Socratyc Stories: The Women Who Build

https://www.buildingthingsthatmatter.com

What happens when the barriers to building technology come down, but the confidence to walk through the door hasn't caught up yet? That's the gap Jessica Anderson built Girl Tech HQ to close. Jessica Anderson is the founder of Girl Tech HQ, a Skool community of more than 600 women learning to build businesses with AI.

She's a business growth and visibility strategist, AI educator, speaker, and three-time entrepreneur whose path started somewhere unexpected: a degree in forensic anthropology and criminology and years as a death investigator.

In this conversation, Jessica explains why access to AI doesn't automatically create confidence, and what it was like to go from walking into a scene with full authority to building trust from scratch as an entrepreneur. She makes the case that your lived experience is your strongest asset ("that's your category of one") and shares the networking motto she lives by: "if your mouth is closed, so is your business."

Along the way: the discomfort of charging for a community she wants to keep open to everyone, her dream of local Girl Tech HQ chapters around the world, and the bread aisle analogy that explains why there's room for every women's community.

How you can support Jessica (her asks)?

Join Girl Tech HQ on Skool. Ask your questions, build your confidence, and know that you belong in the rooms you think you belong in It's free to join: https://www.skool.com/girltechhq

Have expertise to share? Reach out to see if highlighting you and your business may make sense: https://girltechhq.com

Connect with her on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mrsjessanderson

Find more about our host, Nicole Alos, ICF-PCC, CEC at www.NicoleAlos.com or on Linkedin at https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicolealos

About the Host

Find more about our host, Nicole Alos, ICF-PCC, CEC, Founder of Socratyc and Socratyc Sidekick: https://www.NicoleAlos.com

Socratyc Stories: The Women Who Build
https://www.BuildingThingsThatMatter.com

Socratyc Sidekick
https://www.SocratycSidekick.ai

#WomenWhoBuild #WomenInTech #FemaleFounders #Entrepreneurship #GirltechHQ #SocratycStories #Socratyc #SocratycSidekick

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AI disclosure: Riverside’s AI-powered tools were used as part of the production and editing workflow for this episode.
All Rights Reserved Socratyc, LLC 2026. Brought to you by Socratyc and Socratyc Sidekick

What happens when something you spent years trying to understand about yourself becomes part of the work you build for other people?

Hannah Choi, MA, is an executive function coach, speaker, educator, and podcast co-host who has spent more than 20 years teaching and supporting students and adults. Today, she works with college students and adults, co-hosts I Think I Can Be Happier with fellow executive function coach Amy McDuffie, and is building her own executive function practice.

This conversation became a double episode for a simple reason: Hannah and I both support executive function clients, and once we started comparing notes, there was too much to fit into one conversation.

In the first half, Hannah answers the six questions I ask every woman on Socratyc Stories: What are you building? Why does it matter to you? What does it look like when it is done? Where are you now? What have you learned? And what do you need from this community?

Then we shift into executive function itself.

Hannah works primarily with college students and adults, while much of my executive function work is with executives and professionals. We talk about what executive function actually is, what it looks like in real life, and why it becomes especially important when you are building something new.

We also dig into prioritization, something both of us see constantly in our work. When you are building a business, practice, podcast, career, or idea from scratch, almost everything can feel important. Executive function is not just about getting more done. It is also about deciding what matters now, what can wait, and how to keep moving when there will always be more you could do.

Work with Hannah or book her for a talk
hannahchoi.me

Listen to I Think I Can Be Happier
Co-hosted by Hannah Choi and Amy McDuffie
icanbehappier.com

Know a student or adult who could use executive function coaching? Refer them to Hannah
hannahchoi.me/contact

Connect with Hannah on LinkedIn
linkedin.com/in/hannahchoi

Find more about our host, Nicole Alos, ICF-PCC, CEC, Founder of Socratyc and Socratyc Sidekick:
NicoleAlos.com

Socratyc Stories: The Women Who Build
BuildingThingsThatMatter.com

Socratyc Sidekick
SocratycSidekick.ai

#WomenWhoBuild #WomenInTech #ExecutiveFunction #ADHD #Neurodiversity #FemaleFounders #Entrepreneurship #HannahChoi #ICanBeHappier #SocratycStories #Socratyc #SocratycSidekick

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AI disclosure: Riverside’s AI-powered tools were used as part of the production and editing workflow for this episode.

All Rights Reserved Socratyc, LLC 2026.
Brought to you by Socratyc and Socratyc Sidekick.

Building Belonging for Foster Youth with Beth LaFontaine, LCSW

Socratyc Stories: The Women Who Build

What do you build when the system you grew up in never gave you a stable place to stand?

Beth Anne LaFontaine, LCSW, and sociotechnologist, grew up in 19 foster homes before being adopted at nine. Today she is the founder and CEO of AnchorPhoenix, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit building better continuity of care for foster youth and the people who care for them, with roots in Harvard Medical School’s executive program in AI in Health Care, where her capstone earned international recognition.

