired and determined, this episode is a call for all women to come together and fight for representation and equality in all areas of society.  

In this episode:

• Why it’s never too late to get involved
• The systemic inequalities that women face in society
• The role of privilege in the fight for progress and equality
• Why women's voices are essential and more powerful than we think

This episode at a glance:

[03:28] Systems of oppression are in place, alive and thriving bias exists. And we need to keep talking about it and raising awareness because without acknowledging there's a problem, you can't fix the problem 

[05:52] That imposter syndrome I was feeling was more about me being concerned about what I looked like. Then being a stand, a representation of something bigger than myself. 

[08:20] The pandemic highlighted the systemic inequalities that women face in society. And though we've made significant progress in the last few decades.  We still face significant challenges in the workplace.

[10:07] We need to invest in women's education and skills development and in women growing and building their own businesses to ensure that they have the same opportunities as men. 

[12:50] Don't beat yourself up for being late to the game. It's never too late. Every voice makes a difference and your voice makes a difference. 

Resources and Links mentioned in this episode:

• Outrageous Acts and Everyday Rebellions 
• National Organization for Women - organization dedicated to advancing women's rights through advocacy, education, and litigation.
• The Women's March -  movement that aims to harness the political power of diverse women to create transformative social change.
• The Girl Up Campaign - UN Foundation initiative that empowers girls to become leaders and advocates for gender equality.
• Dawn Andrews
• Contact us 

You might also like:

• Getting Out of Your Own Way 
• Why Female Leaders Supporting each other is the Future
• Brave Conversations Workbook 

More about the “My Good Woman” podcast

My Good Woman is a podcast for bold female leaders hosted by me, Dawn Andrews! Grab a seat at the table for candid conversations with culture-shifting, glass-ceiling-busting, trailblazing women, leading enterprises that are changing the world. Follow along so that you can catch all of the episodes. And before you go, leave us a review!

Send us Fan Mail

Want to increase revenue and impact? Listen to “She's That Founder” for insights on business strategy and female leadership to scale your business. Each episode offers advice on effective communication, team building, and management. Learn to master routines and systems to boost productivity and prevent burnout. Our delegation tips and business consulting will advance your executive leadership skills and presence.

Imagine excelling at your job, finding your voice, and asking for a promotion, only to be fired as you file for divorce. Most of us would settle into the couch with a pint of Ben and Jerry's and never get up again. Instead, my good woman, Rebekah Johnson, launched a business and became an industry pioneer.  

Rebekah is the founder and CEO of Numeracle, a leading expert in the telecom industry for establishing enterprise identity using their proprietary Entity Identity Management Platform™.  With over ten years of regulatory government and compliance experience, businesses have leaned on Rebekah's expertise to guide them through the ever-evolving complexities of maintaining a trusted identity in a changing telecom ecosystem.  

Rebekah is an active member of the FCC hospital robocall protection group and the enterprise communications advocacy coalition chair.  Before founding Numeracle, Rebekah served on the FCC's Robo Call Strike Force, and we all know about those robocalls y'all.  And though these are impressive credentials,  Rebekah and I had a super down-to-earth conversation.

In this episode, Rebekah and I discuss

• What happens when you find your voice, ask for what you want, and don't get it?
• What it's like to launch a startup as a single mom
• Finding your courage and purpose through building a business
• How to stay motivated when things get tough
• Why workplace mental health is critical to employees.

This episode at a glance:

[03:27] Not getting what you want is going to tear you down and bring you to a place where you really reflect on who you are, what matters, and what's essential in life. 

[15:59] It was a calling for me. I wasn't gonna be able to sleep at night knowing that this problem existed and calls, especially healthcare calls, might not be delivered. That was a burden on my shoulders that I needed to solve.

[22:54] I need a mental health break because I'm about to completely unravel. I didn't get the job offer I wanted and just filed divorce papers. I'm scared, and I just need a break.

[28:11] I'm not that person that's motivated by status or money. I didn't care about any of that stuff. It's just what's your purpose and what is a legacy that you're gonna leave behind is really that I want to focus more on.

[34:29] When we're going through changes, it is going to upset the outside world because we've trained people to see us a certain way, and they need to see us a certain way because of their agendas

Resources and links:

• Numeracle
• Rebekah Johnson
• AT&T, TMobile, Verizon
• FCC,  FTC, CFPB 

You might also like:

• Burnout 
• How To Rise from Grief and Trauma
• Vision Workbook

More about the “My Good Woman” podcast

My Good Woman is a podcast for bold female leaders hosted by me, Dawn Andrews! Grab a seat at the table for candid conversations with culture-shifting, glass-ceiling-busting, trailblazing women who are leading enterprises that are making a change in the world. Follow along so you never miss an episode. And before you go, leave us a review!

