Finalists

Agnes Moss is the Founder and President of National Black Movie Association, a nonprofit organization championing Black films, advocating for diversity and inclusion in the film industry and promoting equity in film education.

In her current role, Ms. Moss promotes community efforts to empower Black visual storytellers and designs public awareness campaigns to recognize the global impact of Black films and culture. In February 2020, Ms. Moss launched the first annual National Black Movie Day to acknowledge and celebrate over 100 years of Black achievements in the film industry. To date, the National Black Movie Association has awarded scholarships and awards to aspiring Black filmmakers attending Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Black filmmakers and community organizations supporting Black films.

Ms. Moss has an extensive background in television, public relations, journalism and film that spans over 20 years. Before establishing the National Black Movie Association, Agnes’s passion was producing television programs, short films and online segments for multicultural audiences. Her personal mission has always been to empower Black audiences with positive on-screen stories of culture and prominent community figures. She believes it’s empowering for Black youth to see themselves and their stories on screen. Ms. Moss is a proud graduate of North Carolina Central University and holds a Master of Science Degree in Education Administration from Trinity University in Washington, DC.

Alejandra “Alex” Argudin was born in a modest neighborhood in Miami and raised in a bi-ethnic household (Hispanic-Chinese). After her father passed away early in her life, her mother worked several jobs to support the family. She worked at a summer job in the City of Miami, where she developed a passion for public service and giving back to society’s neediest.

She earned her bachelor’s and master’s degree in Business Administration while working full-time. After holding several positions across various disciplines in the City of Miami administration and gaining a reputation as a hard-working, all-hands-on-deck staff member, she went to work for Miami Parking Authority (MPA). At MPA, she was promoted to several key positions until, in March of 2020, Alex became the first woman and a Latina to hold the CEO position in more than six decades.

She took the reins of MPA just a few days shy of the unraveling Covid-19 pandemic. The toll of the pandemic renewed her spirit of service, and as she frequently points out: “we, in public service, have a mission to accomplish but also a duty to serve our customers, businesses, and society in general.”

Under her leadership, the Authority implemented several initiatives to mitigate the economic impact of the pandemic in the Miami neighborhoods. Those initiatives have given back close to three million dollars of in-kind on-street parking to restaurants and customers.

She has inspired, hired, and promoted qualified women to a wide range of positions within the Authority throughout her career. A top-notch professional, Alex strives to embed equity and inclusion initiatives in the organization’s culture. She feels that it is imperative to reflect on those who we serve and see through the eyes of the people who know and understand the essence and character of each culture and heritage.

Alex is leading public-private partnerships that will deliver affordable and workforce housing to the Miami urban core. She remains committed to enhancing mobility by diligently piloting, testing, and deploying a suite of tools to foster a new era of economic development, quality of life, and social prosperity in the Miami community.

Amanda Williams, also known as “Amanda The Traveling Realtor” is in the Top 1% of eXp Realty brokers and influencers, and also owns a Short-Term & Mid-Term Rental business in Raleigh, NC. She is now purchasing properties world wide, starting with an overwater bungalow in BELIZE and a residency at sea on a new ship being built that will travel around the world for 3 years straight!

Amanda is currently living in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico building a large “tribe” of agents world wide that she helps create multiple streams of income, focusing on passive income.

She enjoys helping other women learn to invest in real estate while designing a life of Joy, FUN, and Success. You can find her on stages around the world teaching her Mid-Term Rental concepts or just inspiring people to Live Life Now!

Amanda’s goal is to inspire 10,000 Realtors to live a passive income lifestyle and travel the world.

My name is Amina AITai (pronounced AH-MIN-UH) and I’m a holistic leadership and mindset coach, proud immigrant and chronic illness advocate. My mission is to help 1 million under-represented leaders find their purpose and live and lead from it every day because when we do we have the power to drive change, shift culture and uplift economies. A leading coach to notable female leaders and impact-driven celebrities—my mastery is in connecting us to our brilliance and teaching us to share from it each day. As a woman of color of Iraqi descent, I often work with marginalized communities to help them realize possibilities in a way that honors their particular lived experiences. I’m known for my work around Aligned Leadership and supporting clients in pivoting from Role Models to Whole Models (TM).

As a graduate of NYU with a degree in communications and economics, I started my career with luxury brands and worked for companies such as Cartier, Dolce & Gabbana and Vera Wang before co-founding a marketing agency to support emerging female entrepreneurs. I then went on to lead marketing for two wellness companies-Spafinder Wellness and Bliss. After spending a decade grappling with a fast-paced career in marketing and two autoimmune diseases, I hit burnout. In hopes of healing my own life, I sought training in coaching, nutrition, fitness and mindfulness and my goal became to teach others how to balance a thriving career, body and mind—and so my coaching practice was born. I take a holistic approach to coaching, examining any blocks in the mindset, in our bodies, and in how we lead.

In addition to my business, I led Social Impact Empowerment Coaching with Inspire Justice where I trained celebrities and media executives on how to lead more equitably. I am also a Founding Guide for Chief, the largest and most prestigious women’s leadership network in the country.

For my corporate work, I have partnered with progressive companies such as Deloitte, Y&R, Outdoor Voices, NYU and HUGE. I’m an Entrepreneur Magazine expert- in-residence, a Forbes Coaches Council Member and have been a featured expert in Goop, Well+Good, New York Post, Yahoo, NBC, and was named one of Success Magazine’s 125 Leaders Making a Difference.

It is the greatest honor and privilege to do this work. To date, my work has supported thousands of change-makers dropping the hustle and burnout and stepping into alignment and I hope to support thousands more in the years to come.

Amy Forsythe is an award-winning military journalist who has served five combat deployments covering military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. As a U.S. Marine combat correspondent and Navy public affairs officer, her imagery from covering military operations around the world has been featured in numerous international and national media outlets. Her photos and video content continues to be used for historical purposes in documentaries and academic research.

She is involved in supporting various local veteran service organizations and volunteers to mentor the next generation of women in the military and those looking to join the military.

Amy recently released her first book titled ‘Heroes Live Here: A Tribute to Camp Pendleton Marines Since 9/11’ which started as a passion project to showcase the memorials and markers on Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton which has turned into a collaborative work of art honoring our fallen heroes of the post-9/11 generation. Amy was first stationed at Camp Pendleton in 1995 and still has strong ties to the region and surrounding communities.

Her patriotism and passion for sharing the courage it takes to serve in uniform has made her a highly sought out journalist and inspirational speaker. She also serves on the board of several organizations that provide assistance to veterans and their families. She’s traveled to more than 20 countries on assignment and attributes her success to developing a strong sense of resiliency and resourcefulness.

You can always find Amy with a camera in her hand to capture life’s most important moments for those around here. She often shares this saying as a metaphor for surviving life’s ups and downs: “Life is like a camera. Just focus on what’s important, capture the good times, develop from the negatives, and if things don’t work out, just take another shot.”

Anaida is a dental professional who has built an award winning business model and now inspires and motivates other dental professionals, and women entrepreneurs to follow their dreams.

Even though she is only 41 years old, she has gone through a dictatorship, a civil war, three countries and many personal and business challenges.

Her humble beginnings start with her and her husband immigrating to Canada from Albania, 20 years ago, with pocket change and no English. She worked 7 days a week while going to school full time. She started everything from scratch. Her business started with only her, booking appointments in her car until she was able to open her own dental office in 2016. Now she is opening more locations throughout the province with the next one coming as soon as this fall.

Her story has been considered a success story not only by everyone that knows her, but also by a lot of national and international media. She has been featured in many TV and radio shows, magazines, newspapers, online platforms and many more to share her amazing successful journey and her dental expertise. Anaida has been a cover story for many prestigious magazines. She was featured on Forbes in October last year sharing her business tips on how to be successful. She was selected as one of the 10 Most Influential Business Leaders to Follow in 2020 in North America by PrimeView Magazine. She was also chosen as a one of the Most Successful Business Women to Watch in 2020 by Insight Success, as well as a 100 Best Companies in 2020 from Exeleon Magazine. She was selected as 10 Best Performing CEO’s 2020 by The Business Berg. In 2021 she was awarded as one of the Most Influential Female Entrepreneur by Woman Entrepreneur Magazine. Anaida has just been chosen as one of the most influential leaders to know in 2022 for Success 125, in honour of the 125th anniversary of the Success Magazine. Anaida has won many local, national and international awards.

She has been a part of an international book project, The Mind of Female Entrepreneurs by Global Woman. She has been a dental blogger for Huffington Post, Thrive Global and Inside Toronto.

