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

🎙️ EPISODE: From Corporate Grit to Cannabis Grit – Erin Gore's Journey with Garden Society

In this bold and deeply human episode of HumanizeHer, we sit down with Erin Gore, the powerhouse founder and CEO of Garden Society. From a chemical engineering background and climbing the ranks in a male-dominated corporate world to pioneering in the cannabis industry, Erin shares how pain, perseverance, and purpose led her to build one of the most innovative and woman-led cannabis brands in the country.

We unpack:

• The shocking realities Erin faced as the first woman in a chemical plant

• How a garden party with girlfriends sparked a mission-driven company

• Her vision for making cannabis approachable, effective, and stigma-free

• Fast-acting edibles, equity in cannabis, and building a diverse cap table

• Raising capital as a woman founder in an industry that still doesn't fully get it
  
  

This conversation is packed with grit, growth, and game-changing perspective. Whether you're curious about cannabis or just love a story about a woman rewriting the rules—this one's for you.

Disclaimer: The following conversation contains personal experiences and perspectives regarding cannabis. This content is intended for educational and informational purposes only and does not constitute medical or legal advice. The views expressed by guests are their own. Cannabis consumption should be done responsibly and in accordance with local laws. Please consult your healthcare provider before using cannabis for any medical purpose.

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

In this special HumanizeHer live episode from SXSW, Adrienne Bankert, who is an Emmy-award winning journalist who has worked as a broadcast journalist for NewsNation, ABC News, Good Morning America with a mission to deliver unbiased news. From covering major events like the 2011 tsunami to interviewing Lady Gaga and The Rock, Bankert's reporting shaped her empathetic style. Now, she embarks on the fearless endeavor to discuss faith at work, including in her special series "One Nation Under God," and her new YouTube personal podcast series  where she has conversations about where faith lives in culture, current events, sports and media, particularly for Gen Z.  Help support her and follow her on Instagram and YouTube.

Live at SXSW, Adrienne opens up about her current endeavor: a powerful shift towards unbiased news that seeks to humanize people of faith. What does unbiased news truly mean, and how can faith-based reporting achieve it? We delve into thought-provoking questions like how faith finds its place in technology, media, and sports, and even explores faith in the face of death and grief. Learn how Adrienne approaches conversations with those holding vastly different worldviews and her strategies for building trust with anyone she meets – a skill highlighted in her insightful TED Talk.

We also explore Adrienne's book, "Your Hidden Superpower," uncovering the inspiration behind it and the impactful lessons on kindness it imparts. Hear about moments in her career where kindness made a tangible difference.

Tune in for a deeply humanizing conversation with HumanizeHer podcast hosts, Erica Lockheimer and Elizabeth Wendorf-Bloesser that bridges divides and illuminates the power of faith and understanding in today's world. Plus, don't miss Adrienne's inspiring "Pay It Forward" moment, where she shines a light on incredible women making a difference.

From the elite lecture halls of the Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT, Delhi) to the driver's seat of an Uber delivery run, Aarathi Vidyasagar (VP of Engineering and Science at Uber) defines what it means to lead with both technical craft and deep empathy.

In this episode of the HumanizeHer Podcast, Aarathi joins former colleagues Erica Lockheimer and Elizabeth Wendorf-Bloesser to share a career journey that is as much about "grit and spunk" as it is about high-level strategy.

Inside the Episode:

• IIT Trailblazer: Aarathi reflects on being 1 of only 11 women in a class of 500 at the Indian Institutes of Technology, navigating a male-dominated world from age 17 and learning to "blend in" before finding her true voice.

• 17-Year Legacy at SAP Ariba: Discover how Aarathi rose from an entry-level engineer to VP, her pivotal role in Ariba's migration to the cloud, and the moment she realized that "staying quiet" about her ambitions was leading others to make assumptions about her career path.

• Bridging Enterprise and Consumer at LinkedIn: Aarathi shares her "outside-in" transition to LinkedIn, where she broke unit tests in her first week to earn her "engineering cred" and spearheaded the massive "NRJ" (New Recruiter Jobs) transformation.

