Sheri West is a former corporate executive who has transitioned into a phenomenal advocate for young women by founding her own nonprofit organization, Live Girl, which mission is to prepare the next generation of diverse, brave female leaders with skills, community and connections so that all girls can thrive and make a positive impace on the world. As for Sheri West's background, she grew up on a farm in Michigan and later on went to Michigan State University where she got her undergrad and Masters. She later on found her way into corporate America and worked with fortune 500 companies such as Pepsi. This experience allowed her to live out her dreams and travel the world. While traveling, she had to make hard sacrifices such as losing precious time with her family and friends, which definitley effected her wanting to start a family. During her career, and similar to many other women, she faced an array of obstacles in corporate America. These obstacles highlighted the importance for women to have a network of mentors and sponsors. Sheri belives that female mentors are of the utmost importance for a women's professinal success. When she left corporate America in 2014, she founded Live Girl with a mission to provide that network of not only mentors, but other resources for young professional women. She wanted to create this organization to pay it forward to the next generation of female leaders and make a real difference to women in the workspace. Live Girl works with girls from 5th grade all the way into college, offering career readiness and internship programs to young girls who might not otherwise be given such oppurtuinities. Being given these resources from such a young age really benefit young women's mental health in the long term, and this is something Sheri really believes we should be proactive about as a society, instead of reactive. She emphasizses how it is so important to be a good example to these young women and to constantly make sure she is leaving a positive impact on them. We love a woman who dedicates her career to lifting other women up!! About LiveGirl: Founded in 2014, LiveGirl, Inc. is a Connecticut-based nonprofit girls leadership organization that builds confident, inclusive leaders. Our mission is to prepare the next generation of diverse, brave female leaders with the skills, community, and connections so that ALL girls may thrive and make a positive impact on the world. LiveGirl serves thousands of girls in grade 5 through college annually through its free-of-charge, innovative leadership development and mentoring programs. To date, LiveGirl has reached over 10,000 young women. Learn more: https://golivegirl.org/ Connect @goLiveGirl. About Confident Podcast with Sheri & Olivia West: A mother - daughter podcast featuring conversations with fierce, unapologetically ambitious women about what it means to be an inclusive leader. Learn more: https://golivegirl.org/podcast

See It To Be It

Sheri West on Helping The Next Generation Of Fierce Female Leaders

This month on the See It To Be It podcast Melinda talks with Dr. Shirley Davis, who is the CEO of SDS Enterprises, a woman and minority-owned C-Corporation that provides strategic development solutions that enable organizational leaders to build high performing and inclusive cultures that thrive in a competitive and changing environment. When Dr. Davis was a child, she had a very vivid imagination. She had no fears or limitations, and dreamed of being either an allstar athlete, lawyer, fashion model or actress. She talks about how as children, we don't have any of those experiences that cause hurt, rejection or pain which causes us to have fears and limitations. She explains however that once she went to college and got out in the real world, she did start to have those experiences that brought about feelings of self-doubt and caused her to "shrink". Now, her doubts and fears have been minimized almost completley, but like anyone still seep through from time to time. For example, when she was asked to be on a national board, she thought "they want me?" and almost talked herself out of the oppurtunity. She then reminded herself of how wonderful, educated and deserving of this oppurtunity she was. This prompted her book, "Living Beyond Your What Ifs", which tells the story that we can all relate to of having those fears and overcoming them to be the best version of yourself. Her inspiration for the book was to inspire other people to live beyond their what ifs, she says "we have an obligation, responsibility and even an oppurtunity to help other people who may be facing the same things too". In the book, she shares personal stories as well as stories of other people, who she mentored and were also stuck in their what ifs and overcame them. The book is full of tips and tricks to feel your best self and live in confidence and peace, sounds like a must-read to us! Dr. Davis spent 30 years in corporate america and mentions her career found her. As a child she never dreamed of being in HR or being a Chief Diversity Officer but she says "I do believe that in life your past will collide, you collide with destiny". She believes that the things she learned in early childhood were preparing her for her career. Companies would say to her that they needed someone for DEI, and she fit the bill being a woman of color. As for how business is doing post-COVID, Dr. Davis claims that ever since the murder of George Floyd last year her firm been overhwlemed and has not slowed down. They have been on the forefront as a full service firm, they did more listening sessions in the last year than in the past 20 years. Dr. Davis doesn't believe DEI is going anywhere, it has been a relevant hot topic for a number of years because of the pervasive demographic shift we are seeing today. When the new generation of talent comes into the workforce, they have expectations, and if companies don't accomodate them, they will miss out on top talent. She mentions that in 2020, some of the top words used were "pivot" and "you are muted" (LOL). When people pivoted last year, they not only reinvented themselves, they reinvented work places and relationships and looked at life saying "is this what I want to do?" 3.9 million people in June and July quit their jobs, and we're calling this "the great resignation", because people are choosing a different path in their lives. People now ask themselves "is this where I want to work? Is my boss toxic, is this workplace toxic?" and are choosing hapiness and quitting their jobs, so employers must get with the program or they will miss out. As far as the mass resgination, women are a lot of the ones leaving the workforce. Currently, women make up nearly half of the workforce, says Dr. Davis, and companies need to do something to retain them. Women are overwhelmed with not only work responsibilites, but also child care and other home responsibilities. She calls out to companies to make their workplace cultures and policies more flexible, and to create the enviorment that allows women to excel. She belives women were leaving the workforce in higher droves this past year because not only were they many of them laid off, they made choices to leave because childcare centers were shut down and children were home from school. Her firm has been overwhelmed with a lot of calls about implicit bias training, because at the core of it, women still have biases that keep us from being payed fairly, hired in certain positions or being promoted as fast as men. She even brings up that out of the fortune 500 companies, only 41 of the heads of those corporations are women. We have work to do! It starts with equity, inclusion, bias training, but then it goes to accountability: change your policies, update your strategies and put programs in place that are much more flexibile and accomidating to bring women in. But what about things like the new requirement by Wall Street about mandating women on boards, is it enough? Will it bring about enough change (since it only specifies women and not race or sexual orientation)? Dr. Davis thinks its a start for boards to diversify, but it needs to trickle down to not just women but people of color and those that have different experiences, thoughts, perspectives and ideas. Talent comes from a lot of places, and companies need to know to look for leaders that have transferable skills and recognize that talent comes from all different backgrounds, you HAVE to look outside your traditional network, cast your net broader. She brings up that when she is asked to be on a board, even if they are all white men, she knows that she may be the first and may even be the only, but she won't be the last. As for Dr. Davis' mentors, she has a great network of other senior executive women. She also finds people who are five to ten years ahead of her in their careers, and emulates some of what they do, even if they are not formal mentors. A lot of our podcast guest bring up a network of other women, Melinda mentions the statistic that when women have a network of other women, they get further, and even more so when they have a mixed network of men and women. The most powerful thing we can do is to share our networks with other women. Dr. Davis says relationships are the new currency. A lot of her business comes from referrals and recomendations. People do business with people they like, trust and know. To learn more about Dr. Shirley Davis, check out her YouTube channel or buy her book on Amazon "Living Beyond Your What Ifs", follow her on social media. Dr. Shirley Davis is the author of the new book Living Beyond “What If?” Release the Limits and Realize Your Dreams (Berrett-Koehler Publishers, August 10, 2021, Available for order at Amazon.com). She’s also the author of the books Reinvent Yourself: Strategies for Achieving Success in Every Area of Your Life and The Seat: How to Get Invited to the Table When You're Over-Performing but Undervalued. Additionally, she is a popular author for several LinkedIn Learning courses on Leadership and DEI. Connect with Dr. Shirley Davis on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/shirley.davisphd/), Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/DrShirleyDavisPhD/), Twitter (https://twitter.com/DrShirleyDavis), YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5eETU9ZJ8heqzQNwNPBRNw), Clubhouse (https://www.clubhouse.com/@drshirleydavis) and LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/drshirleydavis/), TikTok, or visit www.drshirleydavis.com. "Challenges are brilliantly disguised as oppurtunities for us to take them on by the horn, not be afraid and make a difference" See It To Be It Content Corner Looking for more tips, motivation and direction? Tune into the See It To Be It podcast the first Thursday of every month on your favorite streaming service. Subscribe to our email newsletter to be notified of new episodes! Check us out on social! We are dedicated to providing inspiring female role models to women around the world, so let us know what you think by chatting with us on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/seeittobeitpodcast/) and Twitter (https://twitter.com/seeit_tobeit), Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/seeittobeitpodcast) and LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/company/onthedotwoman) Special Guest: Dr. Shirley Davis.

