Let’s be real—most women were never taught how to lead financially. We were taught to survive, to be quiet, to make do… and then we wonder why money feels heavy, emotional, and loaded.

In this powerful episode, I’m joined by Monica Kaufman, CFP®, founder of Harmony Wealth Academy, who blends Wall Street expertise with real-life grit to help women break the cycle and rise with clarity.

Monica opens up about navigating motherhood, caregiving, and severe mental illness in her family—and how those experiences shaped her belief that wealth is built at the intersection of mindset, meaning, and money. We talk about financial shame, emotional patterns, first-generation wealth building, and why so many high-achieving women still feel stuck.

This is not about hustle.
This is about alignment.
This is about agency.
This is about becoming the woman who leads her life—and her money—on purpose.

If you’re ready to stop surviving and start rising, this episode is for you.

https://harmonywealthacademy.com/

What if the real problem isn’t confidence… but the exhausting performance of it?

In this episode of the Unapologetically Badass Podcast, Renee sits down with Alison Keutgen, a product development expert turned entrepreneur who’s challenging the way women think about empowerment, identity, and authenticity.

After more than 15 years working behind the scenes developing successful products across consumer markets and healthcare, Alison realized something powerful: many women are unknowingly playing a rigged game.

Be confident… but not intimidating.
Ambitious… but not threatening.
Visible… but not too much.

And the constant performance? It’s exhausting.

That realization sparked the creation of Chlōq, a fragrance brand designed to help women stop performing for approval and reconnect with who they already are.

More than a fragrance line, Chlōq blends scent, storytelling, and soundscapes to create daily reminders that women are already enough — no transformation required.

In this conversation, we explore:

✨ Why traditional empowerment messaging sometimes misses the mark
✨ The hidden pressure women face in professional environments
✨ Building a purpose-driven consumer brand from scratch
✨ Choosing authenticity over approval
✨ Why creating space for yourself can be the most radical move of all

Alison’s journey is proof that sometimes the boldest rebellion isn’t becoming someone new…

It’s remembering who you’ve always been.

https://chloq.com/

If you think PR is just press releases and venture capital is just for Silicon Valley boys’ clubs… this episode will blow your damn mind.

Meet Liana Zavo – college dropout turned media mogul, Forbes contributor, venture investor, author, global PR powerhouse, and the woman building a visibility-to-venture pipeline for female founders who are done playing small.

Liana didn’t climb the corporate ladder.
She set it on fire and built her own empire.

From styling elite women for high-profile galas to founding and scaling ZavoMedia PR Group across 12 countries, to launching ZavoVentures – a first-of-its-kind VC + PR hybrid – Liana is on a mission to obliterate the statistic that women receive only 2% of venture capital funding.

And she’s not asking for permission.

She’s been featured on Good Morning America, The Today Show, PIX11, is a Forbes weekly contributor, an Entrepreneur columnist, and has secured 500+ tier-one media placements for founders who went on to raise over $10M in capital. Oh… and she takes equity in the companies she believes in and then positions them to win. Savage.

In this episode, we go deep on:

• Why visibility is currency and silence is expensive

• How women are being underfunded because they are under-positioned (and how to fix it)

• The real power of strategic storytelling in business and investing

• What it actually takes to build authority, attract capital, and command rooms

• And how to stop waiting for the table and build your own damn boardroom

Liana Zavo is proof that you don’t need permission, pedigree, or a perfect resume to build power.
You need vision, audacity, and the guts to be seen.

This episode is a masterclass in female power, positioning, and profit.
If you are a woman with a big vision and zero tolerance for playing small… do not skip this one.

Website: www.zavoventures.com

Instagram handle: @‌officiallianazavo

In this episode, Renee sits down with Erica Saccoccio — early childhood powerhouse, multi-site childcare CEO, and host of The Child Care Director’s Chair Podcast — to dismantle the old leadership playbook and rewrite it for today’s leaders. We go deep on stepping into authority with intention, building teams that actually thrive, and turning daily chaos into clear systems that fuel growth. It’s real talk, strategic frameworks, and no-BS leadership lessons for anyone who’s done with surviving and ready to start leading.

The Child Care Directors Chair Podcast (@ccdcpodcast) • Instagram profile

What does it take to build a massive entertainment brand in one of the most male-dominated industries on the planet—and expand it onto the global stage?

In this high-energy episode of Unapologetically Badass, I sit down with Billie Jo Aasen, founder and CEO of The Festival Company and executive producer of Extreme Mudfest, Canada’s largest mud and music festival.

With more than a decade in live event production, talent booking, and brand creation, Billie Jo has built large-scale experiences attracting tens of thousands of fans across North America—and has taken her festival brand international, expanding into Abu Dhabi. Recognized as one of BC’s Top 30 Under 30 Entrepreneurs and named by Billboard Amplify Magazine as a festival professional to watch, she’s known for combining fearless vision with serious operational execution.

But this story goes deeper than festivals.

As a female founder breaking barriers in entertainment and motorsports, Billie Jo has built powerful partnerships, consulted on major entertainment portfolios including BC Place Stadium, and worked alongside leading brands and organizations—all while leading with purpose.

She is also the President of LIFTED, a nonprofit supporting youth and mental health through music and community-driven events, proving that business and impact don’t have to live in separate worlds.

