How Women Inspire: Invest, Lead, Give – Details, episodes & analysis
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How Women Inspire: Invest, Lead, Give
How Women Lead
Frequency: 1 episode/7d. Total Eps: 149

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🇨🇦 Canada - management
15/01/2025#79
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Building Women’s Financial Independence and Fixing the Broken Rung with Megan Schoettmer
Season 1 · Episode 150
mercredi 8 janvier 2025 • Duration 26:06
Do you feel confident that you’re in control of your financial future? With the huge transfer of wealth to women in this country, it’s more important than ever to be financially literate and feel confident in the conversation. In today’s episode, Megan Schottmer shares her inspiring journey of overcoming shyness and self-doubt to become a trailblazing leader in the financial services industry. Megan candidly discusses the importance of financial empowerment for women, the critical role of mentors and sponsors, and strategies for navigating the corporate ladder as an introvert. This week’s episode 150 of How Women Inspire Podcast is about building women’s financial independence and fixing the broken rung!
In this episode of How Women Inspire Podcast, Megan Schoettmer is sharing the importance of ensuring women take an active role in their financial lives and actionable steps you can take right now to leverage your authentic self to succeed in a male-dominated industry.
Megan Schoettmer is regional president of PNC Bank, Northern California. Prior to joining PNC in August 2022, she served as managing director and Commercial Banking leader of middle market banking for Wells Fargo focusing on various industries including technology, commercial and industrial, and commercial real estate in Silicon Valley and the greater San Francisco Bay Area. Active in the community, Schoettmer serves as a board member for the Bay Area Council and the Children's Discovery Museum of San Jose. She serves on the advisory board for Santa Clara University's Ciocca Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship and is co-chair for How Women Lead #GetOnBoardWeek.
Some of the talking points Julie and Megan go over in this episode include:
- The importance of finding one's "why" and aligning with an advisor who shares similar goals.
- The concept of the “broken rung” in the workforce and the need to address the gender gap in promotions.
- How financial stress affects career advancement and the importance of financial independence.
- Building a personal board of directors and having diverse perspectives to guide your career and personal life decisions.
Thank you for listening! If you enjoyed this episode, take a screenshot of the episode to post in your stories and tag me! And don’t forget to follow, rate, and review the podcast and tell me your key takeaways!
Learn more about How Women Inspire at https://www.howwomenlead.com/podcast
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Embracing Ambition and Rejecting Apologies with Shellye Archambeau [Replay]
Season 1 · Episode 149
mercredi 1 janvier 2025 • Duration 25:29
As women in the workplace, the odds of success and growth are not usually in our favor. So, what can we do to improve our odds and set ourselves up for success? In this episode of How Women Inspire, we sit down with Shellye Archambeau, experienced CEO, board director, and author of Unapologetically Ambitious. Shellye shares her inspiring story of overcoming the odds as a Black woman in tech to become a CEO, emphasizing the importance of setting goals, making intentional decisions, and more. This week’s episode 149 of How Women Inspire Podcast is about embracing ambition and rejecting apologies!
In this episode of How Women Inspire Podcast, Shellye Archambeau is sharing the importance of making daily decisions that align with your goals and actionable steps you can take right now to create a self-care plan to keep yourself healthy.
Shellye Archambeau is an experienced CEO and board director with a track record of building brands, high-performance teams, and organizations. She currently serves on the boards of Verizon, Roper Technologies, and Okta. She's also a strategic adviser to Forbes Ignite and the president of Arizona State University and serves on the board of two national nonprofits Catalyst and Braven. Shellye is also the author of “Unapologetically Ambitious: Take Risks, Break Barriers, and Create Success on Your Own Terms.”
Some of the talking points Julie and Shellye go over in this episode include:
- The importance of being unapologetically ambitious and the societal pressure to apologize excessively.
- Strategic goal setting and mankind decisions to support your plan.
- The societal pressure on women to "have it all”.
- Identifying your own three, non-negotiable self-care practices for your health.
Check out Shellye’s book Unapologetically Ambitious: Take Risks, Break Barriers, and Create Success on Your Own Terms.