&a

Send us Fan Mail

Want to increase revenue and impact? Listen to “She's That Founder” for insights on business strategy and female leadership to scale your business. Each episode offers advice on effective communication, team building, and management. Learn to master routines and systems to boost productivity and prevent burnout. Our delegation tips and business consulting will advance your executive leadership skills and presence.

As a business owner, how do you know when you've gotten in the way of your growth? And who do you turn to for help?  Family, friends with entrepreneurial experience, google, other business owners?  

Small business owners are strapped for time and energy. Running a business with a small but mighty team is a daunting task. And we often work much longer hours than we'd like to keep up with our to-do lists. 

Business growth can seem like a choice between giving up even more of our lives or, at best, staying stuck where we are.

How do you stop yourself from blocking your business growth?

In this episode:

• Four ways we block our progress and how to stop
• Why making big, scary commitments can be a turning point
• Who to turn to for help

This episode at a glance:

[05:32] I was unwilling to receive the help I needed. It was all about being the lone wolf. I thought I had to know everything. I felt I had to know everything. I thought I had to know everything. I was afraid to be vulnerable. And let people know I didn't know things.

[08:50] It would be a game changer for my business to work with a group of people that thought like that worked like that, were committed at that level.

[09:37] It's another thing to put your money where your mouth is and commit to taking action in your business and follow through every single day.

[12:20] I doubled my business within six months of that meeting. And I couldn't have done it if it wasn't for the confidence from committing to that meeting and the plan that grew out of Lisa’s expertise. 

[13:28]  Despite the constant struggle to keep their businesses afloat. Many small business owners are reluctant to work with a business consultant. Getting help means that you will have to change. You will have to let go of ways of doing things and seeing yourself.

Resources and Links:

• Lisa Sasevich
• Free Range Thinking
• Dawn Andrews
• Schedule a Call With Free Range Thinking

You might also like:

• Annual Business Goals Work Book
• Why Female Leaders Supporting each other is the Future
• Five things I’m Doing Differently In My Business This Year

More about the “My Good Woman” podcast

My Good Woman is a podcast for bold female leaders hosted by me, Dawn Andrews! Grab a seat at the table for candid conversations with culture-shifting, glass-ceiling-busting, trailblazing women, leading enterprises that are changing the world. Follow along so that you can catch all of the episodes. And before you go, leave us a review!

Send us Fan Mail

Want to increase revenue and impact? Listen to “She's That Founder” for insights on business strategy and female leadership to scale your business. Each episode offers advice on effective communication, team building, and management. Learn to master routines and systems to boost productivity and prevent burnout. Our delegation tips and business consulting will advance your executive leadership skills and presence.

What was your biggest business accomplishment in 2022? What would you do differently?

As a CEO, founder, or small business owner, it’s easy to fall back on your tried and true methods for running your business. But I’ve found that if you want continued growth and success, you must stay open to new ideas and strategies.

Last year my business grew 62%! And along with it came tough lessons, lots of trial and error, and some deep reflection.

In this episode of My Good Woman, I take you behind the scenes and share three things I learned last year and five things I'm doing differently this year that have already helped my business grow —and could do the same for yours too!

In this episode:

• How to effectively reflect, learn from mistakes and capitalize on wins in your business
• Strategies for finding the right team members and delegating responsibility in a small business
• What to document in your business to make it run better
• What day theming is and why it’s better than time blocking for creative business owners
• The process of launching a successful podcast including tips on investing in the right resources and building systems to keep it running

This episode at a glance:

[02:50] Starting the business felt like a gigantic risk leaving the stability and seeming certainty of corporate life more than 20 years ago. And I would do the same thing all over again today. There's no greater satisfaction than doing what I love and being able to make a difference for people. 

[10:24] Don't do it yourself.  You can't see the tip of your nose. You need to be able to be in a conversation with a skilled and smart marketing strategist. 

[13:06] Whatever you're excited about, whatever you're dreaming about, start now and believe in yourself and do it. And get some help.

[17:58] You only have so much space in your belly. Put the best stuff in there first, the high-ticket items. And how that plays out in my business. It may mean that significantly less get started during the year, but substantially more gets done.  

[27:04]  I have learned over the past several years that I don't have to do everything myself. Delegation is crucial for growth.