Dr. Shirley Davis on Living Beyond Your What Ifs and Post-COVID Mass Resignations

This month on See It To Be It podcast, Melinda speaks with Bonnie Marcus, an award winning entrepreneur, Forbes contributing writer, and executive coach. Bonnie Marcus, M.Ed., assists professional women to successfully navigate the workplace and position and promote themselves to advance their careers. With 20+ years of sales and management experience, Bonnie’s extensive business background includes CEO of a ServiceMaster company and VP of Sales at Medical Staffing Network and other national companies in the healthcare and software industries. She has held executive positions in startups as well as Fortune 500 companies. A certified coach, Bonnie has been honored by Global Gurus as one of the world’s top 30 coaches in 2015-2020. Her acclaimed first book, The Politics of Promotion: How High-Achieving Women Get Ahead and Stay Ahead, was first published in 2015. Bonnie shares her message globally through speaking engagements, blogging, and her podcast, Badass Women at Any Age. She begins the episode by discussing how she wanted to be a ballerina growing up, but people try to squash her ambitions; however, still today, she loves to dance. Bonnie started her career as a kindergarten teacher but transitioned to teaching aerobics at a cardiac rehabilitation center. She left the corporate arena in 2007 and got certified as a coach helping women advance their careers. Bonnie wanted to help women who are getting passed up for opportunities, couldn’t advocate for themselves, and struggle to get rehired after getting pushed out of their careers. She discusses the inspiration for her book: Not Done Yet! It covers how women over 50 can regain their confidence and claim workplace power. Additionally, she covers ageism, discrimination in the workplace, even on platforms like LinkedIn. She elaborates by encouraging women not to pull themselves out of the arena, remain visible, and continue to build their network by staying marketable. Bonnie finishes up the episode revealing the power of girlfriends and social circles. She encourages women to find like-minded women by joining organizations to bring together who have something in common and find that support. She emphasizes that your mindset is essential regardless of age. Learn more about Bonnie: Bonniemarcusleadership.com _5:26 “I learned business by doing it” _5:44 “It was never my ambition to run a national company. I just said yes to a lot of opportunities that came along, I guess that's the lesson.” See It To Be It Content Corner Looking for more tips, motivation and direction? Tune into the See It To Be It podcast the first Thursday of every month on your favorite streaming service. Subscribe to our weekly email newsletter and audio brief, Four Minutes with On The Dot. You'll receive examples of relatable female role models in over 10 industries, plus quick stats on empowering women in the world, and to top it off, an inspirational quote that’s sure to jumpstart your day. Check us out on social! We are focused on your success, so let us know what you think by chatting with us at @seeittobeitpodcast on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. Special Guest: Bonnie Marcus.

