What Happens When You're the Only Woman in the Room

11 snips

Aug 19, 2025

Being the only woman in a room can transform discomfort into strength. Personal anecdotes reveal challenges and lessons learned from situations like being denied hotel check-in with a child. Discover the resilience of the cigarro cactus as a metaphor for personal growth. Practical strategies for forming collaborative mastermind groups empower women to break barriers without needing vast resources. This engaging conversation encourages embracing uniqueness and building inclusive spaces where everyone can thrive.

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ANECDOTE

Choosing Rooms By Opportunity

Jasmine describes being the only woman in her mastermind cohort and choosing rooms by opportunity, not identity.
She emphasizes she identifies as an entrepreneur first, not a 'female entrepreneur.'

ANECDOTE

The Desert Mastermind Experience

Jasmine recounts attending a Phoenix desert mastermind where she was the only woman among 33 founders.
She posted about low VC funding to women and said representation in rooms needs to change.

ANECDOTE

Responding To A Hostile DM

Jasmine reads a hostile direct message accusing her of prioritizing business over motherhood.
She frames it as a 'drive-by' attack and rejects its assumptions about her parenting.

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Have you ever walked into a room and realized… you’re the only one?

The only woman.

The only parent.

The only person of color.

The only voice of your kind.

In this episode, I share what it’s really like to be the “only”—and how I’ve learned to turn that discomfort into a source of power.

I open up about an experience where I was the only female at a high-level mastermind retreat, how I handled the uncomfortable moments (like not being allowed to check in to a hotel with my daughter 😳), and what it truly means to show up fully, even when others misunderstand or criticize your path.

You'll hear:

✨ How I reframed being “the only one” from weakness to strength

💬 A shocking direct message I received—and how I chose to respond with grace

🌵 3 life lessons I learned from a desert cactus (yes, really)

💡 A step-by-step framework to create your own peer-led mastermind, no $50K required

🔥 The importance of scrappy action—and how YOU can build your own room if you’re not getting invited into one

Plus, I share an incredibly practical story of how my friend Stacy pulled together a high-level group of entrepreneurs to host a mastermind with Layla Hermozi—without needing a massive budget or big brand clout.

This episode is for anyone who’s ever felt like an outsider… and is ready to own it as their edge.

Let’s stop waiting to be invited. Let’s build the rooms we want to walk into.

Click play to hear all of this and:

[00:00] Why being “the only” in a room can be your advantage

[01:00] Childhood lessons on standing out (and why it felt uncomfortable at first)

[04:30] The story behind being the only woman at a mastermind in the desert

[06:30] The direct message that tried to cut deep—and why it didn’t

[08:00] The hotel that rejected us and the emotional moment that followed

[11:30] Owning your difference and reclaiming your presence

[14:00] 3 powerful lessons from a desert cactus 🌵

[17:30] How to get into powerful rooms (even if you don’t have the budget)

[20:00] The 2 types of masterminds and what they require

[24:00] How YOU can start a high-value peer-to-peer mastermind today

[26:00] Final encouragement: you don’t need permission to create the room you want

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For full show notes, visit jasminestar.com/podcast/episode571