HumanizeHer with Erica Lockheimer – Details, episodes & analysis

In this episode of the HumanizeHer Podcast, we sit down with Mauria Finley - a powerhouse entrepreneur, Stanford lecturer, and current Vice President at Google.

Mauria shares a deeply personal and strategic look at a career that has oscillated between massive corporate scale and the high-stakes "grit and resilience" of the startup world. From building product spreadsheets in her living room to leading global teams, Mauria offers a masterclass in living a life driven by purpose, joy, and connection.

Key themes in this episode include:

• The Entrepreneurial Leap: Mauria discusses founding Citrus Lane (acquired by Care.com) at age 35 while raising a toddler and an infant, debunking the myth that you have to start young to succeed.

• Pitching with Conviction: A candid look at the venture capital world. Mauria shares the hard lessons she learned raising Series A funding, including the "Tony Fadell" moment that forced her to fix her intro and why women must pitch the "big idea" rather than a "risk-adjusted plan."

• The "Beautiful Failure": Mauria reflects on her second startup - a fashion styling business for professional women - which was derailed by the COVID-19 pandemic. She discusses the heavy burden of leading through layoffs and how this "failure" led her to a fulfilling new chapter at Google.

• Teaching the "Soft Skills" of Engineering: For nearly a decade, Mauria has co-taught a popular class at Stanford's Computer Science school. She reveals what elite students actually want to know: not how to code, but how to negotiate, grow in a job, and navigate the workplace.

• Perspective through Health Challenges: Mauria shares the jarring story of being diagnosed with breast cancer on the same day she received a text from Erica Lockheimer about a skin cancer diagnosis. She discusses how facing mortality shifted her focus from professional ego to a philosophy centered on joy and health.

• The Power of Reconnection: After 20 years of distance, Mauria and Erica reconnected, proving that professional relationships can be "reactivated" into deep, vulnerable friendships that provide essential support in midlife.

Mauria concludes with a powerful reminder to women: "God only gave you one body - don't be so busy taking care of everyone else that you forget to take care of yourself."

Join the conversation with host, Erica Lockheimer and co-host, Elizabeth Wendorf-Bloesser.

From pioneering one of the world's most used digital platforms to taking her first-ever career break, Deb Liu (Former CEO of Ancestry and Former Product Exec at Facebook, PayPal, eBay) joins the HumanizeHer Podcast for a deeply vulnerable and strategic conversation about power, transitions, and the one thing that matters more than a resume: your health.

In this episode, Deb shares the mental frameworks that helped her rise through the "PayPal Mafia," navigate life as the only mother in the Facebook product room, and lead a 40-year-old storied company like Ancestry through its next chapter.

Inside the Episode:

• The "Other" in South Carolina: Deb reflects on her upbringing as the daughter of immigrants in a town where few looked like her, and how that sense of being a "foreigner" shaped her drive to find belonging in tech.

• The 7-Year Pitch for Facebook Marketplace: Deb recounts the persistence required to build Facebook Marketplace—an idea she pitched for years before it was finally greenlit, turning a "mom-group" observation into a global commerce powerhouse.

• The U-Shape Analogy: A masterclass in career growth. Deb explains why high-impact roles often lead to low learning, and why "hitting the reset button" to enter a new space is essential to avoid stagnation.

• The "Blank Name Tag Club": After working continuously since 2002, Deb discusses the identity crisis that comes with stepping away from a C-suite title and why she is spending her first-ever year off exploring who she is without a corporate role.

• A Life-Saving Birthday Request: Deb shares the jarring story of her recent breast cancer diagnosis, caught only because a friend insisted she get a mammogram for her birthday. Deb provides a stark look at the statistics: 13% of women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in their lifetime, and while catching it early leads to a 90% survival rate, waiting even one year can change the prognosis exponentially.

• Strategic Leadership: Learn about Deb's "30-60-90 Day Plan" and her "Magic Wand Dinners" - practical tools for building trust and synthesizing culture when entering a new organization as a leader.

