TrailBlazers Impact

Emily Josenhans wants to help people ditch the artificial sweeteners. She started Domaine Santa Grape Nectar to give a healthier and more holistic alternative that adds a natural sweetener to food and beverages.

Building a healthy product is informed by her work as a nutritionist, where she helped clients make healthier diet choices prior to launching her business. Hear Josenhans describe the entrepreneurship journey, partnering with her sommelier husband in sustainably sourcing California grapes and trying to find balance along the way.

Antonio McGinnis grew up in a difficult housing project where he recalls constantly seeing drugs and violence. Basketball was his escape. It was the path to a college education and a life far away from an upbringing where he experienced abuse from a caregiver. After playing for Texas A&M and professionally overseas, he returned home one summer and broke his ankle — ending his basketball career.

To McGinnis it was a sign. He now serves as executive director of the housing authority where he grew up and actively mentors youths to help them find a better path forward, using his life experience and sports skill to make lifelong connections.

Jamie Amelio’s heart was moved by a child in Cambodia who begged her for a dollar. She was bothered by why a child would need to be out asking for money, and the encounter stayed with her. This drove her to launch Caring for Cambodia and invest heavily in building a charity that works to give children education and a future. The experience models her philosophy of staying bothered. If something bothers you, she says, don’t just let it go. She recounts this and other stories that impressed upon her to find some way, even small, to make a tangible change in someone’s life. Shop on our site for her book Staying Bothered: Find Your Passion, Commit to Action, Change the World.

Jatrice Martel Gaiter shares the influences and the value of a pay-it-forward career started in her early 20s and serving her well into her 60s. With a childhood defined by parents who stressed the importance of education as the gateway to a life full of opportunity, risks and rewards; and finding purpose in the pain of others, Jatrice provides a heart-moving backdrop to her stellar career path. From the benefit born of the tenacity of parents raised in the poverty of the segregated Deep South of the 1930s, 40s and 50s, who themselves fought to achieve a college education followed by a commitment to a better life for their children, she speaks of the outcomes shared by she and her two siblings; all of whom benefitted from Ivy League institutions to Still find that both racial and gender bias would follow them throughout the close of the 20th century and into the new century. Her interview provides sage advice for women on the importance of "investing in YOU" with self-help books, learning new technologies, taking quality downtime AND, most importantly, the gentle reminder that the higher You Go, it's All About How YOU Make Others Feel. As a 60+ year-old, 5'11" African-American blonde, she shares the humor and Up-side of what she calls "aging-out" of sexism, such as realizing you are no longer the object of "cat-calls" when passing a construction site, and not having to think twice about asking a male colleague if they have time to discuss a work related matter over lunch; although her preferred strategy continues to be her long-term tactic of inviting a male for a breakfast meeting which is almost always perceived as both safe and neutral.

Tyra Jarvis has had to retool her life many times. She’s worn an array of hats: consultant, project manager, blue collar roles, and ultimately an entrepreneur.

Now through her company Kefi Coaching LLC, she advises business leaders in connecting passion, dreams, and the power of their mind to create a meaningful path. Transitions can be frightening, but they can launch powerful change.

Her toughest transition was the loss of her husband to cancer, a path that tested everything she knew and forced her to confront a life she didn’t expect. During her journey she’s learned to say yes, embrace change, and be real for others. Jarvis believes it’s the path to an extraordinary life.

Beth Cole’s history of social change dates back to the presidential campaigns of Bobby Kennedy and George McGovern. This demonstrated commitment caught the attention of McGovern’s campaign coordinator, Frank Mankiewicz, such that when he assumed the position of president of NPR, the federally financed radio network of news, public affairs, and cultural programming for much of America, he brought Beth on with him. Beth eventually became a Vice-President of NPR.

Ana Bermudez would often find fashion inspiration on TV from her favorite shows. Yet finding the items in real life was a chore. It’s why she launched TAGit, a visual search engine that helps users find and buy items that pop up on TV shows.

As a female tech CEO, she knows the challenges that women leaders and investors face, which is why it’s critical for women to support one another through both relationships and investment capital. It’s why she supports Stella Angels, an early investor in her company that helps fund women-owned businesses.

With 12 years experience in executive management, she always looks for ways to mentor other women and encourage them to build confidence and push through those feelings of self-doubt that can arise.

Dawn Simmons shares her journey as a former math teacher, flight attendant, along with the lessons-learned as a Black woman working on Wall Street and joining with other women to crack that Glass Ceiling. She shares her advice on the "little things" that can help a woman with aspirations to join and Succeed in a Wall Street firm and the early start of her journey to add her voice with others to reform America's criminal justice system; a system that provides Un-equal Justice when it comes to men of color and a conversation and agenda that has become central to the current campaigns of every democratic candidate for U.S. President. Dawn Simmons talks about the value of international travel and exposure to other cultures as a key influence on finding one's sense-of-self. Hers is a story of a woman that cannot be captured in one interview!

Kara Mac grew tired of hauling around extra shoes. Like many working professionals, she would start her commute in one pair, change to another at work, and then swap shoes for an evening event.

For two years she sketched and prototyped dozens of shoe concepts. She landed on a design for boots with swappable heel covers that she terms “candy” accessories. After 25 years in the fashion world, she quit her full-time job once she found an industry insider who thought the idea could take off.

Kara Mac Shoes has grown to offer sandals and dress shoes, with “candy” options for them all. Mac also shares lots of advice for budding entrepreneurs who want to own their professional destiny.

Children’s natural language is play. That’s why therapist Janie Stubblefield used a technique in her practice called play therapy, which helps her foster deep connections with kids who need healing from trauma, bullying, anxiety, and other mental health challenges.

She takes an outside-the-box approach to making therapy more accessible with a mobile practice that goes where her clients are instead of making them come into an office. This removes many of the anxieties and barriers to entry that can hinder people from entering therapy.

Working with children and helping others is a dream, she says, and Stubblefield wants to see more people embrace the healing and clarity that therapy provides.