Lead Like a Woman

Marina Byezhanova is a Soviet-born, Ukraine-raised, and Canada-based entrepreneur, whose goal is to scale the reach of people's voices. Growing up, she experienced what it was like to not have a voice. Her life's mission is to inspire people to own their narrative. As Co-founder of a personal branding agency called Brand of a Leader, Marina has been quoted and referenced in publications such as Inc., Forbes, Fast Company, Success Magazine, Wall Street Journal, and The Financial Post. She has spoken to audiences of entrepreneurs and business executives in North America, Asia, Europe, and the Middle East. Marina is a proud member of Entrepreneurs' Organization (EO) and is presently the Canadian Social Media Expert serving on the regional board of directors. In this episode… Marina Byezhanova, a serial entrepreneur, lives her life and builds her businesses centered around authenticity. She believes in the power of being yourself, being unique, and accepting who you are. However, this was not always the case.  When Marina moved to Canada from Ukraine, she wanted to fit in with the young people in her new environment. She changed her lifestyle, way of dressing, and even her hairstyle just to fit in. However, she later realized that she was unique — and fitting in was not as important as she thought. Marina went on to start and build three companies and always ensured that she focused on authenticity, the companies' culture, and core values, even if at times she lost clients because of that. In this episode of the Lead Like A Woman Show, Andrea Heuston is joined by Marina Byezhanova, the Co-founder of Brand of a Leader, to discuss the importance of being an authentic leader. They also talk about the importance of building a business around a culture, being guided by core values, and why entrepreneurs should understand their 'why' for going into business.

Jennifer Rotner is the Founder and CEO of Elite Creative and its companies, Elite Editing and Elite Authors. Elite is a woman-owned, full-service content and publishing services firm that offers editorial, writing, and creative support for companies of all sizes, from small businesses and nonprofit organizations to Fortune 500 companies, as well as for independent authors at every stage of the publishing journey. Elite has a team of more than 225 people worldwide, including both full-time staff and freelance writers and editors who have all worked remotely since the business began. Jennifer has won several business awards including the Stevie Award for Best Website and the Daily Record’s Most Admired CEO Award. In 2021, Elite made the Inc. 5000 List of the Fastest Growing Companies in the US. Jennifer lives in Baltimore, Maryland with her husband, son, and 18 chickens. In this episode… How resilient are you as a business owner or leader? How patient and persistent are you in growing and scaling your business, despite all the challenges you face? In order to create sustainable growth for your business, those are some of the key skills you need. You cannot afford to give up when hard times hit. Jennifer Rotner believes in the power of having a supportive community that will hold your hand and offer advice whenever you feel overwhelmed. You should also think about the long-term growth of your business and avoid concentrating on quick wins that tend to be short-lived. Your future, the future of your business, and the future of your team depend on it. In this episode of the Lead Like A Woman Show, Andrea Heuston interviews Jennifer Rotner, the Founder and CEO of Elite Creative, about how being resilient and patient can help you create value from tragedy. Jennifer shares the story behind the founding of her two businesses and explains how she grew them to make it to the Inc. 5000 list. She also talks about helping authors with editing and the benefits of being part of a community. Stay tuned.

Tracey Warren is a Community and Engagement Specialist and the Founder and CEO of InSpark Coworking, a collaborative workspace for entrepreneurs, freelancers, and remote workers. She is known as the connection queen and shows women entrepreneurs how to create amazing content that can help build a thriving community with ease. Tracey is also an author, truth-teller, community creator, and authentic speaker. She is a bold example of how authenticity and vulnerability can be a huge asset for entrepreneurs who want to build community. Whatever trail she blazes and every journey she travels, including her recent victory over breast cancer, she shows up fully as herself. She wants you to know that you can too. In this episode… For someone who has built successful businesses, Tracey Warren knows that it is okay not to care what other people think. She also knows how important it is to understand yourself and the people you serve.  However, this does not come easily for most people — especially women. They fail to realize that being leaders sometimes requires them to make independent decisions without worrying about what others say or think. It is perfectly okay not to agree with everybody. Tracey advises women to give themselves permission not to care what other people think and to be comfortable with who they are. In this episode of the Lead Like A Woman Show, Andrea Heuston interviews Tracey Warren, the Founder and CEO of InSpark Coworking, to talk about building an engaging community and creating value your way. Tracey also talks about her Ignite Your Champions business, her new book, and her experience battling breast cancer. Stay tuned.

