SheVentures

If you feel stuck in a career or personal rut, this guest will inspire you. If you're a stay-at-home-mom reentering the workforce, she's got you covered. Finally, if your marriage suddenly ends in divorce and you need to hustle to find your way back into the workforce — she's been there done that.

From civil engineer to Secret Service agent to stay-at-home mother of three to divorced mom reentering the workforce, Lucy Chang Evans inspires listeners through her pivots on this episode of SheVentures.

Chang Evans grew up in Portland, Oregon, in a first-generation Taiwanese family. Chang Evans describes how she felt like she always needed to prove herself as a minority in the United States, which pushed her to pursue a degree in civil engineering.

Living in a post-9/11 world, Chang Evans decided to leave civil engineering to see if she had what it took to join the Secret Service. She did, and it was there she fulfilled her commitment to civic duty. Listen as Chang Evans describes her decision to leave the Secret Service to become a full-time stay-at-home mother of three and how this choice impacted her first marriage.

Another major pivot in Chang Evans' life: reentering the workforce while going through a divorce and raising young children. Chang describes the differences in today's hiring environment from when she started her career, and how she adapted in order to thrive and survive.

Just when you think we're finished, Chang Evans touches on an additional career goal: her run as an Independent for City Council in Naperville, Illinois, while pursuing her MBA.

If you're afraid to change direction in your life, Lucy Chang Evans' story is an inspiration. Learn how to put yourself first and adapt to almost any situation on this episode of SheVentures.

Time Stamps:

2:25: Chang Evans describes how her childhood shaped her. 4:00: Women in STEM: Chang Evans describes her experiences studying and working in a male-dominated field. 6:55: Her first pivot: Chang Evans speaks about pivoting from civil engineer to working in the Secret Service. 10:20: An awkward moment:Chang Evans remembers an odd encounter she had with George W. Bush. 14:00: Her second pivot: Chang Evans describes the adjustment of having a high-profile job to becoming a full-time mom of three. 15:30: Life pivot: Chang Evans describes how she adapted to being a single mother of three and gives tips to listeners who are in a similar situation. 19:40: Some key advice: Chang Evans is candid about her challenges reentering the workforce in a digital era. 22:50:Chang Evans provides tips for women who are contemplating blended families. 24:00: Her most recent pivots: Chang Evans talks about her motivation to enter the political arena and why she is pursuing an MBA.

No, we are not trivializing menopause, a life stage that can include as many as 34 symptoms, but we thought it was a clever wordplay. In truth, menopause is deeply personal and varies from woman to woman. Listen to Catherine Balsam-Schwaber speak about the importance of education and science-backed information to bring menopause to the forefront.

After spending 20 years working in leadership positions in marketing for well-known brands (MTV, NBC Universal, and Mattel), Balsam-Schwaber pivoted to a role that would fulfill her passion of understanding consumer motivation and providing quality health solutions.

That role was with Kindra, a science-backed women's health community that provides a myriad of estrogen-free menopausal products and education. Balsam-Schwaber describes how "it was destiny" when she took over as Kindra's CEO after the company's inception at an incubator.

Balsam-Schwaber passionately describes the stigma and silence surrounding menopause. Some women experience a myriad of symptoms, others hardly any, and many somewhere in between. The Kindra community is defining the new normal when it comes to menopause, by sharing personal stories and science-backed research.

Balsam-Schwaber uses her team members' wisdom and the strong women-centric platform Kindra provides as a guide for the company's goals. Listen to her explain why these voices are more valuable than any three-year plan she could come up with alone on this episode of SheVentures.

P.S. Check out Kindra's online quiz to help you learn more about your body — and determine where you are on your menopause journey.

Time Stamps:

• 1:29: Balsam-Schwaber describes how the skills she gained as a marketer translated to scaling a startup.
• 4:45: Are you curious about the origin of Kindra's name?
• 13:00: Balsam-Schwaber speaks about why it is crucial to understand how menopause (an often taboo topic) affects the body
• 14:30: Balsam- Schwaber highlights the depth of feedback Kindra receives from its online quiz.
• 16:50: Lavagnino talks about how she experienced a sense of loss when she became menopausal
• 18:00: Our bodies are constantly changing. Balsam-Schwaber describes how menopause is another aspect of a woman's health that is often stigmatized.
• 19:45: Balsam-Schwaber reiterates that it's essential to get legitimate, factual, and science-backed information online

SheVentures note: Some additional resources to explore: the National Institute on Aging, the National Institutes of Health Menopausal Hormone Therapy Information, and the Office on Women's Health

