Change can feel like the ground shifting beneath your feet, even when it's a promotion, a new opportunity, or a long-awaited next step. New leadership responsibilities, organizational change, caregiving, entrepreneurship, or a job market transformed by AI can all trigger the same instinct: work harder, push through, and put yourself last.

In this episode, we sit down with Ashwini Balasubramanian, Vice President of Research & Development for 3M's Transportation and Energy business and author of the forthcoming book Map Your Ascent: Embracing Change as Your Leadership Superpower. Moderated by VEST member Srijita Ghosh, the conversation explores how to transform uncertainty from something to fear into one of your greatest leadership advantages.

Ashwini explains why change feels so difficult, even for high performers, unpacking the fear of losing control, competence, and confidence. She shares practical frameworks for shifting your mindset from focusing on what you might lose to asking who you can become. Together, they explore her Map Your Ascent framework, including how your beliefs shape your leadership, why your perspective evolves through change, and how to cultivate a presence that inspires confidence even in uncertain moments.

The conversation also tackles one of the biggest challenges facing ambitious women today: distinguishing between perseverance and self-sacrifice.

 Ashwini shares the weekly reflection practice she uses to stay grounded, the "curiosity versus coasting" test that signals when it's time for a change, and practical strategies for navigating career transitions with intention. She also offers actionable advice on building sponsors, identifying transferable skills, creating an opportunity filter for major career decisions, and advocating for yourself in an increasingly uncertain world.

Whether you're navigating a career transition, leading through organizational change, considering your next big move, or simply trying to thrive through a demanding season without defaulting to depletion, this episode will leave you with practical tools and a renewed perspective on how change can become your greatest catalyst for growth.

For guests full bios and show notes click here. 

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If you enjoy the episode share it with a friend, leave us a review and don't forget to hit the subscribe button.

If you are ready to take your career and business to the next level, apply to join our community of professional women, all eager to help you get there and stay there. Learn more at www.VESTHer.co 

What is the cost of staying quiet, playing it safe, or waiting until we're "ready"?

In this powerful conversation, Erika Lucas sits down with former Oklahoma House Democratic Leader and gubernatorial candidate Cyndi Munson to explore the personal and professional consequences of holding ourselves back and what becomes possible when we choose courage instead.

Together, along with VEST Members, they discuss the challenges women face when navigating leadership, ambition, and visibility in systems that weren't always designed for them. From overcoming self-doubt and societal expectations to finding your voice in rooms where you may be the only woman or the only person who looks like you, this conversation offers an honest look at the realities of leadership and growth.

Cyndi shares her journey from being told that her background, identity, and circumstances made her an unlikely candidate for public office to becoming the first Asian American woman elected to the Oklahoma Legislature and now a candidate for governor. Along the way, she reflects on the importance of resilience, authenticity, mentorship, and refusing to let other people define what's possible.

The conversation also explores a core VEST Her belief: that economic mobility isn't just about personal development. It's also about understanding and improving the systems that shape opportunity, representation, and access for women and families. 

In This Episode:

•  The hidden costs of staying small and playing it safe 
•  Why women are often taught to be cautious and how to move forward anyway 
•  The difference between humility and self-limitation 
•  How to distinguish healthy caution from fear disguised as practicality 
•  Finding your voice in male-dominated environments 
•  Navigating ambition without apology 
•  The role of policy, politics, and systems change in economic mobility 
•  Lessons in leadership, resilience, and courage from Cyndi Munson's journey 

If you've ever questioned whether you're ready for the next opportunity, struggled to speak up, or wondered what might be possible if you stopped holding yourself back, this episode is for you.

Support the show

If you enjoy the episode share it with a friend, leave us a review and don't forget to hit the subscribe button.

If you are ready to take your career and business to the next level, apply to join our community of professional women, all eager to help you get there and stay there. Learn more at www.VESTHer.co 

There’s a quiet tension a lot of women are carrying right now.

The pressure to keep up. Stay relevant. Adapt faster. Do more. Become more.

And somewhere in the middle of all of it, many are starting to ask a different question: What if success isn’t supposed to feel this exhausting?

In this episode, we unpack the invisible scripts so many women inherit around ambition, achievement, productivity, identity, and how those definitions can quietly shape the lives we build without us ever consciously choosing them.

We explore:

• The pressure to constantly reinvent yourself
• Why so many high-achieving women feel stuck on autopilot
• The difference between survival and alignment
• How ambition can become fear-driven instead of fulfilling
• What it means to imagine beyond the role you currently occupy

This conversation is for anyone who has ever felt:

• Burned out from constantly proving themselves
• Trapped inside a version of success that no longer fits
• Curious about what expansion could look like beyond titles and external validation
• Ready to rethink what opportunity actually means in this season of life

We also discuss why community matters so deeply when you’re trying to envision new possibilities for your life, career, leadership, or future.

