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What if the goal was never "safe" spaces but safer ones? Becky Mollenkamp and Faith Clarke sit down with Sydney Elaine Butler, founder of Accessible Creates. They're a biracial, non-binary, autistic entrepreneur living with chronic pain and complex PTSD, and this is a fantastic conversation about intersectionality, disability inclusion, and what it really takes to let people bring their whole selves to work.

Sydney shares how their childhood role as "the helper" shaped their career supporting people with disabilities, what it's like to code-switch between Black and white spaces as a biracial person, and why so much workplace DEI work stalls out at compliance instead of getting to the people actually living the policies.

In this episode:

• (00:15) Icebreaker: the cartoon character you relate to most (Papa Smurf, Atomic Betty, Encanto's Luisa, and Inside Out 2's Anxiety all make an appearance)
• (06:23) Sydney's full-circle moment speaking at the Canadian Autism Leadership Summit
• (08:16) The story that isn't being told: intersectionality in disability and DEI work
• (10:14) Code-switching as a biracial, non-binary woman — and what safety has to do with it
• (16:23) What changes when we stop collapsing identities and start expanding them
• (23:04) Why so much corporate DEI work stays surface-level — and what real accountability looks like
• (26:16) Sydney's shift from "expert" to focus groups: centering the people living the policy
• (33:06) Safe vs. safer spaces — and why "safe" might be a promise no one can actually keep
• (44:07) Filling your own cup: solitude, boundaries, and unlearning the "selfish" narrative
• (51:41) The Resmaa Menakem story: what happens when a room chooses care over the agenda
• (54:04) A real-time example of building accommodation into a relationship, mid-conversation
• (56:14) Closing ritual: Yes, and... Otherwise

About the guest: Sydney Elaine Butler is the founder of Accessible Creates, working with organizations on disability policy, accessibility, and inclusive workplace practice. Learn more at accessiblecreates.ca.

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Black women's hair carries history, labor, identity, and risk — and most white women have never had to think about any of it. In this conversation, Becky and Faith sit down with Dr. Eghosa Obaizamomwan-Hamilton, a Black mother-scholar and author of Articulations: A Radical Methodology for Black Pedagogy — Redefining Education Through Black Women's Hair Experiences, to dig into what her research uncovered about hair as an overlooked layer of intersectionality.

We talk about the "true cost" of hair — financial, physical, and emotional — the difference between internalized racism and intentional "texturized code-switching," why the rise of social media accelerated the natural hair movement, and the invisible labor Black women carry every day just deciding how to show up. Faith brings her own journey from straightened hair in Jamaica to nearly 25 years of locks, and Dr. Eghosa shares what she means when she says "I am my hair" — plus concrete advice for white women who want to be real co-conspirators instead of passive allies.

Links mentioned:
• Latest article, "We Be Audacious": https://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/YBJHBZJRVG7MYDIUCAGA/full?target=10.1080/09540253.2026.2707142
• Articulations, A Radical Methodology for Black Pedagogy: https://amzn.to/4yKaxnr
• Articulations on Audible: https://amzn.to/4fpEEcp
• Reading Guide for Articulations: https://www.eghosaobaizamomwan.com/_files/ugd/1382eb_14e141a63f4b4618bb0e527bb80f385a.pdf

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What does radical empathy actually look like in a business, not just as a feeling, but as a practice?

Becky sits down with Terri Givens, political scientist and author of Radical Empathy and Reckoning, to dig into the how behind the why. They talk through Terri's six steps to radical empathy (starting with the hardest one: being vulnerable with yourself first), what it means to unpack internalized bias, and why "safe spaces" might be the wrong goal (brave spaces are more honest and more possible).

They also get into the stuff business owners actually wrestle with: how to build diverse teams without falling into tokenism, what "empathy is not absolution" means when you're deciding who to work with, and why intentionality (not perfection) is the real work of inclusive leadership.

In this episode:
• The six steps of radical empathy, and why vulnerability with yourself comes first
• Unpacking internalized oppression, Terri's own story growing up Black and Catholic in Spokane, WA
• Safe spaces vs. brave spaces, and why the second one is the honest goal
• "Strategic empathy": how to have compassion for someone without excusing their behavior
• Building trust and community without falling into performative hiring or tokenism
• The role business can play in creating the future we want, with lessons from history

Terri Givens is a political scientist, author, and entrepreneur. Her books Radical Empathy (2021) and Reckoning (2025, paperback out this year) offer both the why and the how of using empathy as a tool for real change in business, in community, and in ourselves. Learn more and grab the books (currently 50% off) at Terri's website.

Feminist Founders is a space for business owners who care about equity and justice — and want the practical tools to actually build it. New episodes drop regularly. Subscribe and join the conversation.

