The Mona Lisa Monologues

Welcome back everyone to the Mona Lisa Monologues, Today’s Women Shaping History. I am Lisa Ross Faust, your host for this powerful new series. Our focus is on women who have broken the glass ceiling, have worked in a man’s world, or simply climbed their way to the very top, in any industry. Real stories – real conversations; conversations that will empower and encourage women to embrace their inner strength and recognize the masterpiece, that they already are.

Joining us today we have Joy Jarrett, Partner, and the Chief Marketing Officer of Guidehouse, and I think she has checked off ALL those categories by the way. If you are not familiar, Guidehouse, was formerly the U.S. public sector arm of PwC -PricewaterhouseCoopers, (a pretty big name).  Last year they acquired Navigant Consulting. The company is 8,000+ people strong, and $1.4 billion and growing! 

Just so you have a better understanding of what she does, Joy oversees marketing for their commercial and public sector and if you aren’t familiar with the term public sector, it includes public goods and government services such as the military, law enforcement, defense, energy, infrastructure, public transit, education, national security, along with public healthcare so it is quite complex.  The way I envision it, (it’s just how my brain works), from a marketing perspective, it’s as if you’d have to learn to speak multiple languages to understand so many government operations.  So, let that sink in.

I’ve worked with Joy for many years and it has amazed me how she transforms, much like a chameleon when it comes to adapting to the various industries, she has worked in. She always shows up to the meeting with an idea or vision and proceeds to collaborate with those involved.  She listens. AND she won’t tell you this, but she has rolled out some major global marketing campaigns for major brands. She uses her female intuitive thinking, and that has worked for her. She’s a brave one.

First, Joy shares what her company has been doing during the pandemic, she details her corporate climb and the challenges she faced, along with what has helped her move forward.  She is a working woman and working mom like so many of us and has had to reinvent often.  We can all learn a lot from Joy, so here we go.

Welcome, everyone to the Mona Lisa Monologues, Today’s Women Shaping History. I am Lisa Ross Faust, your host for this powerful new series. Our focus is, women who have broken the glass ceiling, have worked in a man’s world, or simply climbed their way to the very top, in any industry. Real stories, real-life conversations. It’s all about finding the masterpiece within.

Today we have Dee Patel joining us and she is the first female Managing Director of the iconic Hermitage Hotel in Nashville Tennessee. Everyone in Nashville knows Dee; she's been awarded the Woman of Influence by the Nashville Business Journal and the Outstanding Woman Hotelier of the Year. She’s also a stakeholder within her community and serves on several boards: The Tennessee Hospitality & Tourism Association, Historic Hotels of America, the Nashville Downtown Partnership, the Nashville Chapter of the Les Dames d’Escoffier International, which mentors and supports women in hospitality just to name a few and she is most proud of the hotel’s 10-year partnership with The Land Trust for Tennessee.

Dee recently took on an important role in organizing the Centennial Celebration of Women’s Suffrage in Nashville where it all happened 100 years ago. I bet you didn’t know Tennessee was the swing vote back then. Dee will give us a little history lesson, we’ll hear about the hotel, what they have been doing during this pandemic, of course, the women’s suffrage celebration and we’ll find out what it was like moving from England to Mississippi as a young girl, and how an independent Indian woman from the UK, figured out how to land a seat at the table. We’ll even get a little celebrity juice, some girls chat, and a very moving narrative of what she is teaching her children. She does it all, while at the helm of such a majestic property, and as far as I’m concerned – she is the queen.   A lady of distinction, let’s roll out the red carpet for Dee Patel….

Episode 4, Winning, the Whaley Way! 

Welcome, everyone to the Mona Lisa Monologues, Today’s Women Shaping History. I am Lisa Ross Faust, your host for this powerful new series. Our focus is on women who have broken the glass ceiling, have worked in a man’s world, or simply climbed their way to the very top, in any industry.

These trailblazing women will interpret their personal stories of courage, resilience, and triumph… full of passion, persistence, and fearless dedication. Real-life, real conversations.

