In this episode, Lis is joined by Sam Hartsock, co-founder of qb. consulting, to discuss what it means to take a human-centered approach to ESG strategy and consulting, the Remake Ambassador Program, and balancing motherhood and entrepreneurship. 

The name qb. represents a female-led community in nature 🐝 and reflects the firm's mission to help organizations prioritize inclusive, diverse communities and climate resilience. Sam shares the lessons she learned at the beginning of her career in sustainable fashion and how they have impacted her work today. 

She discusses the early challenges of running a small business, the wins that kept stacking over the past seven years, and how she has navigated motherhood along the way. Sam emphasizes the importance of listening to communities and designing solutions informed by local needs and perspectives, including how she does this through her work at qb. today.

Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, YouTube, or on your favorite podcast platform.

Episode Outline:

(04:41) qb.’s vision for diverse communities and climate resilience

(08:35) Sam’s career journey and passion for sustainable fashion

(21:47) Creating the Remake Ambassador Program 

(27:18) The early years of building qb., one project at a time

(32:25) Cold outreach and being selective about clients

(39:23) Being vulnerable and asking for help as a business owner

(43:45) Sam’s work in climate justice, climate equity, and double materiality 

(49:15) Her motherhood journey as an entrepreneur

(53:00) The importance of vulnerability and accountability in leadership

Resources Mentioned:

Guest Info: 

Follow Us:

About Lis: 

Lis Best is an executive coach for impact leaders, founder of the Girls Club Collective, and host of the Women Changing the World podcast.

Since launching her business in 2020, Lis has helped hundreds of leaders navigate ESG and sustainability careers, launch heart-centered businesses, and become more effective change agents.

In this episode, Lis is joined by Luisa Alberto, the CEO of People First Finance, to discuss what she wishes more entrepreneurs knew about money, the importance of money mindset for founders, and how to figure out profitability in your business. 

Luisa shares her journey from running a juice bar to launching People First Finance. She discusses the challenges of rapid growth, experiencing burnout, and the importance of financial literacy. Luisa provides a simple framework for calculating profitability, highlights the importance of factoring in owner pay, and explains the role of bookkeepers in providing insights and helping business owners make informed decisions. Luisa addresses the harmful financial advice that can be found online and the importance of advocating for yourself and knowing when to seek professional guidance. 

Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, YouTube, or on your favorite podcast platform.

Episode Outline:

(02:56) The power of active listening and enjoying life

(06:40) Opening and growing People First Finance

(12:41) Business lessons of 2024

(16:40) Rebuilding from burnout

(21:35) Learning to ask for help

(29:29) Building a relationship with your numbers

(34:07) Understanding the profitability of your offers

(39:01) Debunking common money advice

(42:44) Cultivating a healthy money mindset

(47:30) Leadership means integrity

(50:08) Thinking big and zooming out

Resources Mentioned:

Sign up for the email series "Savvy Scaling Beyond $500K" — everything your accountant never told you: https://peoplefirstfinance.com/savvy-scaling-signup

Guest Info: 

Connect with Luisa on LinkedIn

Follow Luisa on Instagram

Follow Us:

Learn more on our website: girlsclubcollective.co

Follow us on Instagram: @girls_club_collective

Connect with us on LinkedIn: Girls Club Collective 

About Lis: 

Lis Best is an executive coach for impact leaders, founder of the Girls Club Collective, and host of the Women Changing the World podcast.

Since launching her business in 2020, Lis has helped hundreds of leaders navigate ESG and sustainability careers, launch heart-centered businesses, and become more effective change agents.

In this episode, Lis is joined by Jessica Lackey, a business and operations strategist, to discuss defining your business model, the six systems your business needs, how subcontracting can stabilize your revenue, and more.

Jessica breaks down different types of business models and explains the importance of business foundations for sustaining long-term revenue and growth. Jessica breaks down the six systems your business needs and explores the power of combining corporate expertise with feminist business practices. She introduces the Three Sisters metaphor and how it relates to income diversification, shares insights on creating a safety net while bootstrapping a business, and offers a sneak peek into her upcoming book on sustainable business strategies. 

Whether you're scaling a business, seeking clarity in your operations, or simply tired of wondering which tactics might actually get you results, this conversation is packed with actionable wisdom.

Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, YouTube, or on your favorite podcast platform.