• 20:30: Balsam-Schwaber discusses how Kindra was initially in an incubator program, and how she became the CEO
• 22:15: Learn what it was like for Balsam-Schwaber to pivot from working at large corporations to leading a startup in the middle of a pandemic
• 29:50: Balsam-Schwaber delves into her deep passion for helping women.
• 34:00: Business tip! Balsam-Schwaber underscores why it's a win-win when employees are in roles where they succeed, not necessarily a role they envisioned for themselves
• 39:45: Balsam-Schwaber describes how she listens to Kindra's community to understand potential gaps.
• 42:30: Lavagnino and Balsam-Schwaber discuss the challenge of finding time for yourself and the importance of self-care

Ever wonder how a person decides to go from a stable, well-paying job to risking it all as an entrepreneur? Discover how Natalie Palomino pivoted from a lawyer at the Department of Justice pursuing terrorist financing to a bottom-of-the-pit hair assistant (for a minute), where she learned her new trade from the ground up. An avid student, Palomino says she checks her ego at the door, and believes humility is one key to her success.

Palomino tells listeners about her early life and how it shaped her decision to become a lawyer despite her love of styling hair. Another key pivot: her diagnosis with an autoimmune disease — which helped her define her market — a "clean" pure-ingredient, zero-waste brick-and-mortar haircare salon called North Salon in Southern California.

COVID-19 led to Palomino's next pivot: her transition to an online store (North Authentic) — which was something else she had to learn from the ground up. She immersed herself in research and adopted a can-do attitude during the pandemic where she used the extra time to be productive. Palomino learned about e-commerce, SEO, online marketing, and where to find money to pay her staff and keep her business alive.

If you want business tips, get out your notepad during this episode of SheVentures.

Time Stamps:

• 1:17 - Palomino talks about why she became a lawyer.
• 4:00 - What is it like to chase after terrorist finances?
• 10:30 - How networking helped Palomino win a highly-sought-after position.
• 11:30 - Learn how Palomino overcame imposter syndrome.
• 13:20 - Tips on how to network effectively.
• 15:50 - Palomino describes her pivot from government attorney — a job with mega-security and a pension — to becoming an independent contractor as a hairstylist.
• 18:30 - Palomino gives listeners tips to help them decide what they want to do in life.
• 22:00 - How to make money as a service provider.
• 26:20 - Palomino describes being diagnosed with an autoimmune disease, and how it propelled her to seek out 'clean' products.
• 28:25 - Palomino gives helpful tips to secure grants/funding for small businesses.
• 30:45 - Palomino describes how the COVID-19 pandemic — while undoubtedly a tragedy — was a silver lining for her business.
• 44:00 - Learn the easiest and hardest aspects of transitioning from a brick-and-mortar to an online business
• 40:50 - What are the myths and realities of becoming an entrepreneur?

🙌 New Season of Bold Women!! 🙌

Are you working in a toxic environment? Listen as Asha Tarry, a trauma-informed corporate consultant, life coach and psychotherapist, offers actionable tips that you can use in the workplace to make your job work for you–not the other way around.

Tarry describes her overarching passion to help others as her catalyst to pivot from a mental health practitioner in private practice to becoming CEO of Behavioral Health Consulting Services. A 20-year veteran in the mental health field – Tarry started her work after earning her masters degree in social work.

Tarry delves into workplace burnout, anxiety and unhappiness, as she speaks about the common concerns she hears from employees. She also covers the prevalent–and perhaps overused phrase– The Great Resignation. Tarry explains what it is, why it's happening now, and whether it will promote permanent changes in work culture.

Tarry specializes in workplace issues that affect women of color, the LGBTQ community, and employees with disabilities while balancing the goals of employers and their businesses. She performs her work at the intersection of a myriad of workplace perspectives. Tarry helps each client take steps towards a more dynamic work culture. Employees are shown how to demonstrate their value, and how to start a conversation about discriminatory concerns without the fear of reprisal.

After listening to Tarry, you will be hard pressed not to take charge of your career in the new year on this episode of SheVentures.

Sharon Kan built and successfully exited four startups, acquired by names such as Microsoft, Barnes & Noble, and Oracle. Listen to her pragmatic approach to business and learn what she believes is the one quality all entrepreneurs should embrace.

Raised in war-torn Israel, Kan reminisces: "You lived today because you weren't sure what might happen tomorrow."

Nonetheless, Kan started her first business at 14, selling homemade cakes to local shops, served her mandatory two years in the Israeli military (air force), and embarked on a multi-decade career in marketing, business, and product development. But her corporate career path was sidelined by motherhood. How did she react?

Kan chose to focus on "feminine power" and boost the mom-economy by co-founding Pepper Lane, a platform designed to provide a community of women to co-mentor and inspire one another — complete with workshops, mentorship, and the myriad of services one needs when starting a business.

It's time we stop apologizing and embrace our feminine power in the workplace whether we're moms or not, says Kan.

Listen as Kan dishes real talk on how to bring your authentic self to the workplace on this episode, the season three finale, of SheVentures.