Thank you for listening! If you enjoyed this episode, take a screenshot of the episode to post in your stories and tag me! And don’t forget to follow, rate, and review the podcast and tell me your key takeaways!
Learn more about How Women Inspire at https://www.howwomenlead.com/podcast
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Overcoming Barriers with Confidence, Resilience, and Determination with Deborah Smith
Episode 140
mercredi 30 octobre 2024 • Duration 22:56
Even if we think our career is on a straight path, life has a funny way of presenting us with unexpected opportunities and changing our trajectories. Deborah Smith knows this firsthand, having moved around in the financial industry and taken almost every opportunity that presented itself before founding The CenterCap Group, a boutique investment bank serving the real estate industry. Deborah is here this week to share her journey with us, as well as offer advice on our career mindsets, surrounding ourselves with a support network, and more! This week’s episode 140 of How Women Inspire Podcast is about overcoming barriers with confidence, resilience, and determination!
In this episode of How Women Inspire Podcast, Deborah Smith is sharing the importance of keeping your eyes open for unexpected career opportunities and actionable steps you can take right now to approach your career with confidence.
Deborah Smith is Co-Founder and CEO of The CenterCap Group, LLC and heads the firm's Strategic Capital and M&A and Execution efforts. Prior to forming The CenterCap Group, LLC, Ms. Smith was Co-Head of M&A and a Senior Managing Director with CB Richard Ellis Investors (CB Richard Ellis's $40 billion AUM investment management business). She joined CBREI in July 2007 to co-head the build out of the firm's M&A efforts and led the firm's negotiation and acquisition of a majority interest in Wood Partners (one of the largest multifamily developers in the United States) in 2008.
Some of the talking points Julie and Deborah go over in this episode include:
- Accepting support and not overthinking decisions.
- The challenges of balancing a demanding career with raising a family.
- Approaching opportunities with a “how hard can it be” mindset.
- The importance of confidence and persistence.
Thank you for listening! If you enjoyed this episode, take a screenshot of the episode to post in your stories and tag me! And don’t forget to follow, rate, and review the podcast and tell me your key takeaways!
Learn more about How Women Inspire at https://www.howwomenlead.com/podcast
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Julie Castro Abrams' Journey of Philanthropy and Impact
Season 1 · Episode 49
mercredi 25 janvier 2023 • Duration 35:15
Content Warning: This episode includes mention of child and animal neglect and abuse.
There’s a developmental stage between ages 45-65 where having an impact is one of the most important parts of this stage in our lives and it is so important to take a moment to reflect on the impact we want to have on the world. In this week’s episode 49 of How Women Inspire Podcast, Julie shares her journey of philanthropy and impact!
In this episode of How Women Inspire Podcast, Julie Castro Abrams shares how her childhood experiences were the foundation for her decision early in life to spend the rest of her life trying to make the world a better place and reflecting on her continued efforts to open her heart and door to others by caring for them and loving and accepting them as they are.
Some of the talking points Julie goes over in this episode include:
- Being cognizant of the power dynamics in nonprofit organizations and setting realistic expectations of gratitude.
- Sharing Maimonides ‘Ladder of Philanthropy’ and the high value placed on philanthropy through partnership.
- The 3 levels of impact Julie focuses on and examples of how this has played out in her life.
- Encouraging you to have a north star of your own values to drive the impact and influence you have on the world.
Julie shares her story to show that being a life-long philanthropist and living a life of service is not easy but the gifts that come for both you and the people you help are immeasurable.
Thank you for listening! If you enjoyed this episode, take a screenshot of the episode to post in your stories and tag me! And don’t forget to follow, rate, and review the podcast and tell me your key takeaways!
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Securing the Right VC as a Female Entrepreneur with Venture Capitalist and Board Director, Lara Druyan
Episode 48
mercredi 18 janvier 2023 • Duration 35:42
Venture capital is the most expensive form of capital there is because of the equity and control you’re giving up so it is in your best interest to do your due diligence to research the people behind the big decision-making. This week’s episode 48 of How Women Inspire Podcast is about securing the right VC as a female entrepreneur!