Bonnie Marcus on helping women regain their confidence and claim workplace power

This month on See It To Be It podcast, Melinda speaks with Pat Bondurant, a famed business partner, and wife of legendary World Driving Champion Bob Bondurant. Pat takes us through her successful careers in aerospace, architecture, television, cars, and investing with her. She discusses how she's gotten to where she is today, obstacles she's overcome in the process, and how your trust should not be given out haphazardly.   She begins the episode describing how she was born into a family of five brothers, which ultimately contributes to how she carved her way as a female in numerous male-dominated career fields. Her mother was the second-highest-ranking woman in the civilian division of the government and instilled in her that there was no ceiling on what she could do. Pat started runway modeling for wedding gowns and eventually moved on to regional Ford commercials. She decided a career in fashion was her next move and took a drafting course for fashion school. Her talents in drafting ultimately led her down another path, and she worked for NASA on the first space shuttle. After NASA, she took her skills to interior design and subsequently architecture, designing the Tomahawk cruise missile facility. Later, after seeing an opportunity and seizing it, she started her own extremely successful architectural firm.  She finally met the love of her life, CEO and president of the number one racing school in the world, Bob Bondurant. Bob Bondurant is a world-renowned expert on driver training and safety. He has taught Hollywood's biggest stars to drive race cars for films, including Christian Bale in Ford vs. Ferrari. Pat discusses her and Bob's one-of-a-kind love story. However, she did fall into some traps of abusive husbands before finding her "twin flame." Despite going through a traumatically violent marriage, fighting for her son's safety, moving across the country, and ultimately facing a heartbreaking betrayal by her own son that she fought so relentlessly to protect as a child, she kept moving forward.  She discusses how she gained her success by "letting life unfold." She elaborates by explaining that when she sees an opportunity, she takes it. However, she describes how if a door to an opportunity is difficult to open, she simply moves on to the next door. She emphasizes that no matter what happened, she continued to move forward without any rains on her. Pat wraps up the episode by revealing her two go-to pieces of advice for other women. First, she encourages women to be careful who they trust because salt can be mistaken for sugar. Second, she also explains how the Bible serves as a handbook, and choosing to pick it up is the key to success.  Learn more about Pat Bondurant: https://bondurantracingschool.com/ Pat Bondurant on being a woman in male-dominated industries: _8:47 “I do not take any BS off of anybody, and let me set the tone right up front." Pat Bondurant on how she continued to achieve success while enduring a painful time in her life: _12:41 “...it's just all the components of being a powerful, self-willed woman that had to make a living, and when I saw opportunities, I knew when to move." See It To Be It Content Corner Looking for more tips, motivation and direction? Tune into the See It To Be It podcast the first Thursday of every month on your favorite streaming service. Subscribe to our weekly email newsletter and audio brief, Four Minutes with On The Dot. You'll receive examples of relatable female role models in over 10 industries, plus quick stats on empowering women in the world, and to top it off, an inspirational quote that’s sure to jumpstart your day. Check us out on social! We are focused on your success, so let us know what you think by chatting with us at @seeittobeitpodcast (https://twitter.com/seeit_tobeit) on Twitter, Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/seeittobeitpodcast/), and Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/seeittobeitpodcast). Special Guest: Pat Bondurant.

Pat Bondurant, The Woman That Can Do It All

This week on See It To Be It podcast, Melinda speaks with engineer, wife, cancer conqueror, mother, and ambassador; Foram Brown. Foram is based in London, England, and has dedicated her life to learning and empowering women with the knowledge she has obtained.  She begins this episode by discussing her "big dream" when she was growing up and how she wanted to be a drama queen, movie star, and glamorous Bollywood actress. However, she felt that her only two options from a cultural standpoint were either to be a doctor or an engineer. She felt that to be able to be a self-sustaining, successful woman, she had to pick from those careers. She felt she did not have the memorization skills to be a doctor, so it became clear to her that STEM was the best option because of its key component of problem-solving. Starting off her post-college career, she landed her first job at a pharmaceutical company as a systems engineer. From there, she worked for Rolls-Royce on civil engines for 11 years. Bombardier Transportation soon followed, where she worked on UK trains, and she now works for Alstom as the head of mechanical engineering. She has noticed an increased awareness of women in the STEM industry. She works to continually increase the number of women that are recruited into engineering roles due to the fact that she has always had a strong desire to help other women. She explains how she was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2019 and this changed her perspective in life. Furthermore, she decided she was going to do what she had always wanted, to help women. She ultimately started her business, Foram Brown, with the purpose of filling companies' STEM openings with women employees. Foram Brown utilizes a simple model that requires companies to hire women and then fills those positions with a world-class candidate. Due to her experience in the industry, she is skilled in finding the right person for these jobs. She also nurtures the sustainment of women in these positions, helping create an inclusive company culture. She discusses the five key elements of inclusivity of women in the workplace; flexibility, support, trust, empowerment, and listen.  She talks about the toll that being a mom in a pandemic takes on a women's career, which results in a decrease in women in the workforce. Likewise, she discusses the unequal disbursement of responsibilities among women throughout the pandemic that can create stress and burnout. She encourages the embracement of the change and differences that the pandemic has contributed to so that women can work at home. She discusses how to deal with the gender pay gap, focusing on awareness. She approaches this pay gap with the mindset of knowing one's own worth and being goal-oriented. Ultimately, she wraps up with the advice to go get what you want and create the life you want to live.  Learn more about Foram Brown: https://forambrown.com/ Follow Foram Brown on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/forambrown/?hl=en (@forambrown) Connect with Foram Brown on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/foram-brown Follow Foram Brown on Twitter: https://twitter.com/forambrown?lang=en (@ForamBrown) Like Foram Brown's page on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/forambrownfb/ https://www.facebook.com/groups/forambrowncommunity Foram Brown on inclusivity of women in the workplace: _13:08 “You make a change, and you will see a massive shift." Foram Brown on her go-to piece of advice: _22:35 “Life is exactly how you want it to be." See It To Be It Content Corner Looking for more tips, motivation and direction? Tune into the See It To Be It podcast the first Thursday of every month on your favorite streaming service. Subscribe to our weekly email newsletter and audio brief, Four Minutes with On The Dot. You'll receive examples of relatable female role models in over 10 industries, plus quick stats on empowering women in the world, and to top it off, an inspirational quote that’s sure to jumpstart your day. Check us out on social! We are focused on your success, so let us know what you think by chatting with us at @seeittobeitpodcast (https://twitter.com/seeit_tobeit) on Twitter, Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/seeittobeitpodcast/), and Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/seeittobeitpodcast).