Imagine what it's like for any immigrant to embrace the culture and norms of a new nation. Then think about being a highly respected doctor, practicing for years in your native country. When you arrive in the United States, you learn that if you want to practice medicine, you'll have to dust off your organic chemistry and anatomy books and pass a rigorous exam.

That's what happened to Noor Ali who skipped undergrad, going straight from the renowned Bronx High School of Science into six years of medical school in Bangladesh, only to barely miss the cutoff when she sat for the U.S. exam to practice medicine. How did she cope?

Ali always knew she wanted to follow in her anaesthesiologist grandfather's footsteps and become a doctor, but she never envisioned being denied the ability to do so — especially after "paying her dues" and finishing med school. With a successful career in her home country of Bangladesh, Ali was recognized by the United Nations as a volunteer — bringing healthcare to pregnant women and children. Ali felt lost and downtrodden.

Ali's pivot? She founded a business, Dr. Noor Health, where she marries medical knowledge with health insurance in an advisory role, helping the "healthy and wealthy" find more fitting health insurance policies in the private market based on their health status.

Listen as Ali describes being an immigrant in New York City, volunteering in the slums of Bangladesh, and the price of reinvention on this episode of SheVentures.

She joined Microsoft when it was a startup, when it was not uncommon to run into Bill Gates in the hallway. She never envisioned a career where she would travel to 60 countries, while being a parent to three sons, a wife, and an executive.

Though Kate Isler did not start her career with dreams of globe-trotting, she defied expectations with the help of a supportive husband, who was willing to move as her career thrived with their growing children in tow. Rather than view their lifestyle as a negative, the family enjoyed the adventure of experiencing new cultures.

Isler's pivot? Today, she is founder of an eCommerce platform for female-owned and -led businesses called TheWMarketplace, which she and her team created during the pandemic. The platform boasts about 400 women-owned brands, more than 2,000 products and services, and is growing rapidly.

Isler is not-your-typical-success story. She focused on work experience first, spent 20 years as an entrepreneur, but realized that with only a high school diploma, she was limited professionally. Another pivot: returning to school and earning her bachelor's degree in education in 2018.

SheVentures is not the only media outlet that finds Isler's life story inspirational — HarperCollins Leadership published her memoir, Breaking Boarders, earlier this year.

Twenty percent of LGBTQ+ people say they are "much worse off" financially because of the pandemic, compared with only 11 percent of the general population. Hadassah Damien, queer femme writer, digital technologist, and financial strategist joins us to provide actionable tips for the LGBTQ+ community to take control of their finances today.

Damien grew up in a single-parent household where she experienced financial challenges. She entered adulthood believing money was unattainable. But as Damien embraced nonprofits, community art, archiving and #vanlife in her 20s, she taught herself personal finance basics — and put herself through grad school.

When Damien left the corporate world after the 2008 financial crisis, she focused on how she could help other artists learn to manage their finances and found people she could help as a financial coach.

Damien candidly speaks about the challenges those in the LGBTQ+ community face when it comes to money, and provides some suggestions on what they can do, one step at a time, on this episode of SheVentures.

Six months before she was due to receive tenure (which is highly coveted in academia), in the midst of a pandemic, this psychology professor left it all behind.

Janet Ahn, Ph.D., pivoted from academia and entrepreneurship to consulting for large companies such as Procter and Gamble, before joining MindGym (a behavior change company for organizations and corporations) as chief behavioral science officer. Now, she focuses on the science to support workplace diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI).

Ahn discusses why traditional approaches to DEI in the workplace aren't successful — and maps out the psychological pillars that should be a part of any workplace DEI efforts.

Ahn also reveals how a marshmallow drew her to psychology despite her first-generation Korean father not considering it a "real" science, the truth behind intellectual differences between men and women, and the steps to effectively implement DEI in the workplace on this episode of SheVentures.

Nearly 2 billion people lack access to nutritious food — a staggering number likely to increase due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Lara Ramdin, Ph.D., and Barbara Guerpillon are trying to change that. These two global female executives are playing integral roles toward Dole Food's corporate initiative: the Dole Promise Sunshine for All, the goal of which is to make nutritious foods accessible to 1 billion people by 2030.

Ramdin, chief innovation officer at Dole Packaged Foods, has built her global research and development team to be made up of 60 percent women, demonstrating her advocacy for women and girls in STEM.

Guerpillon, head of ventures at Dole and Asia Fresh, is the first person to hold this position and focus on a global strategy to enable profitable business growth through start-up led innovations and the creation of entrepreneurial networks worldwide.

Listen to how these two women foster change by showing how a large company can leverage the ingenuity of the global startup ecosystem to help solve food inequity. It's all in a day's work as they balance their home lives as well.