Melissa McGovern is an alcohol-free coach, speaker, and the unapologetic voice behind The Sober New Yorker, a brand and podcast that helps high-achieving women ditch gray area drinking and build a life that actually feels as badass as it looks on paper. What started as a 90-day break from alcohol turned into a complete reinvention—and now Melissa is on a mission to help other women do the same. Through her coaching, speaking, and no-BS approach, she challenges women to bust through limiting beliefs, get comfortable being uncomfortable, and finally choose themselves. When she’s not coaching or recording, you’ll find her dancing, soaking up theater, or chasing her next travel adventure—because a bold, alcohol-free life should feel just as fun as it is freeing.

Amy Chinian is the founder and CEO of My Hair Helpers, a Southern California–based company specializing in professional head lice treatment, removal, and prevention. A mother of five, Amy turned personal hardship into purpose after the 2007 financial crisis led to the collapse of her husband’s business, leaving their family facing nearly $3 million in debt and without a home. Determined to rebuild, she began offering in-home services with a simple red picnic basket, laying the foundation for what would become a multi-million-dollar company.

Today, My Hair Helpers operates multiple salon locations, a mobile service division, and a national product line, serving families across the region and beyond. Amy is also the founder of Lice Free Forever Charity and the author of the children’s book Everybody Gets Lice. 

Julie Riga is a TEDx speaker and ICF-ACC certified leadership coach, trainer, and learning consultant with 20+ years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry, specializing in big-picture program and project management. She is the creator of Before I Lead. This coaching experience helps executives and emerging leaders lead with clarity, confidence, and purpose while building a legacy that matters professionally and personally. Known for bringing people and priorities together, Julie helps leaders build high-functioning teams, strengthen communication, and deliver breakthrough results on time and under budget. Her work blends practical strategy with mindset-based coaching to help clients navigate change, elevate performance, and lead authentically. Julie is also the author and host of the Stay on Course podcast, where she helps professionals move from feeling stuck to pursuing purposeful, values-led careers. She is also a musician, vocalist, and voice actor.

Payton Garrity-Stern is an events and hospitality innovator and has spent the last decade exploring the most prominent markets for events and entertainment. Beginning her career at 18 in Las Vegas, she cut her teeth diving into the deep end at events such as the iHeartRadio Music Festival and CES. She then made the move to Nashville where she found herself in Music Publishing and Artist management. Her next step took her to New York City where she worked briefly in Sports Marketing and moonlit as an actress off Broadway. This momentum was cut short by the pandemic, which is when she decided to make the move to London and attend Le Cordon Bleu for a culinary degree. From there she worked her way through the Michelin starred Hedonism group, first as a chef, then as purchasing manager, and finally, as Events and Marketing Supervisor. Now looking for her next adventure and always eager to learn and grow, Payton is constantly seeking knowledge and challenging systems to create opportunity and understand all facets of hospitality.

Patty spent her career working for the government and Fortune 50 corporations, in government relations, public affairs and corporate communications.  When COVID hit, the company where she worked shut down, leaving more than 750 employees without a job. Patty decided to start her own communications consulting practice (Volterra Communications).  To bring her skills up to speed, she took an online course in podcasting never imagining it would become her passion.  She started Your Daily Chocolate Podcast more than 5 years ago to counterbalance all the negativity in the world.  It features bite-sized stories that make you feel good – funny stories, people who are doing incredible things – all with the intent to make you smile, laugh or feel inspired.

After COVID, she left her native California and moved to Tennessee, building her dream home. She is Master to two kitties and just adopted a puppy, which she didn’t realize would be so exhausting! In whatever spare time she has, she enjoys golfing, traveling, entertaining and, of course, chocolate!

