In this episode of The Brave Enough Show, Dr. Sasha Shillcutt and guest Cara Kirsch discuss:

• What made her decide to build your own firm
• What wasn't working anymore about the path she was on — and what gave her the courage to change it
• The drive to champion other women through Ignite

About Cara:

Cara Kirsch is the CEO and Founder of The Kirsch Group, an independent employee benefits brokerage built on a simple idea: employers deserve a partner who explains the numbers, asks the harder questions, and stays in their corner long after the renewal is signed. With more than three decades of industry experience, Cara has built The Kirsch Group into a trusted advisor for organizations across Nebraska and beyond, known for clarity, transparency, and strategy that actually moves the needle on cost and culture. Cara and her team partner with employers of all sizes, from growing companies to large, multi-state organizations, to design benefits programs that align with business goals, support employees, and stand up to scrutiny. Her expertise spans self-funded health plans, managed care, claims and data analytics, and proactive cost-containment strategies, with a focus on translating complexity into decisions leaders can actually make. Clients come to The Kirsch Group when they are tired of surprises at renewal and ready for a partner who will tell them what is really happening in their plan.

Before founding The Kirsch Group, Cara held senior leadership roles including Area Vice President at Gallagher and Vice President at SilverStone Group (now HUB), where she advised executive teams on aligning benefits with culture, budget, and long-term strategy. That experience shaped the firm she leads today, one that combines the resources and sophistication of a large brokerage with the responsiveness and accountability of an independent shop. Beyond her client work, Cara is a recognized voice in the industry. She speaks nationally on leadership, workplace culture, and the future of employee benefits, and is the founder of Ignite Women in Business and host of the Ignite Podcast. These platforms keep her close to the conversations shaping employers' biggest people decisions, insight she brings back to every client engagement.

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Instagram: @thekirschgroupllc

Brave Enough 2026 CME Conference For ten years, women have gathered at the Brave Enough Conference to step away from the demands of medicine and into a space of renewal. This anniversary year, we celebrate a decade of empowerment and sisterhood—ten years of lifting each other up, reigniting purpose, and remembering that none of us has to do this alone. Join us September 24-27, 2026, at the Omni Scottsdale Resort and Spa.

Follow Brave Enough:

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Join The Table, Brave Enough's community. The ONLY professional membership group that meets both the professional and personal needs of high-achieving women.

In this episode of The Brave Enough Show, Dr. Sasha Shillcutt and guest Chris Hill discuss:

• What have you learned about taking up space and playing big instead of shrinking?

• The moment you decided you weren't going to hold back anymore in your career or leadership

• What does it look like day-to-day to run a company at this stage of your life?

• How has being part of Legacy Collective shown up in your life, personally and professionally, since you joined?

About Chris:

Christine Hill is President and CEO of AOI Corporation, an Omaha-based commercial interiors and construction company with 110 employees and approximately $70million in annual revenue. AOI brings together commercial construction, contract furnishings, and prefabricated construction solutions to create integrated environments for clients throughout the region. Christine joined AOI in 1994 as a temporary receptionist and grew alongside the company, serving in leadership roles across nearly every aspect of the business before becoming President in 2014 and CEO and co-owner in 2022. Her leadership today is focused on ensuring AOI remains relevant and positioned for the future—building a strong leadership team, hiring people who genuinely care about their work and their clients, and creating a culture centered on exceeding expectations. AOI's success has also been shaped by alignment with best-in-class partners, including Herman Miller and DIRTT, and by pursuing projects where expertise, collaboration and quality matter. Christine is active in the Omaha business community and currently serves in leadership roles with Young Presidents Association, the Associated General Contractors, and the Greater Omaha Chamber of Commerce. She has one son, Henry, who will be a Junior at UNL and a yellow lab named Buster. Connect on Linkedin.

Brave Enough 2026 CME Conference For ten years, women have gathered at the Brave Enough Conference to step away from the demands of medicine and into a space of renewal. This anniversary year, we celebrate a decade of empowerment and sisterhood—ten years of lifting each other up, reigniting purpose, and remembering that none of us has to do this alone. Join us September 24-27, 2026, at the Omni Scottsdale Resort and Spa.

Follow Brave Enough:

WEBSITE | INSTAGRAM | FACEBOOK | TWITTER | LINKEDIN

Join The Table, Brave Enough's community. The ONLY professional membership group that meets both the professional and personal needs of high-achieving women.