In this episode of How Women Inspire Podcast, Julie Castro Abrams and Lara Druyan share the importance of women mentoring, supporting, and lending a helping hand to other women in the ways that men often do and actionable steps you can take right now to pitch yourself to secure VC with investors that are in alignment.
Today’s guest, Lara Druyan is the managing director with Silicon Valley Data Capital, a seed and early stage venture capital fund focused on enterprise software and financial technology Fintech. She serves on the board of directors of CIBC, US Bancorp and Syncron, the leading global digital transformation consulting firm focused on financial services. Lara also has 25 years of experience in all phases of technology, product creation, and associated change management. She is an award winning business transformation leader and leverages her understanding of how large enterprise buys technology to advance startups in which she invests. As she puts it, she is one of the very few venture capitalists who has been on the buying side of technology, an impressive accomplishment to say the least.
Some of the talking points Julie and Lara go over in this episode include:
- What it means to be a product manager in every role you hold.
- Advice for female entrepreneurs to find the right investor for them (not all money is good money).
- Starting a company and investing in an economic downturn.
- The impact and influence working moms have on their children.
- Prioritizing relationships to maintain and expand your network.
Achieving things that are difficult means that you are going to fail a lot of the time and that’s totally fine. The whole point is to dust yourself off, realize it wasn’t the right opportunity for you, and have the tenacity to keep going.
Thank you for listening! If you enjoyed this episode, take a screenshot of the episode to post in your stories and tag me! And don’t forget to follow, rate, and review the podcast and tell me your key takeaways!
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Positively Impacting the Climate Crisis with Virginia Klausmeier [Rerelease]
Season 1 · Episode 47
mercredi 11 janvier 2023 • Duration 28:20
The climate crisis has seen major changes in the past few decades. We’ve seen companies starting to step up to make positive climate changes and there are ways you can help with that. This week’s episode 47 of How Women Inspire Podcast is about how you can positively impact the climate crisis!
In this episode of the How Women Inspire Podcast, Julie Castro Abrams and Virginia Klausmeier share the importance of massively curbing carbon emissions. We also chat about actionable steps you can take right now to make changes in your own business and life to support our climate.
Virginia has dedicated the last 10 years to solving climate change, and on this life path, she founded a venture-backed climate tech company, Sylvatex (SVX) Inc. Sylvatex has won numerous awards/funding at industry conferences and venture competitions and is an affiliate with National Laboratories (LNBL) and USDA. Virginia is currently active in advising climate tech and minority-led organizations as well as a fellow/member of All Raise, Unreasonable Group, Alliance of CEO’s, Astia, Silicon Valley Leadership Group and is actively working on the growth and commercialization of Sylvatex Inc.
Virginia attended Singularity University and the University of Oregon earning her B.S. in Chemistry/Economics and a M.S. in Engineering. Virginia currently has a number of patents pending and has been a speaker at a number of domestic and international events. Prior to this venture, she managed the new development ideas for a fortune 500 medical device companies and led the US clinical and biomechanical research. Virginia was featured as one of the "Top 10 women in biofuels" and was selected by Forbes for "30 under 30 in Energy". Last but not least, she is the proud partner to Ryan Irwin Klausmeier and the mother to two little boys River and Dakota.
Some of the talking points Julie and Virginia go over in this episode include:
- How her life journey has been a series of epiphanies that have led her to this moment.
- The power of being a coachable person and how that helps her bring her education and interests into her work and business.
- How to create substantial amounts of carbon change in our world.
- Ways that collaboration has had such a huge impact on being able to create positive climate change.
Thank you for listening! If you enjoyed this episode, take a screenshot of the episode to post in your stories and tag me! And don’t forget to follow, rate and review the podcast and tell me your key takeaways!
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Taking Small Steps to Cause a Ripple-Effect of Change with Professor Rana Dajani
Season 1 · Episode 46
mercredi 4 janvier 2023 • Duration 33:19
When you start to do simple things every day that make an impact, those things will start to add up and cause a ripple effect to make a larger, more impactful change. This week’s episode 46 of How Women Inspire Podcast is about taking small steps to cause a ripple effect of change!
