Your biggest career opportunities may not come from what you know, but from who remembers your name.

Takin' Care of Lady Business Episode 169

On this episode of Takin' Care of Lady Business, Jennifer Justice sits down with Caroline Dell, Co-founder and CEO of Goodword, to explore why your network is one of the most valuable assets you'll ever build, and why its real power comes from knowing how to activate it.

Drawing on her experience helping scale Chief and now building Goodword, Caroline shares why relationships, not resumes, algorithms, or AI alone, continue to create the biggest career opportunities. From finding her co-founder through a single introduction to raising her first $500,000 almost entirely through her personal network, she explains why the people who advocate for you behind closed doors often shape your future more than any application or pitch ever could.

Jennifer and Caroline also unpack why women are often more hesitant to ask for introductions, support, and opportunities, how understanding the realities of fundraising creates leverage rather than limitation, and how AI can strengthen, not replace, the human relationships that move careers forward.

This conversation is a reminder that your network isn't just who you know. It's the trust you've built, the people willing to vouch for you, and the opportunities that become possible when you're willing to make the ask.

What You'll Learn:

• How relationships become a real source of career leverage

• Why asking for an introduction doesn’t require turning every contact into a friendship

• How Caroline used her own network to find her co-founder and fund her company

• How AI can help preserve the context that makes professional relationships valuable

  
  

Highlights:

(00:00) Meet Caroline Dell

(01:39) Why your network is your most powerful asset

(06:08) The gap Goodword fills that communities can't

(06:53) Why our brains can’t keep up with our networks: The Dunbar number

(13:52) Why women hesitate to ask for favors

(19:53) Leaving Chief and deciding to found a company

(23:56) Finding her technical co-founder Chris

(24:59) The hard truth about women raising venture capital

(34:38) The worst advice Caroline ever received

About Our Guest:

Caroline Dell is the co-founder and CEO of Goodword, a modern relationship management platform designed to help professionals manage, cultivate, and leverage their networks. Before launching Goodword, she spent nearly a decade building communities and creating access for women in leadership, including serving as an early employee and executive at Chief. Drawing from her experience scaling a professional network to thousands of members, Caroline recognized that while relationships drive career-changing opportunities, people struggle to maintain the context and connections needed to use those networks effectively. Today, she is using AI to transform how people understand and activate their relationships, helping professionals turn their networks into a powerful source of opportunities, introductions, and growth. 

Caroline Dell’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/caroline-dell/ 

Caroline Dell’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/foundercaroline/ 

Explore Goodword: https://www.goodword.com/ 

Get $25 off (1 free month) of Goodword with the code: FRIENDOFJJ

About Jennifer Justice and The Justice Dept.

JJ’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifer-justice-354a0b99

The Justice Dept: https://www.thejusticedept.com/

JJ’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jenniferjusticel/ 

Newsletter: https://tkolb-newsletter-a50814.beehiiv.com/

JJ’s YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TakinCareOfLadyBusiness 

The Justice Dept. is a female-focused advisory, consulting, and law firm advocating for female founders, talent, execs, and brands. We represent bo$$ ladies to make them 💰💰.

If you love what you hear, please subscribe and share with a friend.

This is a Lady Business LLC Production.

Tamara Warren has spent decades test-driving thousands of cars, covering the automotive industry as a journalist, and watching one truth play out over and over again: women drive the majority of car-buying decisions, yet the industry still isn't built with them in mind.

Takin’ Care of Lady Business Episode 168

From crash-test standards and product design to dealership experiences and executive leadership, the systems behind one of the biggest purchases of our lives continue to overlook the people making most of the buying decisions. The result isn't just frustrating – it's costly, inefficient, and, in some cases, dangerous.

In this episode of Takin' Care of Lady Business, Jennifer Justice sits down with Tamara Warren, Founder and CEO of Le Car Inc., to unpack the hidden power mechanics of the automotive industry. They explore why representation has to start long before the marketing campaign, how women can make more informed and empowered purchasing decisions, and why designing for women isn't just good equity, it's good business.