In this episode of Socratyc Stories: The Women Who Build, Beth shares what she has in motion: Phoenix Core and Sori, the middleware prototypes that follow her Harvard work; Second Summer, to give foster youth and families a way to connect and belong; Foster Care Coded, her free Skool community for anyone who wants to reimagine foster care with the tools available today; and Foster Care Coded: The Belonging Summit, coming in January and free for foster parents, former foster youth, and adoptees.

We talk about why she wants the conversation to move past placement numbers and toward what actually shapes a child’s life: their narrative, their sense of belonging, and their connections with others. And we talk about what surprised her most in the build, which was herself. Beth describes the fear and imposter syndrome of that Harvard classroom, how that experience helped her trust her own voice, and why she decided to build someone on her own to change lives.

How you can support Beth

1. ⁠Connect with Beth on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bethannelafontaine
2. ⁠Learn about AnchorPhoenix, fund, or sponsor: https://anchorphoenix.ai
3. ⁠Join the Foster Care Coded community on Skool: https://www.skool.com/anchorphoenix-5592/about
4. Attend or apply to speak at Foster Care Coded: The Belonging Summit: https://anchorphoenix.ai/belonging-summit

Find more about our host, Nicole Alos, ICF-PCC, CEC, Founder of Socratyc and Socratyc Sidekick:
http://www.NicoleAlos.com
https://SocratycSidekkick.ai

#WomenWhoBuild #WomenInTech #AI #FosterCare #SocialImpact #Nonprofit #FemaleFounders #Entrepreneurship #AnchorPhoenix #FosterCareCoded #SocratycStories #Socratyc #SocratycSidekick #SocratycStories

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AI disclosure: Riverside’s AI-powered tools were used as part of the production and editing workflow for this episode.

All Rights Reserved Socratyc, LLC 2026.

Brought to you by Socratyc and Socratyc Sidekick.

https://www.buildingthingsthatmatter.com

What if the finish line you've been grinding toward is actually a starting line? That's how Dr. Anne Welsh describes the release of her first book.

Dr. Anne Welsh, PhD, PMH-C, PCC, is a licensed clinical psychologist and executive coach who began her career at Harvard University Health Services and has spent nearly two decades helping working parents and women leaders thrive. She's a mother of four, founder of a successful coaching and therapy practice, and creator of the Working Mothers Lifeline and the Ambitious Mothers Mastermind. Now she's poured everything she knows into Ambitious Mother: From Surviving to Thriving in Your Career and at Home, out August 6 from Bloomsbury with a foreword by Robin Arzón.

In this conversation, Anne takes apart the false choice between being good at your job and being a good mom. She explains why working motherhood hit a fever pitch, what she calls the motherhood advantage, and her model of healthy striving, which starts with one disarming question: what are you actually ambitious for? And because she refuses to treat any of this as an individual failure ("if most of the class fails the test, a good teacher looks at the test"), the book includes a chapter for workplaces and a chapter for male partners and allies. As Anne puts it, the system stuff needs to happen, but if we only wait for it, we're leaving women in the lurch.

Along the way: the borrowed confidence from her own coach that turned a “little idea" into a Bloomsbury book, the Peloton pep talks that fuel her mornings, and the moment her husband answered her book-tour guilt with "Have you read your own book?"

How you can support Anne (her asks)?

• Buy the book! Buy it for your friends, for the working moms in your life, and for your HR head (earmark the chapter on how workplaces can help)
• B&N- https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/ambitious-mother-anne-welsh/1148672749
• Or on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/-/es/Anne-Welsh/dp/B0FZCZ9QY6
• In Boston? Join her launch party on August 6
• Catch her on tour over the next month in New York, Raleigh, and Philadelphia https://www.drannewelsh.com
• Connect with her on LinkedIn- https://www.linkedin.com/in/drannewelsh/

Find more about our host, Nicole Alos, ICF-PCC, CEC at www.NicoleAlos.com

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What happens when the technology disrupting your career becomes the thing that opens up what comes next?

A few months ago, J. Michelle Maraj was laid off shortly after finding out she was pregnant with her second child. Michelle had built a career in data visualization and business intelligence, helping companies turn complex data into something people could actually understand and use.

So, with a new baby arriving at the end of September and an unexpected career transition in front of her, Michelle started building.

In this episode of Socratyc Stories: The Women Who Build, Michelle shares how getting laid off gave her the space to dive into AI, participate in Lovable's She Builds Season 3, and learn an entirely new set of technical skills by solving real problems as she encountered them.

That experimentation eventually brought her back to an idea she had started before She Builds: Vizibly.Live, a virtual event activation platform that helps event organizers create personalized, shareable "data badges" for their attendees. Vizibly.Live is designed to create some of that same connection for virtual events, online communities, meetups, trainings, and conferences without requiring the cost or logistics of a traditional event activation.

We also talk about something founders don't always like to admit: you don't necessarily have to build everything alone.

Michelle shares why bringing on her co-founder, Sophie, changed the trajectory of Vizibly.Live. Their skills are different enough that Michelle can continue owning the technical build while Sophie brings event activation experience, industry relationships, accountability, and a completely different perspective to the business.

As Michelle puts it, sometimes when you've taken something as far as you can on your own, finding the right person to build alongside you may be the thing that gets you to the next level.