In this episode of How Women Inspire Podcast, Julie Castro Abrams and Rana Dajani share the importance of fostering the curiosity to continue learning, exploring, and growing in everything we do and actionable steps you can take right now to take responsibility for the change you want to see in the world.
Today’s guest wears many scarves in our society. Rana Dajani is a mother, grandmother, teacher, scientist, social entrepreneur, and human rights activist. She is currently a molecular biology professor at Hashemite University, President of the Society of Advancement of Science and Technology in the Arab World (SASTA), and President of the Jordan chapter of The Organization for Women in Science for the Developing World (OWSD).
Rana recently won the 2022 Social Entrepreneurship Award from the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship, the sister organization of the World Economic Forum. Her organization We Love Reading aims to install the love of reading and therefore knowledge in women across the world. We love reading won the Best Women in Film Documentary award, The Neighborhood Storyteller at the Mountain Film Festival in Telluride, Colorado, for its work on changing mindsets through reading to create change makers across Jordan.
Rana is a sister of mine, a Women Leaders for the World graduate alum of that fellowship program. She continues to serve on the Women Leaders for the World Alumni Council. Most recently, her documentary was selected for the LA International Film Festival and she was a speaker at the United Nations to discuss how to achieve the SDGs through social and inclusive innovation. It is no surprise that Rana Dajani is a master of many scarves.
Some of the talking points Julie and Rana go over in this episode include:
- The fundamental values that guide Rana’s life and what she does to reinforce these values.
- How the organization We Love Reading helps children fall in love with reading through fostering role models.
- Finding balance in your roles by building a support network and following your passions.
- Creating partnerships and investing in the agency of others so that we can all move forward, together.
When you look at the world as a Kaleidoscope, you can celebrate the idea that everyone brings their unique value together to create something beautiful for the greater whole.
Thank you for listening! If you enjoyed this episode, take a screenshot of the episode to post in your stories and tag me! And don’t forget to follow, rate, and review the podcast and tell me your key takeaways!
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Believing in Your Belonging with Tricia Timm, Limited Partner of How Women Invest [Rerelease]
Season 1 · Episode 45
mercredi 28 décembre 2022 • Duration 42:26
Tricia Montalvo Timm was reading an article with a very low statistic of the number of Latinas who get a board seat - and it was at that moment that she realized she had the qualifications to do so herself and be the role model for others to take that step too. Tricia Montalvo Timm, a passionate advocate for Latinas, knows what it means to be the only or one of few in a room. That’s why episode 45 of How Women Inspire Podcast is about believing in your belonging!
Ms. Timm is an established Silicon Valley leader with cross-functional experience in public and private companies. Ms. Timm has grown and scaled businesses from early-stage to multi-billion-dollar companies, including the sale of Looker to Google for $2.6 billion. She has been the first lawyer at 3 different high-growth start-ups and has extensive public company and corporate governance experience, advising management and boards on executive compensation, financial reporting and compliance matters. Throughout her 25-year career, Ms. Timm has sat in the boardroom at both private and public companies, presenting at board and committee meetings and advising on strategic issues. Given her experience, Ms. Timm can sit all on three board committees - Audit, Compensation and Nominating and Governance.
In addition to the law, Ms. Timm has a passion for diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI). While at Looker she launched the Company’s first DEI program where they developed a multi-prong solution that consisted of recruiting and retaining diverse talent, cultivating a culture of belonging and establishing the company as a DEI thought leader.
In this episode of How Women Inspire Podcast, Tricia Timm is sharing the importance of believing in yourself and that you belong and actionable steps you can take right now to start showing up with confidence.
Some of the talking points Tricia and I go over in this episode include:
- How Tricia got started with board positions, and the strong power of opportunity women can give each other to succeed and project us all forward.
- How investors look different with different backgrounds, and how the stereotype of what an investor is shouldn’t hold you back from investing.
- The importance of being visible, especially as a Latina, and the power of providing a role model for future generations.
- The power of being let in and why it all begins with you believing you belong in order to succeed.
If you’re in a position of influence, it’s important to let others in, and if you’re not yet in a position of influence it’s important to believe you belong there, even if you’ve never seen someone like you in that seat before. So be sure to tune in to all the episodes and hear even more about the points outlined above.