She has founded Mission Kind (Kids In Need of Dentalcare), to help children aged 6-16 obtain much needed dental work at no charge. She does a lot of community work by offering free dental care to immigrant families with low income. Every December our office offers free dental/dental hygiene services to people in need. We have offered free services to 30 people from the Red Door Family Shelter. We had a whole day planned for them, with lunch and a magic show, Santa made an appearance and gave the kids Christmas gifts and much more. We have also offered free services to teenager moms that cannot afford dental services. We had a whole day planned for them and their kids.

Anaida is also a very proud mom of two beautiful kids, Samuel, 18 years old, and Iliana, 7 years old.

Bhavana Bartholf is an award-winning leader and sought-after expert in the field of providing vision and accelerating Digital Transformation for corporations across industries worldwide. Throughout her career, she has served as a customer-focused transformational leader, innovative technologist, STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) advocate, and ally for women and racial/ethnical minorities. She has a proven track record for building high performing organizations with focus on growing female/REM workforce. She is dedicated to driving systemic change to create inclusive work environments.

Bhavana is passionate about inspiring Female Empowerment to address Gender equity and biases. For years, she has been on a mission to understand the impact of inequities, the gender gap, impact by industry and gender stereotypes. She became especially passionate about these challenges during the pandemic as it set women back disproportionately in just its first year, and women lost ground on what incremental progress we have made in the quest for equality. Through her work as an advocate for all women, Bhavana has ignited change across Microsoft, launching the first-ever Advocating for Yourself Initiative—inspiring unprecedented enthusiasm about why self-advocacy is difficult for women and how to find our voices. This same passion later garnered the attention of TEDxWaterStreet, where she was invited as a speaker. On May 4, 2022, Bhavana took the stage to share her first-ever TEDx talk, “The Secret to Self-Advocacy”, sharing her transformative journey and 5-Step framework to unlock the secret to self-advocacy.

I work with over 350 women a year, not just photographing them but unlocking pieces of them they may not know existed. I give them a safe space to spread their wings and step into their own power. Each woman experiences the space differently and most come out on the other side with comments like “I didn’t know this was possible”, “I am so happy this version of me exists” or “I can unapologetically be authentic, and there’s proof in those portraits”. I want every woman to reach inside herself and feel how powerful she is, how much impact she can make on this world, my tool of choice just happens to be a camera.

Carrie Charles is the CEO of Broadstaff – a national staffing firm specializing in technology and telecommunications workforce solutions.

Carrie is a thought leader on workforce development, diversity, women in tech, and is a frequent keynote speaker at national industry conferences. She is a telecom industry influencer and the host of the 5G Talent Talk podcast with a loyal audience of 100k+. The podcast ranks in the top three 5G podcasts globally.

Under Carrie’s leadership, Broadstaff has grown tremendously, reaching new heights and consistently breaking previous records. In 2020 and 2021, Broadstaff placed on Inc. Magazine’s Inc. 5000 — the magazine’s annual feature of America’s fastest growing private companies. In 2019 and 2020, Broadstaff was listed on Tampa Bay Business Journal’s FAST 50 as one of the fastest growing companies in Tampa Bay. Broadstaff exceeded revenue goals in 2021, finishing at $12 million after only 5 years in business. The company is expected to hit 40 million in 2022 with over 500 employees.

Carrie Charles was an honoree for the Tampa Bay Business Journal’s 2019 Businesswoman of the Year, and was named Tampa Bay Business and Wealth Magazine’s CEO of the Year in Tampa Bay 2021.

In addition to her role as CEO of Broadstaff, Carrie sits on the Board of Directors of Cable Runner International, NEDAS Technology Association, and serves as a board member of Women’s Wireless Leadership Forum. As the mother of a childhood cancer survivor, Carrie aligned her personal mission with her role on the Board of Directors of the National Pediatric Cancer Foundation.

Carrie has a diverse background as a lifelong entrepreneur, Certified Financial, Planner, Master Certified Life Coach and a United States Marine Corps veteran. For over 30 years, Carrie has helped thousands of individuals grow personally and professionally. She has helped companies including General Dynamics, Hewlett Packard and Eli Lilly attract, retain, and develop their employees. She has been a featured expert on NBC, HSN, Clear Channel networks, Thrive Global and various tech publications.

Carrie’s experience as a life coach has been instrumental in creating the Broadstaff company culture. The people-first culture includes ongoing training and development, promotions from within, leaders as trained coaches, life design classes, performance coaching, hybrid and flexible work schedule, unlimited PTO, 90% diverse workforce, daily empowerment and inspiration, and an employee engagement strategy that helps in-office and remote employees thrive.

The obstacles Carrie has faced in her personal life drive her to help people break barriers and achieve success in all areas of life – career, relationships, financial, fitness, spirituality and beyond. Carrie knows the value of people, as she has experienced the tragic loss of loved ones – her mother, father, both sisters, stepfather, all grandparents, uncles, cousins…four to suicide. She again came face-to-face with the value of life and people when her son was diagnosed with cancer at the age of 11 – a battle he won. She comes from humble beginnings of her mobile home park, helping her single mother clean houses in order to make ends meet, and dropping out of college in her first year to join the Marine Corps.

Carrie is passionate about helping people see what is possible – no matter the circumstances or past experiences.

Her tenacity as a leader is unmatched, and serves as an inspiration to all she meets. Carrie wholly embodies the verse, “Walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Corinthians 5:7), and lives by the mantra that there is no plan B — failure is not an option, as there is always a way to make it work, and she will find it. Consistently, Carrie thinks big and then thinks bigger, setting aspirational goals and doubling them. For Carrie, taking risks is not only important to personal and professional growth, but it is crucial to success.

Addiction is the universal plague of the 21st century. Everyone knows someone personally or professionally who struggles. 21 million Americans have at least one addiction, yet only 10% receive treatment. Covid-19 kicked addiction into overdrive with 100,000+ drug overdose deaths reported in the U.S in 2021, up 28.5% from 2020 (Center for Disease Control & Prevention).

A woman of influence, Cheryl Brown Merriwether is mitigating addiction in our society, workplace and at home through her leadership role at the International Center for Addiction and Recovery Education™ (ICARE). As CoFounder, Vice President and Executive Director of ICARE, Cheryl directs the administration, operations, and student support services for ICARE’s three divisions, Strategic Sobriety Workforce Solutions™, International Association of Professional Recovery Coaches (IAPRC) and NET Institute. Since 2010, Cheryl has been designing training programs for addiction recovery coaches worldwide. To date, ICARE has trained 1,600+ life and recovery coaches from 39 nations.

Cheryl grew up with an alcoholic parent and watched her brother struggle and die from alcohol-related issues. For two decades, she was married to someone whose untreated behavioral addiction contributed to their divorce and jeopardized the family’s stability and well-being. Throughout that time she had never known anyone recovering from addiction. After graduate school Cheryl met a counselor/mentor. Cheryl stopped trying to fix others and embarked on her own recovery journey from co-dependency. The work she does for ICARE allows her to combine her addiction and recovery-related life experiences, education, training, and professional accomplishments to help others find their way to wholeness, healing, and recovery.

Cheryl is a highly sought-after writer and speaker for industry publications and conferences on topics such as “How to Annihilate Stigma around Workplace Addiction” and “Substance Misuse as a DEI Issue.” Her voice is having a profound impact by increasing awareness and decreasing the stigma surrounding this chronic, progressive disease. Breaking this sickness of silence enables those who struggle to move beyond their fear and shame, have safe conversations and get the help they need to achieve sobriety and live their best lives.

Cheryl is a true servant leader who possesses a genuine love and compassion for helping others. She brings two decades of experience in corporate HR management at AT&T to her pioneering role at ICARE. In 2020 Cheryl was elected the current two term President for the Greater Orlando Society of Human Resource Management (GOSHRM). She is also a former adjunct faculty member at the University of Phoenix and Strayer Universities where she taught undergraduate and graduate courses in management and HR.

Cheryl is a recent Fellow graduate of the Rally Social Enterprise Accelerator 2022 Winter program. The Rally experience provides mentorship, 1:1 coaching and resources to social entrepreneurs looking to create positive social change.

Happily married, Cheryl is a devoted grandmother and powerful mentor and role model to her three children. A strong, confident woman of faith, she has broken many barriers. God is Cheryl’s key Influencer. She begins each day with a devotional and ultimate trust in God with every outcome.

