WCWB Inspire Women

With more than 20 years in healthcare, Gabrielle’s journey has taken her from traditional medicine to aesthetics and functional medicine, with each chapter shaping her belief that true health means looking at the whole person.

After earning her Doctorate in Nursing Practice from Gonzaga University in 2019, she co-founded Onyx Medical Aesthetics in Lacey in 2020, bringing together her clinical experience and her passion for health, beauty, and building meaningful connections with other women.

Tune in to hear how Gabrielle built a healthcare practice from the ground up, from team building and leadership to marketing, systems, and financial growth, and the practical lessons she’s learned about turning a clinical vision into a sustainable business.

Support the show

wcwb.org

Dr. Cindy Petersen is a retired university professor of 30 years. Her love of wood began as a child while creating structures from “Tinker Toys” and later building a tree house in the back yard of her Pacific Northwest home. Her very mechanically inclined father encouraged her to use tools and be the “helper” for many of the family projects. Her mom was very skilled in finishing the projects with paint, varnish, and oils. From these roots one of Cindy’s first jobs while attending college was as a sawyer, jitney driver and packer at a local sawmill. She prepared lumber for the kiln, graded, sorted, cut, assembled, and assisted with the finishing of products. Ultimately, she bought an Alaskan Yellow Cedar 42-foot boat where she wrote her doctoral dissertation and lived aboard for 15 years. Her skills continued to grow as the cedar and mahogany spoke of their needs for ongoing refurbishing and maintenance. After moving off the boat to 3.5 acres in the South Bay over twenty years ago, the ability to build a shop became a dream come true and the various buildings have now evolved into supporting the voices of the wood.

Patty Mitchell is a retired elementary school principal of 20 years whose love of wood began when growing up in Tennessee and climbing young birch trees to ride their branches in the wind. Having lived in various states and overseas, her fascination with wood grains, their sensuality, and hidden mystery grew into a passion. Trees and wood speak to her soul. Not quite a tree hugger but definitely a wood lover, she is eager to share the hidden beauty in wood with her clients.

Support the show

wcwb.org

Ms. Crystal has dedicated more than 20 years to working with children and families. Originally from Chicago, she moved to Washington State in 1996 and has proudly called it home ever since.

She holds a Bachelor's Degree in Human Services and Early Childhood Education and has worked in a variety of roles throughout her career, including in high school special education programs and as Director of a childcare center in King County.

While she has worked in different industries over the years, her true passion has always been caring for, teaching, and supporting children.

Ms. Crystal is also a licensed foster parent, a mother of six children, and a proud grandmother of seven grandchildren, with another grandchild on the way. These experiences have given her a deep understanding of the importance of providing children with a safe, nurturing, and supportive environment where they can learn, grow, and thrive. In January 2020, she and her daughter opened their childcare center with a vision of providing high-quality childcare to families in their community. Just a few months later, the COVID-19 pandemic changed the world. As a brand-new business, it was a frightening and uncertain time, with no guarantee they could keep their doors open or continue serving families. Through faith, determination, hard work, and community support, they persevered and continued to grow.

Opening the center was inspired by Ms. Crystal's belief that families deserve access to quality childcare staffed by caring, qualified professionals who truly love working with children. Her goal has always been to create a place where children feel safe, valued, and encouraged to reach their full potential, while giving parents peace of mind knowing their children are in good hands.

Today, she remains committed to providing exceptional care and early learning opportunities through a team of compassionate and dedicated educators. It is an honor for her to partner with families and be part of each child's early learning journey. She is thankful that families trust her and her team with their child's care and education, and looks forward to serving her community for many years to come.

Support the show

wcwb.org

Christie is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor with over 25 years of experience in social services and behavioral health. With roots in developmental and intellectual disabilities, she helped lead the integration of wraparound planning and positive behavior support, focusing on empowering youth and families and reducing out-of-home placement. Christie is also a cofounder of Green Zone, a model of emotional support for individuals and caregivers.

Christie believes in every person's capacity to grow and heal—mind, body, and spirit—and holds a safe, grounded therapeutic space that helps clients build self-understanding and take meaningful, values-driven steps forward.