Episode Outline:

(02:51) Jessica’s day-to-day

(05:56) Journey from corporate to entrepreneurship

(12:00) Capitalism + feminism = commerce

(16:30) The role of subcontracting for revenue stability

(19:30) Business models and deeper foundations

(24:05) Six systems of business

(26:12) Types of business model

(31:20) How the Three Sisters method of planting can be applied to business

(37:20) Jessica’s upcoming book

(43:10) Leadership and resilience in business

Resources Mentioned:

Guest Info: 

Follow Us:

About Lis: 

Lis Best is an executive coach for impact leaders, founder of the Girls Club Collective, and host of the Women Changing the World podcast.

Since launching her business in 2020, Lis has helped hundreds of leaders navigate ESG and sustainability careers, launch heart-centered businesses, and become more effective change agents.

In this episode, Lis is joined by Emily Empel and Nadine Hare, founding members of Advance Notice, a vision studio and dreaming collective. They discuss their Collective Wellbeing Report, wellness paradigms, spiritual foresight, and how they help people and organizations articulate their ideas for the future. 

Building a new future of wellness has never been more important. Emily, a spiritual futurist, and Nadine, a medical anthropologist, share their collaborative process behind Advance Notice's work. An excerpt from their Collective Wellbeing report emphasizes the need to move beyond individualism to focus on the collective when it comes to our health and wellness, among other things. They outline the six dimensions of collective well-being, including the porous body and death as aliveness, and how these themes have impacted their experiences and perspectives. Nadine and Emily agree that leadership needs to be redefined and encourage thinking about relationality and collaboration as we write this new future.

Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, YouTube, or on your favorite podcast platform.

Episode Outline:

(04:22) Excerpt from the Collective Wellbeing Report

(05:45) Meet two of the women behind Advance Notice, Nadine and Emily

(14:11) A vision studio and dreaming collective 

(16:57) Collaborations to live into the vision 

(19:56) The journey to becoming a futurist and medical anthropologist

(23:06) The realities of wellness vs. the perception of wellness 

(27:51) Six key dimensions of collective well-being

(31:18) Death as aliveness, the aging body, the porous body

(41:18) How to cultivate more well-being

(45:33) Thoughts around leadership 

(51:13) What’s next for Advance Notice and the future of wellness

Resources Mentioned:

• Preview Collective Wellbeing: A Report on the Future of Wellness

Guest Info: 

• Connect with Emily Empel on LinkedIn

Follow Us:

• Learn more on our website: girlsclubcollective.co

About Lis: 

Lis Best is an executive coach for impact leaders, founder of the Girls Club Collective, and host of the Women Changing the World podcast.

Since launching her business in 2020, Lis has helped hundreds of leaders navigate ESG and sustainability careers, launch heart-centered businesses, and become more effective change agents.

In this episode, Lis is joined by Emily Anne Brant, an Indigenous author, speaker, and mentor. She discusses her journey into decolonizing personal development and coaching, unlearning perfectionism, and how she calls upon ancestral wisdom in her everyday life. 

Emily shares how she balances running her business with a full-time job, normalizing how supportive it can be to have both. She shares how a spiritual experience led to a path of healing around her Indigenous ancestry, how that impacted the direction of her business, and how she shows up in community.

Emily defines colonization and white supremacy and shares what decolonization actually looks like in practice. She addresses the importance of unlearning perfectionism, especially as a woman, when embarking on a decolonization journey and the fundamental tenets of down-to-earth manifestation for achieving practical abundance rooted in ancestral wisdom. Emily also speaks to the impact she has experienced of a slow, intentional approach to business growth aligned with turtle medicine.

Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, YouTube, or on your favorite podcast platform.

Episode Outline:

(03:13) Emily’s identities, privileges, and roles

(06:11) Balancing business and a full-time job

(11:18) Emily’s journey to decolonization work

(20:49) Safe spaces and white supremacy 

(25:48) Defining decolonization and colonialism

(28:43) Decolonization mindset, words, and action

(31:39) Getting started on your decolonization journey

(35:52) Down-to-earth manifestation 

(43:29) Turtle medicine and business growth 

Resources Mentioned:

• White Women: Everything You Already Know About Your Own Racism and How to Do Better by Regina Jackson and Saira Rao

Guest Info: 

• Learn more on Emily Anne Brant’s website

Follow Us:

• Learn more on our website: girlsclubcollective.co

About Lis: 

Lis Best is an executive coach for impact leaders, founder of the Girls Club Collective, and host of the Women Changing the World podcast.

Since launching her business in 2020, Lis has helped hundreds of leaders navigate ESG and sustainability careers, launch heart-centered businesses, and become more effective change agents.