Austin-based Codie Sanchez was earning six figures on Wall Street when she worked for firms like Goldman Sachs, State Street and First Trust. After burning out on the Wall St lifestyle, she quit and decided to pursue serial entrepreneurship and investing by acquiring what she calls “boring businesses”– ordinary, simple businesses like car washes, laundromats, vending machines, etc that have wildly profitable cashflow. The opposite of the tech startups and crypto launches that most millennials are chasing.

By age 35, Codie had built her own $30M portfolio of 25 “boring” businesses that produce eight figures in revenue for her.

Along the way, she documented the journey which led to amassing more than 800K followers on TikTok and 200K on Instagram.

This led to her launching Contrarian Thinking, a newsletter and education platform where she teaches others how to buy companies, invest and achieve financial independence. Contrarian Thinking quickly grew to more than 110K subscribers, outpacing industry leaders like Morning Brew and making it the fastest growing media company in her vertical.

Debbie Biery has always been an entrepreneur – from launching a babysitting business at 8 years old to eventually becoming one of the most successful real estate agents in Bellingham, Washington. She joined eXp Realty as Agent No. 260 in 2014 and has helped build eXp Realty into a real estate tech company with more than 80,000 agents across 21 territories. 

She decided to take a chance on a real estate career in 1999 because she loves being around people and has a passion for architecture and home design. A real estate career also allowed her to spend more time with her son, who she adopted that same year. Real estate was challenging at first, but her mindset was, “I’m either going to swim or swim. Sinking was not an option.” In keeping with that mindset, she became one of the most successful real estate agents in the Bellingham area. 

Debbie joined eXp Realty when there were fewer than 300 agents, and later joined the eXp Realty corporate team as a public relations marketing agent known as the eXp Ambassador. She contributed social media management strategies to eXp World Holdings and helped launch the eXp eXpansion tour with eXp World Holdings Founder, Chairman and CEO Glenn Sanford to empower real estate professionals through “Lunch and Learn” presentations in as many states as possible. She also helped establish the eXp Power Girls group, whose goal is to support women at eXp Realty. 

After spending the last eight years creating extraordinary results for eXp Realty, Debbie is working on a rebranding of her personal coaching business to reach a broader audience. She is also creating a podcast focused on personal empowerment and positive psychology. In addition, Debbie has contributed to nonprofit initiatives that have worked toward healthier citizens, businesses and education systems through the promotion of smart decisions and collaboration for a collective impact of the greater good.

Faith is an author, entrepreneur, animal activist, academic and philanthropist. At four years old, she has accomplished much. She is the self-published author of Superhero Faith, and her second book, Doctor Faith, will be out in Fall 2022. She believes every animal needs love and their forever home and uses social media to spread awareness.

As a philanthropist, she fundraises and spreads awareness to organizations close to her. The Heart and Stroke Foundation, Canadian Cancer Society, and the Jean Augustine Center are some of the many fundraising organizations she and her company Faith and Sparkle’s World contribute.

As an academic, she believes every child has a right to learn how to read, write and understand mathematics. She works diligently with her tutors at Kumon and has won national silver medals for reading and mathematics.

Faith’s love for humanity and her willingness to help heal the world is an example to us all.

Like most success stories, Hollie’s starts with her dealing with a number of challenges starting at a very young age. She grew up one of four children, raised by a single mother in low-income housing in a tiny town called Rush Springs, OK, which as of today, still counts less than 1,500 people as its citizens.

Her father was completely out of the picture, so she and her family relied heavily on clothing provided by The Samaritan House and food and financial support – as much as possible – from the local church since her mother was unemployed and not receiving any child support.

A harmless interaction in first grade sent Hollie on a two-decade journey of doing everything she could to hide from the spotlight as often as possible. As she tells the story, the very first time she had a crush on a boy was in first grade. While playing tag, she remembers thinking; “If I can just get his attention, if I can just get his attention…”

Sure enough, after tagging him, she got his attention. He looked at her and said, “Hollie, why do you wear the same jeans to school every day?” Now, he wasn’t being mean, he was just a curious kid. That day, she remembered feeling mortified because that was the only pair of jeans she had. In her words: “I vowed on that day that I would fly under the radar and lay low, no matter what the situation was”.

In May 2006, she became a mom at the age of 17. While she now looks back at the experience as one of the best things that ever happened to her, it was a scary time as her childhood had already been very challenging and embarrassing. During the several years prior to getting pregnant, she had been a huge troublemaker, living life recklessly and was going down a very destructive path. Being a mom made her realize that she needed to grow up very quickly and transition out of that lifestyle.

In 2010, she got her real estate license and became an agent on Jay Kinder’s home selling team in Lawton, OK. She was excited to be on a successful team that offered her every opportunity to create the life for her and her son that she wasn’t able to experience as a child. What excited her most is that Jay’s huge presence in her market allowed her to continue to hide from anyone she thought could judge her for who she was and where she came from.

Today she acknowledges that her embarrassment at the time held her back and negatively impacted her chances for success early on in her career. Despite her hesitance in growing her brand, the company regularly encouraged Hollie to “get her face” out there so real estate consumers could get to know her and the value she brought to them when buying or selling a home.

Doubtful that she would ever do that, she was, however, excited to hear that the office had purchased a flip video camera for the team members to use to record virtual tours. (Remember, this was back before cell phones had good video cameras). One weekend, she went to a new home construction site and hit record. After some simple editing, she took the video and uploaded it to YouTube. A few days later, she checked comments and noticed the video had over 30,000 views.

Instead of being encouraged and excited, she was scared and nervous. Not only did she delete the video, but also, she deleted her YouTube channel. Her only thought was that she would be getting negative attention. At the same time, she kept asking herself: “Who was watching my video and why would they want to?”.

This experience freaked her out, but it was also the beginning of what has been a stellar career in helping entrepreneurs around the US and Canada establish and build incredible brands for themselves…including herself.

In 2017, she had a revelation that would change the trajectory of her life and the life of thousands of entrepreneurs. You see, Hollie is a huge fan of live music. To capitalize on this passion, she started an online boutique to sell designer concert t-shirts. Realizing that she needed to be different to compete with the Targets and Amazons of the world to sell her shirts, she made the decision to start a blog to connect with a larger audience and create some authority for herself. A regular attendee at the “meet and greets” prior to the concerts, Hollie would often get to ask questions of the artists. After each concert, she would share a review of the event itself as well as the best parts of the interview.

With her audience clamoring for more, Hollie realized she could no longer hide behind her business’ logo. She knew that if she was going to be able to build a business that was going to succeed in today’s video-driven world, she had to stop shying away from the spotlight, embrace who she was and then put herself “out there”. As such, she and a friend started a podcast to do live and recorded interviews of the artists they met while at concerts.

The results she got were so amazing and empowering, she decided she wanted to help others who were just like her – unknown entrepreneurs – that couldn’t and wouldn’t get in front of the camera to build their personal brand. In 2019, she started her Unleash Your Inner Legend podcast. As described on one of the podcast sites, UYIL “…is a podcast with a purpose to inspire entrepreneurs to take action and unleash their inner legend! This podcast features interviews with modern day legends chatting about their choices in life, habits, and routines that got them to live a legendary life”.

In less than 60 episodes, Hollie’s podcast became an internationally charted podcast, regularly consumed by viewers worldwide. As well, the podcast was a springboard to helping establish her as a branding authority. In the last three years, she’s helped more than 1,000 entrepreneurs create and build successful brands and social media strategies to grow their businesses.

Among this large group of satisfied entrepreneurs are a number of eXp agents, including the Honey Badger Group, one of the largest – and fastest growing – revenue share groups within eXp. The group, started and run by Jay Kinder, Albie Stasek and Michael Reese, counts more than 10,000 agents as part of its group and followers on the Honey Badger page on Facebook. Hollie has been an integral part in the growth of, and retention of agents in, the group.

In addition to that, she’s done an amazing job with her own brand, garnering more than 100 million views on GIPHY alone. Plus, she’s a regularly featured contributor on branding and creating authority for Entrepreneur magazine.

Realizing how much she missed out on by hiding from public view, Hollie is on a mission to help those who are just like she was and to stop hiding behind a logo. What drives her even more is an experience she had shortly after her first son was born. Scared and overwhelmed about what the future held, Hollie arrived home with her baby newborn to find baby clothes and diapers on the front porch from complete strangers.

It was from this moment on she realized it was okay to accept help when you needed and even more importantly to pay it forward when you can.

Jenna Kutcher is a born-and-raised Minnesota wife, mother, and entrepreneur who aims for two things daily: helping others wake up to life and staying in comfy pants. Creator and host of the top-rated #1 marketing podcast, The Goal Digger Podcast, she’s helped thousands redefine success and chase bold dreams through her decade-long work as a leading online educator.

