The Female Insight Zone

By The Female Insight Zone & C-Suite RadioBusiness Careers

The Female Insight Zone episodes

January 11, 2019 Laura Brandao: Making the Most of Every Opportunity
How do you turn a part-time job in a call center into a career? How do you grow your business when everyone else is downsizing? How do you become a C-suite leader in an industry dominated by men? Laura Brandao contends that the answer lies in making the most of every opportunity.
Brandao is the President of American Financial Resources, a wholesale firm that serves thousands of mortgage professionals and customers nationwide with their residential financing needs. Brandao was honored as one of 2018’s Most Influential Women in the Mortgage Industry, one of 2017’s Mortgage Business Hot 100, and one of the 50 Elite Women in the Mortgage Industry—three times! She has 20-plus years of experience building strong teams, consistently leading new divisions from launch to industry leadership.
Today, Brandao shares her journey from the call center to the C-suite, discussing how she survived the implosion of the mortgage industry to become president of AFR. She speaks to the importance of a strong work ethic and passion for the work you do. Brandao also reflects on her achievements in an industry dominated by men, explaining how a laser focus on making a name for AFR contributed to her success. Listen in for Brandao’s insight on making the most of every opportunity and hear her advice around differentiating yourself to remain relevant in your marketplace.
Key Interview Takeaways
Look for the opportunity in every role you take on. Brandao turned a part-time job in a call center into a career, and she attributes her success to the attitude that every position is what you make of it.
Show up every day. Brandao’s strong work ethic comes from her family, and she has always been committed to giving 110% every day, no matter who she works for or how much money she makes.
Focus on getting the job done. Brandao rarely thinks about being one of the few women in leadership in the mortgage industry because she is too busy making a name for her company.
Differentiate yourself. Brandao is proud to be a female leader in the mortgage space, and she argues that where you come from doesn’t matter if you go beyond the day-to-day and find unique ways to be relevant in your marketplace.
Understand your value. Brandao focuses on the fact that she gets to ‘bring families home every day,’ and the opportunity to impact other’s lives inspires her to do her best work.
Connect with Laura Brandao
Laura Brandao on LinkedIn
AFR Wholesale

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17 min
November 16, 2018 Robbie Kellman Baxter: Building a Business in the Membership Economy
In recent years, we have experienced a massive transformation in the way organizations relate to the people they serve. The focus has shifted from ownership to access, from transactions to relationships, from single payment to subscription pricing, and from one-way conversation to open dialogue. In this new Membership Economy, businesses are called on to build trusted relationships with customers in order to earn their loyalty.
Robbie Baxter is the founder of Peninsula Strategies, a consulting firm that supports solopreneurs, venture-backed startups and industry leaders in developing business strategy. She has 20 years of experience working on growth initiatives with nearly 100 organizations in 20-plus industries, including ASICS, Netflix and The Wall Street Journal. Baxter is also the author of The Membership Economy: Find Your Superusers, Master the Forever Transaction, and Build Recurring Revenue, an Inc Top 5 Marketing Book of 2015, and she received her MBA from Stanford, where she serves as the Vice Chair of Stanford Women on Boards.
Today, Baxter explains the Membership Economy, describing how she supports entrepreneurs and startups in building authentic relationships with their clients and customers. She shares her transition from corporate product marketing to independent consulting, discussing how being the mother of young children made it difficult for her to be an A-player in a traditional nine-to-five setting. Listen in for Baxter’s insight on defining your area of expertise and learn how to choose a career path that works for your life.
Key Interview Takeaways
Businesses benefit from building relationships with customers. Baxter coined the term Membership Economy to represent the massive shift in how organizations relate to the people they serve, developing trust with consumers in order to win their loyalty.
Independent consulting requires niching down to a specific area of expertise. Baxter fell in love with the Netflix business model and leveraged her understanding of the Membership Economy to build a successful consulting business helping entrepreneurs and startups establishing meaningful relationships with clients and customers.
Integrity is key in the membership economy. Subscription businesses that don’t treat their customers well will lose them.
As an independent consultant doing knowledge work, it doesn’t matter WHEN you work on a project, as long as you complete it on time. The flexible model affords more control over your career and may be ideal for women who are the mothers of young children.
Connect with Robbie Baxter
Peninsula Strategies
Robbie Baxter on LinkedIn
Robbie Baxter on Twitter
Resources
The Membership Economy: Find Your Superusers, Master the Forever Transaction, and Build Recurring Revenue by Robbie Kellman Baxter
Stanford Women on Boards