Olga Sagan is the Owner of the nationally renowned bakery, Piroshky Piroshky. Founded in Seattle's historic Pike Place Market, Piroshky Piroshky has offered handcrafted pies to loyal fans since 1992. An immigrant from Russia when she was 16, Olga arrived in America and faced many challenges overcoming language barriers and learning to navigate what it means to be a woman in a leadership role — something that was not encouraged in her home country. In 2006, Olga became part owner of Piroshky Piroshky and took complete ownership in 2017. Under her leadership, the bakery has grown to four locations and a food truck, teamed up with iconic Northwest businesses such as Field Roast, Uli's Famous Sausage, Tillamook, and Double R Ranch, and introduced a vegan line. Passionate about leadership, she got her SHRM Certification in 2018 and was picked by Puget Sound Business Journal as a “small business hero” in 2019. She was also chosen by the SBA as the 2020 “Washington Small Business Owner of the Year.” In 2020, she started Catch22Market, a free website aggregator that helps small businesses take their customers back. In this episode… Two of the most important character traits needed to build a thriving business are trust and transparency. Entrepreneurs need to be transparent about their products, businesses, and how they relate to other players in their industry. They also have to build trust with their customers and industry partners. Olga Sagan's desire for transparency led to the creation of Catch22Market, a website aggregator which helps put power back into small businesses. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she realized that many players in the food industry were losing a lot of business due to the shutdowns and were spending a lot of money working with third-party delivery apps to serve their customers. She, therefore, came up with the brilliant idea for Catch22Market that not only provides transparency but also helps build trust between businesses and their customers. Olga Sagan, the Owner of Piroshky Piroshky, is Andrea Heuston's guest in this episode of the Lead Like A Woman Show where she gets interviewed about her entrepreneurial journey and her desire to give power back to small business owners. Olga explains how she immigrated to the US, how she came to be the sole owner of Piroshky Piroshky, and how her website aggregator tool is helping businesses in the food industry thrive. Stay tuned.

Michelle Bomberger is the Founder, CEO, and Managing Attorney at Equinox Business Law Group. As a small business founder and entrepreneur, Michelle understands the emotional and practical aspects of owning and scaling a business, which makes her an effective guide for business leaders in evaluating risk and opportunity in their decision making. She received her MBA and law degrees from Northwestern University and undergraduate degree from the University of Notre Dame. Michelle serves on the Board of Directors for Bellevue LifeSpring and Youth Theatre Northwest, serving youth and families in the community. She was honored by the Puget Sound Business Journal as one of its “40 Under 40” in 2012. In addition, she and Equinox Business Law Group were awarded the King County Executive’s Woman-Owned Small Business of the Year Award in 2013, along with being listed as one of Puget Sound’s 100 Fastest-Growing Private Companies in 2020. In this episode… If you are a new business owner, do you have a trusted person to go to for legal advice? If you are an established company, have you been investing in regular legal counsel? This is a very important aspect of running a business that many owners often neglect. Having seen how many small business owners fail to seek legal advice when starting their organization, Michelle Bomberger was driven to become a small business consultant. She later created Equinox Business Law Group to provide legal services to such companies. She advises them to plan for their future, manage their businesses in a smart and strategic way, and pay attention to their people and organization in general. In this episode of the Lead Like A Woman Show, Andrea Heuston is joined by Michelle Bomberger, the Founder, CEO, and Managing Attorney at Equinox Business Law Group, to talk about the value of receiving legal advice as you grow a business. Michelle also talks about her law firm's business model, how she serves her clients, and she shares her experience being a guest co-host on The Shrimp Tank Podcast. Stay tuned.