In her debut book, How Are You, Really? releasing June 28th, Jenna Kutcher takes everything she’s learned to demystify for readers the steps to take to create their own truly fulfilled lives. It all starts with asking that simple question, and finally getting to an answer.

JoAnn Mitchell, according to statistics should not have accomplished much in life. She was born into poverty and into an abusive environment. Her parents were teen parents and high school drop outs. Despite these and other obstacles, JoAnn knew she could make a difference in the world…and so she did.

JoAnn Mitchell is the Founder and CEO of Mission Achievement and Success (MAS) Charter School in Albuquerque, New Mexico. As a first generation high school graduate and first generation college graduate, JoAnn has overcome significant obstacles and adversity including poverty and a violent household. JoAnn reports that her life was transformed through the power of education, and as a result she now serves as a catalyst for change by providing transformational educational experiences for others. JoAnn has dedicated her life work to serving underserved students and communities through the entrepreneurial experience of creating a charter school model that has not only begun to transform education in New Mexico, but has served to write a different narrative for underserved students and their communities.

JoAnn founded MAS Charter School with the goal of providing equity to underserved students and communities through high quality education designed to prepare first generation students to graduate high school and attend college. JoAnn founded MAS Charter School in 2012, serving at the time, only 100 students in grades 6-7 with a goal of scaling up to serve students in grades 6-12. Today, ten years later, JoAnn’s vision has significantly expanded. MAS Charter School now serves over 2,000 students in grades PreK-12 and is the first charter school is the State of New Mexico to replicate. MAS Charter School now operates two PreK-12 campuses in Albuquerque, NM with a goal to serve over 5,000 students within the next five years.

Under JoAnn’s leadership, MAS Charter School to date has graduated five classes of seniors, sending 100% of their graduates to college or the military. What makes this remarkable is that on average, 50% of the graduating students are first generation high school graduates, and over 90% will be first generation college graduates, yet 100% are graduating high school and heading to college or the military. An uncommon statistic in New Mexico, one of the lowest ranked states in the nation for education.

JoAnn’s school is an “A” rated school in New Mexico, one of only 13% of schools in the State of New Mexico to receive this designation, and one of the only schools in New Mexico to receive this designation while serving an underserved student demographic. MAS Charter School under JoAnn’s leadership has also been recognized by the US World & News Report as one of the top rated New Mexico schools for elementary, middle school, and high school.

People who know JoAnn have often referred to her as a “force of nature.” JoAnn has served as a tireless champion of underserved students and communities. She is working to change not only education, but to change the perspective on what is possible in life, especially when life presents what seems like insurmountable obstacles. JoAnn represents the juxtaposition of being a humble and servant leader, yet a fierce fighter and vocal advocate for underserved children and communities. While her impact might not be known at a larger scale, I hope for her, her students, her families, and her community, that this nomination will change that, and put on display for everyone to see this courageous, iconic woman who has had immeasurable impact on so many lives. She is an inspiration, a motivation, and the clear definition of a Woman of Success who continues to shape our community while empowering those around her to recognize the infinite possibilities available to all of us when we push the limits, follow our dreams, and absolutely refuse to let life’s obstacles prevent us from reaching our highest potential.

Juanita Campbell Rasmus is one of only four women in the country leading a large membership congregation as a senior pastor. Together with her husband Rudy of 37 years she co-pastors the St. John’s United Methodist Church in Downtown Houston. Beginning with 9 existing members in 1992, thousands have joined the St. John’s family making it one of the most culturally diverse congregations in the country.

Additionally, Juanita is a Transformational Coach, Author and Speaker. Juanita’s work is in providing essential resources for every person seeking to navigate life in contemporary culture: whether that’s a diagnosis, disaster, divorce, dis-ease, life disruption, or the great “resignation.” She travels, speaking on spirituality and the transformational lessons she’s learned. Juanita’s memoir chronicling her dark night of the soul, LEARNING TO BE: Finding Your Center After the Bottom Falls Out, was published in 2020. She also authored Forty Days on Being a One (Enneagram Daily Reflections) published in May of 2021.

One in five Americans experience mental illness each year. After years of being weighed down by people pleasing, perfectionism, and a performance addiction Juanita experienced what she describes in her book as “The Crash”. Her major depressive episode became a transformational life experience out of which her expertise was born. Juanita helps audiences create new narratives, transforming their own crisis into invitations to star in a “new adventure,” one of living their most expansive lives now.

She founded the nonprofit Bread of Life, Inc helping to eradicate food insecurity, improve health outcomes, and provide resources to the greater Houston community. She and Rudy also co-founded Temenos C.D.C., which has developed an excess of $60 million dollars of supportive housing in Downtown Houston. Juanita has served on the Board of Directors of Renovaré Inc. and its ministry team founded by author Richard Foster. She has served on the boards of her alma mater Houston Graduate School of Theology and the Rice University Religion and Public Life Program. Juanita is a Senior Fellow of American Leadership Forum Class XXIII and serves as faculty and advisor for The C.G. Jung Center -Mind, Body, Spirit Institute. Juanita is a recent recipient of the Rothko Chapel’s Illumination award, and has been named a Social Book “Houston Treasure”. In February of 2022 she was honored to be named one of Houston’s 50 Most Influential Women of 2020-21.

Prior to all of this work, Juanita worked with her father in the family business selling insurance and retirement plans, having obtained her securities license at age 22.

Karin Volo’s purpose is bringing joy to the workplace. She does this through inspirational speaking and training that help people to reach their full potential. Running an international corporate training company, Evoloshen, where their focus is creating an amazing company cultures, they empower people with great tools that are research based in neuroscience, personal and professional growth, and personal experience. Trust is vital to great relationships and conversations both at work and at home. They teach how to create trust in yourself, in your teams, and in your company which improves life significantly.

The fact that Karin ended up teaching about trust is an irony not lost on her. She was far too trusting earlier in life and paid a huge price for it. She married an abusive professional conman and lost four years of her life in a jail cell because he had used her name on his business dealings. Fortunately, all her charges were eventually dropped, and she was completely exonerated…but only after 1,352 Days (which is the title of her memoir).

That experience was the catalyst for Karin. She knew she was meant to teach what she had learned about staying in a positive frame of mind. She wrote business book called Engage! which opened doors to inspiration speaking and training. She influences people with her global corporate clients by using both her personal and professional experience to touch people’s lives in a profound way, build trust, and inspire them to be the best version of themselves.

Karin Volo (Chief Joy Bringer / CEO of Evoloshen), an expert in engagement, personal and organizational development, and is an international best-selling author. With over 20 years experience working with Fortune 500 companies globally, she has insights on business building, cultural transformation, building trust, purpose, and high performance. Karin loves working with cultural development, employee engagement, leadership training / mentoring, professional inspirational speaking and writing. She is also a Certified C-IQ™ Coach. Karin has been recognized as a global leader and employee engagement expert the last five years on the Engagement 101 list, the Top 30 HR Influencers and the 10 Most Influential Women in HR lists, and recently named on the 2020 & 2021 Top Thought Leaders in Trust list. Evoloshen has been recognized as the Top 10 Organizational Development companies in Europe. Her purpose is bringing joy to the workplace.

Kaylee has purchased over 70 million in multifamily real estate as General partner and principle. She sold over 3 million dollars in residential real estate before transitioning into her current full time syndication role.

Originally from Portland Oregon, She founded the Women Who Invest Wednesday networking group in Dallas,  which is also digital, and a podcast called #1 leading ladies where she interviews kick-ass women who are disrupting their industry and the REAL story of how they got where they are. She is developing technology to help make it easy and convenient for women to learn how to make passive income through apartment investing-the Shevest app.

Kaylee has done home flipping, note buying, active / passive investing in apartments, and sometimes is her own lender as she feels that to be truly confident in giving advice, one should NEVER take advice from someone who has never gone through these things themselves. She is always learning about multifamily business models to get her and her partners the best return on investment.

The entire backbone of what gets Kaylee out of bed every day is her “why”. At a 30,000 foot view, it is to create financial independence and space for those experiencing codependency and toxic relationships which hamper their ability to visualize and then manifest what their amazing reality could be. Her company culture models this why and is “Changing the face of multifamily” to bring more women into the light as powerhouse operators, key principles, and limited partners. We will create 1 billion more female SheVestors and “givers” by 2030

“Never start a business just to make money. Start a business to make a difference.”
–Marie Forleo

That is the mindset that differentiates an ordinary business leader from an extraordinary one. Business leaders, especially CEOs, are undoubtedly the most crucial pillar behind a well-established and successful venture. They relentlessly play a vital role in structuring and making the organization standstill in the competitive market.