Because sometimes the first step toward expansion is simply realizing there are more options available to you than you previously allowed yourself to imagine.

If you’ve been questioning your next chapter, reevaluating what success means to you, or feeling the tension between achievement and alignment, check out this episode.

Support the show

If you enjoy the episode share it with a friend, leave us a review and don't forget to hit the subscribe button.

If you are ready to take your career and business to the next level, apply to join our community of professional women, all eager to help you get there and stay there. Learn more at www.VESTHer.co 

There are moments that stay with you, not because they were obvious, but because something about them didn’t sit right.

In this episode of the VEST Her Podcast, we explore those moments, the ones where you’ve given your time, energy, or ideas and walked away feeling like something was off, even if you couldn’t fully explain why.

In this conversation, we unpack:

•  What extractive practices are and why they’re not always easy to recognize 
•  How they often show up disguised as opportunity, visibility, or collaboration 
•  Why so many of us question ourselves before fully understanding what’s happening 

We explore how extractive dynamics don’t always look the way you’d expect. In many cases, something is being offered (access, inclusion, praise) which is exactly what makes it confusing. These gray areas can make it harder to trust your instincts in the moment.

We also expand beyond the workplace, because these patterns don’t exist in just one area. They show up across:

•  Work and career growth 
•  Community spaces 
•  Personal relationships 
•  Broader systems and expectations 

This episode is a guided conversation designed to help you recognize patterns you may not have had language for before and begin thinking differently about what you carry.

Support the show

If you enjoy the episode share it with a friend, leave us a review and don't forget to hit the subscribe button.

If you are ready to take your career and business to the next level, apply to join our community of professional women, all eager to help you get there and stay there. Learn more at www.VESTHer.co 

Speed and visibility are often rewarded in the workplace, but they can also lead to costly mistakes, including leaving money on the table.

In this episode, we sit down with Jacqueline Twillie, author, leadership strategist, and founder of Bend AI, for a candid conversation on negotiation, decision-making, and high-stakes communication, especially for women who have been socialized to be “polite” instead of persistent. Moderated by VEST member Alison Anthony, President and CEO of Tulsa Area United Way, this discussion challenges conventional thinking and offers a more strategic approach to advocating for your value.

Together, they unpack the mindset traps that hold women back from asking for more and the real cost of not doing so. You’ll walk away with practical frameworks you can begin using immediately, whether in your career, business, or everyday conversations.

In this episode, we explore:

• Why preparation, not confidence, is the true driver of better decisions
• How to slow down fast-moving rooms and “set the temperature”
• Three common negotiation pitfalls: self-negotiation, worthiness spirals, and failing to follow up
• The FLOW framework for navigating difficult conversations
• The LATTE framework for preparing, communicating, and evaluating negotiations

A thoughtful, practical conversation on how small shifts in how you prepare and communicate can lead to meaningful financial and career outcomes.

Click here for Show Notes and Guests Bios

Support the show

If you enjoy the episode share it with a friend, leave us a review and don't forget to hit the subscribe button.

If you are ready to take your career and business to the next level, apply to join our community of professional women, all eager to help you get there and stay there. Learn more at www.VESTHer.co 

What if the fastest way to grow isn’t moving at all? 

In this episode, we sit down with Tulsa International Airport CEO, Alexis Higgins, to unpack how a 26‑year journey in one city became a masterclass in influence, trust, and long‑term impact. From a support role to CEO, Alexis shows why deep roots can beat constant motion when you turn visibility, preparation, and relationships into compound career returns.

Alexis pulls back the curtain on airport life as a “city within a city." She breaks down how airlines choose new routes, why landing new airline routes take patience and precision, and more. 

Inside the organization, we explore culture by design, setting goals where none existed, normalizing debate, and anchoring tough decisions on what’s best for the airport. Alexis shares practical leadership tools, “to be clear is to be kind,” practicing hard conversations, and creating transparent development paths so people are ready for opportunities before they officially exist. We also get candid about the job market, layoffs, and longer searches, offering concrete steps for visibility, high‑value networking, and asking for precise help.

We talk women in aviation, the power of hometown leadership, and more.

Alexis’s takeaways are both grounded and energizing, find work that gives you joy, volunteer to reset your mind, and keep your attention on what you can control when the world feels heavy. If you’re hungry for real talk on career strategy, route development, airport operations, mentorship, and culture change, this conversation delivers clear, actionable insight.

Click here for our guest full bio and show notes. 

Support the show

If you enjoy the episode share it with a friend, leave us a review and don't forget to hit the subscribe button.

If you are ready to take your career and business to the next level, apply to join our community of professional women, all eager to help you get there and stay there. Learn more at www.VESTHer.co 

At VEST, we talk a lot about careers, money, and women’s economic mobility. But here’s the truth: you can’t fully talk about women building power without talking about the systems that taught us what we’re allowed to want—and what we should quietly accept.