This conversation isn't really about cars. It's about what happens when the people driving the economy aren't the ones shaping the products, systems, and decisions that affect them.

What You'll Learn

• Why women's purchasing power still isn't reflected in how cars are designed or sold

• How product design, leadership, and representation shape the customer experience long before a sale is made

• Why knowledge—not intimidation—is one of the greatest sources of leverage when making a major purchase

• How Tamara built Le Car by rejecting the traditional business model and putting consumer trust first

  
  

Highlights:

(00:00) Meet Tamara Warren

(02:47) The everyday ways cars still fail women

(06:26) How the automotive industry became a system built by—and for—men

(16:04) Why traditional negotiation advice doesn't always work for women

(30:27) The safety gap: what crash testing still misses

(33:48) Why representation in leadership changes the products we buy

(38:38) Building Le Car to empower women before they ever step into a dealership

(43:19) The worst business advice Tamara ever received

About Our Guest:

Tamara Warren is the founder of Le Car, a Techstars company built to validate women in the automotive space. Raised in Detroit, Michigan, Tamara spent decades as a journalist and author covering transportation, lifestyle, and business for top outlets including The New York Times, Car and Driver, Elle, Esquire, and The Verge, as well as serving as a jurist for the World Car of the Year awards. After recognizing that women control the vast majority of car-buying decisions yet remain overlooked by traditional auto design, marketing, and dealership networks, she launched Le Car to disrupt the industry. Today, she shares her perspective on dismantling male-dominated spaces, reclaiming female economic power in major life purchases, and proving that women belong in the driver’s seat, literally and figuratively.

Tamara Warren’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tamaralwarren/ 

Tamara Warren’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tamarawarren/ 

Explore Le Car Inc.: https://www.lecar.co/ 

About Jennifer Justice and The Justice Dept.

JJ’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifer-justice-354a0b99

The Justice Dept: https://www.thejusticedept.com/

JJ’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jenniferjusticel/ 

Newsletter: https://tkolb-newsletter-a50814.beehiiv.com/

JJ’s YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TakinCareOfLadyBusiness 

The Justice Dept. is a female-focused advisory, consulting, and law firm advocating for female founders, talent, execs, and brands. We represent bo$$ ladies to make them 💰💰.

If you love what you hear, please subscribe and share with a friend.

This is a Lady Business LLC Production.

Building a company is one thing. Keeping control of it is another.

Nicole Eckels moved to Australia armed with nothing but a hunch that the country's beauty market was missing something. She didn't have a business plan or industry experience, just an obsession with fragrance and a refusal to accept "there's nothing like that here" as a permanent answer. Twenty years later, that hunch is the largest fragrance brand in the Southern Hemisphere.

Takin’ Care of Lady Business Episode 167

In this candid conversation, Jennifer Justice sits down with Nicole Eckels, Founder and CEO at Glasshouse Fragrances, to trace her path from expat makeup artist to CEO of a global luxury brand. Nicole walks through finding her one and only investor, becoming her own manufacturer when no contractors existed for the category, and the boardroom crisis where her own leadership team nearly pushed her out of the company she built. She's unflinching about the mistake that caused it: assuming instead of directing, and letting a board dilute her ownership of her own vision.

Together, they dig into what pay equity actually looks like in practice, why long-term incentives matter more than annual bonuses, and how Nicole scaled into the notoriously crowded US market during COVID by refusing to copy what every other candle brand was doing.