Ms. Kiara Streater is redefining the word “leader” via her unmatched entrepreneurial skills and tremendous methods of leading a business venture. Her success story to date immensely inspired us and made us inspired by her. We truly believe. I truly hope that this magnetic Persona will motivate all the budding business leaders out there, She will surely add some extra value to every new endeavor
she is a part of today & the future that lies ahead.

During the economic downturn of 2008, Kris was approached by her childcare provider who was delivering the unfortunate news she was closing. Not wanting to lose the care for her children, Kris sat down with Alison and convinced her she could put a marketing plan together to save her center. Little did Alison know, TLC Academy would not only survive, but enroll 55 kids in the next 11 months. Highly impacted by this personal experience, Kris made a commitment to dedicate the rest of her professional life to improving childcare services worldwide.

Kris took that single success story, a few Dan Kennedy marketing courses & her entrepreneurial drive to create The Daycare Success Hotline. That 800# is known today as the Childcare Success Company. To date, Kris & her Childcare Success Academy have positively influenced the lives of over 310,000 children, 42,000 teachers, and 6,700 Early Childhood Education owners; most who are female business owners. Kris is leading her own staff of 23 towards her BHAG of positively impacting a total of 1 million children!

Kris is the author of five ECE industry-leading books and hosts the Child Care Rockstar Radio podcast. Starting in 2017, with her first episode – “The Beauty of Persistence,” Kris has now produced 123 episodes: interviewing ECE and business leaders such as Les Brown, and most recent guest, Marshall Goldsmith.

The Academy’s guiding principles continue to transform the mindset of childcare owners & leaders. Inspiring teams to start their days in abundance rather than lack. Stressing positivity and building trust while making sure all voices throughout organizations are heard. Kris shows up every day to help childcare owners lead happier, less stressful lives. All while removing the stigma that you can’t and shouldn’t make a great living working with children.

As America’s leading childcare business expert, Kris attracts over 1,300 ECE leaders to her annual Childcare Success Summit. The Summit is the world’s largest conference 100% dedicated to the business of childcare. Kris will welcome Hal Elrod & Lisa Nichols to the stage at the October 2022 Summit in Nashville, TN.

Most recently, Kris captained the Academy and its hundreds of members across the country through the COVID-19 pandemic, which created the next great challenge – staffing shortages. With love, kindness, and integrity (on countless daily heartfelt phone calls & Zooms) those childcare centers were not only able to keep their doors open but thrive during one of the most difficult crises in modern history. The clients Kris has so beautifully influenced have truly proven to the world that childcare is an essential service.

“Before I joined the Academy, I struggled to manage others. I now lead others with confidence. Kris’s Academy changes your mindset and that is what changes a company.” Jody Zabriskie – Owner A-Z Building Blocks, UT

“I love Kris! She has changed my life. After 13 years of feeling like I was never a good enough owner; I’ve finally made it.” – Audrey Pallone – Little Scholars Prep, MI

“I don’t know where I would be in my business and my life without Kris.” – Kim Lannin, Massachusetts Preschool Owner

After facing a childhood in foster care, a difficult divorce, and nearly hitting zero dollars in her bank account, single mom Krista Mashore chose mindset over matter. And despite those difficult early years, Mashore has been in the top 1 percent of real estate agents nationwide for 20 years. She is the author of four best-selling books on digital marketing strategies and has been featured in Forbes, Inman News, The Wall Street Journal and more. With a masters degree in curriculum and instruction, Mashore has also turned her attention to coaching agents nationwide and has been named in the top 1 percent of coaches in 2021. She has paved the way for women who coach in a mainly male dominated industry…pushing through each and every obstacle to make over 40 million dollars in less than four years… to find herself speaking alongside leaders in the industry like Tony Robbins, Russell Brunson, Grant and Elena Cardone, and many more. She can be found among Success 125’s most impactful leaders in 2022.

Through her coaching, teaching, speaking and training, Mashore has revolutionized the way entrepreneurs, agents and professionals market themselves online. Additionally, Mashore created the Teens Lifting Lives charity, which teaches young men and women to embody the entrepreneurial spirit, and contributes to her community by donating to cancer research, the construction of homes for those in need, as well as the Pay it Forward scholarship fund. 

Kristin Wild is the creator of Awareness Therapy, where she helps people with chronic and critical illness find relief from their suffering. She is also the president of BC Mediation & Consulting.  Here she supports people in navigating the many aspects of separation and divorce. In her pursuit of education she has earned a Doctoral Degree in Metaphysical Science and a designation of Registered Professional Counsellor.

On top of her full career, she volunteers her time with a local non-profit organization where she helps woman and children escape and recover from extreme abuse situations. Kristin has overcome a great deal of in her lifetime. She spent eleven years coping with a disease called rheumatoid arthritis. She was told she needed full shoulder, hip, elbow and knee replacements. Medical professionals deemed her situation as hopeless. Even with this dire prognosis she maintained a sunny and positive attitude. She lived in excruciating pain while simultaneously raising two daughters, running a successful company, managing employees, attending full-time schooling, running a household and managing her own real estate investments.

Today, Kristin looks like a completely different person. She found the answers she was searching for and the disease is gone from her body. She no longer needs those joint replacements. Kristin Wild’s care and compassion for others is evident the minute you meet her. She a beacon of light to those who cross her path. Inspires hope in those who feel hopeless. She is powerful yet gentle and loving. A genuine woman of influence.

Laura Hunter is the inventor of magnetic eyeliner. Laura’s magnetic eyeliner and lash system disrupted the lash and
cosmetics markets by making it dramatically easier for people to apply and wear false eyelashes. She founded
LashLiner, Inc in 2018 to bring her patent-pending invention to market, and in June 2019 launched Tori Belle
Cosmetics. She grew the company to $15M in revenue in the first fiscal year (2019) and to over $80M to date. A
lifelong philanthropist and advocate, Laura decided to keep her products out of box stores and sell through Affiliates
to share the profits of her invention with others, providing income for tens of thousands of people during these difficult
times. Today, Tori Belle Cosmetics is expanding globally.

Additional Information
Philanthropy:
$5.75M cash/in-kind donation National Breast Cancer Foundation (NBCF), 2021
$100k donations National Organization for Women’s Safety Awareness (NOWSA)
(NOWSA) Board Member, 2019-present

Awards:
Earnst and Young NW Entrepreneur of the Year 2021/ Top-10 National Finalist
BIG Innovation Entrepreneur of the Year Award Recipient 2021
NBCF Circle of Hope Award Recipient
Business Journal Rising Star, 2020
Barrack Obama President’s Lifetime Volunteer Service Award

I found my purpose/Ikigai very early in life and decided to pursue it. My purpose was to help children become the best versions of themselves. So I acquired a bachelor’s degree in Education from Melbourne’s, Victoria College. In 1991, I came to India on a year-long sabbatical from college and landed up taking a teaching stint at a prestigious heritage school in suburban Mumbai. This experience changed my life and led to the burning question “How can I bring back the joy of childhood for the children in India?”

Thus, I began my journey of disrupting the status quo and bringing about a change in the teaching methodology where children became the focus, not just the marks they scored. In the process, I set up a chain of preschools and K-12 schools and now entering the Edtech Space with an online school called Korroboree online school.

I have been a pioneer of change in the education space and in the process employed many women and let them explore their Ikigai as well.

Silicon Valley entrepreneur and investor Magdalena Yeşil came to the United States from Turkey in 1976 with two suitcases and $43, blind to the challenges she would face as a woman and immigrant in Silicon Valley. Today, she is best known as the first investor and a founding board member of Salesforce, the now-multibillion dollar company that ushered in the era of cloud-based computing.

Magdalena is a founder, entrepreneur and venture capitalist of many of the world’s top technology companies. She is a former general partner at U.S. Venture Partners, where she oversaw investments in more than two dozen early-stage companies. A technology pioneer, Magdalena founded three of the first companies dedicated to commercializing internet access, e-commerce infrastructure and electronic payments. 

Magdalena is also founder of Broadway Angels, a group of female venture capitalists and angel investors. She is currently working on her fourth startup, Informed.IQ, an artificial intelligence-based document analysis and data extraction company serving the financial services industry. Informed automates manual processes used by banks in consumer lending and bank account opening. In addition to Informed, Magdalena serves on the board of directors of Picsart, SoFi, Smartsheet and Zuora. 

