The Liz Svatek Show

Being a single Mom was NOT in Askia Taylors plan, but it led to her starting her business The Future of Division 1. Askia had to learn to navigate the path to the male dominated world of professional sports and now helps other parents to do the same. Join us as we talk about the anxiety of kids leaving for college and making their own mistakes, and hear how an acquaintance unexpectedly became a safe harbor when her life turned upside down.

Show notes:

Follow Askia on Instagram: @askiataylor

Follow The Future of Division 1 on instagram: @thefutureofd1

Website: https://thefutureofd1.com       

Podcast: https://anchor.fm/thefutureofd1

Link to our new shop: https://future-of-d1.myshopify.com

Link to our online course: https://www.thefutureofd1courses.com/

Askia would love to offer her course to the Warrior Women community. If Warrior Women sign up to take the course (currently priced at $1,500/the cost of one travel sports season) and pinky promise to share with other sports parents, we have a code they can use take it for FREE. $0. The code is: WARRIORWOMEN and it will work the entire month December.

Guest Bio:

Askia Taylor

Professional experience - 20 yrs in Marketing and Advertising 

Got a start in media sales after an internship at KTLA-TV, moved to KCBS-TV then migrated into a career at the intersection where digital ad tech and ad agencies collide. She's built multi-million dollar campaign strategies in multiple categories including automotive, pharmaceutical, television & film, CPG and beauty. 

After launching Media Bella, a wildly successful media consultancy in 2008, she became pregnant with her second son. Days after her second son turned 4 months old, the children's father left her for another woman with $13.16 in the bank. He never returned. Left with two options and no financial resources, Askia chose to pack up her infant and pre-teen son, and move into the home of her oldest son's youth football coach - a man she barely knew. A choice she fondly recalls as the best she's ever made. Despite the harsh reality of her grim financial circumstances, the humiliation of abandonment, she kept her eyes on their futures. 

"I was moving and operating with zero clarity. All I knew was I needed to do what made the most sense for Dallas. He was priority number 1. My infant was easy, he was perfectly happy to be papoosed to my chest everyday. My oldest was my biggest concern because I knew he was painfully aware of everything that had gone on and since I was barely able to process our new normal, I knew he was struggling too. We didn't deserve what was happening to us and I was ill-equipped to help him. It was more pain and confusion than most 12 year olds should ever have to process and the only thing I could think to do was keep him in sports. He was the happiest version of himself in a jersey and I refused to take that from him. We battled through the pain by not avoiding it and we've never looked back."

The Future of Division 1 was born out of a series of circumstances that happened to and around a single mother and her son, a Division 1 football recruit. A mom who had zero knowledge of the college recruiting process but dove in blindly to support her son through it - twice. The company name is a personal declaration that speaks truth to the futures of all facets of the Division 1 recruiting process and has now blossomed into a brand, sports content company including a podcast and web series (currently in development) with hundreds of athletes proclaiming their futures. The Future of D1 is the future of professional sports.

Nely Galan is a Latina powerhouse and SELF-MADE media mogul who teaches women to be bulletproof. The daughter of immigrants and proud of it, she has become an expert in navigating crisis and channeling success. Join us as we talk about why you should choose yourself, how to weather hard times and how to find your own unique voice. Nelys no nonsense approach and passionate spirit is the exact inspiration we are needing right now.

Show Notes:

Instagram: @nelygalan

FB: https://www.facebook.com/nely.galan.3

Website: becomingselfmade.com

Book: https://becomingselfmade.com/store/

Adelante Movement @theadelantemovement

Lin Manuel Documentary: Siempre Luis

Sandra Cisneros

Norma Kamali

Guest Bio:

Nely Galán is a self-made media mogul. She was the first Latina President of Entertainment for a U.S. television network- Telemundo, and an Emmy Award winning producer of over 700 television shows in English and Spanish, including the hit reality series, “The SWAN” for 20th Century Fox, which she produced through her multi-media company Galan Entertainment. Her company also launched over 10  television channels abroad for companies like HBO, ESPN, FOX, MGM and Sony.

Galan took a mid -career sabbatical, completing a masters and doctorate Clinical Psychology, where she decided to focus on the Psychology of Money, in multicultural communities. She then authored The New York Times bestselling book SELF MADE, Becoming Empowered, Self-Reliant, and Rich in Every Way ( 2016) (published in English, Spanish and Mandarin) about the revolution in women’s entrepreneurship led by multicultural women in the U.S. and emerging women around the world, out this fall in paperback.