What You'll Learn:

• Why protecting your vision is just as important as building your business

• How to spot real opportunities before everyone else sees them

• What founders get wrong about leadership, ownership, and long-term growth

• How to filter advice, trust your instincts, and make decisions you can stand behind

  
  

Highlights:

(00:00) Meet Nicole Eckels

(03:00) Spotting the gap in Australia's beauty market

(04:15) Deciding to build the world's best bath and body brand

(07:33) Finding her one and only angel investor

(09:05) Becoming her own manufacturer when none existed

(13:17) Making her first hire and early team growth

(14:51) The danger of relying on one advisor's opinion

(19:06) When her leadership team tried to push her out

(25:03) Rethinking pay equity and long-term incentives

(38:17) Nicole's worst advice ever received

About Our Guest:

Nicole Eckels is the Founder & CEO at Glasshouse Fragrances, the largest fragrance brand in the Southern Hemisphere. Originally from New York, Nicole moved to Australia as a single mother with a 12-year-old son, drawn by a desire for a safer, more balanced life. Noticing a gap in the market for luxury home fragrance, she built her scented candles from her own kitchen, secured a single angel investor, and became her own manufacturer at a time when no contractors existed for the category. Over 20 years, Nicole grew Glasshouse into a global brand, weathered a boardroom attempt to push her out of her own company, and expanded into the notoriously crowded US market during the height of COVID. Today, she shares her experience building a business on her own terms, learning to trust her instincts over any single advisor, and creating a company where pay equity and long term investment reflect the value people bring.

Nicole Eckels’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicole-eckels-32649a46/  

Nicole Eckels’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nicoleeckels/ 

Explore Glasshouse Fragrances: https://www.glasshousefragrances.com/ 

About Jennifer Justice and The Justice Dept.

JJ’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifer-justice-354a0b99

The Justice Dept: https://www.thejusticedept.com/

JJ’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jenniferjusticel/ 

Newsletter: https://tkolb-newsletter-a50814.beehiiv.com/

JJ’s YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TakinCareOfLadyBusiness 

The Justice Dept. is a female-focused advisory, consulting, and law firm advocating for female founders, talent, execs, and brands. We represent bo$$ ladies to make them 💰💰.

If you love what you hear, please subscribe and share with a friend.

Your doctor says your results fall within the “normal range.” But what happens when you know something still isn’t right?

Takin' Care of Lady Business Episode 166

On this episode of Takin' Care of Lady Business, Jennifer Justice sits down with Dr. Florence Comite, founder of the Comite Center for Precision Medicine and Healthy Longevity, to examine who gets to define “normal” when it comes to women’s health, and why population averages rarely tell the whole story of an individual body.

Dr. Comite explains how precision medicine uses personal health data to identify risks before they become diagnoses. They discuss the relationship between genetics and daily choices, the blood tests Dr. Comite believes women should understand, the role of testosterone in women’s health, and why she views GLP-1 medications as one of the most consequential medical developments of this century.

This conversation is ultimately about having the information to ask better questions. Because advocating for your health begins with knowing that “normal” does not always mean optimal—and that one answer does not have to end the conversation.

What You'll Learn:

• Why population-based lab ranges may not reflect what is optimal for an individual

• The five biomarkers Dr. Comite recommends discussing with your healthcare provider

• How genetics, lifestyle, and environment can influence long-term health risks

• Why Dr. Comite believes GLP-1 medications could have an impact far beyond weight loss

  
  

Highlights:

(00:00) Meet Dr. Florence Comite

(06:01) Why biological age matters more than chronological age

(09:10) Why your DNA is only “a draft”

(09:31) The problem with “normal” lab ranges

(11:06) JJ’s experience challenging her cortisol results

(19:45) Five biomarkers women should understand

(31:40) Why Dr Comite believes GLP-1s are the antibiotics of the 21st century

(46:50) The worst advice Dr. Comite ever received

This conversation is for information, not medical advice. Talk to your own doctor before making changes.

About Our Guest:

Dr. Florence Comite is the founder of the Comite Center for Precision Medicine and Healthy Longevity, with practices in Silicon Valley and Miami Beach. A graduate of Yale Medical School and trained at the National Institutes of Health, she spent decades on faculty at Yale working across reproductive endocrinology, adult endocrinology, and pediatric endocrinology, and helped bring pioneering peptide therapies to market for fertility treatment. In 1992, she launched one of the first women's health practices built on precision, data-driven care rather than one-size-fits-all medicine. Today, she is the author of Invincible: Defy Your Genetic Destiny to Live Better, Longer, and continues to help patients of all ages use their own biomarkers to detect disease risk decades before it strikes, proving that with the right data, aging and genetic destiny don't have to be the same thing.