• Beta test Vizibly.Live. If you organize virtual or in-person events, Michelle would love feedback on the platform, setup experience, and whether it's something you would use.
• Try creating a data badge: https://vizibly.live
• Know an event organizer, community leader, meetup organizer, or someone who uses event activations? An introduction would be incredibly helpful as Michelle and her co-founder continue validating the product and the market.
• Connect with J. Michelle on LinkedIn: J. Michelle Maraj on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/marajjm)

Find more about our host, Nicole Alos, ICF-PCC, CEC, at http://www.NicoleAlos.com

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#WomenWhoBuild #WomenInTech #AI #VibeCoding #DataVisualization #FemaleFounders #Entrepreneurship #viziblylive #SocratycStories

AI disclosure: Riverside's AI-powered tools were used as part of the production and editing workflow for this episode.

All Rights Reserved Socratyc, LLC 2026.
Brought to you by Socratyc and Socratyc Sidekick.

What does it look like to reinvent yourself after 25 years at the top of your field? Nicole Alos, Founder of Socratyc and creator of Socratyc Sidekick sits down with Francia Haces.

Francia has built a career as a marketing and digital transformation executive in travel and hospitality, including leading the New York and Northeastern U.S. region for the Ministry of Tourism of the Dominican Republic and serving as Senior Vice President of Marketing and Digital Transformation at Premier Worldwide Marketing, a Miami-based agency serving hotels and resorts around the world.

Now she’s building something new. As founder of Hacestek International, Francia is channeling decades of brand, multicultural marketing, tourism, and hospitality expertise into AI-powered strategy for the next era of travel and creator of Ai Reveal Map.

In this conversation, Francia shares how AI is changing the way people discover, compare, plan, and choose travel experiences, and why visibility is no longer enough. Her work focuses on helping travel and hospitality businesses move from being visible to being recommendable to becoming bookable in an AI-connected customer journey.

She also names a risk many smaller businesses are already facing: becoming part of the “invisible majority” as larger platforms and better-prepared brands win the AI recommendation layer. 

Francia and host Nicole Alos met through SheBuilds, Lovable’s community for women building with AI, where women at every level, from first-time builders to seasoned product creators, go from idea to real product through hackathons and hands-on learning. It’s a Substack place to have found Francia, because that’s exactly who she is: deeply expert, endlessly generous with what she knows, and the first to cheer on someone who is still learning.

Together, Nicole and Francia talk about reinvention, AI adoption, the future of hospitality, and why the hardest part of building with AI is not always the technology. As Francia says in the episode, the real challenge is often change itself: helping leaders build the strategy, confidence, and readiness to use AI in ways that create real value.

This is a conversation about becoming a builder again after years of leading, bringing everything you know with you, and using AI not to replace the human side of travel, but to help the best human experiences be found.

Francia’s asks/connect with her:

•⁠  ⁠AI Reveal Map free scan: https://airevealmap.com

•⁠  ⁠LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/franciahacesmarketing

•⁠  ⁠Substack: https://franciahaces.substack.com

Find more about our host, Nicole Alos, ICF-PCC, CEC at www.NicoleAlos.com

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All Rights Reserved Socratyc, LLC 2026.
Brought to you by Socratyc and Socratyc Sidekick

Welcome to the FIRST episode of Socratyc Stories: The Women Who Build with Nicole Alos, ICF-PCC, CEC- Executive Coach, Founder of Socratyc and Founder and Creator of Socratyc Sidekick, an AI practice partner for leaders and founders.

This week I sat down with Su Belagodu, founder and managing partner of Intellectus Advisors, creator of the HITL Maturity Model and a member of the Forbes Technology Council.
Today, we talk about what else Su is building, Humyn Pulse!

We hear constantly about AI hesitency and the high rate of AI adoption fails, and the blame usually lands on the model or on leadership. Su sees it differently. The piece most companies overlook is the human in the loop, and whether that human is empowered, supported, and actually paying attention or just rubber stamping whatever the system produces.

That insight became Humyn Pulse, a tool that measures the human side of AI adoption: oversight, fatigue, and whether people are teaching the system or blindly trusting it. She built the first version in 48 hours at the SheBuilds Build-A-Thon, has run more than 40 experiments on real AI workflows, and made a decision I deeply respect: instead of monetizing right away, she is releasing it as a free assessment this fall so companies can benchmark together.

Her core belief: the organizations that earn the most trust won't be the ones with the smartest technology. They'll be the ones that design the best partnership between humans and that technology.

Every episode ends the same way- What are your asks? How can the community support your build? This one is no different.

Asks from Su:

1. VISIT HUMYNPULSE.COM: Take the free assessment — see where you are and build better AI systems. Nothing to share, no trade secrets.
2. BRING SU TO YOUR TEAM: Hands-on AI governance workshops for companies, women builders, and builder networks.

If you know a woman who's building something, share this episode with her! Want to share what you're building?
Visit buildingthingsthatmatter.com.

Listen wherever you get your podcasts, every Monday!

#SocratycStories #TheWomenWhoBuild #WomenFounders #HumanInTheLoop #AIGovernance #Socratyc

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Trailer: The Women Who Build





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