Since then, Galán has founded The Adelante Movement, to empower and train multicultural women both economically as well as entrepreneurially. Her digital platform, BecomingSelfMade.com reaches over 500,000 women monthly and hosts content in financial literacy, Self-Made stories of women of color and webinars. She has trained over 1 million women of color in entrepreneurship in person and online. Galán teaches women and their families that if we all focus on becoming financially self-reliant, we can overcome any obstacle.

Galán is a sought after speaker - just during these last 5 years, she has spoken in over 500 cities advocating for small business owners of color. In China, her book tour resulted in the selling of 2.1 million books. She has also spoken at The United Nations, The United State of Women, major corporations (Coca-Cola, American Express, J.P Morgan Chase, Morgan Stanley, Walmart, Dell) and at tech companies (Google, Facebook, eBay, Uber). Furthermore, Galán’s speeches have inspired thousands of students across the United States as she has spoken at many universities including Harvard, USC, UCLA, University of Arizona, University of Miami, University of Arkansas, Babson, Bryant, Simmons and Santa Monica Community College.

Her next book, to be published in 2021, Don’t Buy Shoes Buy Buildings!, will inform women who currently work for others how to invest in order to “ make money while we sleep” and become Self Made.

Dr. Fran Bates Oates grew up at a time where she could read “colored only” before she could read any book. At the age of 11 she saw a black man hanging from a tree with burnt hands and feet and she saw more burning crosses than she could count. Now as a racial identity coach, Dr. Fran has worked through her own feelings about race, to help white women figure out who they are as racial beings and to see themselves differently. She often asks the question: “When is the first time you knew you were white?” The answers she gets are the key to moving us closer to understanding each other.

Show Notes:

https://www.instagram.com/drfranbatesoates/

Linked in: https://www.linkedin.com/in/fran-oates-b88930137/

Website:

Guest Bio:

Dr. Fran Bates Oates has been an active teacher for forty-five years and a life coach for 20 years.

In the Winston-Salem, NC Forsyth County School system she served in the roles of teacher, assistant principal, principal, Quality Training and Development Program Specialist and Director of Staff Development.

After 31 years of service in the school system, Dr. Oates retired in 2004.

In 2006, she joined Winston-Salem State University (WSSU) as a Clinical Adjunct Faculty. One of her proudest moments was to continue as the Elementary Education Program Coordinator, coming back to lead the very program from which she graduated. Recently, Dr. Oates retired as the Director of Field and Clinical Experiences for the Department of Education.

Fran Oates has been dedicated to preparing teachers to teach in multicultural classrooms in rural and urban schools. Holding a BS in Early Childhood Education from WSSU, Fran Oates completed her MA in Elementary Education, Advanced Certification in Curriculum and Instruction, an Ed.S in Administration, and an Ed.D in Educational Leadership from Appalachian State University, Boone, NC. Currently, she is the Founder and President of BatesOates Life Coaching and Educational Services, Inc. where she has been a life coach since 2004. She loves teaching and life coaching.

Dawnmarie Deshaies is an author, CEO, speaker, podcaster, model and….. MS WARRIOR. For decades Dawn Marie lived with and suffered from mysterious medical problems, which was finally discovered to be Chronic Multiple Sclerosis, a disease of the central nervous system, brain and spinal cord. Through her perilous life long journey of physical suffering, revolving hospital doors, and doctors denying her symptoms, Dawnmarie learned about the disease and how to manage and move forward. By connecting and sharing her story with other MS Warriors, she created a community that has become her family.

Show Notes:

Dawnmarie- instagram- @Dawnmariehealthyandfit

FB- https://www.facebook.com/dawnmariehealthyandfit/

Website: https://dawnmariehealthyandfit.org/

Book: :Living with PhantoMS: A Journey to the Truth” and “Finding the Sun Through the Clouds”

Podcast: Live with Dawnmarie

Wine: Quintessa Cabernet

Guest Bio:

Personal health battles and emotional struggles were the fuel for Dawnmarie Deshaies to start the global wellness brand Dawnmariehealthyandfit, LLC.  For decades she has lived with and suffered from a chronic autoimmune disease that impacted her life in many different ways - 

Multiple Sclerosis. 

Multiple Sclerosis is a disease of the central nervous system, essentially the brain and spinal cord.