She is the author of “Power UP! How Smart Women Win in the New Economy,” a best-selling field guide to succeeding as a woman in the world of technology. Magdalena is also one of the four venture capitalists featured in New York Times bestselling author Julian Guthrie’s recent book, “Alpha Girls,” which is being adapted into a television drama series. Magdalena holds a bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering and management science and a master’s degree in electrical engineering, both from Stanford University. She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area and is an avid sailor and hiker. She has two sons, who are also her professional colleagues. 

Dr. Michelle Braun is a Harvard- and Yale- trained, board-certified neuropsychologist and national leader in the field of brain health and cognitive functioning. She is passionate about empowering individuals to boost brain health and reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s (by up to 80%!) with science-backed strategies. Her work has been featured in national media outlets including PBS, NPR, Fox Morning News, CBS, iHeart Radio, and in her popular blog on brain health in Psychology Today. Her debut book, High-Octane Brain: 5 Science-Based Steps to Sharpen Your Memory and Reduce Your Risk of Alzheimer’s is an Amazon bestseller, and received a starred review from the Library Journal.

In addition to her mission to inspire the public to optimize brain health, Dr. Braun has sought to improve the daily lives of individuals with Alzheimer’s and their family members for nearly two decades. She has dedicated her career to enhancing the clinical care, access to care, and quality of life for individuals with Alzheimer’s, and successfully led a national task force to expand access to care for thousands of individuals receiving Medicare coverage for memory problems. For the past 17 years, she has also served as a member of the Scientific and Advisory Panel of the Wisconsin Alzheimer’s Association, and as an invited speaker for the Alzheimer’s Association and several universities, healthcare organizations, and professional associations. She is a former instructor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, and was elected to the Boards of Directors of the American Academy of Clinical Neuropsychology and the Wisconsin Psychological Association. She recently began a three-year position as a Board Member of the Alzheimer’s Association of Wisconsin, where she will focus on novel strategies to educate the public about reducing the risk of Alzheimer’s. In addition to her clinical work, legislative advocacy, and passion for public education, Dr. Braun’s focus on empowering others is notable in her commitment to supporting the next generation of neuropsychologists as an Examiner for the American Board of Clinical Neuropsychology.

Dr. Braun’s work has been honored with a Practitioner of the Year Award from the Alzheimer’s Association, a 2022 Distinguished Alumni Award from Carroll University, and through selection to the “40 Under 40” class of 2013 by the Milwaukee Business Journal. Dr. Braun’s next aspiration is to scale information about brain health by creating novel products and services that empower the public, especially given that a new case of Alzheimer’s is diagnosed every 3 seconds worldwide and the rate of Alzheimer’s is projected to triple by 2050. Dr. Braun is honored to be considered as a recipient of the inaugural Success Magazine Woman of Influence Award, and to join the ultimate dream team of women leaders who are changing the world.

Ms. Gardner-Ince’s mission is to be “About the Business of America’s Veteran Entrepreneurs – serving those who continue to serve America.” Ms. “G-I” has a unique perspective in that she has never been without a military ID Card. LinkedIn, the world’s largest social media business network, named her one of the “Top Voices” for the Military Veteran Community in 2021. Ms. “G-I” is an inspirational speaker, champion and advocate for Women Veterans and has received numerous awards and recognition for her trailblazing efforts to elevate and enable Women Veteran leaders and entrepreneurs.

Known by most as “G-I,” she is a highly decorated Air Force Veteran and a retired Colonel, having served 20+ years supporting Veterans, military troops, and their families. She is an accomplished executive-level leader with experience spanning customer-centric business operations, training, consulting, strategic partnerships, community engagement, and directing award-winning complex $1Billion profit-loss global operations.

Her current position is as Director of the Women Veteran-Owned Small Business Initiative; she is the architect of the first program of its kind in the federal government. The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) program brings together like-minded female Veteran entrepreneurs to position and enable their success and remove obstacles that often stand in the way in the federal and commercial market. The effort is known in the Veteran and small business community as” VetBizLady.” Before her current position, she was the Director, Center for Verification and Evaluation (CVE), where she transformed the certification process and led it to become only one of three Department of VA organizations ISO-9001 certified at the time. The CVE program is known within the supplier diversity and Veteran small business communities as VetBiz.gov and is the recognized “Gold Standard” for Veteran Small Business certifications.

She holds degrees from Tuskegee University, Tuskegee, Alabama, and Troy State University, Troy, Alabama. She is a Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth Executive Program graduate and John Maxwell, leadership coach/trainer.

Millie Leung is an international award-winning business mentor and bestselling author with more than 10 years of coaching and mentoring experience. She has been invited to speak in 10+ countries and has trained more than 40,000+ entrepreneurs worldwide.

Born in Hong Kong, and having lived in Canada, USA, Singapore, and Taiwan, Millie is a perfect blend of East meets West.

In the year 2011, Millie moved to a new country with her 1-year-old daughter in search of a new life. With no prior business experience, no branding, marketing, or sales skills, Millie started her first business from home with less than US$400.

The beginning was tough. Because of her lack of contacts in the new country, Millie started standing on the streets giving out flyers and knocking on strangers’ doors in hope of building her new business and new dreams. She was rejected by her first 60 potential customers, and she felt defeated and cried herself to sleep many times at night.

But Millie refused to give up. She found a mentor and she threw herself into learning everything she could about building businesses. Within a few years, she was able to turn things around and built her business to 7-figure USD.

Millie is the recipient of the ‘Women Achievers Award Mentor of the Year 2022’, ‘Best Personal Brand Award, Women Empowerment’, and ‘Global Goodwill Ambassador’ for her humanitarian work.

Millie is passionate about giving back. She was a mentor with WEDO where she mentored young promising female students from developing countries. She has also donated and built 3 schools for underprivileged children in developing countries. Her dream is to eventually donate and built 100 schools for underprivileged children around the World.

Her book ‘Mind and Money Makeover’ is an international bestselling book on Amazon.com. Ranked # 2 under the category of ‘Personal Transformation and Spirituality’, ranked # 4 under the category of ‘Personal Success & Spirituality’, and ranked # 5 under the category of ‘Business Mentoring & Coaching’, when launched.

Millie is the creator and host of the Shine to Impact TV YouTube channel and the Shine to Impact Podcast which is available on 18 platforms and has audiences from 20+ countries. She has also been interviewed and featured on dozens of podcasts, YouTube channels, books, and magazines.

When Millie is not speaking on stages, you will find her reading her favorite books, learning new things, traveling the world, or spending time with her two lovely daughters.

On a mission to leave the world a little better than how she found it, Mindy strives to help create a world where inclusion is the norm, where people see possibilities instead of limitations, and where no challenge is too big to overcome.

Driven to build a world that welcomes and includes EVERYONE, Mindy is a powerful leader in disability/ability rights, with specific interests in accessible air travel, universal design, inclusive style and better representation for the disabled community in entertainment.

A popular motivational speaker (giving her first speech at the age of four as the Texas State Poster Child for the Muscular Dystrophy Association!), Mindy’s mission is to show up as an example of positivity, hope, bravery and possibilities, and to help individuals to own their adversity, to stop making excuses, to see their fullest potential and to give them the tools to reach for it.

Mindy’s upcoming book (launching June 7!), “The Truth About Things That Suck” is for anyone who wants a new perspective on adversity when times get tough. The book covers job loss, parenting challenges, love, life, loss and more, and teaches us ALL that the wrong mindset can be far more disabling than what any wheelchair might represent.

Mindy is the Editor-In-Chief of the national Muscular Dystrophy Association’s family of Quest content including the magazine, blog, and podcast. The Quest mission is to empower the neuromuscular disease community – and the broader community of individuals with disabilities – to live their lives to their fullest potential. Engaging thought leaders in conversations that matter and that move the community forward, content is intended to inform, educate, inspire and entertain.

Mindy is also the host of “The Truth About Things That Suck” podcast, guest contributor of “Morning Motivations” on CBS Austin’s “We Are Austin” lifestyle morning show and was recently named an “Austin Woman to Watch” by Austin Woman Magazine.

In the spirit of living a life without limits, despite her significant physical limitations, Mindy has also accomplished:

– Multiple singing appearances on national television
– A CD recorded with George Strait’s musicians accompanying her
– A trip to one of the least wheelchair accessible countries on the planet, spending two weeks there, and visiting three different cities to adopt her daughter…after the government of that country told her that her disability made her unfit.

Mindy’s passion for making the impossible, possible, is contagious…and she’s not finished yet!

Dr. Rhonda G. Reese began her career with the FBI in August 1984 and was promoted through the FBI, serving as Assistant Special Agent in Charge of the New Haven Office overseeing the National Security and Criminal Branches. She was also assigned to FBIHQ-Human Resources Division, maintaining oversight of the Onboarding New Employees Program and Program Manager for the Professional Development Program, where she was responsible for delivering professional development content.