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16 min
November 02, 2018 Brianna Sylver: Cultivating Your Spirituality in Business
Brianna Sylver was facing a challenging time in her business. Seismic shifts in the industries she served translated to a shrinking client base. She was exhausted and unhappy with the way she was showing up as a businesswoman, wife and mother. That’s when she found a new mentorship group that helped her tap into her spirituality—and cultivate it purposefully in her business. She found her center as an individual, and over time, she found the center of her business as well.
Sylver is the Founder and President of Sylver Consulting, a global inquiry and innovation firm operating at the nexus of market research, UX design and strategy. The Sylver Consulting team supports Fortune 500 companies in the transformation of their brands by providing clarity and focus around their next steps of growth. Sylver has been recognized for her contributions to the fields of innovation and consumer insights, and she speaks regularly on topics such as innovation culture, hybrid research methodologies and entrepreneurship. She earned her Master’s in Human-Centered Communication Design from the IIT Institute of Design in Chicago.
Today, Sylver shares her journey as an accidental entrepreneur, explaining how her strength in understanding the strategic side of design and a partnership with LaSalle Bank led to the birth of her company. She offers insight around finding new clients by understanding how you best connect with people and describes how to look at sales as an opportunity to serve others. Listen in for Sylver’s insight on bringing together the spiritual and business aspects of your life and learn how to reengineer your business systems for continuous, sustainable growth.
Key Interview Takeaways
Leverage how you best connect with people to find new clients. Sylver has grown her company by leaning into her relationship-based, go-giving spirit, expanding her client base by talking to people at conferences and networking on LinkedIn.
You have been called to serve others by helping them solve problems. If you’re uncomfortable selling your services, change your perception: Remember that you are helping people rise to the best version of themselves as an individual or organization.
Don’t be afraid to marry the spiritual and business aspects of your life. Sylver overcame a challenging time in her career by tapping into her spirituality and cultivating it in a purposeful way through her business.
Re-engineer your business systems to support continuous, sustainable growth. The systems that brought you to a particular point of growth may not be the systems that are going to take you to the next level.
Connect with Brianna Sylver
Sylver Consulting
Brianna Sylver on LinkedIn
Brianna Sylver on Twitter

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21 min
October 19, 2018 Wendy Darling: Live, Love and Lead with Impact
Are you consumed with work, neglecting yourself and your relationships? What if you made the choice to focus on what matters and cultivate connection—with yourself and others? What if such a shift in your priorities would allow you to lead with greater impact and influence?
Relationship and Transformational Results Expert Wendy Darling is the founder of The Miraculous Living Institute. With 36-plus years of experience as a management and organizational consultant, master healer and coach, Darling has created the innovative Miraculous Living Method, a system that allows you to get the results you want with greater ease. She works with business leaders and their teams as well as private clients, and Darling trains other practitioners in her programs and methodology. She is the Amazon bestselling author of the groundbreaking book, The Miracle That is Your Life.
Today, Darling explains how she works with executives and their teams to bring the happy back into an organization by way of engagement and contribution. She shares her Live-Love-Lead philosophy, describing the importance of fostering purpose and relationships first—before you can lead with maximum impact and influence. Listen in for Darling’s insight around the Miraculous Living Method and learn how to overcome the misalignment that’s holding you back, identify your unique gifts, and share your greatness with the world!
Key Interview Takeaways
Unhappiness is caused by living a life of SHOULD. Rather than doing what you think you’re supposed to, ask yourself, “What can I contribute?”
Live, love and then lead. As a recovering workaholic, Darling had to learn to put her own oxygen mask on first. Now she prioritizes living a life that matters and cultivating relationships, and that allows her to lead with greater impact and influence.
Believe in miracles. Darling argues that each and every one of us is a walking miracle, and it is your job to share that greatness and make the mark on the world that only you can.
Get your mind in alignment with what you want. Darling’s Miraculous Living Method involves identifying what’s holding you back and then retraining your brain to overcome health issues, grow your business, manifest positive relationships, and ultimately make your dreams a reality.
Recognize just how special you are. Because your gifts are such a natural part of who you are, you may not realize your own uniqueness.
Connect with Wendy Darling
The Miraculous Living Institute
Email [email protected]
Wendy Darling on LinkedIn
Resources
The Miracle That is Your Life by Wendy Darling

