Women, Wine & Leadership

Rachel Braun Scherl has passionately focused on driving the conversation on the business of women’s sexual and reproductive health. She spends a lot of time speaking publicly, loudly and passionately in an effort to drive the conversation around the business of female health in all of its complexity. Her bestselling book called Orgasmic Leadership reflects a wellspring of deep personal experience in pharmaceuticals, consumer products, women’s health as well as in depth interviews with leaders in the sexual wellness field. 

Rachel doesn't like to drink wine, in fact her favorite beverage is Stewart's Diet Root Beer, which I believe can be consumed from a wine glass to make it more festive. I love what Rachel is doing to accelerate women's health. If you have a business that needs a spark, I hope you'll give her a call.

Contact Rachel at [email protected] or www.sparksolutionsforgrowth.com.

Debra Valentina, founder of Creativing (Cre-A-tiving), is a holistic intuitive coach for female entrepreneurs and executives, as well as an international speaker and author. Her memoir Beyond Chaos: Journey to Freedom and Joy was published in March by Write Path Publishing. One of her greatest delights is to empower women to get beyond their doubts and fears to fully express their unique talents, experience freedom and joy, and claim their seat at the table.

Debra Valentina supports high achieving female executives and entrepreneurs who look good on the outside, yet secretly struggle with overwhelm or doubt on the inside. Debra partners with these women to empower them to move forward on their journey to find freedom and joy. In her book, Beyond Chaos, Debra  vulnerably shares her journey from a chaotic, dysfunctional childhood to a thriving, satisfying life.

More about Debra and her book at https://www.creativing.info/ and https://beyondchaosbook.com/.

Erin Ardleigh is the founder and president of Dynama Insurance. She has worked in the insurance industry since 2002 and founded Dynama Insurance in 2014 to make the insurance planning process more transparent and more accessible for her clients. Erin personally oversees each client’s plan design and says that the best part of her job is meeting smart, successful people. She lives in Manhattan, where she tries to keep up with the city’s culinary and artistic happenings. 

Erin shares in our interview a bit about her work on the Advisory Board of the World Music Institute where they continue to enjoy music through wmi+ at home. Check it out at http://www.worldmusicinstitute.org/.

A lifelong passion for travel has led Erin across all seven continents. She finds that traveling and running a successful business have much in common – planning well, listening, continual learning and last minute problem solving when the unexpected happens! In fact, Erin runs a weekly virtual networking group for entrepreneurs. If you want to stay in touch with her, contact Erin at [email protected] or 212-933-9456.

We talked a bit about the pandemic experience in New York. Where she lives in Manhattan, she has observed the pandemic up close and in living color, from the makeshift hospital in Central Park to the temporary morgue on the street below. So many of us have a limited view of the pandemic, gratefully, and it's important to make ourselves aware of what's happening globally so we can walk this out in emotional support of the world. She suggested we check out the stories in the NY TImes stories, to get a clear picture of the pandemic.

On a more cheerful note, talking about getting out of our own experience to understand a bit of the world, Erin describes her experience with Susanna Balbo, the first woman winemaker in Argentina, and I am seeing myself there. Maybe a women's wine retreat in the future. Find yourself there now: https://en.susanabalbowines.com.ar/

Or bring the wine tasting home. Navarro winery is providing COVD-friendly wine tasting at home. I can't wait to give this a try. If you want to join this tasting event, contact [email protected] and we'll put you on the list.

Kristen Denzer is the Chief Executive Officer and Founder of Tierra Encantada, a Leader in Spanish Immersion Early Education® for children ages six weeks through six years of age, focusing on the growth of the whole child. The program utilizes proprietary language-immersion curriculum focused on teaching a respect for diversity, and includes fresh-cooked, organic meals designed to expand children’s young palates.

Her choice wine comes from Croatia! Go to Stina wines, inspired by stone, here at https://winefromcroatia.com.

Everything you need to rocket out of this pandemic with success is within you. I've always talked about turning tragedy into strategy. That's exactly what Jacqueline Nagle does. She helps people craft their story into a purpose. You must listen to this conversation in creating your crisis strategy. More on Jacqueline at https://speakableyou.com/lets-meet.

Karen Brown sat in front of the TV in 1982 in tears, jarred emotionally by the performance of a woman in the Ironman triathalon. Why the tears? "Wasted potential," she told me. She had convinced herself this level of achievement was outside of her grasp. For 28 years she repeated the same pattern, talking herself out of realizing a future that was already hers if she would just own it. 

It was in a business class where she learned about human behavior patterns that the clouds parted and the angels sang. In her 40s, she learned how to transform limiting beliefs to unlimited beliefs. Our unconscious beliefs run 150,000 mph, processing 2 billion bits per day. We think that we're making sound conscious decisions, but the conscious mind contributes .006%.

Karen did hire a coach and train for the Ironman at 48, then she entered the Ultraman. I asked her how much of her life she had to reorder to train for these events. "Everything," she said. Training transformed how she planned her day, how she handled e-mail, how she ran her team as a CEO. It impacted everything and she was already operating at a pretty high index. This experience led her to create a coaching experience that would add the same velocity for you and me.