• VP by Day, Delivery Driver by Night: To truly understand the "supply side" of Uber, Aarathi signed up as a delivery driver during her interview process. She recounts the hilarious and eye-opening experience of delivering food to a gated community in the dark to stress-test the app she now leads.

• Product Innovation for Safety: A deep dive into Uber's "Women's Preferences" feature, discussing the technical and ethical complexities of matching female riders with female drivers to provide choice and safety.

• The Next Generation: Inspired by her mother—a "rocket scientist" in India—Aarathi discusses her commitment to mentorship, her role as executive sponsor for Women in Tech, and her advice for young women facing imposter syndrome.

This episode is a masterclass for any leader looking to balance technical rigor with a human-centric approach to building products.  Jump into the full episode and join the conversation.

In this special HumanizeHer live episode from SXSW, we dive deep into the lived experiences and bold voices of two remarkable women reshaping the landscape of sport, identity, and advocacy: Lizzi Smith, Paralympic swimmer and 3x medalist, and Erin Crownover, PhD candidate and Voice In Sport Foundation researcher.

From the loneliness that often accompanies the pursuit of excellence to the sisterhood they found in each other, Lizzi and Erin open up about what it truly means to belong—both in and beyond the game. Lizzi shares the emotional journey of growing up with a disability in competitive swimming and what she wishes someone had told her as a young girl not seeing herself reflected in her sport. Erin takes us through her passion for sports history, the evolving portrayal of women athletes in media, and how her PhD work is reframing narratives around beauty, ability, and what sells in women's sports.

Together, they unpack the pressure to "hack the system" for visibility, the critical role of mentorship through Voice in Sport, and how brand partnerships can become vehicles for social change when wielded authentically.

✨ Topics we cover:

• Finding power in vulnerability: redefining what it means to be a woman athlete
  
  

• Representation in Paralympics and the reality behind media exposure
  
  

• What we still get wrong about disability in sport—and how to fix it
  
  

• Navigating identity beyond performance
  
  

• The message Lizzi wants every mom of a child with a disability to hear
  
  

• Why Erin believes the real revolution in women's sports is still ahead
  
  

• The loneliness of ambition—and how friendship makes the journey bearable
  
  

This is a conversation about fire, fatigue, friendship, and fierce advocacy. If you've ever felt unseen, unheard, or underestimated, this one's for you.

🎧 Tune in. Be moved. HumanizeHer.

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

In this special HumanizeHer live episode from SXSW, 🎙️ we sat down with Oscar-nominated director Cindy Lee & actor Avumile Qongqo to chat about their powerful film, "The Last Ranger." by Kindred Films

This intimate conversation, held within the bustling energy of the SXSW Expo Hall, provided a unique opportunity to delve into the heart of the film's creation and its profound message.   

Cindy and Avumile shared insights into the deeply personal nature of "The Last Ranger," a film that tackles the urgent issue of rhino poaching in South Africa. They discussed the importance of authentic storytelling, highlighting women rangers. The discussion explored the universality of the film's themes, particularly motherhood and the fight for survival, resonating with a global audience.

The interview also touched upon the challenges and triumphs of filmmaking in South Africa that Cindy Lee is trying to bring awareness to. Avumile shared her experience preparing for her role, emphasizing the emotional and physical demands of portraying a ranger. Both discussed the unique experience of working with child actress Liyabona Mroqoza, who also made a special appearance during the live recording.

Cindy's perspective as a woman director was a significant focus, with both guests addressing the importance of female representation on set. The conversation highlighted the need to move beyond simply acknowledging "woman directors" and towards a space where gender is not a defining factor.

Throughout the interview, Cindy and Avumile emphasized the film's impact on rhino conservation and their commitment to representing African culture with authenticity. 