In this episode of The Brave Enough Show, Dr. Sasha Shillcutt and guest Reem Rawashdeh discuss:

• What did it take to step fully into a leadership role
• Reaching the point where you realized the way you'd been doing things wasn't working anymore, and how to make a change
• Helping other women feel confident playing big
• The Legacy Collective difference

Guest Info:

Reem Rawashdeh is a financial advisor with Raymond James in Omaha, holding both the Chartered Financial Analyst and Accredited Investment Fiduciary designations. Originally a dual citizen of Jordan and Italy, she built a career helping clients find financial clarity and make confident, informed decisions about their futures. A graduate of the International Institute in Geneva, Switzerland, Reem holds both a BBA in management and an MBA. Her practice serves entrepreneurs and corporate executives with a special focus on women investors. She currently serves on the finance committee for Girls Inc as well as the planned giving committee of the Salvation Army, and is the president of the CFA Nebraska Society. Her hobbies include horseback riding, painting, going to the beach, traveling, and supporting her children in their sports and educational endeavors. Originally a dual citizen of both Jordan and Italy, Reem currently lives in Omaha, Nebraska, with her husband, Francesco, and their two children, Maya and Elia. Connect on Linkedin

Brave Enough 2026 CME Conference For ten years, women have gathered at the Brave Enough Conference to step away from the demands of medicine and into a space of renewal. This anniversary year, we celebrate a decade of empowerment and sisterhood—ten years of lifting each other up, reigniting purpose, and remembering that none of us has to do this alone. Join us September 24-27, 2026, at the Omni Scottsdale Resort and Spa.

Date: Tues, Sept 1, 2026 5:30-8:30 at the Legacy Collective Omaha

I am opening the doors to Legacy Collective and sharing a story I have never told publicly—the real story behind the journey, the setbacks, the healing, and the vision that led me to build Omaha's first private women's club. This is an intimate gathering of just 40 women around a table, sharing a meal, meaningful conversation, and the kind of connection that changes something in you.

Follow Brave Enough:

WEBSITE | INSTAGRAM | FACEBOOK | TWITTER | LINKEDIN

Join The Table, Brave Enough's community. The ONLY professional membership group that meets both the professional and personal needs of high-achieving women.

In this episode of The Brave Enough Show, Dr. Sasha Shillcutt discusses:

• Building community IN the room
• The Legacy Vision
• The Legacy Building
• The Legacy Invitation

Brave Enough 2026 CME Conference For ten years, women have gathered at the Brave Enough Conference to step away from the demands of medicine and into a space of renewal. This anniversary year, we celebrate a decade of empowerment and sisterhood—ten years of lifting each other up, reigniting purpose, and remembering that none of us has to do this alone. Join us September 24-27, 2026, at the Omni Scottsdale Resort and Spa.

Date: Tues, Sept 1, 2026 5:30-8:30 at the Legacy Collective Omaha

I am opening the doors to Legacy Collective and sharing a story I have never told publicly—the real story behind the journey, the setbacks, the healing, and the vision that led me to build Omaha's first private women's club. This is an intimate gathering of just 40 women around a table, sharing a meal, meaningful conversation, and the kind of connection that changes something in you.

Follow Brave Enough:

WEBSITE | INSTAGRAM | FACEBOOK | TWITTER | LINKEDIN

Join The Table, Brave Enough's community. The ONLY professional membership group that meets both the professional and personal needs of high-achieving women.

In this episode of The Brave Enough Show, Dr. Sasha Shillcutt discusses:

• The real arc of BE's growth — not a highlight reel but an honest account

• The impact BE has had on real women

• The patterns, the permissions, the specific ways ambitious women disappear and return

• The pivot: after a decade of giving women the inner work, there was still something I couldn't give. A room.

Brave Enough 2026 CME Conference For ten years, women have gathered at the Brave Enough Conference to step away from the demands of medicine and into a space of renewal. This anniversary year, we celebrate a decade of empowerment and sisterhood—ten years of lifting each other up, reigniting purpose, and remembering that none of us has to do this alone. Join us September 24-27, 2026, at the Omni Scottsdale Resort and Spa.