Shelly-Anne Mckay is a Master Certified Coach (MCC) and internationally recognized expert in addiction recovery and mental wellness. She works with high-profile and high-visibility clients who want to pursue extraordinary success without losing their spirit, health, or core values in the process. With more than 7,000 coaching hours and over a decade of deep, in-the-trenches experience, Shelly-Anne supports entrepreneurs, executives, creatives, athletes, and other leaders in addressing the hidden patterns that quietly undermine performance, relationships, and personal wellbeing. While she is widely known for her specialty in food addiction recovery, her work extends across addiction recovery, functional medicine, and spiritual, values-based transformation that honors each client’s unique path. As a former recording artist manager and television and film producer, she understands the intensity of high-stakes environments firsthand. She is the co-founder of Unalome Agency and Sober & Social Club in Kelowna, creator of Soul Sisters United, and producer of the YouTube series Craving Clarity.

"In 2000, Julie Foucht left a 20-year abusive relationship feeling lost and broken. As a partner in her husband’s construction company, she left both her marriage and her income. She had stayed because she believed that she couldn’t make enough money to support her 4 children, but was determined to find a way to create the life she dreamed of.

She dove into personal development and started her study of the Energy of Money.

She quickly realized that her purpose on the planet was to get more money in the hands of more women.

For over 20 years Julie has worked with women coaches, healers and soul-fueled entrepreneurs to open their money channels  and create  soul-fueled, financially abundant businesses.

Julie received her coach certification in 2006 and has built a 6-figure coaching practice that allows her multiple vacations a year, her dream home on the Central Coast of California, and lots of time to play with her grandchildren."

1. You left a 20-year abusive relationship while also walking away from your income. What was the moment where you decided, “I’m going anyway,” even without a clear plan?

1. You said you believed you couldn’t make enough money to support your four kids. How did you rewrite that belief, and what did that process actually look like day to day?

1. You’ve spent years studying the “energy of money.” For someone who hears that and thinks it sounds abstract, what does that practically mean in how they earn, spend, and think about money?

1. You now help women build financially abundant businesses. What are the most common ways you see women unintentionally block their own income?

1. Finish this: Julie is Women In… what? And how did your lived experience shape that identity?

Chip Scholz is an executive coach, author, and woodturner who believes the most meaningful lessons in life often come from unexpected places. Through his coaching and his writing, including Every Dog Has Its Day: Reflections on Life, Love, and the Lathe, he explores how curiosity, craftsmanship, and everyday experiences shape the way we grow as people and leaders. At his core, Chip’s purpose is simple: he lives to develop people.

Here are five thoughtful, conversational questions that would fit the tone of Women In…:

1. Your work sits at an interesting intersection of leadership, craftsmanship, and reflection. How did woodturning and working with your hands start influencing the way you think about leadership and personal growth?
2. In Every Dog Has Its Day, you talk about lessons coming from unexpected places. Can you share a moment where something ordinary or seemingly small ended up teaching you a profound lesson?
3. You’ve said that your purpose is to develop people. What does that look like in practice when you’re working with leaders who may be successful on paper but still feel stuck or searching for something more?
4. Craftsmanship requires patience, curiosity, and attention to detail. How do those same principles show up in leadership and decision making?
5. Many of the best lessons in life come through reflection. What practices or habits have helped you slow down enough to actually notice and learn from those moments?

Ashlea’s path to becoming a therapist is anything but conventional. Before working in a counseling room, she spent nearly a decade serving her community as a firefighter and paramedic. Those years on the front lines shaped how she understands people, the invisible weight they carry, and the way strength and suffering can exist at the same time. That experience became the foundation of her calling.

Today, Ashlea is a Licensed Professional Counselor and Certified Clinical and Transpersonal Hypnotherapist. She brings a rare combination of real world experience and clinical expertise to her work. A significant focus of her practice is supporting first responders, military members, veterans, and their families. Having lived that world herself, she understands the identity built around service and the challenges that can arise when that identity shifts.

Ashlea holds both undergraduate and master’s degrees in mental health and clinical counseling and has completed more than 500 hours of clinical hypnosis training through the Institute of Interpersonal Hypnotherapy. She also brings over 5,000 hours of professional experience and advanced training in neuro-somatic therapy and psychedelic-assisted therapy.

Her approach blends evidence-based practices with deeper healing work that supports the body, mind, and spirit. Ashlea works with clients in person in Loveland, Colorado and virtually.