The 6% with NancyMD

The pandemic has altered the lives of high-achieving career moms. Now more than ever, they are continuing to juggle their careers, while spending more time with their families, doing household chores, providing care and guidance, and helping out with their children's online education.

In this episode, I'm joined by Dr. Leah Backhus, MD, Chief of Thoracic Surgery at VA Palo Alto and has been in practice for 19 years.. She's also a mom and an academic surgeon at Stanford University.

On the 6% podcast, we talk to women from different career paths but I have to say that I have a great deal of respect and a soft spot for my fellow surgeons.

Leah and I discuss her experience being one of the few black female surgeons, her childhood, and why she pivoted from wanting to become a neurosurgeon to cardiothoracic surgery. We talk about the value of women supporting women in the workplace, being true to your passions, your path, and forging your way to success on your terms.

We also tackle how the pandemic made her realize that she needs to be with her kids more, why coaching trainees and providing emotional support can change their lives, and how a spouse's contribution is important as well.

Episode highlights:

• How to balance your career and home life
• The unique strengths of female leadership
• Why having a female mentor in the workplace is incredibly important
• Leah's priceless advice for women who want to work in the field of medicine
• Why you need to figure out your passion before pursuing a career
• How you can deal with imposter syndrome
• Why you have to develop resilience and your own meaning of success
• The value of peer-to-peer counseling to get you through tough times
• How to empower yourself through optimism and self-care
• The significance of positive feedback given by people in positions of power
• The necessity of having a supportive spouse or partner
• How women expect more from themselves and become even more stressed out

Get in Touch with Leah:

Twitter @leahbackhusmd

Doximity doximity.com/pub/leah-backhus-md

Stanford stanfordhealthcare.org/doctors/b/leah-backhus.html#

---

Did you enjoy today's episode?

Please click here to leave a review for The 6%, with NancyMD. Be sure to subscribe on your favorite podcast app to get notified when a new episode comes out!

Do you know someone who might enjoy this episode? Share this episode to inspire and empower!

Let's get social!

Instagram @_nancymd

Facebook @nancymdpdx

Twitter @_nancymd

LinkedIn @nancyyenshipleymd

Website www.nancymd.com

Subscribe to The 6%, with NancyMD

++ Apple Podcasts

++ Spotify

++ Google Podcasts

We don't often see women in the film and content creation industry. This is why it is so refreshing to see a woman ace this male dominated field. In this episode, we'll meet Kimi Culp who will give us a behind the scenes look of what it's like working as a woman in film industry.

Kimi Culp is a talented TV and Film Producer, author, creative consultant and she is also the host of All The Wiser Podcast. She has worked as a producer and story developer for NBC, ABC, The Oprah Winfrey Show, and The Documentary Group.

As a creative, she loves developing stories with soul, and one of the movies she's produced is GLEASON, a feature-length documentary film and was purchased by Amazon Studios and Open Road Films. On top of that, Kimi is also the co-author of the best-selling book, A Letter to My Dog.

In this episode, Kimi will talk about her experience working in the production scene and behind the camera. We also touch on the importance of relationships, working hard, and why it matters that show up every single time. Kimi shares her realizations and how her perspective shifted after hearing stories about other people's truths.

Episode Highlights:

• Kimi's career journey
• How the TV and film production industry evolved throughout the years
• The value of relationships and how you treat other people
• Having men as allies
• Gleason - a documentary film produced by Kimi
• How the stories from All The Wiser Podcast guests changed Kimi's outlook in life

Connect with Kimi

• Instagram @kimiculp
• LinkedIn
• IMDb

Mentioned in this episode:

• All The Wiser
• All The Wiser Podcast
• Gleason (2016)
• A Letter to My Dog: Notes to Our Best Friends

---

Did you enjoy today's episode?

Please click here to leave a review for The 6%, with NancyMD. Be sure to subscribe on your favorite podcast app to get notified when a new episode comes out!