Foram Brown on Empowering Women in STEM

This week on See It To Be It podcast, Melinda speaks with author, speaker, and social entrepreneur; Rebecca Powers. Rebecca is based here in Austin, Texas and has made a HUGE impact within the community throughout her years of philanthropy. She begins this episode discussing her "big dream" in life and how this was to simply go to college and be a good student with good grades. Rebecca began her college career believing she wanted to be a physician but she quickly moved into business after doing poorly in her first science class. Starting off her post-college career in sales with IBM she faced objections being a woman in the field, but quickly overcame that and went on to have a 14 yearlong successful career with them. From there, Rebecca stepped into the world of entrepreneurship. She found inspiration after seeing a group of women come together and give back to their community, Rebecca felt that if she could do something similar then it would heal the hole in her heart allowing her to move on with her life after experiencing family tragedy. Little did she know, this would lead her down a long road of social entrepreneurship and philanthropy. Impact Austin began as a small group of women wanting to make a change and grew into a huge organization putting 7 million dollars towards underserved citizens of Austin. This once small group turned into a group of powerful women supporting women. Rebecca ran and grew this organization for 10 years before letting go of her leadership role and moving into a new chapter. She discusses the struggles of leaving behind Impact Austin and coming to terms with someone else running the organization that she was so passionate about. Rebecca began a book 10 years ago chronicling her journey with Impact Austin, her original intent was for it to remain in a hope chest for her children to read one day. She was convinced by a fellow woman to turn that into a memoir and allow other people to read this and learn from the vulnerable story that Ms. Powers had to tell. She reflects on never dreaming of being an author but how satisfied she is with this journey. Rebecca Powers book, Trust Your Cape: How Women Find Their Power in Giving Back will be released on May 25th. This book emphasizes women finding their cape and their voice and using it to be unstoppable. Learn more about Rebecca Powers: https://www.impactaustin.org/our-leadership Follow Rebecca Powers on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/trustyourcapebook/?hl=en Connect with Rebecca Powers on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/iafounder Follow Rebecca Powers on Twitter: https://twitter.com/iafounder?lang=en Like Rebecca Powers page on Facebook: https://business.facebook.com/ImpactATX/ Trust Your Cape: How Women Find Their Power in Giving Back will be available on Amazon on May 25th! Rebecca Powers on advice she received when coming to terms with stepping down from Impact Austin: _16:16 “You cannot grab the next trapeze until you let go of the one you’re holding onto and until you let both hands go, impact Austin will not move forward and you will not be able to get to what’s next.” Rebecca Powers on her belief that things will work out: _26:13 “If I do the right things, the right things happen and I don’t know where those opportunities will be but they will come.” See It To Be It Content Corner Looking for more tips, motivation and direction? Tune into the See It To Be It podcast the first Thursday of every month on your favorite streaming service. Subscribe to our weekly email newsletter and audio brief, Four Minutes with On The Dot. You'll receive examples of relatable female role models in over 10 industries, plus quick stats on empowering women in the world, and to top it off, an inspirational quote that’s sure to jumpstart your day. Check us out on social! We are focused on your success, so let us know what you think by chatting with us at @seeittobeitpodcast (https://twitter.com/seeit_tobeit) on Twitter, Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/seeittobeitpodcast/), and Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/seeittobeitpodcast). Special Guest: Rebecca Powers .