Thank you for listening!
If you enjoyed this episode, take a screenshot of the episode to post in your stories and tag me! And don’t forget to subscribe, rate and review the podcast and tell me your key takeaways!
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Courageous and Value-Based Leadership with Lizette Williams, Global Head of Vertical Solutions Marketing at Meta
Season 1 · Episode 44
mercredi 21 décembre 2022 • Duration 25:36
There is this narrative in the corporate world, particularly for women of color, that they are expected to emulate this white male culture in order to be successful. In reality, everything they need to have a successful corporate career is already innately within themselves. This week’s episode 44 of How Women Inspire Podcast is about courageous and value-based leadership!
In this episode of How Women Inspire Podcast, Julie Castro Abrams and Lizette Williams share the values Lizette lives by that allow her to lead courageously in every role and advice for people of color to stand up for themselves and what they want in a corporate environment.
Lizette Williams is a leading marketing and advertising executive who drives the convergence of brand culture and digital, something we all need. In her current role, she serves as the Global Head of Vertical Solutions and Marketing at Meta (formally known as Facebook). In 2020, Lizette was named Advertising Woman of the Year by the Chicago Advertising Federation and has been listed as Crain’s Chicago Business 40 under 40, Advertising Age Women to Watch, and Black Enterprise Top Women Executives in advertising and marketing. She is a leader and extremely well-known in her field. If you think she's already impressive as is, Lizette also serves on the Board of Directors of Real Self, a leading healthcare marketplace for people considering an elective cosmetic treatment. Additionally, she serves on the American Advertising Federation Hall of Achievements Election Committee. She has a passion for serving young people of color and women and as a result, has countless mentees across the country. Lizette is truly someone who leads courageously with her values.
Some of the talking points Julie and Lizette go over in this episode include:
- Fostering an inclusive culture in the workplace by weaving it throughout the DNA of the company and measuring it over time.
- How the mentorship that Lizette received when she was young influences the ways she gives back by mentoring others.
- Investing in your team members to give them the best possible work experience while increasing productivity.
- Advice for people of color to confidently ask for what they want and courageously demand to be recognized.
- Removing the guilt of being a working mom by highlighting the lessons we are modeling for our children.
Thank you for listening! If you enjoyed this episode, take a screenshot of the episode to post in your stories and tag me! And don’t forget to follow, rate, and review the podcast and tell me your key takeaways!
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Redefining Success as a Woman of Color with Deepa Purushothaman, Co-Founder of nFormation [Rerelease]
Episode 43
mercredi 14 décembre 2022 • Duration 43:48
When it comes to being a woman of color in the C-suite or corporate side of business, there can be a lot of pressures and residual inner dialogue that can make your own identity a blur. Women have edited themselves to fit the mold or the leader before them for a really long time, and this is even stronger in relation to those of color or with a different cultural belief than their white male counterparts. This week’s episode 43 of How Women Inspire Podcast is about understanding and redefining the shadow side to being a woman of color in business, with Deepa Purushothaman!
In this episode of How Women Inspire Podcast, Julie Castro Abrams and Deepa Purushothaman are sharing the importance of redefining success for yourself, no matter what culture or society deems accurate for you, and actionable steps you can take right now to step into your power as a woman of color and powerful leader.
Some of the talking points Julie and Deepa go over in this episode include:
- The significance and role of work on women of color, and how this plays a huge role in their lives and identities.
- How we as women edit ourselves and put ourselves on mute more times than we shout unless that’s the expectation.
- The shadow side to being a woman of color in business, and how this can lead to not only being forced to fit stereotypes but the other significant (unpaid) roles we play in corporations.
- Hiding your identity: why some people choose to do that, and how easy or difficult it may be to do that.
In this episode, Deepa shares her new book, along with a few of the amazing stories held within, to help share how women of color are truly stepping into their calling as the power brokers of the future. Be sure to tune in to all the episodes to receive tons of practical tips and to hear even more about the points outlined above.
Thank you for listening! If you enjoyed this episode, take a screenshot of the episode to post in your stories and tag me! And don’t forget to follow, rate and review the podcast and tell me your key takeaways!
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