This episode is a must-listen for anyone navigating the "messy middle" of a career while balancing the weights of the sandwich generation. Join the conversation with host, Erica Lockheimer and co-host, Elizabeth Wendorf-Bloesser.

Kirthiga Reddy, a trailblazing leader and first female Investment Partner at SoftBank Vision Fund, shares her incredible journey from growing up in India to becoming an influential figure in tech. She details her time as a Director of Engineering at Silicon Graphics and the first employee to launch and lead Facebook (now Meta) in India. This episode is packed with invaluable insights, including:

• The Power of the "And": How she embraced the "superpower" of having a career and a family, even when societal pressures suggested it was an "either/or" choice

• The Career Jungle Gym: Why she chose a 40% pay cut to pivot her career and how her impressive (linear-looking) resume actually hides a series of strategic, non-linear moves

• Guilt Management: Her powerful philosophy on not "overthinking" every decision and learning to manage guilt as effectively as time

• The "Trust Technology": A deep dive into her new venture, Verix - a company building a verification layer for digital credentials using blockchain, and the pivotal learning that led her to that mission

• AI Kiran: The story behind her new initiative to spotlight and grow the community of women in AI in India.

Kirthiga's story is a testament to the power of a growth mindset, the importance of mentorship, and the courage to take a break and find clarity. Join the conversation with host, Erica Lockheimer and co-host, Elizabeth Wendorf-Bloesser.

Join us on The HumanizeHer Podcast for a powerful and candid conversation with Nidhi Gupta, a trailblazing leader with a chemical engineering background who rose to become a Chief Technology & Product Officer - then ventured out to create her own business and become a Co-Founder and CEO!  Nidhi shares her incredible journey from growing up in India, where she was one of just a few women in her engineering class, to navigating pervasive biases and microaggressions in the tech industry. She reveals how these experiences fueled her passion to create SheTO.org, a non-profit dedicated to accelerating women's leadership in engineering.

This episode is packed with unfiltered insights on:

• Overcoming adversity:  How early experiences of bias shaped her resilience and grit

• The emotional side of impact:  Why she prioritizes supporting one life over just chasing big numbers

• The unexpected challenges of funding a non-profit:  Debunking myths about corporate and investor support for mission-driven organizations

• Building a thriving community:  How SheTO's programs achieve remarkable promotion rates for women in tech

• A White House invitation:  The surreal moment she realized her work is being recognized at the highest level.

Nidhi's story is a raw and inspiring testament to creating change, fostering community, and finding soulful fulfillment beyond traditional corporate success.  Join the conversation with host, Erica Lockheimer and co-host, Elizabeth Wendorf-Bloesser.

In this episode of The HumanizeHer Podcast we sit down for an insightful conversation with Catherine Fisher, LinkedIn's esteemed Career Expert! Catherine shares her journey in communications, from Netflix to LinkedIn, revealing how she became a go-to voice for career navigation.

This episode dives into crucial topics like the evolving job market, the impact of AI on careers, challenging traditional growth paths (the "squiggly line"), and the art of asking for what you want. Tune in for candid advice on handling workplace setbacks, the power of delegation, and building a resilient network.

Join the conversation with host, Erica Lockheimer and co-host, Elizabeth Wendorf-Bloesser.

** NOTE ** 

An audio mishap impacted this episode's sound quality, but we worked with Swell Sound to repair it so you don't miss a moment of the great conversation!

Join us on The HumanizeHer Podcast for an incredibly candid conversation with Sabrina Ellis, a powerhouse product leader as VP at companies like Google and Yahoo, and former Chief Product Officer at Pinterest!

Sabrina shares her remarkable career journey, revealing the highs and lows of navigating top executive roles in the tech industry. From the early days of the dot-com boom and making Yahoo Mail #1 globally, to steering product at Google and Pinterest, she offers an unfiltered look at what it takes to innovate and lead.