Through her journey of  learning about the disease, personal self-care and finding well-being, an idea was sparked that would allow Dawnmarie to share with others the experience to health, self-care, mindfulness, restoration and positivity. By helping others heal and paying it forward, this has in turn helped to foster her own continual healing.

Dawnmarie Deshaies has gathered her leading wellness allies and experts to create a multi-dimensional program that approaches every aspect of real well-being: mindfulness, nutrition, fitness, self-love and positivity.

Andra Liemandt became a phenomenon when at the age of 30 she picked up the drums, started a band called The Mrs, and founded the “I am Enough” movement. Years later, Andra is taking her love of art, music, and children, to create The Kindness Campaign, a non profit that provides SEL to schools. We talk about why it’s important to give yourself permission to do things that feed your soul and why you need to see the “good” in every day.

Instagram: @AndraLiemandt

The Kindness Campaign Instagram: @tkckindness

The Kindness Campaign Website: https://tkckindness.org/

Podcast: I am Enough

The Mrs. Band Website: https://www.themrs.com/

The Magic Mirror- https://www.themrs.com/magic/

Guest Bio:

Andra is the founder and CEO of The Kindness Campaign, a nonprofit that provides emotional health tools beginning at age 3. Launched in 2015, TKC’s acclaimed SEL (social emotional learning) curriculum and programs serve schools and families, utilizing storytelling, creative arts, play and self-reflection. Under Andra’s leadership, TKC’s reach grew from five schools to 82 in two years. Today, TKC is a national platform, serving students across the country with innovative virtual and in-person offerings. In 2020, when so many organizations found themselves devastated, TKC was able to scale, launching two online stores, a library of SEL dance videos and puppet shows, and a full suite of digital curriculum. TKC now serves over 50,000 students.

Since its inception, TKC has partnered with Kendra Scott, Just Keep Livin’ Foundation, Bumble, Bryan Anthonys, Nordstrom, Lady Gaga’s Born This Way Foundation and many more to bring emotional health tools to children from all walks of life.

After a career in large corporate account management and pharmaceutical sales at Dell Inc. and Abbott Laboratories, Andra pivoted to philanthropy and the nonprofit sector. Now a national speaker on kindness and bullying, Andra has given keynote addresses for AT&T and IBM conferences, Paul Mitchell Schools nationwide, and the National Charity League. She is a recipient of Austin Woman’s Way Business Award for Social Impact (2018), and was a finalist for the Phyllis Richards Austin Icon for Children Award (2018). An active philanthropist, Andra currently serves on the Girl Scouts of Central Texas 2019 Women of Distinction Committee, and is on the advisory board of Baylor Scott & White Health. In 2015, Andra was named Cover Woman for Austin Woman Magazine’s September Edition, and in 2018, she joined the board of the GRAMMY Museum. 

Andra is also the founder and drummer for The Mrs, a pop-rock band that has appeared on "Good Morning America," "The Queen Latifah Show,” Buzzfeed, People Magazine, and Billboard. Their first music video, released in 2014 and featuring their signature "Magic Mirror," currently has 5.4 million views on YouTube. Since then, The Mrs has shared the stage with Maroon 5 and Jon Bon Jovi, and has enjoyed musical collaborations with Paul Oakenfold and more.

Kim Walls is a master formulator, clean beauty pioneer, & the daughter of

a renowned skincare founder. After years of helping startups become successful she has returned to her beauty roots with a skincare company of her own, a family legacy using wild foraged ingredients. Kim tells us what's on the horizon for clean beauty, why your career should be a jungle gym, and why your skin is the key to your overall health.

Show Notes:

Furtuna Skin- https://www.furtunaskin.com/

Furtuna Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/furtunaskin/

Kims Fave Product: PORTE PER LA VITALITÀ- Eye serum

Bambini Furtuna- for babies and kids- https://bambinifurtuna.com/

Bona Furtuna Olive oil- https://bonafurtuna.com/

Book Kim Loves: The Power of Onlyness: Make Your Wild Ideas Mighty Enough to Dent the World - by Nilofer Merchant

More Than Me- Womens Group- https://morethanme.com/

Bra Network- Women’s Entrepreneur Networking- https://www.bra-network.com/

Guest Bio:

Kim is the CEO and Co-founder of Furtuna Skin and lives with her family in Los Angeles, California. Born into beauty as the daughter of a renowned skincare founder, she grew up learning how to formulate topical healing remedies. After graduating from the University of California Santa Barbara with honors, Kim joined a wellness tech startup as their skincare guru. She then pivoted to starting skincare companies of her own, carrying on the family legacy as founder of natural brands that garnered international recognition. She expanded her beauty repertoire as the former General Manager of Lime Crime Makeup, working with the team to turn it into one of the most rapidly growing indie cosmetic companies. Named one of New Hope Media’s “9 Wonder Women of the Natural Industry”, Kim has been at the forefront of the clean beauty movement, galvanizing brands to remove unsafe ingredients & create more eco-friendly standards. A skincare innovator with broad experience as an educator, esthetician, nutritionist and formulator, she has worked with doctors, nurses and lab chemists to research and develop breakthrough clean beauty products that lead the industry forward. She combines her commitment to wellness and organic living with an expertise in clinical skincare and nutritional science to provide resources and guidance for men and women worldwide. In the non-profit sector, Kim has served as leader of the Retail Advisory Committee for the Environmental Working Group (EWG). An industry advisor and authority on safe, natural ingredients, Kim has lent her voice to beauty and empowerment podcasts such as Gloss Angeles, American Made Beauty, Support is Sexy and countless others. Kim and her brands have appeared on numerous morning news programs including CBS Early Show and Good Morning America with interviews from major publications including Vogue, Allure, Refinery 29, Poosh, Maisonette and WWD. Kim has contributed to Real Simple, Skin Inc, Huffington Post, Kidsinthehouse.com, StrollerTraffic.com, Natural PregnancyPros.com, MomTrends.com and more. An animated speaker, she educates and entertains audiences for events like Create & Cultivate, the Girl Cult Festival by Galore, and the Albright, an international women’s club. A member of the Female Founders Collective, CEW, Hey Mama in NYC and The Jane Club in Los Angeles, Kim mentors women on how to grow their business. Having been an early leader in international eCommerce and a business partner to such retailers as Whole Foods, Target, Ulta and Sephora, Kim has been tapped to speak on new trends at conferences like Shop.org and led the Retail Advisory Committee for the Environmental Working Group. As the CEO and Co-founder of Furtuna Skin, Kim leads development, from concept and formulation through storytelling for this luxury Italian skincare brand. She continues to raise the bar for clean beauty efficacy by debuting powerful new ingredients and processing methods, like Soundbath extraction, to deliver groundbreaking, transformative results.

Episode Description:

This week we are talking about more than self care, we’re talking about SOUL CARE. Myisha T. Hill, mental health advocate, social entrepreneur and founder of Check Your Privilege, joins me to discuss the upcoming election and how she is compassionately dismantling power, privilege and oppression amongst us white folx. Myisha, who is on the FBI watch list for fighting for what’s right, explains how NOT VOTING is NOT AN OPTION and why TWO BATHS A DAY is exactly what we need right now!

Show notes:

Follow Myisha on Instagram: @MyishaThill

Website: https://myishat.com/

Check Your Privilege- workshops and more- https://checkyourprivilege.co/

Courses Myisha Recommends:

Mindful of Space

Unpacking White Saviorism

Breaking The Addiction Of Privilege

Guest Bio:

Myisha T. Hill is the founder of Check Your Privilege. She is a single mom of 3 differently-abled children, Myisha is also a mental health advocate, and social entrepreneur. An advocate for healing and social transformation, Myisha continues to center the work of Check Your Privilege from a mental health perspective, using self-compassion practices and reflection to help white folx step back, reflect, and compassionately dismantle their relationship with power, privilege, and oppression. When she's not guiding the practice of those engaged with Check Your Privilege, Myisha lives her role as a mental health advocate to facilitate wellness workshops and peer support groups with black, brown and indigenous womxn through a restorative justice project she founded and sponsors called, Brown Sisters Speak.

Episode Description:

This is the episode to listen to. Tell all your girlfriends, Moms, and Aunties. Angela Barnes tells us how she co-founded the new Breast Care and Imaging Clinic called Kvinna. For years Angela was signing a waiver at her yearly mammogram until she had a gut feeling that she needed to educate herself on breast health. Angela discovered that 50% of women fall into high-risk categories for breast cancer, 1 in 10 have dense breast tissue and a growing number are getting clean mammograms, then getting a cancer diagnosis in the same year. She stumbled upon a powerful technology called Sonocine, an Automated Whole Breast Ultrasound that powerfully detects small cancers in women with dense breast tissue or with implants. With zero negative impact on the body and no toxic radiation, Sonocine offers a way for women to be proactive about their health. Although this technology has been FDA approved for over 10 years, the medical industry isn’t interested, it’s up to the US to spread the word! LISTEN NOW!

