Girlboss Radio

From her early days bagging groceries, Alyssa Mastromonaco realized she had a gift for logistics. That gift led her all the way to the White House where she served as President Obama’s Deputy Chief of Staff. If you wanted to talk to President Obama, you had to go through Alyssa first. She left politics in 2014, and now works as the Chief Operating Officer of Vice Media. On this week’s episode, Sophia and Alyssa discuss Alyssa’s early days interning for Bernie Sanders, what good leadership means, and Alyssa’s hilarious misadventures in Buckingham Palace and on Marine One. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Alli Webb's career has had numerous incarnations. She’s worked in public relations and she’s been a professional hairstylist. But it wasn’t until 2008, when Alli really found her passion. She started a side business called Straight-at-Home, which provided in-home blowouts on a referral basis in LA. When her business and popularity quickly outgrew her one-woman show, she expanded and opened a brick and mortar called Drybar. Drybar is based on the simple concept of focusing on one thing and being the best at it: blowouts. They now have 67 locations across the country. And her new book, Good Hair for All, tells you how you can achieve a great blowout at home. On the podcast Sophia and Alli talk about Alli's early days working at salons, leaving and returning to the workforce to found Drybar, and the inherent trust of working with family. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Anne Fulenwider is a tour de force in the publishing world. After graduating from Harvard University, she moved to New York and learned the ins and outs of journalism under the tutelage of George Plimpton at The Paris Review. And she continued to work alongside the greats including Graydon Carter at Vanity Fair and Joanna Coles at Marie Claire. In 2011, Anne left Marie Claire to become the Editor-in-Chief of Brides where she completely rebranded the magazine to expand its reader base, but she couldn’t stay away from Marie Claire for long. She returned to the magazine as their Editor-in-Chief where she continues to push the brand to speak to today’s modern woman with its in depth reporting, fashion guides, and entertaining and informative features. On the episode Anne tells us how she puts together a magazine every month, how simply raising your hand can get you the job your want, and why networking is useful even if the word itself can feel disingenuous.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Before Brit Morin could light that creative spark in all of us, she had to find that creativity within herself. After working for Google for four years, she left her stellar job working under Marissa Mayer to start her own company. But first, she decided to give herself a 6-month break. And those six months were, as Brit describes it, some of the most transformative months of her life. She enrolled in classes at a creative space for makers, and she abandoned the laptop screen for laser cutters, 3D printers, and clay. That experience ultimately inspired her to found Brit + Co, a new media and commerce company that enables creativity through inspirational content, online classes and do-it-yourself kits. The company now has partnerships with brands such as Target, and Brit is a regular DIY and lifestyle contributor to the Today show. On the podcast, Brit discusses her six month sabbatical after Google, how leadership roles can become political, and why everyone is a creative. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When Dr. Anne-Marie Slaughter was asked to serve as the first female Director of Policy Planning for the U.S. State Department, it was her dream come true. She left her tenured position at Princeton’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs and commuted weekly from Princeton to Washington D.C. to work under then Secretary of State and current presidential nominee Hillary Clinton. But between the grueling hours, a rigid work schedule, and raising two teenage sons back in New Jersey, Anne-Marie was struggling. As much as this was a dream job, she knew her family needed her at home. She ultimately left the State Department after two years to return to a full workload at Princeton. Anne-Marie wrote about the difficulty of women achieving work-life balance in her widely read 2012 Atlantic article “Why Women Still Can’t Have it All”, which became one of the magazine’s most read articles in its history. She continued this conversation with her book Unfinished Business: Women, Men, Work, and Family, which is now out in paperback. Anne-Marie is now the President and CEO of New America. On the podcast Anne-Marie tells us about her first job in academia at age 30, what's changed since she published her Atlantic article and how to foster equity and balance from the policy level to our relationships. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Journalist Jessica Bennett and her friends were all creatives striving for professional success in New York City. But some subtle (and not so subtle) bouts of sexism in the workplace were getting in the way of their hustle. So they sought refuge by creating a feminist fight club - a group of New York women in creative fields who meet once a month to share advice, vent, and support each other through their careers. Jessica’s penned her difficult workplace experiences, hilarious tips, and other useful advice for women in the workplace in her new book Feminist Fight Club.Jessica is an award-winning journalist and critic who writes on gender issues, sexuality and culture. She is a feature writer and columnist at The New York Times and her work has also appeared in Newsweek, where she began her career as a staff writer. On the podcast, Jessica discusses her early days as a crime beat reporter, who a bropropriator is, and why women should support other women. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Yesi Ortiz has been called 'The Voice of LA' and man, does she know how to use that voice. Her dream was to work at Los Angeles' Power 106 radio station, and after enrolling in broadcasting school, she worked at all costs to make her dream come true -- that meant commuting from Long Beach to Las Vegas, taking a radio job in Mexico, and fighting big egos along the way. In 2006, through sheer talent and drive, Yesi realized her goal, and she's now Power 106's midday host. But what makes Yesi even more of a Girlboss is what she's accomplished outside of work. Off the air, Yesi is a single mother to her six children. She adopted them from their biological mother, Yesi’s sister, when she was just 25 years old. On the podcast, Yesi discusses developing a work ethic at her uncle's supermarket, how she suddenly became a single mother to her six children, and how work can be a haven. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Musician Yuna was already an accomplished singer and songwriter in her home country of Malaysia when she moved to Los Angeles six years ago. She always had her sights set on making it in the music world in the United States, which meant having to restart her career from scratch. Yuna worked hard, stayed true to her values, and lived by her mantra 'undersell and overperform.' Now, she's selling out venues around the world and collaborating with greats like Pharrell and Usher. On the podcast, Sophia and Yuna talk about forgoing career expectations, the subjectivity of sexiness, and her newest album Chapters. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When Grace Bonney moved to Williamsburg in 2003, she noticed a DIY design culture in Brooklyn that wasn't being covered in design magazines. So she covered it herself with Design*Sponge, a blog which originally highlighted the creative design aesthetic we now know as Brooklyn chic. Since its founding in 2004, Design*Sponge has transformed into an expansive lifestyle website, which The New York Times called the “Martha Stewart Living for the Millennials.” On the podcast Sophia and Grace discuss finding your crowd, managing employees remotely, and Grace's new book In the Company of Women. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Model and Transgender activist Geena Rocero understands the power of speaking your truth and taking control of your narrative. At 17 years old, Geena immigrated from the Philippines to the U.S. to pursue a modeling career. Over the next 12 years, she modeled for brands like Target, Rimmel, Cover Girl, Marriott Hotels and Macy’s, but she didn’t feel like the people around her knew her full story. So when Geena turned 30, she courageously ‘came out’ at her TED talk as trans to bring more visibility to the transgender community. Since then, Geena co-founded GenderProud, an advocacy and media production company that produces media to elevate justice and equality for the transgender community. On the podcast, Geena discusses her first job as a transgender beauty queen, seeing the 'F' on her driver's license for the first time, and the challenges facing the transgender workforce today. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices