Lead Like a Woman

Connie Wyatt is the Founder, President, and Principal Consultant of S.A.I.D. Strategy Group. She has been leading the rapidly growing woman and minority-owned professional services firm since its inception in 2014. As a management consulting firm, S.A.I.D prides itself on being the best of the best at creative critical problem solving to deliver on what they commit to with their clients for their organizational strategic initiatives, hardware service platform deployments, and software application development projects. Their motto is 'When you work with us, it's SAID and done'. Connie is a certified project manager, business analyst, and a thought leader in the industry, including being a contributing author to the book The Keys to Our Success: Lessons Learned from 25 of Our Best Project Managers, Second Edition. She has a Bachelor of Science in Finance from the University of Illinois, a Certificate in Project Management Strategy from the University of Chicago, Certificate in Customer Relationship Management from DePaul University, and a Certificate in Entrepreneurship from Harold Washington College. She is also a graduate of 10 KSP. In her free time, Connie is an avid listener of music, creating playlists and exploring new genres. She also loves bicycling with an ultimate goal of riding a century, which is a 100-mile ride. In this episode… You are the master of your own destiny. If you are in a position where you feel that your business or relationships are not working out the way you want them to, then it's high time you made some changes in the way you approach these things. Instead of looking at everybody else, make a decision to change yourself because things will change when you change. Oftentimes people tend to have a victim mentality when things don't turn out the way they want them to. But according to Connie Wyatt, it's very crucial for people to evolve as things around them change and to take the time to learn from others along the way. This week's episode of the Lead Like a Woman Show is dedicated to Christine Wyatt, the late mother of this episode's guest, Connie Wyatt. Connie talks to Andrea Heuston about the need for change, why she started her consultancy company, the importance of continued growth and learning, and how the COVID-19 pandemic has personally affected her and her family. Stay tuned.

Lisa MacLean is the Founding Partner and CEO of Moxie Media, one of the first women-owned political consulting firms in the US. A courageous determiner and tenacious collaborative, Lisa turned first-hand experience with gender inequity into an established national political consulting firm that expands the impacts of women in leadership, and helps create a more inclusive government and nation. For more than 20 years, Lisa and Moxie Media have made a difference in electing candidates, winning a national initiative, advancing policies, and building movements across the country. Lisa holds a Degree in American Culture and Women's Studies from Vassar College. She is smart, savvy and driven. In this episode… While working for the Democratic party in Washington, DC soon after college, Lisa experienced first-hand the frustrations women in politics go through. These experiences were powerful and disturbing for her at the age of 22 and it made an impact in her life. She soon left and decided to go into the field, this time in California, to work for a woman who was running for congress that year. Lisa learned a lot after the exciting work experience she had in California and ended up starting one of the first woman-founded political consulting firms in America. She focused on helping women and other marginalized groups get a stronger political voice in the country. In this episode of Lead Like a Woman Show, Lisa MacLean joins Andrea Heuston to talk about her work in gender equity and politics. She explains why she started working in the political field, the various challenges she has faced working in this primarily male dominated field, what she's most passionate about, and her best piece of advice to fellow female entrepreneurs. Stay tuned.

Andrea Heuston is the CEO and Creative Principal of Artitudes Design, an award-winning creative agency. She has over 20 years experience in the design industry and has won several awards including Puget Sound Business Journal's 40 under 40, the Annual Enterprising Women of the Year Awards for Enterprising Women Magazine, Cambridge Who's Who, Key4Women Achieve Award, and more. Andrea holds a degree in Communications and Design from the University of Washington. Apart from being an entrepreneur, Andrea is a speaker, author, and a volunteer who helps plan, purchase, prepare, and serve meals for the members of The Matt Talbot Center. Andrea is also the host of the Lead Like a Woman Show In this episode… Twelve years ago, Andrea decided to have a lap band surgery because she was unhappy with her body weight and wanted to get to her ideal body weight. What she didn't know was that the positive results she experienced post surgery would be short-lived and that it would instead turn into a series of events that would require her to be placed under a medically-induced coma. It was an experience that opened up her eyes to the importance of family and friends in a patient's recovery process, and it also made her realize a few things about herself that she believes other people should be aware of as well. In this episode of the Lead Like a Woman Show, Andrea gets interviewed by Dr. Jeremy Weisz of Rise25 in her own show about how her experiences as a coma patient impacted not just her life but the lives of the people she was closest to. Tune in as she talks about why she decided to get surgery, being diagnosed with Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS), being in a coma for 19 days, and the lessons learned from her experience.

Catherine Crosslin is the owner and CEO of Instar Performance, an internationally recognized personal and organizational development company. Catherine is an internationally respected leadership and organizational cultural consultant, executive coach, master facilitator and keynote speaker. Her engaging and interactive facilitation and coaching techniques help clients challenge and overcome deeply held beliefs and habits that inhibit growth, achievement and success. Prior to founding Instar Performance, Catherine dedicated 15 years to Gordon Graham & Co. Inc, where she led and developed for businesses in prison. In this episode… As more women take on leadership positions in companies and in different industries, the expectation to match men in order to achieve success can become overbearing. This is particularly true for male-dominated industries where the demand for women to behave just like men can be overwhelming . But according to Catherine Crosslin, that shouldn't be the case. Women can be more effective at work and they can achieve more if they stay true to who they are. By embracing their own uniqueness and working with who they intrinsically are, they will be able to accomplish more things. If things don't go as planned, the best option is to fail forward and to continue pushing on. By treating their failures as learning experiences and mistakes as stepping stones for pivotal beginnings, women can open more doors of opportunities for themselves. Join Andrea Heuston in this episode of Lead Like a Woman Show as she interviews Catherine Crosslin of Instar Performance about women in leadership and organizational culture. Join the conversation as Catherine talks about her experience and lessons learned while working in male-dominated fields, how women can be better leaders, what it means to fail forward, and the benefits of having an abundance mentality. Stay tuned.

Jean Thompson is the Owner and CEO of Seattle Chocolate Company, makers of the Seattle chocolate and jcoco fine chocolate brands. She has been running Seattle Chocolate for almost 18 years and has grown it from the ruins it was in after the Nisqually Earthquake in 2001 to the successful company that it is today. A native New Englander, Jean graduated from Bates College before embarking on a career in high tech. Prior to taking over the mantle in Seattle Chocolate Company, she was actively raising her two children in Bellevue, Washington and devoting her free time to nonprofit work. She had previously worked at Microsoft as a Corporate Communications Manager. In this episode… With no experience in the chocolate industry, Jean Thompson found herself taking leadership of a small chocolate company in Seattle. She was the majority shareholder with a 95% stake after the Nisqually Earthquake of 2001, and it was her love for chocolate, her determination, and her willingness to learn and adapt which drove her desire to turn the company fortunes around. 18 years later, Jean has learned a lot from running the chocolate company and she has evolved her company to have a social branding that impacts and touches many lives. Andrea Heuston's featured guest in this episode of the Lead Like a Woman Show is Jean Thompson, the woman behind Seattle Chocolate. Tune in as they talk about Jean's transition from the tech industry to the chocolate industry, her shift from being a stay-at-home mum to becoming the owner of a chocolate company, the struggles and challenges women face in creating and leading companies, and why her decisiveness is her undeniable business superpower.

Dr. Kristin Kahle, aka Dr. K, is the CEO and Founder of NavigateHCR, a full-service Affordable Care Act (ACA) and compliance technology company. In 2014 and 2015, she was awarded the "Most Influential Woman in Benefits" by Employee Benefit Advisor. More recently, Dr. K was nominated for the San Diego Business Journal Top Tech Award 2019, for the technology developed by NHCR. Highlighting her experience as a serial entrepreneur, speaker, coach, and mentor, Dr. K has published 'NOtivation: Use the Power of NO to Make Your First Million Dollars', a transparent and honest guide to how she used the power of no to make her first and second and third million. Dr. K holds a Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) from Argosy University, an MBA from the University of Phoenix, and a Bachelor of Business Administration from Pine Manor College. In this episode… At the tender of 5, Dr. Kristin Kahle was a strong willed little girl who wanted to save her brother's life by donating her bone marrow. Jason had been diagnosed with leukemia and tests showed that Kristin was the perfect match. However, her family was not too keen on her being a donor, but she persisted despite repeatedly being told "No", and her persistence paid off. This experience led her to become more determined and her strong will enabled her to be a great basketball player in college and eventually, she went on to become a successful entrepreneur. She set up and sold 3 successful businesses and now, she coaches and mentors other women business owners on how to create their own success story. In this episode of the Lead Like a Woman Show, Andrea Heuston gets to interview Dr. Kristin Kahle about the power of 'NO. Listen in as they discuss Dr. Kahle's reasons for writing a book, how being able to say "NO" can motivate you to succeed, how she has thrived in a male-dominated field, and why Dr. Kahle believes it is important for women to put a stopper on negative thoughts. Stay tuned.