Dr. Florence Comite’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drflorencecomite/ 

Dr. Florence Comite’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drflorencecomite/ 

Explore Comite Center for Precision Medicine & Healthy Longevity: https://www.comitemd.com/

Explore Dr. Florence’s book, Invincible: Defy Your Genetic Destiny to Live Better, Longer: https://www.amazon.com/Invincible-Genetic-Destiny-Better-Longer/dp/0316595551 

About Jennifer Justice and The Justice Dept.

JJ’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifer-justice-354a0b99

The Justice Dept: https://www.thejusticedept.com/

JJ’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jenniferjusticel/ 

Newsletter: https://tkolb-newsletter-a50814.beehiiv.com/

JJ’s YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TakinCareOfLadyBusiness 

The Justice Dept. is a female-focused advisory, consulting, and law firm advocating for female founders, talent, execs, and brands. We represent bo$$ ladies to make them 💰💰.

If you love what you hear, please subscribe and share with a friend.

This is a Lady Business LLC Production.

Playing it safe is supposed to protect your business. But what if it’s actually costing you growth?

Women are taught to protect every dollar while men are encouraged to raise and bet bigger. Women are often taught to protect every dollar, do more themselves, and wait for guaranteed success before investing. Men, meanwhile, are taught to raise capital, hire for growth, and take bigger bets. That difference in training has consequences.

Takin' Care of Lady Business Episode 165

On this episode of Takin' Care of Lady Business, Jennifer Justice sits down with Dani Lynn Robison, CEO at Freedom Family Investments, to explore how she went from performing as a musician on cruise ships to building a successful real estate investment firm. Dani shares how she found her way into real estate after trying multiple careers, learned to navigate a male dominated industry, and built wealth by embracing challenges instead of avoiding them.

Together, Jennifer and Dani unpack the realities of investing in real estate and the importance of surrounding yourself with people who believe in you. They discuss the difference between preserving money and putting it to work, and how needs-based real estate can become part of a more intentional investment strategy. Because playing small has a price, too.

What You'll Learn:

• Why playing it safe can be an expensive business strategy

• How Dani built authority in a male-dominated industry

• The difference between preserving money and building wealth

• Why the right mentor should strengthen your confidence

• How needs-based real estate and passive investing work

• Why every dollar should have a clearly defined job

  
  

Highlights:

(00:00) Meet Dani Lynn Robison

(01:34) From cruise-ship musician to real estate investor: Dani's career journey

(06:34) Finding a mentor and learning 12 ways to buy and sell real estate

(16:24) Proving herself as CEO in a male-dominated industry

(20:19) What Freedom Family Investments actually invests in

(24:24) How her real estate funds work: minimums and returns

(27:57) Permission to build wealth

(32:46) Confronting a mentor who threatened her

(36:03) Afford the people that are around you

About Our Guest:

Dani Lynn Robison is the CEO of Freedom Family Investments, a private equity real estate firm focused on investing in needs based real estate including multifamily, senior housing, and self storage. After starting her career as a musician performing on cruise ships with her husband, Dani explored multiple paths before discovering her passion for real estate during the 2008 market crash. She went on to build her expertise through investing, mentoring, and hands on experience, eventually creating a company that helps others build wealth through real estate.

Dani Lynn Robison’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danilynnrobison/ 

Dani Lynn Robison’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/danilynnrobison/ 

Explore Freedom Family Investments: https://freedomfamilyinvestments.com/ 

For a free copy of Dani’s bestselling book, Calm Money Never Panics, check out this website: ChatwithFreedom.com and enter the code LADY. 

For more info on the book check it out here: https://calmmoneyneverpanics.com/ 

About Jennifer Justice and The Justice Dept.