Dr. Reese was the Team Leader of the FBI’s Cross-Cultural Mentoring and Sponsorship Program, which was developed to increase leadership diversity within the FBI through inclusive mentoring and diverse career development networks. She holds certifications as a Career Coach/Youth Mentor Coach.

Dr. Reese retired from the FBI after 34 years of service and is the CEO of the Rhonda M. Glover Group LLC, a coaching, mentoring, training, and development firm. Dr. Reese serves as a mentor to students at her alma mater, Johns Hopkins University, interested in a career in law enforcement or taking on a role in public service. Dr. Reese has taken her law enforcement, coupled with her leadership experience, to impact police departments by creating mentoring programs and conducting leadership and team-building workshops to enhance work performance and community engagement.

She has taken her doctoral dissertation titled Making the Pathway Visible: Black Female Leaders in Federal Law Enforcement Ascending to the Senior Executive Service to prepare and elevate women interested in serving in leadership roles within law enforcement.

Ritu Bhasin, LL.B. MBA, is an award-winning speaker, author, and internationally recognized expert in inclusion, authenticity, leadership development, and empowerment. As the child of immigrants and a Woman of Color, not only is Ritu an expert in these fields based on lived experience, but she’s also a true case study in what happens when you learn to live authentically and harness your inner spark.

Born in Canada to Sikh Pubjabi immigrant parents, Ritu spent most of her childhood as a young Brown girl experiencing social rejection in her predominantly White, homogeneous Toronto suburb. To be “accepted,” she learned that it was safest to push down what made her different, not allowing herself to be sassy and loud, or appear “smart.” Worse, she felt pressure to deny her own unique cultural experiences and references. Ritu carried these deep-seated insecurities and her need to conform into her professional life, where she spent ten years in the legal profession. In her early 30s, despite being highly successful, Ritu realized she spent most of her life pretending to be someone she wasn’t, which was making her deeply unhappy.

After much soul-searching, Ritu decided to commit to living as authentically as possible. She earned an MBA, left her corporate job, launched a DEI consulting firm, and created the Ritu Bhasin brand, a personal empowerment community where others could learn to harness their authenticity and discover the greatness within them.

Since launching her brand, Ritu has presented to hundreds of thousands of people globally, coached over a thousand people, and worked with hundreds of world-renowned organizations – such as Facebook, Salesforce, Google, KPMG, National Geographic, Ferrero Rocher, Boston Consulting Group, McDonald’s, Penguin Random House Canada, Universal Music, Chubb Insurance, Campbell Soup Company, Capital one, and Kirkland & Ellis LLP – teaching corporations how to create more inclusive workplaces and individuals how to live authentically and harness their inner spark.

The first known survivor of former Olympic women’s gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar, Sarah Klein is now a powerhouse difference-maker for survivors of sexual abuse. Klein is a nationally renowned attorney who has made it her life’s work to stop child sexual abuse altogether, and that involves canceling the culture that allows perpetrators and the institutions that enable them to act with impunity. She brings the fight to criminal and civil courts as an attorney, to politics as an advocate for the extension of the statute of limitations for sexual abuse victims, and to the population at large as a speaker and podcast host.

Klein is a civil and trial attorney at Manly, Stewart & Finaldi, the nation’s leading firm representing victims of sexual abuse. The firm has successfully recovered more than $3 billion dollars for its clients through jury verdicts and settlements. Recent and notable cases include USA Gymnastics (Nassar), University of Southern California (Tyndall), University of California Los Angeles (Heaps), and University of Michigan (Anderson.)

She is a fierce advocate for legal, cultural, and political change, actively spearheading the fight to extend the statute of limitations for abuse survivors across all 50 states. She regularly testifies in front of state legislative bodies and was among the small group of key and notable people invited to the Child Victims Act bill signing in New York.

Klein holds a J.D./M.B.A. and is an alumna of Columbia University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Global Entrepreneurship program. She sits on the Board of CHILD USAdvocacy and Yale University’s Sports Equity Lab, pursuing research that can inform policies around safe sporting environments and help fight abuse in all forms, for all athletes.

At the 2018 ESPY Awards, Klein accepted the Arthur Ashe Courage Award on behalf of herself and the hundreds of other survivors who spoke out and testified about Nassar’s abuse. Soon thereafter, Katherine Schwarzenegger profiled Klein in her New York Times Bestseller “The Gift of Forgiveness.” Most recently, Klein appeared alongside her clients in Cheer (Season 2, Ep.5), bringing the topic of sexual abuse to the forefront of the series.

Klein has become a leading voice on sexual abuse and other legal issues on television, radio, and in print media including ESPN, NBC, CBS, ABC, Fox, NPR, The New York Times, The Washington Post, and USA Today. Her most recent op-ed, The Kamila Valieva case shows yet again that the International Olympic Committee is betraying teen athletes, was published by The Guardian during the 2022 Winter Games. Klein has also taken to the Ted Talk stage, receiving a standing ovation for her widely viewed talk “Being Victim 125.”

Klein has delivered over 100 keynotes across the country and is grateful for the opportunity to share her experience and story in the hopes of a better and safer tomorrow. Her weekly podcast, Bar Fights: Taking on Issues that Matter, can be found on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeartMEDIA, Audacy and Stitcher.

The “Women of Influence” award describes women whose influence consistently transforms lives and transcends boundaries. Sheila Lirio Marcelo first accomplished that as founder/CEO of Care.com. As Co-founder and CEO of Proof of Learn, she’s found her next passionate mission, developing a Web3 learning platform with a goal to unlock accessible, high-quality education across the world through blockchain and a learn-to-earn protocol – to ensure that anyone with an internet connection can gain a world-class online education, and direct access to income earning opportunities and employment.

Sheila founded both with a conviction that technology and innovation can address real world social challenges, and that digital marketplaces, whether between caregivers and families on Care.com or students and employers on POL, are powerful platforms for equality and change.

Prior to POL, Sheila was a Venture Partner at New Enterprise Associates (NEA). While at Care.com, the company experienced an over 100% year-over-year growth, went public in 2014, and was sold to IAC in 2020. Today Care.com is the world’s largest online destination for finding/ managing family care, serving more than 35 million people globally.

Sheila was recently recognized with the 2022 Helen G. Drinan Visionary Leader Award from Simmons University, Named a “Top 10 Women Entrepreneurs” by Fortune, Henry Crown Fellow with the Aspen Institute, Young Global Leader of the World Economic Forum, Marshall Memorial Fellowship awardee, and member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

“Sheri has been an instrumental part of my life. Her support and guidance of my personal and professional growth helped mold the man and artist that I am today.” Usher, Entertainer/Philanthropist

I am a Woman of Influence because of my authentic heart to serve others and empower high performers to grow personally and dominate professionally.

My career started as Sr. Director of Marketing for LaFace Records. I helped introduce the world to Usher, TLC, Toni Braxton, and Outkast. During my tenure at LaFace, I rose to the top of my field, yet I was miserable. Sure, I was successful, but something was missing. I couldn’t buy peace, and material possessions didn’t bring me clarity or joy. I concluded I didn’t really have a life beyond my career.

I resigned from my dream job at LaFace Records, at the height of my career, to pursue my mission of finding peace, clarity, and contentment.

This is what inspired me to write my award-winning book, Exponential Living® – Stop Spending 100% of Your Time on 10% of Who You Are (Penguin Random House). It’s the manual for high performers to integrate their personal desires into their life, without detriment to their professional achievement. It has garnered Self Help “Book of the Year” awards, an NAACP Image Award nomination, and is a Porchlight Books Business Bestseller. It has also been translated into Romanian, Vietnamese, and French.

My current company, Exponential Living® empowers high performers to win in life and their career. I speak around the world at companies and conferences, that include JP Morgan Chase, The Coca-Cola Company, NBA, and the Chicago Bears, sharing my message of “Peace is the New Success®”.

I am a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. and serve on the University of Louisville Alumni Board of Directors. My proudest accomplishment is being a wife, mother, and daughter.

Stacy Johnson was in foster care from age two on. She was bounced from home to home 11 times before asking her CPS worker if she could be put in a group home to stop being moved anymore. There, Stacy met a counselor who believed in her, and set Stacy on a course to emancipate out at age 16.

Stacy got emancipated and she became a responsible adult at age 16. Life was not easy. Stacy got a job in the financial industry and did well, earning over $100,000 per year as a single mom.