This live HumanizeHer interview at SXSW was more than just a discussion about a film; it was a celebration of resilience, creative passion, and the power of storytelling to inspire change. It provided a platform to humanize the filmmaking process and amplify the voices of women making a difference in the world

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

Join us in this deeply insightful and vulnerable conversation with Erica Lockheimer, CEO and Founder of the HumanizeHer podcast and ex-VP of Engineering at LinkedIn. Erica opens up about her remarkable career journey from being the first person in her family to graduate from college from San Jose State University to sharing the highs, lows, and pivotal moments that shaped her path. From navigating the complexities of the tech industry from the early Dot-com days, mobile era to championing diversity and inclusion, Erica's story is one of resilience, leadership, and the power of authenticity. Discover the challenges she overcame, the lessons she learned, and the advice she has for aspiring leaders, especially Women in Tech. Erica's candid sharing of her experiences will inspire you to embrace your own vulnerability and pursue your passions with courage. Whether you're a seasoned professional, a budding entrepreneur, or simply someone looking for inspiration, this interview is a must-watch. Tune in and be empowered by Erica Lockheimer's incredible journey.

In this insightful episode of The HumanizeHer Podcast, get ready to be inspired! We have a true force of nature joining us today: Aishwarya Srinivasan! Currently she heads Developer Relations and Growth at Fireworks AI.   She was previously at Microsoft as a Senior AI Advisor to help Y Combinator startups build machine learning solutions leveraging Microsoft's core OpenAI products. Prior to this, Aishwarya was working as a Data Scientist in Google Cloud and an AI & ML Innovation Leader at IBM. She's a Columbia Data Science post-grad, and an advocate for open-source technologies and is a contributor to Deepchecks, Lightning AI and Scikit Learn

Her accolades? Trailblazer of the Year by Women in AI and a Woman of Influence by the Business Journal, both in 2022! She received the EB1A Green Card for her AI contributions, has been spotlighted as a LinkedIn Top Voice for Data Science and AI and has over a half a million LinkedIn followers.

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

In this insightful episode of The HumanizeHer Podcast, we're diving deep into the world of company culture and talent with a true leader in the field - Linda Aiello

Linda is the Chief People Officer at DraftKings, where she leads all aspects of the employee experience for the online sports entertainment and gaming giant. She's responsible for finding and growing top talent, developing future leaders, and fostering a diverse and inclusive workplace – which is a crucial element for any successful company.

Linda has an incredible track record of success in the HR world. She's held CPO roles at major companies like Qurate Retail Group and Stitch Fix, and spent years leading employee success initiatives at Salesforce, Uber and Louis Vuitton.  She's also been recognized as a top HR professional by the National Diversity Council.  We'll also hear about her personal journey and how she's overcome adversity to achieve incredible success.

Join the conversation with host, Erica Lockheimer and co-host Elizabeth Wendorf-Bloesser. as we dive into Linda's insights on building winning teams and creating a thriving company culture. 

Pam Kostka, a seasoned executive with nearly 30 years of experience driving growth at enterprise startups and building successful companies. Pam's career spans across various leadership roles, including CEO, CMO, and currently sits on multiple boards, is an advisor and executive in residence.  

As an executive-in-Residence at Magnify Ventures, Pam is focused on the "care economy" – a sector that's revolutionizing how we support families, care for aging populations, and manage our households. 

Prior to Magnify, Pam was the CEO of All Raise, a non-profit dedicated to increasing the representation of women in venture capital.They've supported thousands of female and non-binary founders and funders, and significantly increased the number of women checkwriters in venture capital.

Please join us as we dive into Pam's insights and learnings from scaling multiple startups all through her vision for a more equitable and inclusive ecosystem.

Amy Wong, founder of Always On Purpose is an executive leadership coach, author, and keynote speaker who has worked with some of the most influential organizations and individuals, including Salesforce, PWC, Berkshire Hathaway, LinkedIn, and universities like Stanford and Berkeley.

Amy draws upon a diverse range of disciplines and practices, integrating them into a unique approach that focuses on three key lenses: Self, Relationships, and Results. Her book, "Living On Purpose," was honored with the 2022 Book of the Year award by The Magic Pen.

Get ready to gain valuable insights and practical tools that can enhance both your professional and personal life.