For many of us, that system was religion.

In this episode of the VEST Podcast, Erika sits down with Reverend Lori Walke for an honest, grounded conversation about what happens when faith becomes complicated, especially for women who grew up inside religious institutions that preached love, but practiced control.

What we talk about in this episode

• How women learn “their place” and how to unlearn it
• Separating the message from the messengers
• Deconstruction without losing yourself
• Religious trauma is real and you have permission to leave
• When religion becomes a political weapon
• How women stay engaged without burning out
• Why this matters for women’s careers and economic mobility

Deconstructing harmful spiritual narratives isn’t a side quest. It’s part of building a life where women can earn, lead, rest, belong, and thrive, without shrinking.

For our guest full bio and show notes (including book recommendations) click here. 

At VEST, we’re not afraid to have these conversations because women are whole people. Not just workers. Not just caregivers. Not just resilience machines.

Support the show

If you enjoy the episode share it with a friend, leave us a review and don't forget to hit the subscribe button.

If you are ready to take your career and business to the next level, apply to join our community of professional women, all eager to help you get there and stay there. Learn more at www.VESTHer.co 

As we begin a new year, many of us are reflecting on what’s working, what needs to shift, and what we truly want, not just in our careers or personal lives, but financially as well. But let’s be honest, for many women, wealth is the last thing we feel comfortable talking about.

In this episode of the VEST Her Podcast, we explore how to reset your relationship with money, redefine what wealth means on your own terms, and build a system that actually supports the life you want. Because wealth isn’t just a number, it’s a reflection of access, freedom, and the ability to move through the world with confidence and choice.

This Episode Is for You If

• You’ve been taught that talking about money is impolite or selfish
• You’ve hit career milestones, but still feel unclear about your financial picture
• You want to set wealth goals this year, but don’t know where to start
• You’re ready to shift from short-term survival to long-term vision
• You want to build wealth in a way that aligns with your values, not someone else’s definition of success

What You’ll Learn

• Why wealth is about more than salary, savings, or status
• How culture, family, and systems shape our beliefs about money
• A 5-step Wealth Inventory to help you get clear on your starting point
• How to set one bold financial goal and the habit that supports it
• Why doing this work in community changes everything

Chapters

1:00 Why Women Need A Different Money Talk

2:12 The Wealth Inventory Framework

4:06 Turn Goals Into Systems

5:27 Why Money Feels Complicated

7:13 History, Exclusion, And The Wealth Gap

8:40 Three Actions And The Power Of Community

Support the show

If you enjoy the episode share it with a friend, leave us a review and don't forget to hit the subscribe button.

If you are ready to take your career and business to the next level, apply to join our community of professional women, all eager to help you get there and stay there. Learn more at www.VESTHer.co 

What if you didn’t have to choose between being respected and being liked? In this episode of the VEST Her Podcast, we’re joined by Alison Fragale, organizational psychologist, UNC professor, and author of Likeable Badass, to break down the real difference between power and status, and how women can build both without burning out or selling out.

Moderated by VEST Member Autumn Knutson, CEO of Styled Wealth, the conversation goes deep into the practical side of leadership for women: how to be warm and in charge, how to negotiate effectively, and how to turn discomfort into growth.

“Power is control over valued resources. Status is the regard others choose to give you. If you don’t know the difference, you might be playing the wrong game.” 

— Alison Fragale, Organizational Psychologist & Author of Likeable Badass

For guests full bios and show notes and key takeaways click here. 

Note: In this episode, we mispronounced Knutson, Autumn's last name. The correct pronunciation includes the “K”, it’s K-nutson, not Nutson. We regret the error and appreciate your understanding.

Support the show

If you enjoy the episode share it with a friend, leave us a review and don't forget to hit the subscribe button.

If you are ready to take your career and business to the next level, apply to join our community of professional women, all eager to help you get there and stay there. Learn more at www.VESTHer.co 

As the year wraps up, so do the “Top Under 30, 40, 50” lists, power rankings, and glossy features that suggest success is public, polished, and linear.

In this episode, we take a clear-eyed look at why these lists can be inspiring but also alienating, and why so many brilliant, hardworking women still feel like they’re falling behind.

Then, we shift the focus to a more grounded, sustainable way to measure progress, one that doesn’t rely on headlines, algorithms, or someone else’s definition of success.

We walk through a set of practical, reflective questions to help you define what success really means to you, and explore how chasing visibility without alignment can lead to burnout, distraction, and disconnection from your purpose.

Click here for Show Notes and a simple year-end reflection exercise.

Support the show

If you enjoy the episode share it with a friend, leave us a review and don't forget to hit the subscribe button.

If you are ready to take your career and business to the next level, apply to join our community of professional women, all eager to help you get there and stay there. Learn more at www.VESTHer.co