This episode is packed with invaluable insights, including:

💡 The power of career breaks: Sabrina openly discusses her intentional "off-ramps" and the confidence (and spousal support!) it took to step away, emphasizing how these breaks fueled her growth.

💡 Defining the Chief Product Officer role: What it means to "herd genius, feral cats" and empower diverse teams to build impactful products.

💡 Navigating adversity in the C-suite: Sabrina shares deeply personal experiences, from a toxic "Coliseum" culture to facing assumptions as an Asian female executive.

💡 "Sabrina's Rule of Three": Her fascinating observation on how minorities are perceived in professional settings and the importance of critical mass for true individuality.

💡 The future of work: A thought-provoking discussion on challenging capitalism's limits and envisioning tech companies that prioritize employees over profit maximization.

Sabrina's transparency about self-doubt, identity crises after leaving big brands, and the ongoing journey of self-discovery offers a refreshing perspective. Get ready to be inspired to embrace your own path, challenges and all!

Join the conversation with host, Erica Lockheimer and co-host, Elizabeth Wendorf-Bloesser.

In this empowering episode of the HumanizeHer Podcast, we welcome Leela Srinivasan, CEO of Parity, for a compelling conversation that spans her dynamic career journey and her impactful work in women's sports. Leela, who transitioned from a successful CMO background at companies like LinkedIn and SurveyMonkey to leading Parity, shares authentic insights into career pivots, the value of an MBA, and navigating the challenges of leadership, including the elusive "work-life balance" as a new mother.

The discussion takes a deep dive into the mission of Parity, an organization dedicated to closing the gender income and opportunity gap in professional sports. Leela reveals striking statistics:

• 50% of professional women athletes make zero income from their sport after accounting for training and competition costs.

• 74% of these athletes hold a second job, with 1 in 4 working full-time while training 30 hours a week.

• Women's sports currently receives only 15% of media share.

• 63% of female athletes surveyed have considered quitting elite sports due to financial struggles.

• 93% of surveyed athletes experience financial stress.

• An annual sponsorship of $20,000 would be "very meaningful" or "life-changing" for 88% of female athletes.

• Women's sports fans are 2.8 times more likely to purchase a product or service recommended by a professional woman athlete than by any other influencer.

Leela emphasizes that this is not a charity, but a lucrative business opportunity for brands to align with purpose-driven athletes. She highlights how brands like Microsoft, Morgan Stanley, and Hormel are already investing in Parity's community of over 1,100 professional women athletes across 85 sports, finding authentic partnerships based on shared values rather than just follower counts. The episode also touches upon the historic 2024 Paris Olympics, which for the first time achieved gender equality in participants. 

Through raw honesty about her own experiences with imposter syndrome and the importance of seeking feedback and coaching, Leela inspires listeners to embrace challenges and continuously learn, leaving an indelible mark on both the professional landscape and the world of women's sports.

Join the conversation with host, Erica Lockheimer and co-host, Elizabeth Wendorf-Bloesser.

What if success didn't mean choosing one path, but embracing many? In this episode of The HumanizeHer Podcast, We sat down with the incomparable Jory Des Jardins —co-founder of BlogHer and, more recently, the co-founder of Optionality, a platform dedicated to reimagining how we work, lead, and live.

Jory takes us on a deeply personal and professional journey through her unconventional career—from couch-surfing in New York while reading manuscripts at Penguin, to co-founding BlogHer and growing it into a movement that reached over 100 million users, to today—championing the rise of fractional roles, community-powered leadership, and portfolio careers.

Together, we explore the power of optionality: a framework where work is no longer a one-size-fits-all ladder, but a flexible, multi-dimensional life design. Jory shares how optionality allows people—especially women—to balance meaningful work, caregiving, creative pursuits, and self-defined success, even when traditional systems aren't designed to support it.