Date: Tues, Sept 1, 2026 5:30-8:30 at the Legacy Collective Omaha

I am opening the doors to Legacy Collective and sharing a story I have never told publicly—the real story behind the journey, the setbacks, the healing, and the vision that led me to build Omaha's first private women's club. This is an intimate gathering of just 40 women around a table, sharing a meal, meaningful conversation, and the kind of connection that changes something in you.

Follow Brave Enough:

WEBSITE | INSTAGRAM | FACEBOOK | TWITTER | LINKEDIN

Join The Table, Brave Enough's community. The ONLY professional membership group that meets both the professional and personal needs of high-achieving women.

In this episode of The Brave Enough Show, Dr. Sasha Shillcutt discusses:

• The specific loneliness of recovery — the silence on the other side of getting well, when you've become yourself, and nobody around you quite speaks your language yet.

• That loneliness was the foundation of Brave Enough — not as a business decision, but as a response to a feeling.

• The story of the first conference — what she hoped for, what she was afraid of, and what actually happened in that room of women physicians.

• The identity formation, the years of training, the permission structures, the specific way medicine asks women to disappear into the role.

• What BE became, the scale of the proof

Brave Enough 2026 CME Conference For ten years, women have gathered at the Brave Enough Conference to step away from the demands of medicine and into a space of renewal. This anniversary year, we celebrate a decade of empowerment and sisterhood—ten years of lifting each other up, reigniting purpose, and remembering that none of us has to do this alone. Join us September 24-27, 2026, at the Omni Scottsdale Resort and Spa.

Date: Tues, Sept 1, 2026 5:30-8:30 at the Legacy Collective Omaha

I am opening the doors to Legacy Collective and sharing a story I have never told publicly—the real story behind the journey, the setbacks, the healing, and the vision that led me to build Omaha's first private women's club. This is an intimate gathering of just 40 women around a table, sharing a meal, meaningful conversation, and the kind of connection that changes something in you.

Follow Brave Enough:

WEBSITE | INSTAGRAM | FACEBOOK | TWITTER | LINKEDIN

Join The Table, Brave Enough's community. The ONLY professional membership group that meets both the professional and personal needs of high-achieving women.

In this episode of The Brave Enough Show, Dr. Sasha Shillcutt discusses:

• The unedited, unpolished version of what burnout looked like for me

• The overfunctioning pattern of what it actually feels like to be boundary-less, saying yes to everything

• The biggest promise I made to myself, and how it changed everything.

• How I got well, kept my promise, found health and joy — then discovered something no one had warned me about.

"The version of me that had dreams and desires and knew what she wanted had quietly left the building while I was busy meeting the expectations of everyone around me. I didn't have the words for it then. I just knew that I looked fine. I looked successful. And I did not recognize myself." - Dr. Sasha Shillcutt

Brave Enough 2026 CME Conference For ten years, women have gathered at the Brave Enough Conference to step away from the demands of medicine and into a space of renewal. This anniversary year, we celebrate a decade of empowerment and sisterhood—ten years of lifting each other up, reigniting purpose, and remembering that none of us has to do this alone. Join us September 24-27, 2026, at the Omni Scottsdale Resort and Spa.

Date: Tues, Sept 1, 2026 5:30-8:30 at the Legacy Collective Omaha

I am opening the doors to Legacy Collective and sharing a story I have never told publicly—the real story behind the journey, the setbacks, the healing, and the vision that led me to build Omaha's first private women's club. This is an intimate gathering of just 40 women around a table, sharing a meal, meaningful conversation, and the kind of connection that changes something in you.

Follow Brave Enough:

WEBSITE | INSTAGRAM | FACEBOOK | TWITTER | LINKEDIN

Join The Table, Brave Enough's community. The ONLY professional membership group that meets both the professional and personal needs of high-achieving women.

In this episode of The Brave Enough Show, Dr. Sasha Shillcutt and Terri Hanson Mead discuss:

• Creating flexibility instead of rigid success

• Values-based decision-making

• How to future-proof yourself against burnout

• Teaching women to check in before crisis hits

"Rather than seeing midlife as a crisis, I want women to see midlife as an opportunity." - Terri Hanson Mead

Brave Enough 2026 CME Conference For ten years, women have gathered at the Brave Enough Conference to step away from the demands of medicine and into a space of renewal. This anniversary year, we celebrate a decade of empowerment and sisterhood—ten years of lifting each other up, reigniting purpose, and remembering that none of us has to do this alone. Join us September 24-27, 2026, at the Omni Scottsdale Resort and Spa.