Do you know someone who might enjoy this episode? Share this episode to inspire and empower!

Let's get social!

Instagram @_nancymd

Facebook @nancymdpdx

Twitter @_nancymd

LinkedIn @nancyyenshipleymd

Website www.nancymd.com

Subscribe to The 6%, with NancyMD

++ Apple Podcasts

++ Spotify

++ Google Podcasts

When it comes to leadership roles, men are always the first ones that come to mind. People don't normally think of women to sit in higher positions. But given a chance, women are as bold, tenacious, and competent, as their male counterpart.

But does gender have anything to do with leadership? What difference does it make when women sit in leadership roles?

Find out as Avivah Wittenberg-Cox joins us in The 6% to talk about how women in leadership are effectively dealing with the global crisis that's happening now and how leaders in every organization can strive to create a gender-balanced culture and lead with love.

Avivah is a speaker, author, consultant, and CEO of 20-first, one of the world's leading gender balance consultancies. She has written four books namely, Seven Steps to Leading Gender-Balanced Businesses, How Women Mean Business, Why Women Mean Business: Understanding the Emergence of Our Next Economic Revolution, and Late Love: Mating in Maturity. She speaks across the globe about leadership and gender balance and helps companies identify and achieve gender balance-related business opportunities.

Avivah also writes for Harvard Business Review and Forbes, her article on. She is the Founder and Honorary President of the European Professional Women's Network. Canadian, French, and Swiss, she has been recognized by ELLE Magazine as one of the TOP 40 Women Leading Change.

Episode Highlights:

• How women in leadership from other countries manage the coronavirus pandemic
• What it means to "Lead with Love"
• Why women don't have to apologize for being who they are
• The birth of 20-First
• Overcoming failures and obstacles as an entrepreneur
• Gender balance in couples

Connect with Avivah

• LinkedIn
• Twitter @A_WittenbergCox
• 20-First

Mentioned in this episode:

• What Do Countries With The Best Coronavirus Responses Have in Common? Women Leaders
• COVID-19: A Stress Test For Couples
• Avivah's books:
• • Seven Steps to Leading Gender-Balanced Businesses
  • How Women Mean Business
  • Why Women Mean Business: Understanding the Emergence of Our Next Economic Revolution
  • Late Love: Mating in Maturity

---

Did you enjoy today's episode?

Please click here to leave a review for The 6%, with NancyMD. Be sure to subscribe on your favorite podcast app to get notified when a new episode comes out!

Do you know someone who might enjoy this episode? Share this episode to inspire and empower!

Let's get social!

Instagram @_nancymd

Facebook @nancymdpdx

Twitter @_nancymd

LinkedIn @nancyyenshipleymd

Website www.nancymd.com

Subscribe to The 6%, with NancyMD

++ Apple Podcasts

++ Spotify

++ Google Podcasts

In this episode, you're going to meet Vicky Wight, the director of the 'The Lost Husband' which stars Josh Duhamel and Leslie Bibb. Vicky is a writer and director and she produced the script for Boy Genius which won awards at multiple film festivals. She also directed The Volunteer, which is her directorial debut and it won Best Narrative Feature at the Urbanworld Film Festival in New York.

Vicky will talk about her projects, particularly on the recent film,The Lost Husband. Filming and directing is a field dominated by men but films directed by women have increased over the years and Vicky shares what it's like working as a woman in this male-dominated industry.

Episode Highlights:

• Vicky shares her work as a filmmaker
• Vicky's previous projects
• Vicky explains 'The Lost Husband'
• Having grit and creativity
• Support from other women

Connect with Vicky

• Instagram
• LinkedIn
• The Lost Husband

Resources Mentioned:

Vicky's Filmography

---

Did you enjoy today's episode?

Please click here to leave a review for The 6%, with NancyMD. Be sure to subscribe on your favorite podcast app to get notified when a new episode comes out!