Clinical specialties include anxiety, mood disorders, eating disorders and disordered eating, and trauma. Christie offers mindfulness-based, somatic, LGBTQ+-affirming, and exposure-based therapies, drawing on ACT, DBT Skills Training, ERP, Safe Exercise at Every Stage, and Emotional Freedom Techniques.

Kelsey is a Mental Health Counselor who creates a supportive, empathetic environment for clients to explore their thoughts, emotions, and body sensations. Her integrative approach draws from Narrative Therapy, Self-Compassion practices, CBT, ACT, ERP, CPT, Safe Exercise at Every Stage, and Animal-Assisted Therapy. As a Certified Animal-Assisted Intervention Specialist, she incorporates animals in intentional, evidence-informed ways that support emotional regulation and nervous-system safety. Kelsey works with clients navigating anxiety, mood disorders, eating disorders and disordered eating, trauma, life transitions, and self-exploration.

Before becoming a counselor, Kelsey spent over a decade as a non-diet, weight-neutral Dietitian, supporting adolescents and adults with eating disorders across treatment facilities, home infusion, and pediatric specialty clinics. She is a Certified Eating Disorder Specialist (IAEDP) and holds a Master's in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from Southern New Hampshire University, now practicing as a Licensed Mental Health Counselor Associate. Her nutritional philosophy centers on Medical Nutrition Therapy, Intuitive Eating, the Division of Responsibility, and a non-diet perspective, and she has mentored future dietitians as a preceptor for Eastern Michigan University.

Across all roles, Kelsey's focus remains constant: creating a trauma-informed, collaborative, and inclusive space where people feel welcomed and supported.

Support the show

wcwb.org

Hi, my name is Martie. My journey to becoming an esthetician began almost 10 years ago, when I was a dog groomer for over 20 years. Over the years it had taken its toll on my body, and I had collapsed and was unable to walk for many months, thinking I would be bedridden for the rest of my life.  I was faced with planning to have back surgery, reluctant to take that route I had returned to Yoga instead. Finding healing through my Yoga practice in ways I never imagined or knew that I needed. My practice became my medicine and connected with the community that quickly became family. I became a Yoga teacher with a strong desire to help others battling their own limitations and to find quality of life again.

In my journey of healing and self-discovery, I learned that I had been in my masculine energy out of survival my entire life and needed to reconnect with my feminine softness, calming, intuitiveness and my emotional well-being. I leaned into the importance of self-care and started my journey by becoming an esthetician. My love for helping others quickly grew and the vision for Lotus Flower Wellness was borne. 

My core values as an esthetician remain focused on self-love and with the love and support from the community, I have been blessed to be able to be of service to the same community that has inspired my own dreams.

 You can find me located inside Lash Brat Beauty Bar at 1601 State Ave. NE Olympia WA, 98506.

Support the show

wcwb.org

Join us as we interview Mo Golden. She is an artist, entrepreneur, and creativity researcher based in Olympia, Washington. She holds an MA in Experiential Education from George Washington University and a BA in interdisciplinary arts from Evergreen State College. Mo and her husband own Heart of the Deernicorn, an award winning game design studio. Together they just launched a new venture, Studio Golden, a design studio focused on making daily tasks and time at home feel like special moments, through workbooks, oracle decks, and ceramic functional art pieces. 

Support the show

wcwb.org

Meet Diksha, a Washington State-Approved Doula and Trainer with over 16 years of experience as a doula, inspired to support families after my own transformative pregnancies. Originally from Germany, she has called Olympia, WA, home since 2006. As a solo practice doula, Diksha provides personalized, one-on-one care, building trust and tailoring support to each unique birth plan.

Diksha is certified through DONA International, The Matrona, Bastyr Simkin Center, WA State, and The Body Ready Method®. She offers expertise in birth doula services, lactation education, infant massage, and Body Ready Method alignment sessions and parent classes. She is also a triple-certified Placenta Specialist and trained in Spinning Babies and OSHA standards. Committed to professional integrity, Diksha attended nearly 100% of her clients’ births, with a trusted backup doula for peace of mind.

As a leader in Olympia’s birth community, she founded the Olympia Doula Circle, Meet the Doula Night, and the Monthly Cesarean & VBAC Support Group, and she lead a local Body Ready Study Group. Diksha is here to empower others through pregnancy, birth, and beyond with skillful, heart-centered support. 