In this episode, Lis is joined by Jessica Custer, a social impact strategist and project management expert. She discusses all things social impact, corporate responsibility, theory of change, leadership, and her life-changing experience in the Peruvian Amazon.

Jessica reflects on her journey from the non-profit sector to freelance consulting. She emphasizes the importance of effective project management in driving positive societal impact and the opportunity to better integrate agile methodologies in impact and sustainability work. She introduces her Substack, The Change Maker’s Guide to Getting Good S*** Done, and her workshop, Possible to Probable, designed to support change-makers in operationalizing their visions.

Jessica highlights the need for thought leadership, an expanded definition of leadership as related to different power structures, and the role of the theory of change in shaping our approach to both life and our work as change agents. Jessica’s vision for the future is an inspiring call to action for those of us working to build a better future!

Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, YouTube, or on your favorite podcast platform.

Episode Outline:

(03:36) Addressing the project management leadership gap

(11:13) Jessica’s career journey and the impact of her travels

(19:54) Exploring a sustainable sanitation business model in the Peruvian Amazon 

(29:30) Changes in ESG and social impact over the last 10 years 

(36:35) The strength of generalizing specialists 

(39:06) Project management for bigger, better impact 

(43:18) Theory of change applications

(46:53) Leadership and different types of power

Resources Mentioned:

• Subscribe to Jessica Custer’s Substack, The Change Maker’s Guide to Getting Good Sh*t Done

Guest Info: 

• Learn more on Jessica Custer’s website

Follow Us:

• Learn more on our website: girlsclubcollective.co

About Lis: 

Lis Best is an executive coach for impact leaders, founder of the Girls Club Collective, and host of the Women Changing the World podcast.

Since launching her business in 2020, Lis has helped hundreds of leaders navigate ESG and sustainability careers, launch heart-centered businesses, and become more effective change agents.

In this episode, Lis is joined by Marssie Versola, Founder and CEO of Impact Table. She discusses her professional journey and how connecting with other women leaders has transformed her career—plus she and Lis share their vision for the upcoming Connect + Elevate Retreat in Calistoga.

For so long, Marssie experienced a distinct lack of feminine leadership at her level and was frustrated in her desire to move to the next level. When she discovered how community could amplify and accelerate her, it was a game changer. She shares why it is vital that women gather to celebrate each other, how much more powerful we are together than alone, and how we can create more of these spaces. The more, the better!

Marssie offers an actionable step for those of you looking to start investing more deeply in your relationships today. Marssie and Lis discuss the transformative power of retreats to nourish, change our perspectives, share resources, and deeply connect in ways that aren’t readily available elsewhere. Craving more? You’re invited to join Marssie and Lis at the Connect + Elevate Retreat for impact and sustainability leaders this October.

Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, YouTube, or on your favorite podcast platform.

Episode Outline:

(04:02) How Impact Table supports leaders

(08:13) Marssie’s leadership journey

(20:27) Experiences in Corporate America

(25:15) The potency of women together

(33:18) Steps to take to create more connection today

(37:44) Vision for the Connect + Elevate Calistoga retreat

(47:08) How connection can transform us

Resources Mentioned:

• Join us for the Connect and Elevate Retreat at Dr. Wilkinson’s in Calistoga October 27-29. It’s going to be magic!

Guest Info: 

• Connect with Marssie Versola on LinkedIn

Follow Us:

• Learn more on our website: girlsclubcollective.co

About Lis: 

Lis Best is an executive coach for impact leaders, founder of the Girls Club Collective, and host of the Women Changing the World podcast.

Since launching her business in 2020, Lis has helped hundreds of leaders navigate ESG and sustainability careers, launch heart-centered businesses, and become more effective change agents.

In this episode, Lis is joined by Suprita Kudesia, Founder of Feta, a family history tool that stands the test of time. She speaks about the role of a curiosity quest in her life and career, her experience developing an app alongside her life and parenting partner, and how her current hobbies bring her both joy and opportunities to be present.

For many of us, organizing scrapbooks, photo albums, and memory banks is a task we don’t look forward to. Suprita shares how the app she and her partner are developing, Feta, is transforming the experience of memory keeping. This work embodies Suprita’s love for storytelling and desire to be a conduit for other peoples’ life experiences.

Curiosity has been a throughline in Suprita’s professional journey from international development to the corporate world and now entrepreneurship. She shares how motherhood has inspired her practice of presence, her approach to hobbies and a portfolio lifestyle, and the magic she has experienced in past GCC Magicminds as both a facilitator and a participant.

Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, YouTube, or on your favorite podcast platform.