Do you know someone who might enjoy this episode? Share this episode to inspire and empower!

Let's get social!

Instagram @_nancymd

Facebook @nancymdpdx

Twitter @_nancymd

LinkedIn @nancyyenshipleymd

Website www.nancymd.com

Subscribe to The 6%, with NancyMD

++ Apple Podcasts

++ Spotify

++ Google Podcasts

This episode was supported by Girls Inc. of the Pacific Northwest. Please go to girlsincpnw.org to learn more.

My heart was heavy as I decided to release this pre-recorded episode. As I was wrestling with that decision, protests were, and likely still are, occurring not just across our country, but all over the world. Though this podcast focuses on women in male dominated fields, what is at the heart of this is inequity, bias, systemic injustice. We are hurting, angry, and in shock. But I realized that maybe more than ever it's important to hear about those who have advocated for change in eliminating excessive force and police brutality, including those from within the system.

My guest in this episode is Penny Harrington. She began working as a policewoman in 1964, when there were only 12 women in her department of over 800 officers. In 1985, she was appointed chief of the Portland Police Bureau - the first woman in the country to hold this position. Clearly, being a woman in law enforcement was rare and had challenges, and being a leader in the field, even more so.

She later became a special assistant to the California State Bar's director of investigations to handle a wide range of special projects. She has served as an advisor for the US Department of Justice under Janet Reno, and she has testified for the US Civil Rights Commission. She became known as the foremost expert in the US on women's issues in policing.

In 1995, she co-founded The National Center for Women & Policing. According to the NCWP, the organization promotes increasing the numbers of women at all ranks of law enforcement as a strategy to improve police response to violence against women, reduce police brutality and excessive force, and strengthen community policing reforms.

I want to make it clear that I realize how complicated the relationship is between law enforcement and the community at large, especially for the disenfranchised and the underrepresented. For too many, this relationship is broken. No one person or organization could possibly have all the answers, but I felt that hearing the story of one woman who has been fighting for over 50 years on issues of equity was particularly compelling to me.

Today, at age 78, she lives on the Central Coast of California, and has never truly retired. In fact, just before the release of this episode, she was testifying before the US Senate in front of the US Senate Justice Committee on George Floyd.

In this episode, Penny will share with us her story and career experience in law enforcement. She talks about her steep journey of rising through the ranks from being a rookie to becoming a leader.

Episode Highlights:

• What led Penny down the path of law enforcement
• Challenges when entering a field that is not saturated with women
• Standing firm in what you believe
• Pay gaps, rising through the ranks and smashing glass ceilings
• Sex discrimination in the workplace
• Penny's experience leaving the Portland police department
• How Penny became a pioneer to opening door for females to work in the criminal justice system
• Co-founding The National Center for Women & Policing
• Why women should not undervalue themselves
• Life in "retirement"

Connect with Penny

• www.pennyharrington.com
• Email: [email protected]

Mentioned in this episode:

• The Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan
• Triumph of Spirit: An Autobiography by Chief Penny Harrington

Please consider supporting organizations that challenge racial injustice:

• Equal Justice Initiative www.eji.com
• Black Lives Matter www.blacklivesmatter.com
• NAACP www.naacp.org

---

Did you enjoy today's episode?

Please click here to leave a review for The 6%, with NancyMD. Be sure to subscribe on your favorite podcast app to get notified when a new episode comes out!

Do you know someone who might enjoy this episode? Share this episode to inspire and empower!

Let's get social!

Instagram @_nancymd

Facebook @nancymdpdx

Twitter @_nancymd

LinkedIn @nancyyenshipleymd

Website www.nancymd.com

Subscribe to The 6%, with NancyMD

++ Apple Podcasts

++ Spotify

++ Google Podcasts

This episode was supported by Girls Inc. of the Pacific Northwest. Please go to girlsincpnw.org to learn more.