In addition to serving birthing families, she is passionate about training and mentoring the next generation of doulas. Diksha offers in-person doula training and individualized doula mentorships that provide a strong foundation in evidence-based, compassionate care, helping new doulas grow with confidence, clarity, and purpose.

Support the show

wcwb.org

With over 10 years of experience in professional training, development and business consulting, Coach Brigitte brings a unique perspective that embraces ethnicity, culture and experience to educate and inform her clients in all areas of leadership development including diversity, inclusion and belonging. Brigitte brings with her a wealth of international experience including a background in banking, government and non-government agencies from 3 different continents as well as in agile environments. She equips her clients with the tools, resources, and experience to help their team improve their productivity, performance and profitability. Coach Brigitte uses industry best practices for continuous improvement, process streamlining, teamwork, and increased quality to exceed her customer's operational goals and expectations. Brigitte is passionate about equipping leaders in motion, and is excited to work with you and your team to achieve its highest potential.

Most of her clients refer to her as a curator of ideas, as she excels at empowering others to shift their thinking towards creating the results they desire and achieving their full potential.

https://brigittemichaels.com/index

Support the show

wcwb.org

A fierce champion of innovation, entrepreneurship, and meaningful social impact, Alanna Imbach is a weaver of people, and a builder of authentic, purpose-driven communities. Her vision is simple: drive innovation through authentic human connection.

She delivers on this, in part, through her work as Founder and CEO of Vibe Coworks—a shared workspace and coworking community that provides world-class workspace, community and programming for startups, scaleups, corporations, nonprofits and public entities in non-urban regions. 

Since first opening in 2017, Vibe Coworks has become a widely recognized center of gravity for authentic community, connection, and happier, healthier ways of working in and beyond the Kitsap Peninsula. 

Vibe Coworks is proudly woman- and immigrant-owned, with a diverse membership base and professional network that spans the county. In addition to providing access by the hour and by the day, Vibe counts with over 200 members, serving hundreds of area businesses and organizations as the destination of choice for meetings and events.

Vibe Coworks was named Business of the Year by the Greater Kitsap Chamber in 2022, and is a proud member off the League of Extraordinary Coworking Spaces (LExC), which provides members with free, reciprocal access to a network of high-end, boutique coworking spaces globally.  

Web: vibecoworks.com
Upcoming Events Calendar: https://members.vibecoworks.com/events
Instagram: www.instagram.com/vibe_coworks
LinkedIn - Vibe Coworks: www.linkedin.com/company/vibe-coworks
LinkedIn - Alanna Imbach: www.linkedin.com/in/alannaimbach 

Support the show

wcwb.org

Emily Renee Ligman ,a new small business owner as of September 2023. She is a professional face and body paint artist and owner of JUICEBOXX LTD B2B Productions, LLC also owning DBA: PNW pro face paint. Specializing in body paint, face paint, and airbrush tattoos, she has also branched out into glass blowing and neon bending to grow her passion for art into an enterprise. 

Diagnosed with autism, dyslexia and adhd, she faces daily challenges and overcomes these through creating art and developing new products for her industry with the gratification of being an woman-owned business. Her love for face paint has led her to create products like “Glitter Brows” and stencil kit for holidays and “festival paint”. 

Emily is finding ways to update the quality and overall guest experience being the only 2 Face, body art, and glitter tattoo booths in the 2024 Washington State Fair. With 8 years experience as a self-taught airbrush artist, it’s “the show must go on and will be fantastic” attitude going into each year. She has a great theatrical foundation which explains her passion for giving a “magical guest experience” since attending and completing the Walt Disney World College Program in Orlando Florida 2006. With a BA in theater and fine arts at WSU she is well trained for working highly demanding and stressful situations such as the popular busy fall fair season. 

She is proud to be using the highest quality cosmetic grade industry standard glitter and waterproof paints. The main focus for PNWPROFACEPAINT, is to include the whole family to experience the “face and body art” in the future years to come. Reach out to experience great customer service paired with an attention to detail for all guests - kids, teens and adults - anybody and every BODY is welcome! 

Support the show

wcwb.org