Today I’d like to introduce you, to someone who has successfully done all of the above, and I’ve had the opportunity to work AND learn from her, a true leader of women supporting women; she teaches us what it’s like to be fearless. I don’t know where she gets her energy from, but I seem to feed off it, and so do those around her. I’m speaking of Dawn Whaley. Dawn is the President of Sharecare, the digital health company founded to help each person, no matter where they are in their health journey. Dawn oversees corporate strategy and scaling operational execution; she’s also directly responsible for marketing, strategic partnerships, and business development. She and her company are thriving!

Previously, Dawn was the Executive Vice President of marketing and strategic relationships for HowStuffWorks, a leading, non-fiction website that was acquired by Discovery. 

Even though I have known Dawn for 20 years, this conversation presented many personal stories of her career life that I had never heard and that is what I am loving about this series. We talk about the things we usually don’t talk about. I truly enjoyed our conversation, and it also brought back some great memories. Dawn Whaley is a trailblazer - simply put - she is that. Let’s allow Dawn to SHARE her story.

Patti Callahan Henry is a New York Times, USA Today, and The Globe best-selling author of fifteen novels, including one of her recent best sellers BECOMING MRS. LEWIS; it’s a unique improbable love story of two real people, Joy Davidman and C.S. Lewis. She makes it look so easy! We’ll talk to Patti about the creative process and everything that goes into becoming a best-selling author, from start to finish.  I also wanted to talk specifically about BECOMING MRS. LEWIS. I really loved this story; the narrative is that of a very strong woman who lived in the 1940s and 50s and how she left an abusive relationship to find herself.  It’s not something women traditionally did back in the day ---- but Joy did it.

Patti is the recipient of The Christy Award - 2019 Winner - "Book of the Year” and The Harper Lee Distinguished Writer of the Year for 2020.    

She even has a popular podcast of her own,  "Behind the Scenes of Becoming Mrs. Lewis and she’s the co-host of a weekly web show Friends and Fiction with 4 other bestselling authors.  

And if that wasn’t enough to impress you, Patti has another novel that will be released next year, SURVIVING SAVANNAH. I’ve reconnected with Patti and I have really enjoyed watching her success story unfold. 

Let’s turn the page ….and get to know Patti Callahan Henry.

Today we interview Lisa Lutoff-Perlo, President and CEO of Celebrity Cruises. Lisa is a trailblazer and the driving force behind the transformation of the luxury cruise industry! She is also a champion of equality for all people and is one of the most inspiring leaders that I know. Not only has she broken the glass ceiling for a major brand, but she has done so by encouraging others on her long journey to the top. Lisa shares her amazing story and we uncover her winning formula for success.  Let's listen and find out how she did it!

Meet Angie Warner, currently Post Malone’s Tour Manager! Angie has earned the respect of so many headline acts - from  Imagine Dragons, Guns & Roses, Lady Gaga, Dave Matthews, NSYNC, and even "The Boss", Bruce Springsteen. She does it her own way.  This trailblazing woman is paving the way for women in the concert touring industry! Sit back and give it a listen; the first 10-15 minutes we get to know the younger Angie, her early years before touring and then we’ll run down some of her tour highlights.  Angie also shares her advice and inspiration for women who may want to get into the industry.

Today's Women Shaping History, hosted by Lisa Ross Faust. If you can imagine, with 30 years of producing major events, I’ve worked with corporations, speakers, actors, entertainers, panelists, authors, owners, organizers, not to mention all the individuals behind the scenes.  I’ve met so many outstanding women – pioneers in fact.  I’d like to reveal their stories of courage with you, with the intention of supporting each other, understanding and learning from one another. We'll feature women who broke the glass ceiling, those working in a man’s world, or simply working hard to make the climb to the very top, in any industry. Our conversations will empower and encourage women to embrace their inner strength and recognize the masterpiece that they already are.  You'll hear who our upcoming guests will be, each with a unique success story to share, characterizing their journey. These trailblazing women will interpret their personal stories of courage, resilience, and triumph… full of passion, persistence, and fearless dedication. Visit us at www.monalisamonologues.com to find out more. Launching 8.26.2020