Cathi Rodgveller is the Founder and CEO of IGNITE Worldwide, which works directly with teachers during the school day to provide programming that promotes STEM education and career advancement for girls and non-binary youth from historically marginalized communities. As a longtime educator and school counselor, Cathi witnessed the systemic obstacles girls face in accessing STEM pathways, especially girls from underserved communities. She founded IGNITE Worldwide in Seattle Public Schools over 20 years ago to bridge this gap and has grown the program to reach girls in over 100 US school districts and 50 countries, inspiring 80,000 girls to date. Cathi received the 2012 Social Impact Abie Award from the Indiana Borg Institute, and IGNITE Worldwide has been lauded by the Department of Education, Department of State, and the National Science Foundation. In this episode… Although many school-going girls love STEM subjects (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) and would love to venture into careers in these fields, few of them actually pursue those careers. The main reason behind this is that girls shy away from appearing smart in front of their peers and do not want to stand out. This perception minimizes girls' powers and abilities and ultimately limits their career prospects. This problem is common in many schools worldwide and not just in the US. To change the narrative, it is important to instill power, courage, and confidence in these girls at a young age. They need to know just how capable and talented they are, and receive the support they need to dream big, own their intelligence, and harness their full potential.  Cathi Rodgveller, the Founder and CEO of IGNITE Worldwide, is Andrea Heuston's guest in this episode of the Lead Like A Woman Show where she talks about community and providing educational opportunities for girls and non-binary youth. Cathi discusses what STEM education means, explains what drove her to start IGNITE Worldwide, and talks about how she helps empower girls and achieve gender equity in STEM.

Megan McNally is a business lawyer, angel investor, and strategic advisor to purpose-driven people and organizations. She spent more than two decades as an organizational leader, consultant, educator, and public speaker, including executive roles with NPower Network, Washington State Bar Association & Foundation, and Pacific Science Center. In 2017, she founded Diana Sports TV, a streaming service dedicated to women's sports that failed resoundingly, and the FBomb Breakfast Club, a thriving peer support community of nearly 4,000 female founders and women business owners — which was a finalist for GeekWire's 2018 Newcomer Award. Megan was named one of the most influential people of 2018 by Seattle Magazine and was awarded the Female Founders Alliance inaugural Champion Advocate Award. Today, she leads Doyenne Strategy, a consulting firm with offices in Seattle, New York, and clients around the globe. She also serves as a Legal Officer with Foundry Law Group. She is an active board member, advisor, and investor, and has been featured in GeekWire, Puget Sound Business Journal, and Seattle Lawyer. She is a two-time winner of the Moth storytelling competition and frequently speaks on community, leadership, and failure. Megan is happiest riding her bike or whale watching from her deck. In this episode… In the quest to build a thriving business, many owners often find themselves making mistakes in the way they run their business, how they handle their customers, or through their products. How such mistakes or failures are handled separates the successful businesses from the non-successful ones. Megan McNally experienced this when she started her own sports channel in 2018. She made a couple of mistakes that turned into great learning opportunities to help her build better businesses in the future. She now advises fellow women entrepreneurs to show up and build authentic businesses without the need to live up to other people's expectations. In this episode of the Lead Like A Woman Show, Andrea Heuston is joined by Megan McNally, a strategic consultant, lawyer, and angel investor, to talk about cultivating a supportive community of female founders and learning from your failures. They also discuss the importance of creating products that meet customers' needs, knowing who your ideal customers are, and building authentic businesses.