“On my journey to the Ironman World Championships as an amateur athlete,” explains Karen Brown, “I discovered that the key to greater performance and effectiveness lies in identifying and addressing blind spots – repeated behavioral patterns that impede success. Using a professional coach and neurolinguistics as a tool, I achieved astounding results.” The scientifically proven Velocity Power Pathways™ approach uses ground-breaking neuroscience techniques to help executives become more effective and impactful leaders, opening unconscious blocks in order to create new and lasting neural pathways to success.

You can access more resources at a special page she created for you:

When she's not training, she does enjoy a good red wine, especially a Barolo from Italy, but she's formed a new taste for a high quality, lower calorie tequila these days. Hey, we're all about strategies! Grab a friend and enjoy this conversation with Karen.

It's never easy to lose your job, but for Annie Scranton it was the gateway to a totally new career. She was 28 when she lost a coveted role as a TV producer and started calling friends to see if anyone knew of any work. One offer to place a personality on a TV show, led to another and another. This year Pace Public Relations celebrates its tenth anniversary, booking geniuses and business leaders on CNBC, Fox News, HLN, MSNBC, Fox Business Network, Bloomberg TV, and many other networks. One of her clients wrote a book that turned into a made-for-TV movie starring Rob Lowe. (Wish I could have been a fly on that wall. I'm not sure whether I want to quote West Wing here or Parks and Rec, so I'll just move on .... )

As a leader in her field, Annie is committed to raising up women of influence, so it isn't surprising that she was invited at the inaugural  Women Impact Tech Conference to introduce Arianna Huffington (you've heard of Huffington Post, which is affiliated with Thrive Global, where I happen to have a women's leadership column). In this interview she tells a story about her encounter with Huffington that every one of us needs to embrace.

In support of women, her firm is offering a free PR consultation to any small business navigating these uncharted waters. Contact them online at www.pacepublicrelations.com or reach out to Annie directly, at [email protected].

Annie and her husband Michael live in Manhattan raising their adorable young daughter Rose. In her free time (which isn't much) Annie enjoys puzzles, audio books and riding her Peloton. Her favorite wine tonight is Whispering Angel Rose, in honor of her sweet daughter, but she typically goes to a buttery Chardonnay. It's clear in the white wine category we can drink together.

Please grab a friend and get to know Annie with me. Look for a summary of this and a few other recent podcasts on Thrive Global.

Nikki began her career in 1997 with Champion Nutrition. In 1998, she joined her father  and  brother  to  add  her  expertise  to the successful start-up of CytoSport / Muscle Milk, where she  was  instrumental  in creating the  infrastructure  of  their  operation  which became a 200,000 square foot headquarters housing business operations, marketing and a  state-of-the-art manufacturing facility.  She began to direct the Brandin early 2001 and was named Chief Marketing Officer in 2009. She led all brand activity including innovation, packaging, advertising, sports marketing, collegiate programming, lifestyle marketing, national events and sampling. The  family  sold  the  award-winning business  to  Hormel  Food  Company,  where  Nikki stayed in her role. In 2016, she joined her father and brother at another startup, then fast forward to  2019, when the entrepreneurial family launched the ALTWELL line of CBD products where she again leads the brand and marketing  efforts.  

Nikki lives  in Alamo  with  her  husband  and  four  children. When  not  running  from  sports  to  dance, they love to travel. Get to know more about the business at altwell.com.

What a way to start the day! I am just blessed beyond words to meet Mia Hewett and share this conversation with you. Mia helps you to confidently create your own reality by accessing your innate power, shift your self-image, and clear the misconceptions and misunderstandings that have been getting in your way. We use all the same words about alignment of your head and heart to create synergy... but what I love most is that she uses her own story to talk about the traps in our heads that keep women from breaking the million dollar barrier in business. She talks about when she broke the million dollar barrier and asked herself, "Is this all?" 

You will want her free book. 

Go to http://miameantformorebook.com/

Password: Freebook

Learn more about Mia at https://www.miahewett.com/

Dr. Marla Richard incorporates the latest in neuroscience, evidence-based practices of psychopharmacology and western medicine, interpersonal neurobiology, and the Enneagram to help individuals, groups and professionals to become their “best self”. She's a board-certified, Stanford-trained psychiatrist with a specialization in an integrated health paradigm using, traditional psychopharmacology, equine rehabilitative therapy, and interpersonal neurobiology practices.

"Integration is a key factor to health. I help balance all centers from your physical health exploring diet, exercise/movement, stress and disease management. Mental health focusing on building flexibility and mindfulness. Spiritually to honor the differences of those we love, live and work with to offer kindness and compassion. All so that we can rest peacefully, play with joy and work with gusto!"

She currently practices clinical geriatric psychiatry at UC San Diego and is building a program to take her wisdom to the world. You can contact Dr. Marla at drmarlarichard.com