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16 min
October 10, 2018 Kelly Roach: Adopting the Habits of High-Performing Salespeople
What differentiates high-performing salespeople from all the rest? How do they use their time differently? What tasks do they prioritize? And what is their mindset toward the process?
Kelly Roach is the founder and CEO of Kelly Roach Coaching, a consulting firm that supports small business owners in achieving exponential profit, sales and income growth. Her diverse resume includes experience as an NFL Cheerleader and Fortune 500 Executive. In her corporate role, Roach was promoted seven times in eight years, quickly becoming one of Randstad Holding’s top-performing salespeople and eventually managing 100 people in 17 locations. In 2012, she made the decision to pursue entrepreneurship for its freedom and flexibility—and to fulfill her purpose in helping other entrepreneurs build profitable businesses around lives they love.
Today, Roach shares her view of every life experience as a stepping stone, explaining how her time as an NFL cheerleader introduced her to strong empowered women and ultimately prepared her for entrepreneurship. She describes how to reignite a passion for work by reconnecting to your mission and offers advice on balancing work, family and a demanding travel schedule. Listen in for Roach’s insight around the habits of high-performing salespeople and learn how to approach sales with a nothing-to-lose mindset!
Key Interview Takeaways
Every life experience is a stepping stone. Roach contends that her time as an NFL cheerleader prepared her for entrepreneurship, helping her learn how to put herself out there in a big way.
Top-performing salespeople use their time differently. Roach had early success in sales because she prioritized the things that get results. She spent the majority of her time in conversation with prospects and clients, making it a point to follow up and follow through.
Nurture a nothing-to-lose mindset. Roach’s approach to sales begins with a recognition that the prospect is not paying her now, so a ‘no’ isn’t the end of the world. She frames sales as simply asking a qualified buyer to investigate your solution.
Reignite your passion with a clear focus on WHY. If you’ve lost connection with your mission, Roach suggests beginning and ending each day with a reminder of your purpose, the meaning behind why you do what you do.
Work toward balance by making family a priority. For every decision, Roach asks herself, “Is this the right thing for my family?”
Connect with Kelly Roach
Kelly Roach Coaching
Unstoppable Success Radio
Text biggerthanyou to 44222
Resources
Unstoppable: 9 Principles for Unlimited Success in Business & Life by Kelly Roach
Bigger Than You: The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Building an Unstoppable Team by Kelly Roach

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17 min
September 21, 2018 Marie Swift: Attracting Business as a Thought Leader in Your Field
The most effective way to attract business is through relationship or credibility marketing. Establish yourself as a thought leader in your field, and the clients will come to you! So, how do you step into the spotlight and position yourself as a credible expert in your little corner of the universe?
Marie Swift is the President and CEO of Impact Communications, a full-service PR and marketing communications firm that serves independent financial advisors and allied institutions. A thought leader in the realm of financial services, Swift hosts the Thought Leader Roundtable series and writes the popular Best Practices in the Financial Services Industry blog. She served as the Director of Corporate Communications for the Worldwide Investment Network before establishing her own firm in 1993. In the past 25 years, Swift’s work has appeared in Forbes, Barron’s, The Wall Street Journal, Financial Advisor, and On Wall Street magazine, among many other publications, and she speaks regularly at professional conferences including TD Ameritrade Institutional, Pershing Advisor Services, Fidelity Investments, the Financial Planning Association, and the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors.
Today, Swift shares her journey from corporate marketing to entrepreneurship, explaining how prioritizing her family led to the creation of Impact Communications. She walks us through the significant challenge she faced in having to let people go during the recession as well as her big win landing a contract with one of the top ten broker-dealer firms in the country. Listen in for Swift’s insight around giving your team members a sense of ownership, attracting business through relationship marketing, and leveraging video to position yourself as thought leader in your field.

Key Interview Takeaways
What matters most? Becoming a mother made Swift’s life working in corporate communications for a wealth management firm unmanageable. She reinvented herself as a freelancer for the sake of her family, and Impact Communications was born.
Entrepreneurship comes with significant challenges. Swift was forced to let people go during the Great Recession, right-sizing her business based on the economy. This was no easy task, but the business emerged stronger.
Give your team a sense of ownership. Every individual at Impact Communications has a role that makes a difference, no matter where they fall in the consulting and service-delivery spectrum.
Become a thought leader and business will find you. Impact Communications walks the talk, attracting clients by way of credibility and relationship marketing.
Leverage multimedia to become a celebrity in your corner of the universe. Digital assets like video can help you step into the spotlight and position yourself as a credible expert in your field.
Connect with Marie Swift
Impact Communications
Impact on Facebook
Marie Swift on Twitter
Marie Swift on LinkedIn
Marie Swift’s Best Practices Blog
Resources
The Advisor Thought Leader Summit