Show notes:

Instagram: @kvinnacare

FB- KvinnaCare

Website: www.kvinnacare.com

- go to the website to take the free assessment to find out if you might need supplemental imaging.

Text HEALTH to 33-777

JoAnne Lord is hosting a Breast Cancer Fundraising Workout!

October 24th- SATURDAY @ 9AM PST / 12PM EST #SWEATINGFORACAUSE! All levels sweat! 45 minutes! Sculpted by Alex x JoAnne Lord (sculpter, breast cancer survivor, Mali + Lili founder, and all around INSPIRATION!) All proceeds will go to Tower Cancer Research Foundation in LA.

For booking this class: venmo me @alexscolari - all donations welcome! **Please write Saturday Class #sweatingforacause in the body of the venmo!

** Any donation over $50 will receive a Mali + Lili mask scarf ($40 value!!)

Mali + Lili Mask Scarves - https://www.maliandlili.com/collections/face-masks

Liftique- Liftique.com

Liftique specializes in the delivery of precise medical aesthetic treatments and procedures using the latest, clinically proven, non-surgical and minimally invasive procedures for skin health, skin tightening, body contouring, vaginal health and sexual wellness by our staff of highly trained medical professionals.

Guest Bio:

Angela Barnes lives in beautiful Liberty Lake, WA in the heart of the Pacific Northwest. She is married to her best friend and together they have raised three kids. She has dedicated the last 22 years to raising her children and working in several women’s ministries. Her heart and passion for women living healthy and whole lives is the driving force behind all she does.

This mission has led her to this next chapter in her life. She is the president and co-found of KVINNA Breast Care and Imaging clinic. The first clinic is located in Liberty Lake and is opening in early 2021. After searching for better breast screening options for herself as a woman with augmentation, she stumbled upon a little known but powerful technology called SonoCine. SonoCine is an Automated Whole Breast Ultrasound that powerfully detects small cancers in women with dense breast tissue or with implants.

Angela has painfully experienced the failure of mammography for women with dense breast tissue. One of her best friends is battling a stage 4 diagnosis because mammography alone didn’t give her the early detection she needed due to her dense breast tissue. After discovering how SonoCine would have made a difference in her friend’s life, and learning that tens of thousands of these stories happen every year in our country alone, she has made it her mission to bring this powerful ultrasound technology to the masses. Angela is committed to making sure woman are educated and then empowered to make the very best decisions for their health.

I have joined a new lady gang! The Cancer Cartel! The Cancer Cartel was founded in 2018 by sisters Katy Tinney and Shelly Tinney-Miller, alongside their close friend Kerry Solmonsen. While comparing their individual stories of fighting cancer, these three warriors noticed one commonality: cancer is expensive. Together they have devised a plan to help. Tune in as we discuss how they started their non profit, why they keep going and why they always knew they were destined for greatness.

Show Notes:

Follow on instagram https://www.instagram.com/cancercartel/

Follow on FB- https://www.facebook.com/CancerCartel/

Website: https://www.cancercartel.com/

Be a monthly donor like me- for as little as $5 a month! https://www.cancercartel.com/shop-now

Kerry Solmonsen has spent the last 25 years in the service of others in one form or another. During her time leading sales teams for Nordstrom, she caught the community service bug. From national causes like JDRF and the United Way, to Rainier Foothills Wellness Foundation and Bras for the Cause. She never imagined she would be the one in need.

Kerry’s health journey would require more reading than you want to do today, but her battles with spinal meningitis, near fatal pneumonia, skin, thyroid, cervical, and breast cancer- did nothing but solidify her belief that she is here for a purpose.

She also knew the extreme financial pressure that she had felt in her life and knew that she could help others who were walking in those shoes. Cancer Cartel is her passion and cleaning up the cost of cancer is her mission!

Katy Tinney is a lifelong entrepreneur. With humble beginnings at her coffee stand, she grew that business from one location to two, however, The coffee business didn’t fill her heart. She sold the coffee stands and opened a salon, with great success!

In 2014 Katy was diagnosed with Stage 4 Non-hodgkins Lymphoma. That is where her story takes a turn. For the next 5 months, she endured intense chemotherapy. She was doing great! The cancer had shrunk, and she was in the home stretch. She had cause to celebrate! But, at her routine checkup in October at Seattle Cancer Care Alliance, the news wasn’t good. The chemo had failed, and the cancer was growing again.