Rebecca Powers on the Unstoppability of Women That Find Their Voice

As a young woman, Ms. Ward always knew she wanted to be an attorney after taking on that role in a play as a young child. Coming from a community that lacked legal resources and frequently experienced police brutality, she knew she wanted to provide that resource to her community. She began her journey believing that her dream of being an attorney wasn’t feasible due to her lifestyle at the time. She feared that what she looked like on paper would prevent her from fulfilling her dreams. Madam Ward states that she was an activist before she became an attorney, this was inspired by the community she grew up in and was in turn, influenced by. She found that reproductive justice deeply resonated with her due to her own experiences in it. This led to her being recruited to organize the March for Women’s Lives in 2004 which ended up being the largest march on Washington in United States history. Ms. Ward moves to the topic of struggles that came along with being a woman of color obtaining a law degree. She was forced to face her past and prove herself once again during her process of being accepted to law school. Ms. Ward speaks on her business architecture venture and how they build infrastructures from the ground up. She touches on how Covid-19 has affected them, having to readjust to a completely new way of life that has changed every aspect of business and has forced her company to dive into new approaches. Ms. Ward is very optimistic towards life moving forward, she states that everything is happening “for us and not to us”, everything the past year that we’ve faced is for us and only leading us to a better future. Learn more about Madam Nselaa Ward: www.ninivafirm.com Follow Madam Nselaa Ward on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nselaaward/?hl=en Connect with Madam Nselaa Ward on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/nselaaward/ Follow Madam Nselaa Ward on Twitter: https://twitter.com/nselaaward?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor Like Madam Nselaa Ward page on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nselaawardfanpage/ Madam Ward on achieving your goals in life: _12:13 “if you have a goal, you can’t be hung up over the hiccups that come along the way” See It To Be It Content Corner Looking for more tips, motivation and direction? Tune into the See It To Be It podcast the first Thursday of every month on your favorite streaming service. Subscribe to our weekly email newsletter and audio brief, Four Minutes with On The Dot. You'll receive examples of relatable female role models in over 10 industries, plus quick stats on empowering women in the world, and to top it off, an inspirational quote that’s sure to jumpstart your day. Check us out on social! We are focused on your success, so let us know what you think by chatting with us at @seeittobeitpodcast (https://twitter.com/seeit_tobeit) on Twitter, Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/seeittobeitpodcast/), and Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/seeittobeitpodcast). Special Guest: Madam Nselaa Ward, J.D..

Madam Nselaa Ward, J.D.

This week on the See It To Be It podcast, we speak with Sandy Forster, a successful business woman from down under that has mastered money manifestation. Sandy shares how she never really had that BIG dream growing up of what she wanted to do or who she wanted to be. She jokes that her dream was simply to leave school and get to the beach. Sandy caught the travel bug at a young age when her family decided to travel the world for 10 months before moving to Queensland. She didn’t begin extensive traveling until her late 20s. Sandy’s traveling did not consist of five-star restaurants and fancy restaurants, she traveled with the purpose of gaining endless experiences. She discusses her day-to-day life and how normal it actually is despite having wild and dangerous traveling tales. As shocking as it may be, she refers to herself as an introvert so when she does travel, she wants that adventure and the excitement that she doesn’t experience every day. After accidentally landing a job as an aerobics teacher, Sandy credits herself for really getting the Aerobics era started within Australia. One of her first business ventures consisted of designing leotards and swimwear to fit this trend as they were previously unavailable in her country. She considered this a hobby business, but it soon became her full-time business after her divorce from her partner of more than 11 years. In the process of trying to make this her full-time business she realized that she lacked business experience and soon ended up $100,000 in debt. With two kids, being a single mother, and on welfare, Sandy had to figure out her next move. She found that she had a knack for personal development and soon fell into life coaching. She admits originally entering this field because she wanted to save herself. One thing led to another and she discovered the law of attraction. After she found a way to combine the law of attraction with her life coaching business as well as Internet marketing, it took off. Around 2003, she had the concept to start a mentoring program for women which was one of the first of its time. She became passionate about helping people grow their finances through manifestation and helping women specifically. She states that her passion now is working with women that feel stuck, she teaches them to marry the metaphysical and the practical in order to get the results they desire. Sandy wraps up by reminding us that you can never give up, that uncomfortable feeling could mean that your dream is just around the corner. She stresses the importance of persistence, rewiring your brain, and understanding that the universal law states that what you desire will come to you. Follow Sandy on Facebook (business): https://www.facebook.com/Sandylforster Follow Sandy on Facebook (personal): https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=736250936 Follow Sandy on Facebook (private group): https://www.facebook.com/groups/Lawofattractionprosperitysecrets Follow Sandy on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sandylforster Follow Sandy on Twitter: https://twitter.com/wwealthy Learn more about Sandy: https://www.wildlywealthy.com/about-sandy/ Learn more about Wildly Wealthy: https://www.wildlywealthy.com Sandy on falling into the trap of comparison: _19:10 “We compare the worst of ourselves against the best of everyone else and think we’re lacking, whereas everyone’s got something going on, everyone’s got their own struggles…” Sandy on manifesting successfully: _13:17 “So when you marry the mindset, the metaphysical with the practical, that is really when everything can happen.” Sandy is offerring a money manifesting bundle for free for SIBI listeners Link for listeners: www.wildlywealthyfree.com On The Dot Woman Content Corner Looking for more tips, motivation and direction? Tune into the See It To Be It podcast every Thursday on your favorite streaming service. Subscribe to our weekly email newsletter and audio brief, Four Minutes with On The Dot. You'll receive examples of relatable female role models in over 10 industries, plus quick stats on empowering women in the world, and to top it off, an inspirational quote that’s sure to jumpstart your day. Check us out on social! We are focused on your success, so let us know what you think by chatting with us at @onthedotwoman (www.twitter.com/onthedotwoman) on Twitter, Instagram (www.instagram.com/onthedotwoman), and Facebook (www.facebook.com/onthedotwoman). Special Guest: Sandy Forster.