JJ’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifer-justice-354a0b99

The Justice Dept: https://www.thejusticedept.com/

JJ’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jenniferjusticel/ 

Newsletter: https://tkolb-newsletter-a50814.beehiiv.com/

JJ’s YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TakinCareOfLadyBusiness 

The Justice Dept. is a female-focused advisory, consulting, and law firm advocating for female founders, talent, execs, and brands. We represent bo$$ ladies to make them 💰💰.

If you love what you hear, please subscribe and share with a friend.

This is a Lady Business LLC Production.

Austin Fremont learned exactly what her time was worth when she had less of it to give away.

After becoming a solo mom by choice, the President of Fremont Blue Events started looking at her business differently. Every event meant childcare. Every unnecessary meeting meant time away from her children. And every yes suddenly had a very real cost.

Takin’ Care of Lady Business Episode 164

In this deeply personal conversation, Jennifer Justice sits down with Austin Fremont, President of Fremont Blue Events, to compare their paths of becoming solo mothers by choice, from egg freezing, IVF, and donor decisions to the financial and professional realities of parenting without a second household income. Austin also shares how becoming a mother changed the way she priced her work: every event now carries the cost of childcare and time away from her children.

Because when your time stops feeling infinite, you get very clear about what it’s worth.

What You'll Learn:

• Why JJ and Austin stopped waiting for partnership before pursuing motherhood

• What egg freezing, IVF, and choosing a donor actually looked like for each of them

• The financial difference between single parenting and solo parenting

• How Austin began charging more because every project required childcare and time away from her children

• How refusing to wait for the right time changed the way she runs her business and prices her work.

  
  

Highlights:

(00:00) Meet Austin Fremont

(02:16) Building a boutique events company in New York City

(03:32) Growing up around Andy Warhol and the art world

(06:09) Deciding to become a solo mom by choice

(09:23) Why marriage was no longer a requirement for family

(15:23) Navigating IVF, egg freezing, and donor decisions

(20:33) The difference between single and solo parenting

(23:39) How motherhood changed the way she valued her time

(25:56) Building a support system while running a company

(30:57) Creating a relationship with a known donor

(35:03) Austin’s worst advice ever received

About Our Guest:

Austin Fremont is the President of Fremont Blue Events, a boutique events firm based in New York City that produces benefits, galas, and intimate gatherings for organizations across the arts, design, environmental, and nonprofit spaces. Growing up in Greenwich Village surrounded by the art world, Austin developed a passion for creativity, storytelling, and bringing people together. After building her events company and dedicating years to her career, Austin chose to become a solo mom by choice, navigating IVF, donor conception, and motherhood while continuing to lead her business. Today, she shares her experience of building a family on her own terms, redefining success, trusting her instincts, and proving that there is no single path to creating the life you want.

Austin Fremont’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/austin-fremont-8b026567/ 

Austin Fremont’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/austingrayish/ 

Explore Fremont Blue Events: https://fremontblueevents.com/ 

About Jennifer Justice and The Justice Dept.

JJ’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifer-justice-354a0b99

The Justice Dept: https://www.thejusticedept.com/

JJ’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jenniferjusticel/ 

Newsletter: https://tkolb-newsletter-a50814.beehiiv.com/

JJ’s YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TakinCareOfLadyBusiness 

The Justice Dept. is a female-focused advisory, consulting, and law firm advocating for female founders, talent, execs, and brands. We represent bo$$ ladies to make them 💰💰.

If you love what you hear, please subscribe and share with a friend.

This is a Lady Business LLC Production.

You negotiate your salary. You negotiate your title. But what if the biggest negotiation is buried in the paperwork you sign before your first day?

Takin' Care of Lady Business Episode 163

On this episode of Takin' Care of Lady Business, Jennifer Justice sits down with Gretchen Carlson, journalist and Co-founder of Lift Our Voices, to unpack the hidden contract clauses that shift power away from employees without them realizing, before anything ever goes wrong.

After her landmark lawsuit against Roger Ailes and Fox News, Gretchen discovered just how much leverage employers gain through forced arbitration and NDAs. What began as one woman's fight became a movement that helped pass two bipartisan federal laws and continues to reshape how workers understand their rights.