She made her way to Austin, Texas where, on an online date she described her dream of opening a group home like the one she was in. Her date encouraged her to pursue her dream. He emailed her a book later that night which described the step-by-step process to starting a home (yes, there really is a book like that). By 10:00 a.m. she was on Step 5.

In July 2015, Central Texas Table of Grace opened its doors with a capacity of 13 kids. Stacy’s full story of everything she went through to get the shelter open in just 14 months is full of miracle after miracle. I interviewed her for my podcast, The Determined People Podcast (YouTube Channel) where we discussed the ordeal of getting the home open, and how everything almost fell apart.

Stacy spends her time fundraising and promoting Central Texas Table of Grace because the money she receives from the state isn’t enough to cover their expenses. She launched Grace365 to help kids who have aged out of foster care who aren’t ready to face the world yet. She and her staff teach life-skills classes to aid them in their transition, while providing a safe home for them to live in.

Stacy Johnson is a game-changer in foster care. She has won the Chick-fil A True Inspiration Award, The Round Rock Innovation in Philanthropy Award, she was KXAN’s Woman of the Year, won the Texas Women’s Foundation’s Young Leader Award, and too many others to list.

Born in New York, moved to San Francisco, and eventually rooted and raised in Miami, Florida; while most kids were worried about getting home before the street lights came on, Stormy was questioning if her mother was going to be at home at all! Leaving high school and pregnant by the age of 15, Stormy has defeated all the odds and stereotypes of less fortunate African Americans.

From the moment her eyes open, Stormy is moving in the direction of her goals! Her mission in life is to help women all over the world to become the highest and best version of themselves, by knowing themselves, loving themselves and embracing themselves.

In 2017 she birthed Girl Hold My Hand, Inc, an organization designed to accomplish this goal. She believes that when you know who you authentically are, and you grow in your authenticity, there’s absolutely nothing that you can’t do, and no one that you can’t be. From this belief she coined the word “PHUCK,” an acronym meaning “People Hate You Can Kreate.” “Kreate” with a “K” means “to forge history, evidence, origin for your own good…to lie to yourself.” Based on this principle, Stormy coaches women to get out of their heads and into their hearts, to “kreate” their new reality.

Stormy Wellington has been recognized as the #1 female network marketer in the world and has earned the title of Elite Ambassador with global health and wellness company, Total Life Changes.

Tela Holcomb, a multiple Plutus Award-nominated stock market educator, coach, and fintech founder, has impacted the lives of hundreds of thousands of people through her culturally responsive and witty approach to teaching the stock market.

In 2009, as a single parent and Air Force veteran, Tela started learning how to invest in the stock market. After being fired from her job in 2012, she used the stock market to more than double her retirement account and reach FIRE – financial independence, retired early.

Tela has transformed the lives of thousands through her Trade Your 9 to 5® coaching program where she uses experiential learning to guide burnt out employees on how to generate income in the stock market so they can eliminate debt and ultimately take the leap from a career that doesn’t nourish their soul.

But wait, the grind doesn’t stop there. In 2017, Tela founded Trend Calendar, a fintech app that helps retail traders make better investment decisions by providing them with insights on stock trends that have a high recurrence rate.

Featured in/on media outlets such as Chron’s, Access Daily and Glamour, Tela has also been listed among the “7 Black Millennial Financial Experts to Follow” by Black Enterprise, the #1 Black digital media brand. The list highlights Tela as one of seven financial influencers that educate followers about economic empowerment and financial literacy.

Additionally, Tela is a philanthropist, who’s contributed to 22 students receiving direct scholarships for post secondary schooling; supported a school for girls and boys in Uganda by supplying them with funds for food, supplies and soccer equipment; and donated to activist groups that focus on supporting and empowering Black and Brown communities and attacking white supremacy and systemic racism.

Tricia Daniel is a financial literacy speaker, owner of Sown Financial, founder of the Starting Over Wealth Network, podcast host, corporate financial controller, and MBA with a career of over 24 years in public accounting and corporate finance. Tricia serves as the co-president of the MotherBoard Society Oklahoma City Chapter and treasurer of the board for Dr. Zowee Shanks Ministries.

A single mother, Tricia has financially started over twice after divorce. She has conquered debt three times, from different life events, and has bounced back from her experience as an executive laid off with no savings in the bank. Women all over the country connect with Tricia’s personal financial journey and the feelings of shame, overwhelm, and fear around financial mistakes and setbacks.
Combining her professional financial experience, graduate education, and lessons learned from her financial planner father, Tricia designed financial literacy steps and tools to stand on her own two feet after each life event. However, the shame surrounding her divorce and financial story held her captive, unable to share her knowledge for over ten years.

That all changed in April 2021, when Tricia found herself by her mother’s hospital bed as she lay sedated and on oxygen, her body quickly shutting down. Tricia feared she’d never hear her mother’s voice again, until days later, when a nurse removed the oxygen. Over hours, Tricia’s mom opened her eyes. Her voice shaky and weak, she struggled to speak. In a brief moment, her mother looked over at Tricia with great concern on her face. Then, Tricia clearly heard her mother ask, “Promise?”
“Yes, Mom, I promise,” she responded. Tricia couldn’t say for sure what her mother was asking, but she knew what her mother meant. Her Mom had frequently said, “Someday,” about her dreams because she let fear and shame hold her captive—just as Tricia had done. Someday, her mother said, she was going to write a book. Someday she was going to use her voice. On the Friday evening when she passed, she suddenly no longer had her someday. Her words and voice were gone.
In that “Promise,” Tricia realized she didn’t have someday either and said aloud, “My someday is today.” Tricia decided to stop hiding in the shame of her story and start being ignited by the opportunity to share the financial literacy steps she’d used to overcome financial stress. Now, through speaking, online courses, individual advisory services, podcasts, and in her upcoming book, Tricia walks women through her process to uncover layers of their money identity and design systems of eliminating debt while building financial legacies.

As a mother of an autistic son, Tricia has a deep understanding of the influence every unique voice holds. She inspires women to promise to let go of shame and use their voice as they transform their financial legacy. Knowing we are all women of influence, Tricia Daniel asks every woman in a room to stand and also promise: “My someday is today.”

Twila True, a lifelong member of the Oglala Lakota Sioux Tribe, is a mega-successful female entrepreneur whose businesses total more than one billion dollars. With roots from the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota, the poorest community in the U.S., Twila overcame a challenging family upbringing to become a business mega-force, from investing and incubating, to owning and operating, multi-million dollar companies in entertainment, beauty, fashion, food and real estate. In addition to her businesses, Twila’s charitable ventures include an orphanage assistance foundation in China, and a Native American personal development foundation in the U.S.

Twila is Chief Executive Officer and co-founder of True Family Enterprises, a privately held investment firm developed to create and manage its own companies. With more than 50 companies in the portfolio, several of the core businesses include: TrueLane Homes, a real estate investment firm, which owns and operates more than 300 single family rental homes across the U.S., providing quality affordable rental housing for working class tenants; Twila True Fine Jewelry, based in Newport Beach, California, which offers fine jewelry, bridal, watches, and accessories; and a full-service brand incubator and global retail and ecommerce marketplace for trendsetting indie brands, Twila True Collaborations, which develops, manufactures, and launches the latest trending beauty and consumer products to meet the needs of today.

Twila also co-founded 1500 Sound Academy with Grammy Award winning artist/musician/producers/writers James Fauntleroy (Jay-Z, Beyonce, Sam Smith) and Larrance Dopson (Justin Timberlake, Kanye West), via Volume Ventures, which provides comprehensive music and video production, promotion, publishing, representation, and consultation for established and aspiring recording artists, songwriters, musicians, and videographers. 1500 Sound Academy is based in Inglewood, California, and has a top notch curriculum that has featured the biggest music stars, in which guest lecturers of the academy have included such world-renowned artists as: Kendrick Lamar, Bruno Mars, Sean “Diddy” Combs, Master P, Snoop Dogg, to name a few. For her work in Inglewood, this year, the Inglewood Area Chamber of Commerce, honored Twila with the 2021 “Champions of Change,” award – for courageous women who impact their communities with leadership.

On the philanthropic front, Twila’s deep connections to her heritage led her to create True Sioux Hope Foundation, which provides critical aid and empowers tribal members to act, thus positioning this generation of the Oglala Lakota Sioux Tribe to reach their full human potential; and True Children’s Home, which was inspired while living in Asia, as she was deeply affected by the number of children in orphanages with treatable birth defects including cleft lips, cleft palates, and heart conditions, creating True Children’s Home, where children from orphanages were provided with life changing and saving surgeries and nurturing care in a home environment.