And bonus, Hosts Erica Lockheimer and Elizabeth Wendorf-Bloesser both have had the privilege of experiencing Amy's transformative workshops firsthand, and witnessed the profound impact of her work.  This episode feels like a live workshop session you will not want to miss. 

https://www.linkedin.com/in/amyelizawong/

https://www.alwaysonpurpose.com/

#AmyWong #AlwaysOnPurpose #LivingOnPurpose #Leadership #KeyNoteSpeaker #workshop

In this insightful episode of The HumanizeHer Podcast, wheels are a girl's best friend, right?  We're sitting down with Adriana Boas, one of Bentley's award-winning sales liaisons - but she didn't start out in the sales industry.  Adriana was born in Brazil with degrees in journalism and holistic medicine, and when she migrated to the US, she gets real about going from food stamps to a six-figure commission-based gig.

She's earned multiple awards under Bentley's prestigious, banner and notably holds this distinction of being the only female to receive a perfect score on Aston Martin's rigorous test about cars. With her, charming accent in three languages, Adriana's success is as undeniable as her magnetic personality. 

www.instagram.com/highheels_and_wheels/

https://www.losgatosluxcars.com/

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

Is the way we work working?  In this episode, we're sitting down with Stacey Gordon, MBA who is a leader in the diversity, equity, and inclusion space - or as she prefers to describe DEI:  the Disrupt, Evolve, and Innovate space.  She shares her first-hand experience of witnessing bias which led her to becoming the Founder and CEO of Rework Work - a company that does DEI differently on their mission to reduce bias in global talent acquisition and management and creating workplace cultures where employees feel they belong.  She touches on the power of mentors and dives into the frameworks she uses to help companies become better at creating an inclusive environment, relearn how to hire with intention, and realize the importance of flexibility in work.

Stacey Gordon

ReworkWork.com

Booking on Being UnBias

Unconscious Inclusion

What does it take to be on the Forbes "100 Most Powerful Women in the World" list?  In this episode, we're sitting down with Padmasree Warrior as she shares her experience of being an executive in technology and her journey of becoming a renowned businesswoman.  Formerly holding roles in the C-suite at Cisco Systems, Motorola, and NIO USA, she took her corporate experience and decided to follow her passion - motivated to find a way to apply data and machine learning to focus on mental wellness.  This led her to her current role as Founder and CEO of Fable, a social and AI discovery platform for content.  She shares her perspective on the commonalities of being in corporate versus leading a start-up - and her approach to leading teams and building trust.  Padma expresses the beauty of not putting yourself in a box and starting a business at a later age by utilizing experience and learnings to your advantage to build something beautiful to share with the world.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/padmasree-warrior-9917a26b

https://fable.co/

Join us for a fantastic and nostalgic conversation with Tanya Staples and Vida Forrest y Salazar, the co-owners and managing partners of Ace Camps Travel! This duo, who first met working together at Lynda.com and navigated the acquisition by LinkedIn, share their incredible journey from corporate executives to entrepreneurs redefining success on their own terms.

Their LinkedIn Backstory: Tanya details her start as a technical writer in the mid-'90s, transitioning to product management, and eventually becoming a key leader at Lynda.com who helped pioneer the revolutionary concept of video subscription learning. Vida shares how she transitioned her decade-long passion for higher education into a powerful role at LinkedIn, eventually becoming a full-time lead on the external Equity and Opportunity team, focusing on how the platform could drive social change for marginalized groups. Their partnership, forged in the intense environment of the 2015 LinkedIn acquisition, built the deep trust and resilience needed for their next act.

The Pivot to Adventure: The episode is a masterclass in finding fulfillment, covering:

• The Power of the Me Treat: Vida recounts the pivotal moment on a solo ACE Camp trip in Laos where the creative energy and community inspired her to find her new mission.

• The Second Founder Advantage: Tanya discusses semi-retiring from LinkedIn after leading Trust & Safety to defrost, and the unique appeal of taking an established, purpose-driven business (ACE Camps) to its next level.

• The ACE Camps Impact: Discover the organization's ethos, which stands for Adventure, Culture, and Education, focusing on small-group, immersive travel that fosters deep community and creativity, often acting as a catalyst for women to start new businesses.

This is an inspiring look at how strong relationships, vulnerability, and a shared passion for culture can lead to a meaningful, fulfilling second act in life.