Find Terri Givens (and her books) at https://www.terrigivens.com/

Also mentioned in this episode:
• "The Warmth of Other Suns" by Isabel Wilkerson: https://amzn.to/44zOjH2

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In this episode, you'll hear from Dr. Moriah Brewer (sociologist, researcher, and founder of Like Home) about one of the most overlooked workplace equity issues hiding in plain sight: menstrual care. Only 2% of US companies offer any form of period leave, yet menstruation affects roughly half the workforce for decades of their working lives. Becky and Moriah dig into why that number is so low, what the equity vs. equality argument actually means for HR policy, and how period poverty, medical dismissal, and the $40 billion period care industry all point to the same problem, we've invested in discretion, not care. If you're building a feminist business, this conversation will challenge you to examine your own policies.

Topics Covered:
• The business case for menstrual/period leave, only 2% of US companies currently offer it, but Moriah argues it's both an equity issue and a long-term investment in workforce wellbeing and retention
• Equity vs. equality in workplace policy, why "giving everyone the same thing" doesn't close gaps, and what targeted support actually looks like for menstruating employees
• Period poverty as a workplace issue, in Michigan alone, 2 in 5 women experience period poverty, causing them to miss work or school due to lack of access to basic products
• The $40 billion period care industry gap, the entire industry is built around products and discretion, not care; Moriah is building Like Home to change that with virtual services, cycle syncing support, and in-home care options
• Medical dismissal and the cost to workers, Moriah's own experience with PCOS, fibroids, and years of being brushed off by the medical system speaks to a broader pattern that impacts worker productivity and health
• Why period equity lifts all workplace benefits, the same political and cultural fight that wins period leave also opens the door to better mental health leave, disability leave, and paternity leave
• What feminist business ownership demands, how "permission structures" in workplaces signal ownership dynamics, and what it looks like to lead differently

LEARN MORE:
• Like Home: https://joinlikehome.com/
• Dr. Moriah Brewer on Instagram, Threads, and Substack: @MariahLynnJoe

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On this episode of Feminist Founders, Becky Mollenkamp talks with social psychologist Dr. Evelyn Carter (author of Was That Racist? How to Detect, Interrupt, and Unlearn Bias in Everyday Life) about why she waited until 2026 to publish a book she could have written during the 2020 racial reckoning, what happened when she watched a community of women authors fail a basic accountability test, and why "safe space" is the wrong goal for anyone trying to build an inclusive business or community.

In This Episode, We Get Into:

• Why Dr. Carter didn't write her book in 2020, and what made 2026 (mid-backlash, mid-DEI-rollback) the right moment
• The whiplash of clients who slashed DEI budgets in early 2020 then begged for workshops weeks later after George Floyd's murder
• A real-time story of Evelyn leaving a women authors' group after watching the group's leaders fail to enforce their own community norms
• The difference between a "safe space" and a "safer space," and why claiming the former is actually a red flag
• The research on self-regulation of prejudice, why guilt changes behavior and anger doesn't, and what that means for how we respond to being called out
• Why white women's tears in conversations about race do real, measurable harm (and what to do with those feelings instead)
• Concrete, everyday microaggression examples from networking events and speaking gigs—"you're so articulate," "are you sure you're the speaker?"
• The simple practice of assuming the underrepresented person in the room holds the higher-status role
• Becky's own story of accidentally lecturing the one Black woman in a coaching group about diet culture, and how she repaired it
• What harm repair actually looks like in practice, and why it's the missing piece in most community guidelines

Resources Mentioned:

• Was That Racist? How to Detect, Interrupt, and Unlearn Bias in Everyday Life by Evelyn R. Carter, PhD (Little, Brown Spark): https://amzn.to/4aS0rqe
• White Tears/Brown Scars: How White Feminism Betrays Women of Color by Ruby Hamad: https://amzn.to/4epWPNh

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In this powerful conversation, Faith Clarke sits down with Alesia Galati—podcast host, business owner, wife, and mother—to explore how discomfort shows up in our bodies and impacts how we navigate relationships and power dynamics. Alesia shares her journey from growing up in a single-parent home affected by addiction, through 10 years in a cult disguised as a women's program, to building multiple successful podcasts and a full-service podcast management agency.

What We Discussed:

• How women's bodies teach distress tolerance through periods and other physical experiences
• The complicated relationship with "push through" messaging after cult trauma
• Moving from knee-jerk reactions to slowing down in moments of discomfort
• How childhood experiences shape our automatic responses to conflict
• The importance of mitigation versus avoidance strategies
• Parenting in the age of AI and teaching kids to sit with questions
• Book recommendations for understanding different perspectives on discomfort
• The power of sitting with someone through their coping mechanisms

Featured book: They Wouldn't Dare by Deanna Gray: https://amzn.to/4tdVVJc

Ready to connect with other feminist founders navigating these conversations? Join us in the Feminist Podcasters Collective at feministpodcasterscollective.com

Get "Liberate Your Business" by Becky Mollenkamp at https://liberateyourbusiness.com/

Consent isn’t a checkbox—it’s a relationship.