Resources and Links mentioned in this episode:

• Getting Things Done by David Allen
• Wit and Wire Podcast Launch Accelerator
• Ashlyn Writes
• Airtable

You might also like:

• Annual Business Goals Work Book
• Burnout: What it is and How to Stop It
• Perfectionism Is Killing Your Business

More about the “My Good Woman” podcast

My Good Woman is a podcast for bold female leaders hosted by me, Dawn Andrews! Grab a seat at the table for candid conversations with culture-shifting, glass-ceiling-busting, trailblazing women, leading enterprises that are changing the world. Follow along so that you can catch all of the episodes. And before you go, leave us a review!

Send us Fan Mail

Want to increase revenue and impact? Listen to “She's That Founder” for insights on business strategy and female leadership to scale your business. Each episode offers advice on effective communication, team building, and management. Learn to master routines and systems to boost productivity and prevent burnout. Our delegation tips and business consulting will advance your executive leadership skills and presence.

Being a female founder is hard. Raising capital and retaining control of your company is harder when only 2.6% of all venture capital goes to female-founded startups. And the cost of getting that capital is giving up your equity in your company. That's why I sat down with My Good Woman, Melissa Widner, the CEO of Lighter Capital. 

Melissa deeply understands the entrepreneur's journey and the role a funding partner can play in developing a business. As CEO, Melissa led two companies to successful exits returning more than 10 X to her investors. 

She was the founder and CEO of Silicon Valley-based 7 Software and the Managing Director of NAB Ventures, the VC arm of the National Australia Bank. She led NAB’s investments into high-growth fintech, including Lighter Capital, the pioneer and leader in revenue-based financing for tech startups and scale-up.  And if that isn't awesome enough for you, Melissa is also the co-founder and chairperson of Sydney- based Heads Over Heels, an organization supporting women entrepreneurs running companies with high growth potential. 

In this episode, Melissa and I discuss

• Leveling the playing field for female founders
• Equity or debt? Which is better when you're building your business?
• How revenue-based financing works as opposed to venture financing
• How to retain ownership of your company amidst rapid growth

This episode at a glance:

[04:54] There are people that become very successful entrepreneurs, even in their forties or fifties, who wouldn't have seemed to have had an entrepreneurial bone in their body as a kid. 

[13:10] Revenue-based financing leverages the strength of women. Women tend to be good at creating relationships, which means they can build community. That would build on that angel funding.

[20:54] I realized timing is something you can't control, but often it's what determines success.

[26:23] We connect our companies to senior business leaders willing to open up their networks because they want to see the numbers change. They want to see more women growing their businesses.  

Resources and links:

• Lighter Capital
• Heads Over Heels
• Silicon Valley Bank
• National Australia Bank
• Canva

You might also like

• 4 Must-Read Leadership Books
• Annual Business Goals Workbook
• Why Female Leaders Supporting Each Other Is The Future

More about the “My Good Woman” podcast
My Good Woman is a podcast for bold female leaders hosted by me, Dawn Andrews! Grab a seat at the table for candid conversations with culture-shifting, glass-ceiling-busting, trailblazing women who are leading enterprises that are making a change in the world. Follow along so you never miss an episode. And before you go, leave us a review!

Send us Fan Mail

Want to increase revenue and impact? Listen to “She's That Founder” for insights on business strategy and female leadership to scale your business. Each episode offers advice on effective communication, team building, and management. Learn to master routines and systems to boost productivity and prevent burnout. Our delegation tips and business consulting will advance your executive leadership skills and presence.

The beginning of a new year is often a time of reflection and goal setting and planning. Maybe a little bit in December, but with all of the holiday shenanigans, sometimes it's hard to do. January can also be an incredibly busy time for getting back into the swing of things after a holiday break.

You might feel like you have to hit the ground running and come in hot to make up for lost time or to get ahead of the game.  But let's also be real when you own and run your own thing. The opportunity to pull over to the side of the road and be thoughtful and intentional about how you want to change things up is tough. 

What if you took a different approach? What if instead of rushing headlong into the year, you started off slow and steady?  This is what happened to me at the beginning of this year. And I'm going to share with you what happened. And what I did and what's making things so easy, breezy. 

In this episode, you will learn:

• Instead of rushing into the new year, try starting slow and steady
• If you’re not setting intentions, you’re wasting time
• Reflection is the foundation of being strategic with your time and energy
• Why going slow does not = being unproductive

This episode at a glance:

[03:42] That space between holiday celebrations and getting back to work. It's really small and the window for reflection and taking a breath.  It closes really quickly most of the time

[09:38] When you start a business on your own, especially if you bootstrap a business on your own, there isn't a lot of intentional planning, to begin with. 