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

Have you found your calling?  We're sitting down with Jenny Obiaya, CEO of The Boys & Girls Clubs of the Peninsula, as she shares her story of finding her calling - starting as a teacher through Teach for America, moving into the the role of Principal at a school in Hells Kitchen at the age of 26, and finally finding the perfect fit for her passion of closing the opportunity gap & empowering young people with access to opportunities through her work with BGCP.  She gives a nod to the power of having mentors and people that believe in you to push you out of your comfort zone to help you grow, and embraces the notion of Billie Jean King's perspective that "pressure is a privilege" as her driving force for continuing to give back to the community and influencing the future of our youth.

www.bgcp.org

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenny-obiaya-446b8624/

In this episode, we're sitting down with Caroline Ghantous, a Middle Eastern watercolor artist who is creating a movement of her own through her art.  Her paintings are a celebration of women who are activists, feminists, and who are making a difference in different societies and cultures - aiming to give a voice to the voiceless with her unique mixed media artistic style.  Caroline is now a part of the HumanizeHer family and movement with us, and we are proud to showcase her work as a staple in the HumanizeHer podcast studio.

Instagram

Where to buy her art and support her

In this insightful episode of The HumanizeHer Podcast, how do you live your life with purpose?  We're sitting down with Jennifer Dulski, CEO & Founder of Rising Team and executive leader with experience at tech giants like Facebook, Google, and Yahoo and former President & COO of change.org.  Jennifer shares the stories that led her to the formula of how to start a movement, build teams with connection, and do so in a purposeful way.  She talks about her life hardships, her journey of being a start-up founder (multiple times!) and her successful current startup, Rising Team.

Jennifer Dulski

www.RisingTeam.com

Purposeful

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

Let's get bossy for a moment!!  We're sitting down with Merline Saintil, angel investor and co-founder of Black Women on Boards (among many other badass titles), who shares her journey towards becoming a highly sought after board member and loves investing in other women - like Aishetu Fatima Dozie, who joins our conversation talking all about her transition from being a Wall Street wonder woman to founding her own cosmetics company called Bossy Cosmetics - electrifying women to live their best lives by empowering them to look, feel, and do good.

Aishetu Fatima

www.BossyBeauty.com

Bossy Cosmetics on Instagram

Merline Saintil

Lift As We Climb

Welcome to the HumanizeHer Podcast - where we celebrate and elevate women's voices and share their stories.  We are on a mission to cultivate a world where every woman thrives, shattering glass ceilings and redefining success on her own terms.  We're so grateful to have you as a listener and member of our community!!  🤩💫

Join us for the inspiring and deeply personal story of Xitlali Curincita, a first-generation college graduate, current UC Irvine graduate student, and former 2022 Youth of the Year award winner from the Boys & Girls Club of the Peninsula. Raised in North Fair Oaks, she shares what it felt like growing up between cultures and often navigating spaces where she didn't fully feel she belonged.

From first grade, the Boys & Girls Club and the Redwood City Public Library became her second homes. Through Project Read, she learned to read, write, and learned how to smile and feel loved in spaces where she once felt guarded and alone. She talks openly about growing up with caregivers, missing her mom while she worked, and slowly understanding that "mom means sacrifice," especially as she learned more about her parents' journey coming to the United States to build a better life for their family.

In high school, Future Grads and College Track helped her navigate culture shock, questions of identity as a Mexican American, and imposter syndrome. With their support, she took her first community college class. Eventually earning enough credits to enter UC Irvine as a junior, serve as student government president at Cañada College, and graduate debt-free with a degree in social policy and a minor in education.

This episode highlights the transformative power of youth programs, which provide crucial academic support and a safe community for our youth via after school programs and college preparation guidance. 

Xitlali reflects on writing her Youth of the Year speech as a love letter to Redwood City, advocating and mentoring the next generation of Youth of the Year candidates, and honoring the women who lifted her. This conversation is a powerful look at turning pain into purpose, finding home between cultures, and using education to open doors for everyone coming after you. 