Join me in this episode as the first-ever female full- time hitting coach, Rachel Balkovec shares her journey on how she made baseball history. At the beginning of her career, Rachel faced a number of setbacks. Despite having an impeccable resume which included 2 degrees in sports performance and multiple baseball internships, Rachel was passed over for positions that she was well over-qualified for. But this did not stop her from reaching her goals, it actually made her push even harder.

Now, Rachel is a hitting coach for the New York Yankees and has worked in professional baseball for 7 years. She is the first female full-time strength and conditioning coach and also the first woman to be a full time hitting coach in the history of professional baseball. She is a highly sought after speaker and mentor, and her success story has opened up opportunities for women to pursue their passions.

Find out how Rachel overcame the struggles of being a woman in a male-dominated field.

Episode Highlights:

• Rachel's story on getting rejected and how she became the first-ever female coach to get hired by a Major League Baseball Team
• Getting back up after rejections
• Rachel's eye-roll moments
• Women filling in high roles in major league baseball
• Building feminine change
• Rachel's work with Virtual Handshake Academy
• How to deal and understand change

Connect with Rachel

• Instagram @rachel.balkovec
• Twitter @_rachelbalkovec
• Facebook
• Personal Website

---

Did you enjoy today's episode?

Please click here to leave a review for The 6%, with NancyMD. Be sure to subscribe on your favorite podcast app to get notified when a new episode comes out!

Do you know someone who might enjoy this episode? Share this episode to inspire and empower!

Let's get social!

Instagram @_nancymd

Facebook @nancymdpdx

Twitter @_nancymd

LinkedIn @nancyyenshipleymd

Website www.nancymd.com

Subscribe to The 6%, with NancyMD

++ Apple Podcasts

++ Spotify

++ Google Podcasts

The 6%" is a podcast dedicated to women thriving in traditionally male-dominated fields. As a female orthopaedic surgeon, I belong to the 6% that are women in this field - and thus the inspiration for the title.

The birth of this podcast came about when I was at an airport and saw a female commercial airline captain. Though I didn't know her, I wanted to talk to her and ask her all about her life and path - and I wanted to hug her, knowing she likely experienced many of the same challenges that I had. I realized that across disciplines and careers, we have parallel experiences and struggles in following our passions. My audience includes women and men who enjoys hearing inspiring stories of grit, perseverence, resiliency, but I also hope to inspire the next generation of women surgeons, scientists, firefighters, engineers, CEOs.

I'm Dr. Nancy Yen Shipley, and in every episode, you'll get to hear inspiring stories of women who are thriving in male-dominated fields, and how they were able to realize their goals and overcome the challenges that they've faced. In "The 6%", I talk to women about how they arrived at their careers, and the facets of their lives that brought them there. We talk about imposter syndrome, microagressions, barriers to entry, pay gap, mentoring, obstacles and failures - more importantly, how we get up from those failures.

We all need motivating and inspiring stories to keep us going, especially during these unprecedented times.

In this kick-off episode, I'm going to share my story on how I became an orthopaedic surgeon and overcame the challenges of being in a male-dominated field.

Join me on this journey as we empower each other to persevere and stay resilient in tough times while fostering and guiding the next generation of leaders to stay on the right path.

Episode Highlights:

• Why The 6%
• What inspired me to pursue orthopedic surgery
• What it's like to work in a male-dominated field
• Breaking norms and overcoming challenges

---

Did you enjoy today's episode?

Please click here to leave a review for The 6%, with NancyMD. Be sure to subscribe on your favorite podcast app to get notified when a new episode comes out!

Do you know someone who might enjoy this episode? Share this episode to inspire and empower!

Let's get social!

Instagram @_nancymd

Facebook @nancymdpdx

Twitter @_nancymd

LinkedIn @nancyyenshipleymd

Website www.nancymd.com

Subscribe to The 6%, with NancyMD

++ Apple Podcasts

++ Spotify

++ Google Podcasts