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15 min
September 07, 2018 Cheri Torres: Improving Outcomes With ‘Conversations Worth Having’
For survival’s sake, we are hard-wired to scan for what’s wrong. The problem is, when we focus exclusively on what we don’t want and what’s not working, we get stuck in the negative. What if we could shift the conversation to the things that ARE working and what we DO want—and solve our problems along the way? What if we could leverage everyday conversations to dramatically improve outcomes in both our personal and professional lives?
Cheri Torres is an author, speaker and catalyst for change. She specializes in leadership and team development, partnering with clients to facilitate positive organizational change through Appreciative Inquiry. Torres is also an entrepreneur, founding the management consultancy Innovation Partners International as well as NextMove, a firm that helps organizations invigorate collaboration and create a culture of excellence. She is the author and co-author of numerous books and articles, including Conversations Worth Having: Using Appreciative Inquiry to Fuel Productive and Meaningful Engagement.
Today, Torres shares the Appreciative Inquiry conversation model, explaining how a focus on what IS working opens us up to higher-order thinking. She describes the top two components of conversations worth having: generative inquiry and positive framing. Listen in for Torres’ insight on improving outcomes for our organizations and relationships by way of Appreciative Inquiry—and learn to make a conscious choice to scan for what’s RIGHT!

Key Interview Takeaways
Appreciative Inquiry is an approach to organizational change and design that focuses on the best of what IS and what’s possible. Rather than looking at what’s wrong and how to fix it, Appreciative Inquiry asks: What do we want? Where can we go together? How do we get there?
By focusing on what’s working, we open ourselves to higher-order thinking. Torres contends that we are energized by our successes, and directing our attention there leads to creativity and innovation.
Worthwhile conversations begin with great questions. Torres explains that inviting people to share information (rather than making statements) breeds deeper understanding and connection.
Positive framing means choosing a tone and direction that moves us toward what we want. The process of Appreciate Inquiry is not about ignoring the negative but finding the pockets in an organization where things are going right—and replicating what works through the system as a whole.
Connect with Cheri Torres
NextMove
Innovation Partners International
Cheri Torres on LinkedIn
Cheri Torres on Twitter
Cheri Torres on Facebook
Resources
Conversations Worth Having: Using Appreciative Inquiry to Fuel Productive and Meaningful Engagement by Jackie Stavros and Cheri Torres
Jackie Stavros on LinkedIn
Jackie Stavros at Lawrence Technical University

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16 min
August 24, 2018 Monica Eaton-Cardone: Innovating Past Your Setbacks
As an entrepreneur, you are guaranteed to face challenges. The difference between failure and success hinges on how you handle those setbacks. Do you throw in the towel? Or do you innovate past your problems and find a way to prevent them from happening again?
Monica Eaton-Cardone is a powerhouse entrepreneur and business leader with expertise in technology, eCommerce, risk relativity and payment-processing solutions. She is the COO of Chargebacks911 and CIO of its parent company, Global Risk Technologies. Eaton-Cardone was a finalist for the 2016 Women in IT International Star of the Year and the 2016 ETA Technology Innovation Star Award, and she was recently named as a finalist for the 2018 Woman in PayTech Award.
Today, Eaton-Cardone shares her unconventional path to entrepreneurship, explaining how being forced into computer programming electives as a high school student uncovered her aptitude for technology. She addresses why other countries are making strides we’re not to promote women in finance, engineering and technology—and how we might reposition those careers to stress the design and relationship-building aspects of those fields. Listen in for Eaton-Cardone’s insight on innovating past your setbacks and learn how to develop a shatterproof sense of self-worth!

Key Interview Takeaways
To promote more women in fields like tech and finance, a bottom-up approach is most effective. Eaton-Cardone discovered her affinity for computer programming because she switched high schools, and the other electives were already filled. She believes that requiring courses in technology and engineering will help girls discover that they have an aptitude for those disciplines.
The skills necessary for software development are very similar to those used in interior design. Eaton-Cardone argues that both involve creating something of artistic value, and if we reposition careers in finance and technology to stress the design and/or communication aspects, more women would show an interest.
Innovate past your problems. Eaton-Cardone credits her success to persevering through the difficult times and finding ways to prevent setbacks from happening again. In fact, a product she developed to resolve her own problem as an online merchant has become Chargebacks 911, a thriving company in its own right.
No one should be able to shatter your self-worth. Eaton-Cardone defines self-worth as an awareness of your achievements and confidence in your ability to learn. She trusts that there is no problem that can’t be solved, and she doesn’t allow other’s opinions to hold her back.
Connect with Monica Eaton-Cardone
Monica Eaton-Cardone on LinkedIn
Monica Eaton-Cardone on Twitter
Monica Eaton-Cardone’s Blog
Chargebacks911

