WIL Talk (Women in Leadership Talk)

According to Alexandria Butler "Lexi B". “Everyone is a freedom fighter and has the opportunity to build equity in the workplace”. She is a storyteller and freedom fighter, helping others to recognize their greatness. I loved my conversation with Lexi B who is full of energy, funny, courageous and has such a potent way of demolishing your perception of privilege. She took us on a journey to better understand the unique cultural, social, and professional advantages as it relates to individuals while sharing strategies for pinpointing exact moments to influence equity in the workplace. We discuss how she moved from thinking “I am a freedom fighter” to “We can all be freedom fighters”. Each of us has a responsibility to use it. 

Equifruit is committed to global domination in raising awareness about the banana industry, fair trade, and the impact we have as consumers. With small and simple changes we can impact an entire ecosystem. What consumption patterns do you have?  Listen to the ideas that Kim Chackal from Equifruit shares in our WIL Talk podcast episode #27. These ideas can have an amazing impact by taking small steps. 

Eleanor Beaton from Safi Media where we will speak about “How conforming to the status quo TANKS your Confidence.” Eleanor will share her secrets of showing up in an authentic and sustainable way and how this maximizes your power, attracts the right opportunities to you, and lets you craft a career you love. We will also be discussing how a silicon valley approach is harmful to women entrepreneurs.

We had a conversation with Jill Griffin. Jill will speak with us about how to balance work and life while living with a traumatic brain injury.  She has spoken at AdWeek, the Digital Media Summit, SheKnows Media event, The NY Times, Hearst and Conde Nest. She was listed as Advertising Agent’s 25 Women to watch. Join us and learn more about doing mindset work to deal with a disability and work trauma, how to work through being fired and finding career joy again and so much more.

We spoke with Jennifer Risher, author, philanthropist, change maker. Her book “We need to talk: A memoir about Wealth” tells the story of the impact of wealth on identity, relationships, and the sense of place in the world. Jennifer spent many years at Microsoft as a recruiter and product manager right out of school.  Jennifer believes that community is key to learning and spreading information to the collective. She has a mission to educate on how we look at money, diversity, equality, etc. In 2020, she and her husband created an initiative called #HalfMyDaf,  this initiative has enabled them to help move over $19.2 million from DAFs to nonprofits. She also has created funds to invest in marginal areas and communities to support underrepresented areas with an equity lens where they struggle to get loans promoting more gender equality.  Join us for this truly inspiring conversation.

We had a conversation with Vanessa Vakharia, a rock star, literally!!! A math guru, an advocate for women in STEM and so much more. You will not want to miss this lively conversation as Vanessa shares her journey and how to love math again!! And on a more serious note why women are still underrepresented in STEM. She will make you laugh and get moving to make change happen in this world. Are you ready to be inspired to make a difference? 

We had an inspiring conversation with Nikki Self, co-founder of Saponetti, disruptor and champion for building sustainable options that impact communities, our environment and our eco-systems. In this conversation, Nikki shared her “WHY” for educating and promoting an eco-conscious lifestyle and how each of us can do our part to reduce, reuse, refill, recycle in order to minimize the strain of human consumption on our world.

We discussed “Burn out or Bow out” with Cristina Tahoces, DHN, NNCP. 

 During our discussion we addressed:

 * The impact of burnout on mental health, being physically present but emotionally absent

 * This state of overwhelm and the difficulty to get out of the weeds

 * Sleep and how we get more of it? 

 * How to bring more love and joy to your life. 

She shared with us how we can use nutrition to get out of the weeds, build confidence, and enhance our courage. Be sure you mark your calendar and are ready to fill your toolbox with some excellent tips to Thrive.

We spoke with Erika Biesenthal, Chief Number Cruncher and founder of Plan By Numbers. Erika is a dynamo and shared with us some of the biggest mistakes business owners make. In our session, we talked about your why for doing what you do, some of the necessary habits to create as a business owner and most importantly your profits. Most business owners work so hard in their business that they don’t even think about paying themselves and as women, we know that story runs true in many aspects of our lives. We put everyone else first so Erika shared tips on how to ensure proper cash flow and paying yourself consistently. 

Erika is offering a bookkeeping crash course starting October, please click link to learn more and register: https://bit.ly/3AXdMtI

We spoke with Fawn Annan about her journey in navigating digital media and marketing technologies. Fawn is a trailblazer and has been an advocate for women throughout her career. She is the Vice-Chair Board of Directors for Women in Communication and Technology. She is also the co-author of “Digital Transformation in the first person, Surviving and Thriving in a hypercompetitive era.” Fawn shared with us some of her biggest and best lessons in navigating as a woman in leadership and how she continues to stretch herself.