[13:30]  Taking a moment to reflect has made it clear to me that the reason I'm not enjoying myself in my business is because I haven't been thoughtful in planning what I want to be doing. I'm flying blind and fear is making most of my choices

[19:45] Sometimes taking action is a great way out of a difficult or uncomfortable spot, sometimes you just got to try things and see what happens and then iterate and make it better. 

[22:03] Starting slow doesn't mean being unproductive. It means being intentional about how we choose our actions in order to make long lasting progress and impact towards our ambitions.

Resources and Links mentioned in this episode:

• Free Range Thinking
• Primed to Launch
• Social Sales Stars
• Louise Penny's Chief Inspector Gamache
• Schedule A Call 

You might also like:

• Annual Business Goals Workbook
• 3 Ways To Set Focused Goals For Intentional, Sustainable Business Growth
• Why Female Leaders Supporting Each Other Is The Future

More about the “My Good Woman” podcast
My Good Woman is a podcast for bold female leaders hosted by me, Dawn Andrews! Grab a seat at the table for candid conversations with culture-shifting, glass-ceiling-busting, trailblazing women who are leading enterprises that are making a change in the world. Follow along so you never miss an episode. And before you go, leave us a review!

Send us Fan Mail

Want to increase revenue and impact? Listen to “She's That Founder” for insights on business strategy and female leadership to scale your business. Each episode offers advice on effective communication, team building, and management. Learn to master routines and systems to boost productivity and prevent burnout. Our delegation tips and business consulting will advance your executive leadership skills and presence.

When you're a business owner, you pour your heart and soul into it, and there's always the risk that something could go wrong and you could lose everything. No one knows this better than my good woman, Tammi Leader. She also knows what it takes to bounce back better than ever.  

After three decades as an award-winning television producer for the Today Show and more, Tammi took a huge leap of faith, stepping out of the control room and back into nature.  She created Campowerment, a dynamic, live and transformative, expert-led experience to help people find their purpose and their people and live life bigger and better, all centered around playtime. 

Campowerment has been featured in O, The Oprah Magazine, Forbes and Fortune, The Today Show, The Hollywood Reporter, and The LA Times. It has been hailed as THE place where women and companies go to celebrate connection in community and start living the life they've been dreaming about.

In this episode, Tammi and I discuss...

• What it means to be resilient
• What happens when the worst happens
• Working with family
• Building a community that has your back

This episode at a glance:

[02:51] We've all bounced back from being in the hole. And that's what I'm devoting my life to; helping people see their story, recognize it, and learn how to rewrite it if it's not what they want it to be.

[10:45] With the state of the world and where it is now, “news flash, people, we need you.” Get off your tushies and start figuring out what you're supposed to do to help save this planet, and let us help you get there.

[18:00] Oftentimes, we surround ourselves with people invested in keeping us in our old identities. Unless you have a spot to peel that layer off and decide which rocks you want to pick back up, everybody else is invested in keeping us where we are because it anchors them in whatever their identities are.

[37:21] This is important for women in leadership to take away and consider when they're building their businesses; your client, your customer, or community, whichever it is for you, really matters and can have your back if you have theirs.

[51:41] There is no such thing as normal. Set your bar higher than what you think is normal for you and your people, and they will reach it.

Resources and Links

• Today Show
• CBS Miami
• Campowerment
• Tools - Ontraport, Mighty Networks, Google Drive, Apple iPhone, Quickbooks

You might also like

• How To Build Camaraderie To Boost Your Teams’ Motivation and Productivity
• How To Rise and Lead Through Grief, Loss, and Trauma
• Creating A Movement, The World is Waiting For

More about the “My Good Woman” podcast
My Good Woman is a podcast for bold female leaders hosted by me, Dawn Andrews! Grab a seat at the table for candid conversations with culture-shifting, glass-ceiling-busting, trailblazing women who are leading enterprises that are making a change in the world. Follow along so you never miss an episode. And before you go, leave us a review!

Send us Fan Mail

Want to increase revenue and impact? Listen to “She's That Founder” for insights on business strategy and female leadership to scale your business. Each episode offers advice on effective communication, team building, and management. Learn to master routines and systems to boost productivity and prevent burnout. Our delegation tips and business consulting will advance your executive leadership skills and presence.