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

Join us for a candid conversation with Anu Muralidharan, COO of Expensify, as she shares the deeply personal story of the intense drive and competitive pressure she inherited from her late mother, who taught her that "being second was unacceptable." Anu opens up about how this drive led to debilitating stress and "scarcity thinking," culminating in a rock-bottom moment where she risked it all with the "Seinfeld experiment," quitting her role for an unstructured position at Expensify.

Expensify is the financial software company behind the payments and expense management platform that automatically handles billions of dollars in reimbursements and business expenses.

With a rigorous technical foundation—an engineering degree from the elite BITS Pilani and an MBA from Cornell University—Anu had the credentials, but she was vulnerable with us and shared that she felt stressed and completely unmotivated at the midpoint in her career.  Anu details how working with a career coach helped her navigate this pressure and find her "true north" by shifting her focus from obsessing about the end result to the quality of the input. This new approach paved the way for her to build Expensify's ops and payments infrastructure, lead the company's IPO, and now direct go-to-market strategy while leveraging AI to drive data-led growth.

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

In this insightful conversation with Cynthia Teniente-Matson, President of San José State University (SJSU), shares her journey from being a first-generation college student and CFO to leading the oldest public university on the West Coast.

She explains how SJSU, often called "Silicon Valley's Public University," is now at the forefront of the AI revolution. Learn about the groundbreaking partnerships with tech giants like Nvidia and Adobe that provide students with essential AI learning labs and digital literacy tools, ensuring every graduate is prepared not just for current generative AI tools, but for the "convergence of technologies" like AI and human-robotic connections, ensuring graduates have the skills needed in the next 5, 10, and 15 years.

SJSU was founded in 1857 as the California State Normal School. This makes it the oldest public higher education institution on the West Coast and the founding campus of the entire California State University (CSU) system. In this sense, it was an "original" endeavor—a first in the region for public education.

Anchor of Silicon Valley: Located in the heart of downtown San José, SJSU is the public university physically embedded in the capital of global innovation. The "startup" metaphor connects the university's historical capacity for adaptation and innovation (constantly evolving its programs since 1857) with the relentless, disruptive, and entrepreneurial spirit of Silicon Valley today. 

This episode highlights SJSU's success as a federally designated Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) and AANAPISI, serving a profoundly diverse student body. Cynthia reveals the strategic shift to a pipeline-to-a-job model that has resulted in SJSU being ranked the #4 Public University in the Nation by The Wall Street Journal. This is a masterclass in leadership, strategic organizational transformation, and driving equitable change for the next generation of technical leaders.

Join the conversation with host, Erica Lockheimer and co-host, Elizabeth Wendorf-Bloesser for a dose of inspiration.

Join us for a deeply informative conversation with Joanna Strober, Founder and CEO of Midi Health, the pioneering telehealth platform transforming women's midlife health.

Joanna clarifies the hormonal chaos of perimenopause (which often starts in your 30s) and the shocking truth behind the decades of fear surrounding Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT). She reveals data showing estrogen alone may actually reduce breast cancer risk and improve bone/brain health.

We dive into how Midi Health delivers rapid, personalized care from expert Nurse Practitioners, often covered by insurance. Joanna details their focus on comprehensive women's health (sleep, anxiety, weight, and sexual health) and their groundbreaking at-home blood test for truly proactive, personalized medicine. Hear her story of leveraging multiple career pivots to found her "fourth baby" and close a crucial gap in healthcare.

Join us for a lively conversation with Cherie Brooke Luo and Jean Luo, the Tiger Sisters! This dynamic sister duo, both successful tech product managers from LinkedIn and Snapchat, made a radical pivot to earn their MBAs from Harvard Business School and Stanford GSB to then become full-time content creators and entrepreneurs.

They pull back the curtain on how they built their brand and business in just over a year, achieving phenomenal success by hitting #1 Business Podcast and Top 3 U.S. Podcasts overall on Spotify! This episode is a masterclass in modern entrepreneurship and personal reinvention, featuring insights on:

🔀 The Power of the Pivot: How they moved from a reality TV show concept to launching their podcast and a physical product, Sisters Matcha.

📸 Startup Mentality in Media: Applying their product management skills (hypothesis testing, fast iteration, and ruthless optimization) to grow their content rapidly.