Sandy Forster on Going from Welfare to Manifesting Millions

This week on the See It To Be It podcast, we talk to Heidi and Tori Ganahl, a mother daughter duo turned female entrepreneurs! Heidi shares her journey to becoming a businesswoman. The start of her entrepreneur spirit was with Camp Bow Wow in 2000, which is a day care and boarding school for dogs. Camp Bow Wow has now grown into 160 camps in North America and holds the lead in the continents largest pet care franchise. Tori Ganahl graduated from the University of Oregon when she was left feeling lost and unsure of what her passion was in life. Tori became the guinea pig for her mom’s book She Factor to really see if this methodology would actually work for young women struggling through this stage of life. Needless to say, it does. Her life did a complete 180. In 2019, Heidi and Tori launched their lifestyle brand called SheFactor. SheFactor is a platform for young women craving a sense of community, growth, and purpose. Their overarching goal is to inspire women to become confident, successful leaders of their own lives- their “Journey to She”. Tori explains that finding your passion in life is the driving factor into becoming an entrepreneur and a successful young woman. She adds that the most success you will ever have is by trusting your intuition and not letting outside voices get in the way of your vision. Heidi tells us that she has learned how the younger generation learns, engages and communicates from Tori. Heidi and Tori discuss how SheFactor has transformed from live in person events to all digital and how they have navigated the transition to all online. Heidi concludes with the future of SheFactor, their goal is to keep growing their movement and to reach out to other brands to partner and grow their community. SheFactor has reached 1 million women in the first year and now their goal is the reach 5 million in five years. Learn more about Heidi Ganahl: https://heidiganahl.com/ Follow Heidi Ganahl on Instagram: https://instagram.com/heidiganahl?igshid=1uvtpv35w8bvv Follow Tori Ganahl on Instagram: https://instagram.com/toriganahl?igshid=eesmbmzi4efa Like She Factor on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/myshefactor Follow Heidi on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/heidiganahl1 Follow Tori on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tori.ganahl Learn more about SheFactor: https://www.theshefactor.com Tori on finding your place and creating your own path in life as a woman: _14:05 “I mean, you're always searching for that inspiration and we really need to be better as women about doing our research and finding women that inspire us and not be afraid or compare. I think that the problem is the comparison and basing our journeys off of these women when we can create our own journey.” See It To Be It Content Corner Looking for more tips, motivation and direction? Tune into the See It To Be It podcast every Thursday on your favoritestreaming service. Subscribe to our weekly email newsletter and audio brief, Four Minutes with On The Dot. You'll receive examples of relatable female role models in over 10 industries, plus quick stats on empowering women in the world, and to top it off, an inspirational quote that’s sure to jumpstart your day. Check us out on social! We are focused on your success, so let us know what you think by chatting with us at @seeittobeitpodcast (https://twitter.com/seeit_tobeit) on Twitter, Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/seeittobeitpodcast/), and Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/seeittobeitpodcast). Special Guests: Heidi Ganahl and Tori Ganahl.

SheFactor Founders on their Entrepreneurship Journey and Building their Brand

This week on the See It To Be It podcast, we talk to Ashley K. Shift, a Mathematician turned to a female entrepreneur! Ashley shares her journey to becoming a businesswoman. As a way to put herself through college, she started her math tutoring company. She then became a math teacher but always had the entrepreneurial spirit! In 2014, Ashley became sick was constantly seeing doctors and being given medicines, that was when she decided she wanted to take a different route to healing. She began educating herself on herbs, meditation, crystals, CBD and other natural healing practices. Through personal education and learning to heal her own body, she discovered her passion and had a spark to start her business, Hacked By Nature. Ashley discusses how her business has evolved due to the pandemic and how she is navigating the online crystal business. She also talks about the current energy of the world and how people are turning to healing. She offers great advice to start the new year about self-love and confidence! In addition, she discusses the importance of mentors and leaves listeners with her most important piece of advice: readers are leaders! Learn more about Ashley Shift: https://ashleykshift.com/ Follow Ashley Shift on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ashleykshift/ Like Ashley’s page on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ashleykshift/ Learn more about Hacked By Nature: https://hackedbynature.com/ Special Guest: Ashley K. Shift.

Ashley Shift on Healing, Self-love & Confidence

This week on See It To Be It, we talk to Hannah Rad, an On-Air Talent, Radio Host, DJ and Mental Health advocate. Hannah shares her story of growing up in a small town outside of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania and always wanted to be on the radio. She decided from a very young age that she needed to move New York in order to fulfill her dreams of becoming a DJ and TV Host. She studied at a college in New York and after graduating, she got a job in design and started campaigning her portfolio to become an on-air talent. Puff Daddy discovered her about five years ago and asked if she would be interested in doing some TV work. She became one of the original hosts on his network and eventually was able to executive produce her own show for five seasons. After spending 15 years in New York, Hannah decided it was time for a change. She moved to LA and discovered that even though she had tons of experience, she would have to break into the industry again in her new city. Hannah admits she was a bit overconfident and didn't realize how hard it would be to reintegrate into her career and gain new connections. She started to experience a lot of depression and anxiety from in-between gigs and trying to find her next big thing. Hannah had an epiphany and thought she could actually create something beautiful out of all her heavy feelings. She created a mini series called, "Sorry to Keep You Waiting," which focuses on her mental health journey as she drives around to seven different locations in California. Each of the locations matches the struggle she faced and how she conquered it. She hopes that this series will make people aware about how important mental health is and explore the many different ways that have helped her in her own journey. Learn more about Hannah Rad: https://www.hannahrad.com/ Follow Hannah Rad on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hannahrad/ Connect with Hannah on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hannahrad/ Follow Hannah on Twitter: https://twitter.com/HANNAHRAD Like Hannah's page on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hannahrad/ Add Hannah on Snapchat: https://www.snapchat.com/add/djhannahrad Follow "Sorry To Keep You Waiting" on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sorry2keepyouwaiting/ Hannah on manifesting her own dream job: _1:24.39 — "And by the grace of God and a lot of hard work, blood, sweat and tears, I ended up on the radio in New York about ten or eleven years ago. Which is finally when I got my big break. So it happened. I manifested it from a very young age." See It To Be It Content Corner Looking for more tips, motivation and direction? Tune into the See It To Be It podcast the first Thursday of every month on your favorite streaming service. Subscribe to our weekly email newsletter and audio brief, Four Minutes with On The Dot. You'll receive examples of relatable female role models in over 10 industries, plus quick stats on empowering women in the world, and to top it off, an inspirational quote that’s sure to jumpstart your day. Check us out on social! We are focused on your success, so let us know what you think by chatting with us at @seeittobeitpodcast (https://twitter.com/seeit_tobeit) on Twitter, Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/seeittobeitpodcast/), and Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/seeittobeitpodcast). Special Guest: Hannah Rad.