Manon Buettner is the CEO of Nuvalo, a company known for helping their customers with their IT modernization journey. She is an accomplished CEO, a mother, a former gymnast, and the co-founder of Cloud Girls, a not for profit community of female technology advocates and leaders. Manon is an expert voice on cloud enablement and IT business management, and she is also an infrastructure architect, data center and cloud analyst, strategist, and speaker with over 20 years of experience in the industry. She is a tireless advocate for women in technology and a leader amongst leaders. She is also a good friend. In this episode... In today's rapidly changing world, people and companies are moving to a more application-centric economy. Businesses are migrating from hardware to a more subscription-based service which means more people are becoming more inclined to connect through cloud storage. Manon Buettner saw this opportunity as an opening for women to engage in a predominantly male-led industry. In today's episode of Lead Like a Woman Show, Manon Buettner, an expert in IT modernization, gets interviewed by Andrea Heuston about what IT modernization truly means and how she is able to provide cutting edge digital services in a male-dominated field. Tune in as she discusses her entrepreneurial journey, the reason behind Cloud Girls, and find out why she holds on to the best advice she has ever received: be fearless.

Debbie Oberbillig is the CEO of SuccessView Coaching and Consulting, and she is highly skilled in the business aspects of talent management including coaching, leadership development, facilitation, and organizational program management. Her passion and expertise are to consult with and coach CEOs and corporate leaders, as well as to create and facilitate programs to develop courageous emerging leaders. Before starting her consulting firm, Debbie was on the executive team of an emerging tech services firm where she assisted in growing the business from startup to a global public company. She is a graduate of the ICS accredited Newfield Network Ontological and Somatic Coaching Program, and she's an Enhanced Narrative Coach Practitioner and Certified Dare to Lead FacilitatorTM. In this episode… During a recession or pandemic, it is common knowledge that a number of small businesses struggle to survive and many of them end up going out of business. These are usually very challenging times for businesses and it affects everyone in every aspect: financially, emotionally, and psychologically. But according to Debbie Oberbillig, new businesses actually thrive during recessions and while things are not really going as wonderfully as you would have hoped, changing your mindset and adjusting the story you tell yourself can not only help you cope, it can help you see the opportunities that are out there if only you look with more scrutinizing lenses. Debbie Oberbillig is a highly skilled coach and consultant whose companies have survived two recessions. She joins Andrea Heuston, as this week's guest on the Lead Like a Woman Show where they talk about her early start in the entrepreneurial game, why she believes starting a business during a recession is actually a good thing, the importance of controlling your thoughts and feelings, and why she says that it's totally okay to make and embrace failures and mistakes. Stay tuned.

Andrea Heuston is the CEO & Creative Principal of Artitudes Design, an award-winning creative agency. She has over 20 years of experience in the design industry and has won several awards including Puget Sound Business Journal's 40 under 40, the Annual Enterprising Women of the Year Awards for Enterprising Women Magazine, Cambridge Who's Who, Key4Women Achieve Award, among others. Andrea holds a degree in Communications & Design from the University of Washington. She is also the host of the Lead Like a Woman Show, a speaker, author, and a volunteer who helps plan, purchase, prepare, and serve meals for the members of The Matt Talbot Center. In this episode… Every August, Andrea Heuston & her family had made it a tradition to go on vacation at the family's beach house. Five years ago, the trip had been planned as usual, only that this particular one was going to be different. It would remain ingrained in their memory forever. Andrea and her two sons found themselves in a burning house on a cold night & had to save themselves from the fire. What seemed like a small flame ended up consuming the entire house & throwing them out into the cold! In this episode, Andrea Heuston, host of the Lead Like a Woman Show is interviewed by Dr. Jeremy Weisz about one of four life-altering events that happened to her. She talks about her beach house burning down while on vacation with her two sons, how her family was helped by family, friends, & the insurance company, as well as what she learned from the tragedy. Stay tuned.