In this episode, Becky Mollenkamp and Faith Clarke dig into the messy, nuanced reality of consent. Moving far beyond the simplistic “yes means yes” framework, they explore how power dynamics, discomfort, and unspoken pressure shape whether consent is actually present.

From workplaces to relationships to leadership, they challenge the idea that words alone determine consent—and make the case for deeper awareness, ongoing check-ins, and paying attention to what’s not being said.

This is a conversation about power, humanity, and what it really takes to create environments where people can genuinely choose.
 

In This Episode, We Cover:

•  The difference between performative consent and real consent 
•  Why “they said yes” is often not the full story 
•  How power dynamics distort people’s ability to consent 
•  The role of nonverbal communication (and why words aren’t enough) 
•  Why leaders have a responsibility to pay closer attention 
•  Consent as an ongoing, relational process—not a one-time agreement 
•  How discomfort prevents both giving and receiving real consent 
•  The problem with forcing vulnerability in workplace culture 
•  Why “use your words” can be an oversimplification 
•  Real-life examples of honoring consent—even when it costs something

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Let’s clear something up right away: discomfort and conflict are not the same thing.

But most of us treat them like they are, and that misunderstanding is costing us. In our relationships, in our leadership, and in the kind of world we say we want to build.

In this first episode of our discomfort series, I’m joined by Faith Clarke to break down what discomfort actually is (hint: it lives in your body), what conflict actually is (hint: it lives between people), and why so many of us are doing everything we can to avoid both.

We talk about:

•  Why your brain is so quick to label discomfort as danger 
•  How power and identity shape your relationship to conflict 
•  The stories you tell yourself that escalate everything 
•  And why learning to stay with discomfort might be one of the most important leadership skills you can build 

If you’ve ever avoided a hard conversation, over-accommodated to keep the peace, or spiraled over something small—this one’s for you.

🔑 What We Cover in This Episode:

•  The difference between discomfort (internal) and conflict (relational) 
•  Why discomfort is often a somatic, body-based experience 
•  How conflict arises from competing stories—not just feelings 
•  The role of power, privilege, and identity in how we handle conflict 
•  Why many of us were conditioned to believe conflict is “bad” 
•  Fight, flight, freeze, fawn—and what they look like in real life 
•  The importance of threat assessment (is this actually dangerous?) 
•  How meaning-making turns small discomfort into full-blown spirals 
•  Why avoiding discomfort makes everything more expensive (emotionally, mentally, physically) 
•  The possibility of healthy conflict as a tool for growth and co-creation 

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Becky and Faith kick off their discomfort series with something deceptively small: a middle-of-the-night argument about an open window. What starts as a relatable story about being woken up at 3am becomes a real-time breakdown of how discomfort turns into conflict — and what we can do about it.

They dig into the stories we tell ourselves when we feel disrespected, why anger is actually energy looking for justice, and how our nervous system state determines what choices are even available to us in heated moments. Plus: why the low-stakes conflicts are exactly where we should be building our conflict navigation muscles — so we're ready when the stakes are actually high.

In this episode:
• How a single moment of discomfort becomes a full conflict narrative
• What your body is trying to tell you before you do something you'll regret
• The difference between the stimulus and the story
• Why choosing your response is a form of agency, even at 3am
• How small conflicts are training ground for the big ones
• Using conflict as a tool to actually improve your relationships

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This short conversation kicks off a new Feminist Founders mini-series on discomfort.

Becky Mollenkamp and Faith Clarke start by unpacking a question many of us struggle to answer clearly: What’s the difference between discomfort and conflict?

They explore how discomfort often shows up first as a somatic signal in the body—tight shoulders, a knot in your stomach, a sense that something isn’t right. Conflict, on the other hand, tends to emerge when our stories about a situation collide with someone else’s.

The conversation moves into how identity, power, and lived experience shape our relationship to both discomfort and conflict. Becky reflects on how whiteness and privilege can create an expectation that comfort should always be restored quickly. Faith shares how marginalized identities often require learning to navigate discomfort without the luxury of avoiding it.

Together they discuss:

• The difference between internal discomfort and interpersonal conflict
• How meaning-making can escalate discomfort into conflict
• The role of power, identity, and cultural conditioning
• Fight, flight, freeze, fawn—and the possibility of facing discomfort instead
• Why learning to sit with discomfort is essential for building something new

This episode lays the groundwork for the rest of the series, where Becky and Faith will share stories and tools for navigating discomfort more skillfully in leadership, business, and social change work.

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