This episode isn't just about careers—it's about courage. It's about listening to your gut, staying curious, and being unafraid to start again. Whether it's pioneering the blogosphere, navigating burnout after acquisition, or diving headfirst into emerging tech and VR, Jory's path is a masterclass in resilience, reinvention, and radical authenticity.

We also talk candidly about caregiving, aging parents, raising teens, and the internal conflict so many women face when they feel pulled between achievement and presence. Jory's honesty and humor remind us that no career path is linear—and that building a "portfolio life" might just be the most honest reflection of who we are and who we're becoming.

✨ Whether you're in a moment of reinvention, questioning the 9–5, or dreaming of more freedom and purpose in your work—this episode will speak to you.

Key themes we unpack:

• Why "fractional leadership" is rising—and what it really means

• The difference between advisory vs. fractional roles

• How BlogHer created a trusted model for women creators—and what it taught us about power and representation

• How caregiving, life phases, and flexibility intersect with ambition

• The future of work—and how we can build it on our own terms

This conversation is both a mirror and a permission slip. If you're craving more flexibility, more agency, or simply a new way to define success—this is the episode for you.

Join the conversation with host, Erica Lockheimer and co-host Elizabeth Wendorf-Bloesser

In this insightful episode of The HumanizeHer Podcast, Florina Grosskurth and Vicky Fang delve into their remarkable career journeys, sharing personal stories of navigating the tech industry, embracing entrepreneurship, and finding true fulfillment via the world of literature.

Florina Grosskurth, a force in tech from program management to event planning, shares her inspiring transition to owning Linden Tree Books, a beloved local bookstore. She discusses the challenges of balancing a demanding tech career with motherhood and the liberating decision to prioritize family and passion. Flo recounts co-founding "Women in Tech" (WIT) at LinkedIn, highlighting the power of community, allyship, and intentionally embedding inclusion into company culture.

Vicky Fang, author and former Google product designer, reveals her journey from aspiring actress to STEM advocate through her children's books. She explains how her diverse background fuels her creative process, inspiring kids to be "creative problem solvers." Vicky also candidly shares the challenges of managing multiple creative endeavors, promoting her growing list of published books, and even venturing into TV writing.

Both guests open up about the "real stuff" - the struggles, rejections, and moments of self-doubt that come with career pivots and balancing personal life. They emphasize the importance of self-reflection, listening to one's gut, and finding true passion over external expectations. The episode celebrates the power of community, the joy of empowering others, and the courage to redefine success on your own terms.

Join the conversation with host, Erica Lockheimer and co-host Elizabeth Wendorf-Bloesser

Telle Whitney—a pioneering computer scientist, co-founder of the Grace Hopper Celebration, former CEO of AnitaB.org, and now, author of the book Rebooting Tech Culture: How to Ignite Innovation and Build Organizations Where Everyone Can Thrive.

Telle shares her incredible journey as one of the first women in tech to step into leadership and has been on a mission to ensure no other woman feels isolated in their career like she once did. Her path, from being one of the only women in engineering meetings to co-founding one of the largest global gatherings for women technologists, is nothing short of extraordinary.

Together, we unpack:

• 🧠 The early days of being a woman in a male-dominated tech environment

• 💡 How she and Anita Borg sparked the Grace Hopper Celebration from a single idea

• 📘 Why she wrote Rebooting Tech Culture, and what organizations must do now to foster equity and innovation

• 🔁 Lessons in burnout, sustaining leadership, and building inclusive companies that actually work for everyone

• 🌱 Telle's perspective on legacy, mentorship, and evolving beyond performative DEI efforts

💬 "You don't need permission to lead. You just need to care enough to begin."
This episode is a masterclass in values-driven leadership—thoughtful, grounded, and full of actionable wisdom.

Whether you're a woman in tech, an aspiring leader, or someone working to create more inclusive workplaces, this conversation will challenge and uplift you.

🎧 Listen now on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Join the conversation with host, Erica Lockheimer and co-host Elizabeth Wendorf-Bloesser