👩‍💼 The Flow State of Entrepreneurship: The satisfying reality of moving faster and seeing direct impact compared to the corporate world.

💰 Building Community and Commerce: How they created a highly engaged, supportive audience that helped them launch their sold-out matcha brand.

👯‍♀️ Sister Dynamics in Business: The hilarious and honest reality of living and working together—from figuring out who's better at editing to switching from messy text threads to organized Slack channels.

The Tiger Sisters' story proves that being intentional, adaptable, and focused on genuine value is the ultimate growth strategy. Join the conversation with host, Erica Lockheimer and co-host, Elizabeth Wendorf-Bloesser for a dose of inspiration.

💡 "I play in the spaces where tech, storytelling, and entertainment intersect." Author–filmmaker Abigail Hing Wen joins us to talk about her newest universe, The Vale—a novel with a short-film prequel and a companion Roblox experience about a boy navigating an AI-driven virtual fantasy world. We dig into how she builds story worlds with real AI literacy behind them, drawing on years as an AI tech exec and as the Director & former host of Intel's AI Podcast, plus her work on fairness, transparency & accountability in AI policy. Abigail also opens up about the decade before her "yes," the four "buried" novels that taught her craft, and how that persistence led to the breakout book-to-film journey from Loveboat, Taipei to the Netflix movie Love in Taipei.  Website: 

In this episode

🎭 The making of The Vale — novel → short film → Roblox world

🤖 Using AI thoughtfully in creative work — what helps, what harms, and what's hype

 🧗‍♀️ Law → tech → author/director — embracing the "jungle gym" career

🎬 Book-to-film realities — what authors actually control

⭐ How fans truly help — preorders + ratings (Amazon/Goodreads/IMDb/Rotten Tomatoes) The Vale is in the home stretch and every order around the country before September 20 is critical!

Please support your local booksellers and spread word! NOTES: sales transactions must CLOSE to count.

Indie Bookstores: (preferred) Bookshop.org (preferred) Barnes and Noble  Amazon

CTA: ✨ If this conversation resonates, preorder The Vale, watch Love in Taipei on Netflix, and drop a quick rating/review—those signals make a huge difference. 🙏

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

In this episode, we get to celebrate a massive milestone with Jody Mettler, the Chief Operating Officer of BitGo and their President of the Trust Company.

As BitGo rings the bell on its recent IPO, Jody shares her journey from a 20-year career at Citi to leading the "backbone" of the digital asset industry. This episode serves as both a high-level masterclass in crypto infrastructure and a personal story of how traditional banking expertise is shaping the future of decentralized finance.

Inside the Episode:

• Ultimate Career Pivot: Jody reflects on her transition from corporate accounting and digital transformation at Citi to the world of crypto. She shares the story of how a LinkedIn message led her to become the COO of one of the most respected tech companies in the crypto space.

• Bitcoin 101: Jody breaks down the digital asset world for beginners, explaining the difference between Bitcoin ("Digital Gold"), speculative alt-coins, and stablecoins (1:1 backed by fiat).

• "Backbone" of Crypto: Learn about BitGo's role as the institutional infrastructure that powers many of the exchanges we use today. Jody explains the "multisig" security and physical vaults that protect billions of dollars in assets.

• Reality of Going Public: Jody recounts the adrenaline-filled experience of BitGo's IPO - a first for her - and the rigor required to move a digital asset company into the traditional public market.

• Pioneering Regulation: A look at BitGo's achievement of a federal OCC Charter and how the company navigates global regulations in Germany, Dubai, Singapore (and more!) to meet clients where they are.

• Power of Sponsorship: Erica shares a full-circle moment with BitGo CEO Mike Belshe, who was her boss in her 20s. Discover how his early support of Erica's career led BitGo to become the inaugural sponsor of the HumanizeHer Podcast.

Jody concludes with a heartfelt "pay-it-forward" to Karen Young, the mentor who changed her life, reminding us that even in high-tech finance, relationships and trust are the true currency.

Listen in and join the conversation with host, Erica Lockheimer and co-host, Elizabeth Wendorf-Bloesser.