Meet Hannah Rad: Radio Host, On-Air Talent , DJ and Mental Health Advocate

This week on See It To Be It, we talk to Ashley Tryner, the founder and CEO of Farmbox Direct and FarmboxRx. Ashley shares her journey of growing up on a farm, dropping out of college, marrying young and getting divorced while pregnant. With no savings or idea of what she was going to do, she ended up on food stamps. She decided to move to New York City and got a job in the fashion industry. Soon she realized that, even though she was in New York City, there was difficulty finding fresh produce. She said she always loved agriculture and decided to save her money for a couple of years and start her own company, Farmbox Direct. Farmbox Direct was one of the first companies in New York that offered grocery delivery. Ashley discusses how she became an advocate to help eradicate the food desert problem in America. She also petitioned the USDA to allow companies to take food stamps online. She was introduced to Sam Cass, former chef to President Obama and senior advisor to Michelle Obama for nutrition in America. Ashley talks about where she thinks the food delivery service will go in the future and how it has provided so many homes, especially during COVID, with food on their tables. She touches on her two new ventures, FarmboxRx and Harlow's Harvest, which is a business she launched with her daughter to promote healthy eating and cooking for kids! Learn more about Farmbox Direct: https://www.farmboxdirect.com/ Follow Ashley Tryner on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/farmboxashley/ Connect with Ashley on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashley-tyrner-129082a3/ Like Farmbox Direct's Page on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/farmboxdirect Follow Harlow's Harvest on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/harlowsharvest/ Ashley on what has encouraged her throughout the years: _15:20.45 — "I think my biggest advice is I always refer to myself that I'm a rhinoceros, right? So, rhinoceroses, they can't turn around, they can't look behind, they can only charge forward." On The Dot Woman Content Corner Looking for more tips, motivation and direction? Tune into the See It To Be It podcast the first Thursday of every month on your favorite streaming service. Subscribe to our weekly email newsletter and audio brief, Four Minutes with On The Dot. You'll receive examples of relatable female role models in over 10 industries, plus quick stats on empowering women in the world, and to top it off, an inspirational quote that’s sure to jumpstart your day. Check us out on social! We are focused on your success, so let us know what you think by chatting with us at @seeittobeitpodcast (https://twitter.com/seeit_tobeit) on Twitter, Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/seeittobeitpodcast/), and Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/seeittobeitpodcast). Special Guest: Ashley Tryner.

Food Stamps to Farmbox Direct: Ashley Tryner's Journey to Becoming the CEO of an Online Produce Company

This week on See It To Be It, we talk to Jane Ko, the mastermind behind A Taste of Koko, a food and travel blog based out of Austin, Texas. From humble beginnings in a small town in south Texas, her biggest inspiration in life was to become a librarian. She moved to Austin in 2007, originally to pursue becoming a doctor at University of Texas. She shortly realized that was not for her and decided blogging in 2010 as a creative outlet. She originally only posted recipes on her blog and after two years with zero readership, a local restaurant reached out to her, asking her to promote their business. From there, it kept snowballing and A Taste of Koko was truly born. She said she isn't sure when the narrative changed from sharing restaurants and chef's stories, to her own... as this was never her intention. Jane talks about work before becoming a full-time blogger and that it was never her intention to become an influencer. During Huricane Harvey and now COVID-19 she has been able to impact the community by helping restaurants and small businesses to get their numbers, pivot to takeout and help raise money for the restaurant economy. Jane also touches on how travel industry has now changed and how she can reinvent her content and give people things to do and places to stay in the safest way possible. She was able to help some local bed and breakfasts and smaller hotels meet their capacity and get people to book with them. She concludes with advice on if people want to be an influencer, the toxicity of social media and what is next for her. Learn more about A Taste of Koko: https://www.atasteofkoko.com/ Follow A Taste of Koko on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/atasteofkoko/ Connect with Jane on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/janeko/ Like Jane's Page on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/atasteofkoko Follow Jane on Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/atasteofkoko/_created/ Follow Jane on Twitter: https://twitter.com/atasteofkoko Jane on having a voice and using it for the better: _10:49.79 — "I can do the pretty photos, I can sit pretty, I can wear pretty outfits, wear my hat, go to pretty destinations and shoot these fun videos, which I will always do because I love doing those...But when there is a pandemic, I think for anyone who is in the social media space, think about the kind of impact you can have and what kind of voice that you lead with." On The Dot Woman Content Corner Looking for more tips, motivation and direction? Tune into the See It To Be It podcast every Thursday on your favorite streaming service. Subscribe to our weekly email newsletter and audio brief, Four Minutes with On The Dot. You'll receive examples of relatable female role models in over 10 industries, plus quick stats on empowering women in the world, and to top it off, an inspirational quote that’s sure to jumpstart your day. Check us out on social! We are focused on your success, so let us know what you think by chatting with us at @onthedotwoman (www.twitter.com/onthedotwoman) on Twitter, Instagram (www.instagram.com/onthedotwoman), and Facebook (www.facebook.com/onthedotwoman). Special Guest: Jane Ko.