Follow Brave Enough:

WEBSITE | INSTAGRAM | FACEBOOK | TWITTER | LINKEDIN

Join The Table, Brave Enough's community. The ONLY professional membership group that meets both the professional and personal needs of high-achieving women.

In this episode of The Brave Enough Show, Dr. Sasha Shillcutt discusses:

• Why women hate uncertainty

• The nervous system during transition

• How to stop rushing clarity

• Anchoring yourself when there are no answers

"There is a period of time, a few minutes, where you have intubated an hypoxic patient, and the sats are still low. Everyone around you is second-guessing you, because the pulse ox sound is still ominous. But you know the tube is in the trachea…you watched it go in. The worst thing you can do is doubt yourself and pull the tube out. You must remain, even if everyone around you doubts. This is like a transition, and the waiting period. Don't doubt; remain." -Dr. Sasha Shillcutt

Brave Enough 2026 CME Conference For ten years, women have gathered at the Brave Enough Conference to step away from the demands of medicine and into a space of renewal. This anniversary year, we celebrate a decade of empowerment and sisterhood—ten years of lifting each other up, reigniting purpose, and remembering that none of us has to do this alone. Join us September 24-27, 2026, at the Omni Scottsdale Resort and Spa.

The Legacy Collective is a beautifully designed club built just for women who are building their legacies—on their terms. Whether you're growing a business, raising a family, or both, this is your space to pause, connect, and thrive. At Legacy Collective, we believe when women gather, magic happens. Here, you'll find other bold, brilliant women who are redefining success and supporting one another along the way.

Follow Brave Enough:

WEBSITE | INSTAGRAM | FACEBOOK | TWITTER | LINKEDIN

Join The Table, Brave Enough's community. The ONLY professional membership group that meets both the professional and personal needs of high-achieving women.

In this episode of The Brave Enough Show, Dr. Sasha Shillcutt and Dr. Barb Edelheit discuss:

• The silent grief of the empty nest

• Reclaiming desire, ambition, and agency

• Redefining purpose beyond caretaking

• Giving yourself permission to want more again

"Not every stage of life is fabulous, and we put a lot of pressure on ourselves as working moms. We can be intentional in the moments of motherhood and enjoy the moments we can, even in the busy years." Dr. Barb Edelheit

Guest Bio:

Barbara Edelheit, MD, is an accomplished pediatric rheumatologist, educator, and passionate advocate for gender equity in medicine. She serves as an Associate Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Connecticut School of Medicine, where she has made significant contributions to both clinical care and academic leadership. At Connecticut Children's in Hartford, CT, Dr. Edelheit holds several key leadership roles, including Division Head of Rheumatology, past Board Chair of the Connecticut Children's Specialty Group, and Vice President of the Medical Staff. Dr. Edelheit's clinical expertise centers on the diagnosis and treatment of pediatric autoimmune and inflammatory conditions. She earned her medical degree from the State University of New York Upstate Medical University, followed by residency at The New York Presbyterian Hospital – Cornell Medical Center. She then completed her pediatric rheumatology fellowship at the Hospital for Special Surgery. A dedicated mentor and educator, Dr. Edelheit is deeply committed to fostering the next generation of medical professionals. Her leadership extends to promoting women in medicine, most notably through founding and chairing an affinity group for women physicians at Connecticut Children's. She strongly believes in the critical importance of mentorship and sponsorship throughout medical careers. As the National Mentorship Chair for the American Medical Women's Association (AMWA), Dr. Edelheit works to empower women in medicine, advocating for their success and professional growth. She also serves as the faculty mentor for the University of Connecticut's AMWA student chapter, providing guidance and support to medical students pursuing their careers.

Brave Enough 2026 CME Conference: For ten years, women have gathered at the Brave Enough Conference to step away from the demands of medicine and into a space of renewal. This anniversary year, we celebrate a decade of empowerment and sisterhood—ten years of lifting each other up, reigniting purpose, and remembering that none of us has to do this alone. Join us September 24-27, 2026, at the Omni Scottsdale Resort and Spa.

Follow Brave Enough:

WEBSITE | INSTAGRAM | FACEBOOK | TWITTER | LINKEDIN

Join The Table, Brave Enough's community. The ONLY professional membership group that meets both the professional and personal needs of high-achieving women.