In this episode, we talk about:

• Building a brand from bold idea to international expansion

• Leading confidently in male-dominated industries

• Turning live experiences into powerful business ecosystems

• Balancing entrepreneurship, motherhood, and leadership

• Why business should always be a force for good

If you’ve ever dreamed of building something bigger than yourself—or stepping into rooms where you weren’t expected to win—this conversation will show you what happens when vision meets resilience.

🎧 Press play and get ready to think bigger.

https://thefestivalcompany.com/

For years, Erin Logan was the voice delivering the news…
But behind the scenes, she was losing her own.

In this raw and riveting episode, Emmy-nominated reporter, professor, author, and founder of Revive With Purpose, Erin Logan, shares the truth about:

• Losing yourself inside your career

• Detaching your worth from your title

• The emotional toll of high achievement

• And the courage it takes to reinvent in midlife

This is a conversation about burnout, bravery, and becoming — and it will hit home for every woman who’s ever given everything to everyone else and wondered when it’s finally her turn.

Spoiler: It is. 💥

https://www.revivewithpurpose.org

What if relationships weren’t about chemistry, luck, or fairy tales—but about leadership, strategy, and execution?

In this powerful episode of Unapologetically Badass, I’m joined by Robin Buckley, PhD, clinical psychologist, executive coach, TEDx speaker, and bestselling author of Marriage Inc.: The Boardroom Blueprint for a Lasting Love.

Robin is known for challenging everything we were taught by Disney, Hallmark, and rom-com culture—and replacing it with something far more effective: a business framework for relationships. And yes, there’s delicious irony here. She wrote a bestselling book on successful relationships after being divorced twice—which makes this conversation honest, grounded, and refreshingly real.

Her work blends cognitive behavioral psychology, data-driven strategy, and heart-centered leadership to help high-performing women stop hoping their relationships will improve—and start building them intentionally.

In this episode, we dive into:

• Why love isn’t luck—it’s a strategy

• How high-achieving women succeed at work but struggle in relationships

• What it means to be the CEO of your relationship

• Why clarity, accountability, and vision matter just as much at home as they do in business

• Redefining relationship “success” in midlife and beyond

If you’re done outsourcing your happiness, tired of outdated relationship myths, and ready to apply the same leadership skills you use professionally to your personal life—this conversation will shift how you think about love forever.

Dr. Robin Buckley (she/her)✨Love isn’t luck. It’s strategy. (@drrobinbuckley) • Instagram profile

Couples Coach, Professional Speaker, Executive Coach

Use code MARRIAGE20 for 20% off of her book!

What happens when faith, motherhood, and purpose collide?

For Amie Schindler, it sparked a movement.

As the mother of a son with autism, Amie saw firsthand what too many families experience after high school ends: opportunities disappear, expectations shrink, and meaningful employment becomes nearly impossible for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Instead of accepting that reality, she said yes to her calling.

In this powerful episode of Unapologetically Badass, Amie shares how that quiet nudge of faith led her to Wigglewow — a gourmet dog treat company and nonprofit where 83% of the workforce is made up of adults with special needs, earning fair wages, doing meaningful work, and proving what’s possible when inclusion is done with intention and dignity.

✨ In this conversation, we dive into:

• What inclusive employment actually looks like when it’s done right

• Why adults with disabilities are so deeply underestimated — and what employers are missing

• How Wigglewow is scaling impact while changing systems and mindsets

• The power of building businesses rooted in purpose, profit, and people

• Why inclusion is not charity — it’s opportunity

This episode is for leaders, founders, employers, and women who know they’re meant to build something that matters — and want proof that impact and success can coexist.

Because being unapologetically badass sometimes looks like saying yes… even when it’s scary.

🎧 Listen now and prepare to see inclusion — and leadership — through a whole new lens.

Wigglewow

https://www.instagram.com/wigglewow/

Wigglewow | Louisville KY

What do you do when you become the target of a sustained cyberattack by sophisticated threat actors?
If you’re Hana Omori… you build an encryption system that survives 11 months of real-world attacks and write a 14-chapter cybersecurity playbook while under fire. 😮‍💨🔥

In this jaw-dropping episode, we’re talking to security engineer, technical founder, and LGBTQ+ entrepreneur Hana Omori about what it was really like being hunted by hackers—and how she reverse-engineered their attacks in real time to create Chaos Lock, an offline-first encryption tool that earned a 9.25/10 security rating in a 72-hour penetration test with ZERO breaches.

This is not theoretical cybersecurity. This is survival, strategy, and straight-up brilliance.
If you think you’re “not technical enough,” “not experienced enough,” or “not qualified enough” to build something powerful… Hana is about to blow that belief out of the water.

Website: https://www.aimarketingflow.com

IG Handle: YT/Github - @‌aimarketingflow, Tiktok - @‌flowbotgirl

For years, Erin Logan was the voice delivering the news…
But behind the scenes, she was losing her own.

In this raw and riveting episode, Emmy-nominated reporter, professor, author, and founder of Revive With Purpose, Erin Logan, shares the truth about:

• Losing yourself inside your career

• Detaching your worth from your title

• The emotional toll of high achievement

• And the courage it takes to reinvent in midlife

This is a conversation about burnout, bravery, and becoming — and it will hit home for every woman who’s ever given everything to everyone else and wondered when it’s finally her turn.

Spoiler: It is. 💥

https://www.revivewithpurpose.org