Lei Wang is an executive coach, speaker, and mountain climber. As the first Asian woman to complete the Explorers Grand Slam, Lei has been a sought-after international motivational speaker since 2010. She has inspired people around the world to dream big and achieve a fulfilling life that is truly exciting. As a coach, Lei helps business leaders accelerate their career to exciting new heights with ease and grace, lead their organizations to make bigger impacts, and connect deeper with the communities they serve. In 2004, Lei, who grew up as a Beijing city girl with no athletic training, set out to climb Mt. Everest. She was on a promising career track in finance with an MBA from Wharton. But she was excited about proving that an ordinary person could climb Everest. That excitement empowered her discovery, and she found that excitement is the driving force that motivates and empowers every one of us — and it’s the secret to innovation, peak performance, and extraordinary achievement. Today, as a coach, speaker, author, and adventurer, she travels the world to ascend new summits and empower individuals and organizations to dream big, take a leap of faith, and tap into the power of excitement to realize their potential and move mountains. In this episode… Climbing to the top of the tallest mountains in each of the continents is not an easy thing to do, and very few people have succeeded in doing that. One of those people is Lei Wang, who did not even grow up with athletic training. Some of the best life lessons Lei learned were from her experience climbing mountains — as well as from her failures and mistakes. They helped her make better decisions in both her personal life and professional life. She learned that she has the power to change her life and make things happen, and now she’s sharing these lessons with others. In this episode of the Lead Like A Woman Show, Andrea Heuston is joined by Lei Wang, an executive coach and mountain climber, to talk about ascending new summits in life and business. Lei shares her experience preparing for and climbing Mt. Everest, participating in the Explorers Grand Slam, and how she guides others to reach new heights through her coaching business. Stay tuned.

Luly B. is a business strategist, speaker, coach, mother, and best-selling Amazon author on a mission to help women define success on their own terms. She is a feisty Cuban-American mom and entrepreneur with 20 years of experience in marketing strategy, business consulting, and leadership. Drawing from her experience in the nonprofit, academic, and corporate sectors as well as her own entrepreneurial journey, Luly supports women who wear a ton of hats to get over the guilt, self-doubt, and fear that stops them from truly living happy lives. She helps them create businesses around their lifestyle and family priorities while making an impact on their clients and community. She is blessed to share her message of empowerment, leadership, and confidence with thousands of women all around the country, including clients and partners like Procter & Gamble, Macy’s, and Dell. In this episode… Oftentimes, women fail to achieve their goals and attain the success they desire because of fear. They fear asking for what they want, going after their dreams, and facing reception from others. However, it’s vital that women remember they’re not going through the journey alone. It’s important to seek out a support group, celebrate the women inside (and outside) your circle, and acknowledge the expressions of love and appreciation around you.  But how do you fully receive the love and gratitude that’s being given? Luly B. is here to help. Luly guides women to connect with one another and build supportive communities. Through her BOOST Community, she helps women network, share their gifts, learn to be more confident, learn from one another, and create the type of business and life they desire. Luly B., a business strategist and speaker, is Andrea Heuston's guest in this episode of the Lead Like A Woman Show where she talks about leadership and building a community of supportive women. Luly also discusses her core values, her superpower of connection, and shares her experiences as an entrepreneur and speaker. Stay tuned.

Katie McLaughlin is the Founder, Chief Strategist, and Transformation Artist at the McLaughlin Method, a boutique consultancy specializing in leadership and skills training for executive leaders of mid to late-stage startups. She is passionate about creating happier and healthier workplaces by stopping workplace hurt. In her business, Katie leverages her decades of experience driving organizational change, transforming processes and training programs, and applying principles of adult behavior and performance to create people-focused leaders and team cultures. Companies that work with her learn from the benchmarks and successes of over 15 software companies that have coached and trained with her. Katie believes that culture must be consistently reinforced and brought into all interactions at work. Through leadership development programs, executives and rising leaders learn how to inspire and motivate their diverse teams, making inclusion and engagement a priority in the team culture. Katie believes all training must develop real skills and go beyond theory, so her sessions are highly interactive, employing theater exercises and games to go deeper while cementing the learning. In this episode… To be a great leader, you must be a person who is willing and ready to learn constantly, make changes in your leadership strategies where necessary, and be good at relating with other people. The best way to learn people skills is by practicing them constantly through interacting with different types of people. Katie McLaughlin's mission of helping leaders become better and more transformational people has allowed her to work with different executives from various companies. She believes that leaders should pay attention to their team's varied perspectives, nurture them, and acknowledge their great potential. Katie McLaughlin, the Founder of McLaughlin Method, is Andrea Heuston's guest in this episode of the Lead Like A Woman Show where she talks about nurturing better leaders and living a transformational life. Katie also describes how her theatrical background has impacted her corporate work and explains how the McLaughlin Method helps develop great leaders.