Together, Jennifer and Gretchen explore why legal protections only matter if you know they exist, how culture changes more slowly than legislation, and why understanding the contracts you sign is one of the smartest investments you can make in your own career. Because power isn't just about what happens when something goes wrong. It's about knowing what you're agreeing to before it ever does.

What You'll Learn:

• How to recognize when a contract understatedly limits your leverage

• The difference between forced arbitration and NDAs – and why it matters

• What Gretchen Carlson's lawsuit changed for workers across the country

• Why changing the law is only the first step toward changing workplace culture

• The questions every employee should ask before signing an employment agreement

  
  

Highlights:

(00:00) Meet Gretchen Carlson

(01:02) Suing Roger Ailes at Fox News

(02:08) Deciding to file the lawsuit

(04:56) How her kids handled the fallout

(09:58) Discovering the arbitration clause in her contract

(12:11) Why forced arbitration was never meant for this

(14:21) Only 2% of employees win in arbitration

(16:47) NDAs versus forced arbitration explained

(19:07) The Love Where You Work AI tool

(23:54) Fighting cultural silence around speaking up

(29:30) States banning NDAs in settlements

(38:33) The worst advice she ever received

About Our Guest:

Gretchen Carlson is an award-winning journalist, bestselling author, and co-founder of Lift Our Voices, a nonprofit dedicated to ending workplace silencing mechanisms. After her landmark lawsuit against former Fox News Chairman Roger Ailes, she became a leading advocate for ending forced arbitration and non-disclosure agreements, helping pass two landmark bipartisan workplace reform laws in 2022. A former CBS News and Fox News anchor, Gretchen is also a CNN contributor, TED speaker, and author of the New York Times bestsellers Be Fierce and Getting Real.  Today, Lift Our Voices continues to push for state-level legislation, educate workers through its free Love Where You Work AI tool, and share survivor stories through its #LoveJustice campaign.

Gretchen Carlson’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gretchen-carlson/ Gretchen Carlson’s Website: https://www.gretchencarlson.com/ Gretchen Carlson’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gretchencarlson/ 

Explore Lift Our Voices: https://liftourvoices.org/ 

About Jennifer Justice and The Justice Dept.

JJ’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifer-justice-354a0b99

The Justice Dept: https://www.thejusticedept.com/

JJ’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jenniferjusticel/ 

Newsletter: https://tkolb-newsletter-a50814.beehiiv.com/

JJ’s YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TakinCareOfLadyBusiness 

The Justice Dept. is a female-focused advisory, consulting, and law firm advocating for female founders, talent, execs, and brands. We represent bo$$ ladies to make them 💰💰.

If you love what you hear, please subscribe and share with a friend.

This is a Lady Business LLC Production.

The lie we’ve been told is that working harder is how you get promoted. Kelly Mooney feels the real difference is understanding the rules that no one hands you. 

Takin' Care of Lady Business Episode 162

On this episode of Takin' Care of Lady Business, Jennifer Justice sits down with Kelly Mooney, founder and CEO of Equipt Women, to explore what happens when you stop internalizing broken systems and start rewriting the rulebook. Kelly shares how selling her company to IBM taught her what corporate culture gets wrong about power, why a single dinner with Gloria Steinem redirected her entire career, and why sponsorship, not just mentorship, is the real accelerant behind promotion.

Together, Jennifer and Kelly unpack the invisible rules of the workplace, the courage it takes to ask "do I have your support," and why building confidence, community, and financial literacy often does more for women's careers than simply working harder ever will.

