Women Killing It!

As a woman who ascended to the highest ranks of Wall Street as CEO of Smith Barney, Merrill Lynch and Citi Private, Sallie Krawcheck has a tremendous amount of wisdom to impart. She shares life lessons in her new book "Own It: The Power of Women at Work," and explains why we have reason to be optimistic for the future. Sallie also talks about Ellevest, a platform she has developed to close the gender investment gap, as well as her global professional women's network, Ellevate. Listen for learnings on overcoming failure, seizing the power women already have, and "the most important career advice women aren't getting."

When asked what gave her the courage to start her own company at the young age of 27, Shannon Lorraine answered "blind passion" and "foolishness." Although she may not have known how hard entrepreneurship would be, her company Foundfuture has been going strong for more than ten years now, with Shannon finding the answers along the way. Listen for Shannon's story of creating her own destiny, reinventing existing PR/branding models to a more connected, full-service approach, and finding the time to be hands-on at her daughter's school amidst it all.

Diane Flynn, Executive Vice President of Reboot Accelerator, co-founded Reboot to help women get current, confident, and connected to return to work. Having rebooted her own career after taking time out of the paid workforce for motherhood, Diane encourages women to recognize the skill sets they have built doing unpaid work that are transferrable to the paid workforce. Listen for her story and for fantastic advice for all women on being successful at work.

This week we are announcing our second challenge designed to take your career to the next level. We think it's time to put all the amazing advice we've been hearing to work for us. Give it a try and tell us how it goes! Email us or tell us on social media. We also preview a new podcast called Living Open by Eryn Johnson. We'll be back next week with another inspiring interview from a woman who is killing it in her career.

Jocelyn Greene is the founder and Executive Director of Child's Play NY, which teaches New York children acting, creativity and compassion. She also is the creator of Child's Play in Action, a new video series that extends Jocelyn's expertise to all. Jocelyn believes that "in order to create thriving children and successful humans, we just need to be playing more," and numerous recent studies agree. Listen for Jocelyn's motivational story of building a successful business "cobblestone by cobblestone".

Ana Homayoun is a teen and millennial expert who recently celebrated the 15th anniversary of her company, Green Ivy Education Consulting. She is the author of The Myth of the Perfect Girl, a guide to helping girls find authentic happiness and success in life. Ana was inspired to write the book when high-achieving girls could not tell her what made them happy or joyful. Listen for Ana's wise teachings, which are needed not only by girls but also by women of all ages.

Julie Morgan started her makeup artist career years ago behind the makeup counter at a suburban shopping mall. Today, she's known as Foxyfleet, a celebrity makeup artist and the personality behind foxyfleet.com. She has been the personal artist for celebrities like Giada De Laurentiis and Ricki Lake, who appreciate not only her skills but also her ability to be the "zen master" amidst the chaos. Julie shares her fascinating career path and lessons learned about going with her gut and staying true to herself.

Listen to the uplifting stories of Megan and Alison and their work with girls in Kenya through Zana Africa. Megan founded Zana Africa when she learned that girls did not have access to sanitary pads and health education, and Zana Africa now fills that need for 30,000 girls a month. Megan decided that her life's purpose was a big one - making life better for tens of millions of people - and her future plans for Zana Africa are limitless. Alison handles communications and development for Zana Africa, and she details her career path that started with PR for a luxury goods company selling $100,000 watches and eventually led to fulfillment.

Raised in a strict Caribbean household where art was not considered a career, Christine pushed her longstanding artistic passion to the sidelines. When she met designers making a living through art, Christine took a leap of faith and left her financial services career behind. Her mother's bold move to Africa when Christine was a child gave Christine the courage to do it, and now Christine's designs are sold by major retailers like Crate & Barrel and West Elm.

Lacking female role models in science as a kid, Liz Alter didn't see becoming a scientist as a realistic possibility. But she decided to give her passion a try and has become a role model for other women in the field. She is a biology professor at CUNY and the head of the Alter Lab. Together with a female role model she found late in her career, she even discovered a new species of fish in the Congo River, naming it after the Obamas!