Episode Outline:

(03:14) Suprita’s professional journey and story 

(10:29) Curiosity quest from international development to corporate to entrepreneurship 

(14:39) Feta’s origin story 

(19:46) Working alongside a life and parenting partner

(24:40) The search for enoughness and presence

(30:42) Financial decisions, values, and evolving priorities as an entrepreneur

(37:43) Stop and smell the flowers

(40:50) End-of-life doula training and learning

(44:33) What leadership means to Suprita

(47:14) The intentional magic of Girls Club Collective

(50:11) Launching a Substack newsletter

Resources Mentioned:

• Read Suprita’s beautiful musings over on her Substack community and be the first to know when Feta launches on Apple and Google App stores

Guest Info: 

• Follow Feta on Instagram: @feta.family

Follow Us:

• Learn more on our website: girlsclubcollective.co

About Lis: 

Lis Best is an executive coach for impact leaders, founder of the Girls Club Collective, and host of the Women Changing the World podcast.

Since launching her business in 2020, Lis has helped hundreds of leaders navigate ESG and sustainability careers, launch heart-centered businesses, and become more effective change agents.

In this episode, Lis is joined by Sarah Deane, the Founder and CEO of MEvolution. Sarah speaks on personal sustainability, energy management, and how to go from exhausted to thriving.

Energy management is about finding a behavioral and cognitive formula that gives you clarity, focus, and performance. Through AI, neuroscience, and years of testing, MEvolution helps people identify precisely where in your lives you can improve your energy and guides clients in rewiring their brains past energy-leaking behaviors for sustainable results. 

Sarah discusses the human energy crisis and burnout epidemic, including how we got here and how we get better. She offers dozens of energy management strategies for individuals and leaders. If energy is our currency, optimizing what we bring to the world has never been more important. 

Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, YouTube, or on your favorite podcast platform.

Episode Outline:

(04:05) Welcome to the MEvolution

(07:26) The 8 dimensions of positive energy

(09:32) Common energy leaks  

(11:41) The neuroscience behind energy management

(15:03) Sarah’s journey to MEvolution

(23:23) Why aren’t we okay right now?

(27:27) Common causes of ongoing burnout

(32:24) “Rewriting the books”

(35:18) Achieving work-life harmony

(40:36) Ways to bring more energy into your life

(44:08) Accountability and awareness as leadership qualities

Resources Mentioned:

• Ep 70: Living Authentically with Drew Taylor Cohen

Guest Info: 

• Follow Sarah on LinkedIn: Sarah Deane 

Follow Us:

• Learn more on our website: girlsclubcollective.co

About Lis: 

Lis Best is an executive coach for impact leaders, founder of the Girls Club Collective, and host of the Women Changing the World podcast.

Since launching her business in 2020, Lis has helped hundreds of leaders navigate ESG and sustainability careers, launch heart-centered businesses, and become more effective change agents.

In this episode, Lis Best is joined by Kathy Oneto, founder of Sustainable Ambition and Host of the Sustainable Ambition Podcast. Kathy discusses how she has redefined ambition, built self-trust, and navigated transitions, both for herself and her clients.

Kathy’s work focuses on the practice of using ambition as a guidepost along your career path and life journey. She supports entrepreneurs and creatives of all kinds, especially those entering a transition period. 

Kathy describes how ambition is like a U-curve, as well as her method for determining where one wants to exist on that spectrum. She outlines several frameworks for getting to know your ambition, values, effort, and vision. Kathy also offers an empowering definition of leadership and reflects on her best practices for energetic maintenance. 

Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, YouTube, or on your favorite podcast platform.

Episode Outline:

(03:21) Introductions through being over doing

(08:02) Origins of Sustainable Ambition

(17:08) Navigating career transitions

(19:53) The ambition U-curve

(23:37) Determining how to direct your energy and ambition

(32:09) “Right” effort, or managing both our effort and energy

(36:18) Components of a sustaining plan

(41:48) Leadership authenticity and service

(45:33) Clarity of vision in transition 

Resources Mentioned:

• Clear Thinking by Shane Parrish

Guest Info: 

• Follow Kathy on LinkedIn: Kathy Oneto

Follow Us:

• Learn more on our website: girlsclubcollective.co

About Lis: 

Lis Best is an executive coach for impact leaders, founder of the Girls Club Collective, and host of the Women Changing the World podcast.

Since launching her business in 2020, Lis has helped hundreds of leaders navigate ESG and sustainability careers, launch heart-centered businesses, and become more effective change agents.