What You'll Learn:

• How to spot the unwritten rules shaping your workplace

• Why sponsorship creates more career momentum than mentorship alone

• How to recognize when your anger has become your greatest fuel

• What it means to become a protector, not just a participant

• Why confidence, class, and clarity outlast playing small every time

  
  

Highlights:

(00:00) Meet Kelly Mooney(

001:30) Selling a digital agency to IBM

(02:41) The dinner with Gloria Steinem that changed her

(04:31) Why your circle of trust should be women

(07:04) Learning IBM was not the right fit

(14:57) Life inside a global corporation

(20:19) Watching women get talked over on calls

(21:36) Owning your choices in corporate America

(22:43) What Up and Equipt Women really teach

(27:36) Why sponsors matter more than mentors

(31:00) The power of asking do I have your support

(37:33) The worst advice she ever received

About Our Guest:

Kelly Mooney is the founder and CEO of Equipt Women. With a background spanning design, digital marketing, and executive leadership, Kelly built a digital agency that she ultimately sold to IBM, later serving as an executive within the organization. She founded Equipt Women to help women get paid and promoted at the same rates as men, giving them the tools to build careers and lives they love. Kelly is also the co-author of the book Up, a playbook for navigating the unwritten rules of the workplace. Today, Equipt Women partners with organizations investing in their leadership pipelines, while also offering free tools, courses, and a weekly newsletter that help women build confidence, negotiate compensation, and take ownership of their careers.

Kelly Mooney’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pkmooney/ 

Kelly Mooney’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pkmooney/ 

Explore Equipt Women: https://equiptwomen.com/ 

About Jennifer Justice and The Justice Dept.

JJ’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifer-justice-354a0b99

The Justice Dept: https://www.thejusticedept.com/

JJ’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jenniferjusticel/ 

Newsletter: https://tkolb-newsletter-a50814.beehiiv.com/

JJ’s YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TakinCareOfLadyBusiness 

The Justice Dept. is a female-focused advisory, consulting, and law firm advocating for female founders, talent, execs, and brands. We represent bo$$ ladies to make them 💰💰.

If you love what you hear, please subscribe and share with a friend.

This is a Lady Business LLC Production.

The startup world loves a scoreboard. More funding. More locations. More growth. But what if those aren't the numbers that actually tell you whether you're building a great business?

Takin' Care of Lady Business Episode 161

On this episode of Takin' Care of Lady Business, Jennifer Justice sits down with Rachel Krupa, founder of The Goods Mart and Krupa Consulting, to explore what happens when you stop building for optics and start building for longevity. Rachel shares why she walked away from the pressure to scale at all costs, how redefining success changed the way she grew her business, and why the expertise you earn through experience may be your greatest source of leverage.

Together, Jennifer and Rachel unpack the difference between growth and leverage, the pressure founders face to follow someone else's definition of success, and why operational excellence, community, and institutional knowledge often create far more lasting businesses than speed ever will.

What You'll Learn:

• How to distinguish growth from real leverage

• Why operational excellence creates more lasting success than rapid scale

• How to recognize when your expertise has become one of your most valuable assets

• What it means to define success on your own terms

• Why the strongest businesses are built around intention, not optics

  
  

Highlights:

(00:00) Meet Rachel Krupa

(01:39) What The Goods Mart is really building

(03:47) Finding brands before everyone else does

(04:35) Learning retail the expensive way

(06:36) Why fast growth was the wrong scoreboard

(11:29) Refusing slotting fees from day one

(13:52) Building the Williamsburg flagship

(17:17) How COVID proved their curation worked

(19:58) The reality of raising money

(26:27) Closing a store and choosing focus

(32:21) Turning industry knowledge into power

(39:26) Charging for the expertise you earned

About Our Guest:

Rachel Krupa is the founder of The Goods Mart and Krupa Consulting. With more than 20 years of experience across CPG, retail, food, wellness, and brand strategy, Rachel has helped launch and grow brands including Thrive Market, Our Place, Goop’s wellness vertical, Tastemade, Milk Bar, La Colombe, and more. She launched The Goods Mart in 2018 as a highly curated, better-for-you convenience store designed to spotlight emerging, founder-led snack brands, and create real community around discovery. Today, The Goods Mart operates across retail, hotel mini bars, corporate pantries, and curated snack programs, giving emerging brands access to the shelves, rooms, and buyers that move a business forward.