Episode 40: Koko On Keeping Her Brand Alive During A Pandemic

This week on See It To Be It, we talk to Kiana Danial, who is an award winning internationally recognized personal investing and wealth management expert and author. Kiana had two dreams... to become an astronaut and an author. Originally she wanted to follow in her dad's footsteps, and studied electrical engineering in college in Japan. After being the only girl in her class for six years, she realized that engineering and math were not in her life plan. Kiana explains how her path changed to finance and the misconception that in order to be in finance, you have to be good at math. She took a job as a financial planner, working in Wall Street. She explains she didn't know finance was a male dominated field, since everything she knew about America was from the movies. In Iran, which is where she was born and grew up, it is actually common for women to be in STEM, finance, engineering and other fields typically associated with men in America. Kiana explains her time at Wall Street during the 2008 market crash, getting fired from her job, working in a male dominated field and finally starting her own business. She know thrives to help women invest and manage their wealth. Learn more about Invest Diva: https://investdiva.com/ Connect with Kiana on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kiana-danial-ceo-48939414/ Follow Kiana on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/investdiva/ Like Kiana's Page on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/InvestDiva Follow Kiana on Tiktok: @kianadanial Subscribe to her YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/investdiva Follow Kiana on Twitter: https://twitter.com/KianaDanial Kiana on investing myths and stereotypes: _16:10:74 "And I say mentality because if you're a good shopper, if you're a bargain shopper, you're gonna be a good investor. Because that's what investing is all about. It's about finding good deals. And women by nature are by far better investors ." — On The Dot Woman Content Corner Looking for more tips, motivation and direction? Tune into the See It To Be It podcast every Thursday on your favorite streaming service. Subscribe to our weekly email newsletter and audio brief, Four Minutes with On The Dot. You'll receive examples of relatable female role models in over 10 industries, plus quick stats on empowering women in the world, and to top it off, an inspirational quote that’s sure to jumpstart your day. Check us out on social! We are focused on your success, so let us know what you think by chatting with us at @onthedotwoman (www.twitter.com/onthedotwoman) on Twitter, Instagram (www.instagram.com/onthedotwoman), and Facebook (www.facebook.com/onthedotwoman). Special Guest: Kiana Danial.

Kiana Danial: Getting Fired From Wall Street to Becoming A Finance Tycoon

This week on See It To Be It, we talk to Joey Lindahl, who is a Senior Marketing Manager at Polaris Industries and a motorcyclist. Joey wanted to be Wonder Woman when she was little, but when she realized that wasn't a real career, she went for the next best thing... helping people and getting to tell their stories through marketing and advertising. Specifically, badass female motorcyclists. Prior to her current role, she worked at Indian Motorcycles, which was later bought by Polaris Industries, and she helped them launch the Indian Brand. Although the motorcycle industry is thought to be more male dominated, Joey said she was pleasantly surprised with how many women not only worked at Polaris, but were in leadership positions. Many women at Polaris also rode motorcycles, off road vehicles or snow mobiles. She explains how powerful it can be to ride a motorcycle and the many different groups female riders can join. She said that ever since she started riding, it has helped her have a more fearless outlook on life. Joey also mentions how she has been able to hear stories of female riders who have been riding for years. This has helped her accurately represent and showcase women in the motorcycle industry. Learn more about Polaris: https://www.polaris.com/en-us/ Connect with Joey on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joey-lindahl-maol-1715097/ Joey on feeling like a superhero when she rides: _8:40:36 "You do, you feel like a bit of a superhero and that confidence does spread over into all aspects of your life. You know, once you realize that you can do something, that's maybe a little bit out of your comfort zone, that confidence carries with you." — On The Dot Woman Content Corner Looking for more tips, motivation and direction? Tune into the See It To Be It podcast every Thursday on your favorite streaming service. Subscribe to our weekly email newsletter and audio brief, Four Minutes with On The Dot. You'll receive examples of relatable female role models in over 10 industries, plus quick stats on empowering women in the world, and to top it off, an inspirational quote that’s sure to jumpstart your day. Check us out on social! We are focused on your success, so let us know what you think by chatting with us at @onthedotwoman (www.twitter.com/onthedotwoman) on Twitter, Instagram (www.instagram.com/onthedotwoman), and Facebook (www.facebook.com/onthedotwoman). Special Guest: Joey Lindahl.

Becoming Your Own Superhero, One Motorcycle Ride At A Time

See It To Be It is an interview podcast hosted by the founder of On The Dot Woman, Melinda Garvey. On The Dot is a women's empowerment organization dedicated to uplifting and empowering women. In this interview series, we sit down with some of the most intriguing and inspiring female role models in the world today. Also check out our #WomenToWatch on our daily audio brief: Four Minutes with On The Dot.

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See It To Be It

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