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17 min
August 10, 2018 Priscilla McKinney: Start with WHY to Build the Business (and Life!) You Want
If it’s not important to do right now… Is it really important to do? It is easy for entrepreneurs and business leaders to get caught up in the busyness of our own design, letting a stack of What If projects grow until they consume us. But we don’t have to get caught up in the ‘burden of the backburner.’ We can stop, take stock, and build the life we want based on a clear purpose. We can start with WHY.
Priscilla McKinney is the CEO and resident Mama Bird at Little Bird Marketing, a boutique agency based in Joplin, Missouri. Little Bird works with premiere brands, helping them gain clarity around messaging and develop an annual plan for content delivery and lead generation that aligns with their sales goals. McKinney also serves as the host of Ponderings from the Perch: A Modern Podcast for the Modern Entrepreneur.
Today, McKinney explains how others saw her potential in the realm of marketing when she did not. She shares the lessons she learned when her creative studio burned to the ground and how the experience helped her to ponder the WHY—and build the business AND the life she wanted. Listen in for McKinney’s insight on what she calls ‘the burden of the backburner’ and learn how to let go of the What If projects and focus on what’s important to do right now!

Key Interview Takeaways
Listen to the people who see you. McKinney took over a local advertising firm when the woman who owned it pointed out that marketing is her native genius.
Start with WHY. Little Bird Marketing is different because McKinney’s team asks good questions up front to help clients get clarity regarding their desired outcome.
Your business is the people. When McKinney’s creative studio burned to the ground, it gave her the opportunity to carve out the business she wanted—and the life she wanted around that business.
If it’s not important to do right now, it’s not important to do. It is easy for entrepreneurs to get buried under the pressure of What If projects—but rebuilding after the fire in her studio helped McKinney get free of the ‘burden of the backburner.’
Team up with premiere brands. To avoid disingenuous marketing, Little Bird makes it a point to work with companies that deliver at an 8, 9 or 10, simply bringing their branding and content strategy up to the same standards.
Connect with Priscilla McKinney
Little Bird Marketing
Priscilla McKinney on LinkedIn
Email [email protected]
Resources
Little Bird Marketing Free Resources
Ponderings from the Perch Podcast

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19 min
July 27, 2018 Jessica Higgins: The Separation of Women In Business
To rise through the ranks of corporate leadership, women learn to fight. But that competitive attitude often means that we feel threatened by other women in the workplace and hold each other back rather than lifting each other up. How can we let go of a ‘me versus you’ mentality and shift to a collectivist view that benefits us all? How can we be mindful about banding together as women in business?
Jessica Higgins is an organizational workplace expert, strategic consultant and author of the new book, 10 Skills for Effective Business Communication. Huffington Post named her one of the Breakthrough Female Founders of 2017, and her work has been published in Entrepreneur, Thrive Global and The Ladders. Higgins holds executive and board positions in companies in the arts, consulting and technology space, and she regularly speaks on issues including women in the workplace, female entrepreneurs and the future of work.
On this episode of The Female Insight Zone, Higgins discusses the ‘me versus you’ mentality that fosters competition among women in business. She shares the mindset shift that helped her transition from being a fighter to being a leader and what she is doing to mentor other female business leaders and entrepreneurs. Listen in for Higgins’ advice around banding together as women and taking on new challenges with confidence.

Key Interview Takeaways
Women must break free from the ‘me versus you’ mentality. To climb the corporate ladder successfully, female business leaders often live in fight mode. But we cannot achieve equality until we stop competing against each other and shift to a collectivist view.
Lift up other women through mentorship. Higgins is working to promote women in business by mentoring other women to develop a leadership presence and supporting fellow female entrepreneurs.
Put your hand up. Too many women keep their heads down, believing they are not qualified for a particular role or raise. Higgins argues that no one walks into a new project or position knowing exactly what to do, and our job is to minimize the window of time it takes to ‘fake it until you make it.’
Connect with Jessica Higgins
Jessica Higgins’ Website
Jessica Higgins on LinkedIn
Jessica Higgins on Facebook
Email [email protected]
Resources
10 Skills for Effective Business Communication: Practical Strategies from the World’s Greatest Leaders by Jessica Higgins, JD, MBA, BB
Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead by Sheryl Sandberg
The Red Zone Leadership Foundation

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20 min

About The Female Insight Zone

From the publisher's feed

The Female Insight Zone is a 30-minute podcast sharing insights from women who have made an indelible mark in business and the path they took to soar. In each episode, host Maribeth Kuzmeski…