Rachel Krupa’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachelkrupa/ 

Rachel Krupa’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rachkrupa/ 

Explore The Goods Mart: https://www.thegoodsmart.com/ 

Explore Krupa Consulting: https://www.krupaconsulting.com/ 

The Goods Mart on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thegoodsmart/ Krupa Consulting on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/krupaconsulting/ 

About Jennifer Justice and The Justice Dept.

JJ’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifer-justice-354a0b99

The Justice Dept: https://www.thejusticedept.com/

JJ’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jenniferjusticel/ 

Newsletter: https://tkolb-newsletter-a50814.beehiiv.com/

The Justice Dept. is a female-focused advisory, consulting, and law firm advocating for female founders, talent, execs, and brands. We represent bo$$ ladies to make them 💰💰.

If you love what you hear, please subscribe and share with a friend.

This is a Lady Business LLC Production.

What do you do when the room laughs at your idea? If you're Suneera Madhani, you build the company anyway. She built a billion-dollar fintech company because she refused to confuse someone else’s limitation with her own.

Takin' Care of Lady Business Episode 160

On this episode of Takin' Care of Lady Business, Jennifer Justice talks with Suneera, founder of Stax Payments, Worth AI, and CEO School, about what it actually takes to build, fund, scale, and exit a company when the room was never built for you in the first place.

Suneera gets candid about pitching a better business model to male bosses who laughed her out of the room, then building it herself. She shares how her immigrant family’s small business background shaped the way she saw fintech, why women have to stop running from the numbers, and what changed when she stopped operating only as a founder and stepped fully into the CEO seat.

JJ and Suneera also talk about venture capital, biased investor questions, why warm relationships beat cold pitches, and the financial literacy women cannot afford to outsource. Because “that’s not my zone of genius” is not a strategy. If the company is yours, the financials are yours too.

What You'll Learn:

• Why women have to stop treating financials like someone else’s job

• How to tell when you’re asking the wrong people for permission

• Why founder mode builds the company, but CEO mode scales it

• How relationships, not cold pitches, actually move money

• What power looks like when you no longer need every room to choose you

  
  

Highlights:
(00:00) Meet Suneera Madhani

(01:44) The reality of being a unicorn founder

(03:00) Immigrant roots and early business lessons

(06:56) What corporate America missed about small business

(08:03) The idea her bosses rejected

(10:56) The advice that made her build it herself

(12:11) Scaling Stax to a billion-dollar exit

(13:48) The real cost of building big

(18:37) Fundraising through bias and bad assumptions

(22:43) Why relationships beat cold pitches

(24:29) Stop running from the financials

(25:34) The shift from founder to CEO

About Our Guest:

Suneera Madhani is a fintech founder, investor, podcast host, and one of the few women to build and exit a billion-dollar company. She co-founded Stax Payments with her brother and helped scale the business from zero to 40 billion in payments on the platform before exiting through private equity. She is now building Worth AI, a fintech company focused on creating a better standard for business credit and helping financial institutions evaluate small businesses with more clarity and less friction. Suneera is also the founder of CEO School, where she works with women entrepreneurs on the financial discipline, strategy, and CEO mindset required to build companies that scale.

Suneera Madhani’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/suneeramadhani/ 

Suneera Madhani’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/suneeramadhani/ 

Explore Worth AI: https://www.worthai.com/

Explore CEO School: https://theceoschool.com/ 

Explore the CEO School Podcast: https://theceoschool.com/podcast 

About Jennifer Justice and The Justice Dept.

JJ’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifer-justice-354a0b99

The Justice Dept: https://www.thejusticedept.com/

JJ’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jenniferjusticel/ 

Newsletter: https://tkolb-newsletter-a50814.beehiiv.com/

The Justice Dept. is a female-focused advisory, consulting, and law firm advocating for female founders, talent, execs, and brands. We represent bo$$ ladies to make them 💰💰.

If you love what you hear, please subscribe and share with a friend.

This is a Lady Business LLC Production.