Her only option for life, was near death. Stem cell transplant. It is the last resort. But she was up for the challenge because she had an army of family and friends supporting and encouraging her. Without these remarkable people, she would have lost everything. That is why she is partners in the founding of the Cancer Cartel. She knows the financial burden cancer creates, and knew she wanted to make a difference.

Shelly Tinney-Miller was a driven career-woman. Her whole life revolved around her big plans- climbing the corporate ladder and she worked long hours and made many sacrifices to get where she wanted to be, but it was unfulfilling. She had success, and accomplished many of her goals, and was not satisfied.

Her world was flipped upside down in 2010 when she was diagnosed with breast cancer. She knew that in order to beat it, she had to slow life down and that there was something much more important than sitting at a desk all day working for someone else. After her recovery was complete the draw to serve others got stronger and stronger.

In 2016, Shelly walked away from 25 years in the corporate world to stay home with her daughter, who was 3 at the time. She knew it was the best decision she had ever made. People thought she was crazy leaving a six-figure job in finance at Boeing, but she knew that home is where she was called to be at that moment.

Turns out timing is everything, once her daughter started Kindergarten, Katy and Kerry called her to invite her to begin the creation of Cancer Cartel and the rest is history. Turns out cancer can be a blessing in disguise.

Barbara Guterman has been a successful entrepreneur for 35 years. At the young age of 23, Barbara co-created a telecommunications company that was one of the nation’s first competitive local phone companies, but when she had kids, her role changed. Barbara became the CEO of her children and worked tirelessly to recover them. Years of isolation, as her children had to be her main focus, taught Barbara the importance of connection, mentorship and being fearless, focused and flexible in life.

Show Notes:

Barbara's Website: https://www.barbaraguterman.com/

Teach, Give, Inspire Fridays- https://www.teachgiveinspirefridays.com/

Teach Give Inspire FB- https://www.facebook.com/TeachGiveInspireFridays/

OTG Baby- https://baby-otg.com/

OTG Baby FB- https://www.facebook.com/OTGbabyinc

Extraordinary Birthdays Instagram- https://www.instagram.com/eobirthdays/ providing birthdays for homeless kids.

Launch your podcast! BH Marketing Firm- use code WARRIOR and tell Becky I sent you! http://www.bhmarketingfirm.com/podcasting/

My Saint My Hero- Wearable Blessings- Http://www.mysaintmyhero.com

Guest Bio:

Barbara Guterman is a seasoned entrepreneur, a passionate business executive, and a veteran community organizer with a desire for creating powerful change. As a consummate entrepreneur for over 35 years, Barbara has launched companies and managed businesses in a multitude of industry segments including telecommunications, retail, franchising, manufacturing, fine jewelry and in internet-based start-ups. Her experience ranges from small business to large scale public corporations and covers many areas of expertise including, management, operations, sales, investor relations, public relations, community relations and external affairs. Her ability to see the big picture and to do whatever needs to be done to achieve that goal is what sets Barbara apart from others. 

At the young age of 23, Barbara saw an untapped market opportunity in the telecommunications industry and co-created one of the nation’s first competitive local phone companies. At the age of 30, Barbara’s company was the first in her industry to go public and was regarded by Wall Street as a” leading edge” company. Under her team’s leadership, the company raised over $80 million dollars and grew to over 5000 employees, providing competitive local and long-distance voice and data services to customers nationwide. She was widely recognized for these achievements and was featured in the September 1995 edition of Forbes magazine as a “Woman with a Mission”. Barbara has the distinction of being the first person to don the cover of Readers Digest, where she was highlighted as a distinguished woman entrepreneur. In addition, she was recognized as Ernst and Young’s 1997 Florida Entrepreneur of the Year, for her efforts in building Intermedia Communications. Barbara received her bachelor’s degree in Telecommunication from the University of Florida in 1985 and an MBA from the University of South Florida in 1993, where she was also named USF’s Entrepreneur of the Year in 1993. 

Barbara is currently a Mentor and Partner in several startup businesses and runs a Women’s speakers series called Teach Give Inspire Fridays, a platform that allows women the opportunity to empower themselves, their businesses, their families and their communities. 

Barbara is also the President and COO of OTGbaby Inc. An emerging manufacturer of functional, fashionable and innovative baby gear and bags.