Mary Hampton of Hampton Design & Closets: 5 Things You Can Do To Help Your Living Space Spark More…

Mary Hampton of Hampton Design & Closets: 5 Things You Can Do To Help Your Living Space Spark More Joy

Have an item in every single room that makes you feel good. Think of a picture frame that encompasses a great memory, a blanket that someone special gave you or a handbag displayed in your closet that you worked so hard for.

As a part of my series on the “5 Things You Can Do To Help Your Living Space Spark More Joy”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Mary Hampton.

Mary Hampton is the owner of Scottsdale-based Hampton Design & Closets. Her eye for design and attention to detail has allowed her to transform spaces from bland to glam. Her passion for finding joy in every room truly shows up in every project. Visit myclosetcrush.com for inspiration and to collab.

Thank you so much for joining us in this series! Before we dive in, our readers would love to learn a bit more about you. Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?

My love for homes and home renovations is really what brought me to this specific career path. What better way to impact someone’s life than remodeling their closet? You sure spend a lot of time in it, so you should definitely love it!

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started this career?

The most interesting thing that has happened to me since I started this career is a client called me a few years ago and thanked me for designing a Mudd room for her home. It really was a simple design and not too expensive, but it had hooks for her three kids’ backpacks and a space for their shoes. She said the fact that she doesn’t have to kick backpacks and have a messy house coming home from school every single day, eliminated the chaos and made such a difference in her time with her kids after school! She said it was almost enjoyable!

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

The funniest mistake I’ve made is when I was new to the industry and designing a laundry room/pantry the client wanted built around their stand-alone freezer that opened toward the ceiling. Every time I spoke of the room, I kept designing it with the countertop over the freezer. There were two or three more conversations before the client looked at me and said, “Mary this sounds terrific, but how would we open the freezer?” I was embarrassed, but I said, “Well, get a new freezer.” Moral of the story? Start selling freezers.

What are some of the most interesting or exciting projects you are working on now? How do you think that might help people?

The most exciting project I’m working on now is my own showroom! The showroom will be open early October 2020 and we just can’t wait! It’s fun and new and I’m bringing some rare innovative options to the space. I can’t wait to share it with my clients. I’m also working with some amazing interior designers and their clients. I love designing and branding! It elevates your life, so it’s been so rewarding to do projects that my clients are more excited than I am to complete. I love my work and love bringing new ideas to life in someone’s space. It’s so rewarding to see the end product and my clients so happy with the result.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

“I don’t care what you think of me. I don’t think about you at all.” -CoCo Chanel

This quote often comes off snarky, however I am a firm believer that you need to do you and be who you are regardless of who is watching and what others may or may not think of you!

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?

I sold my first closet for $21,000 and it was a massive project. My first deal! I was so very excited. However, I didn’t even have enough capital to cover the materials of a project that large. I was at lunch with a friend and told him of my new sale, but that I would have to delay in order to secure funding for the project. He gave me the money on the spot that very day.

I’m not sure if in my life I have ever had someone believe in me more than myself at that time! It was a true testament that I was doing the right thing and it was a business that was going to work! I took that loan and did the project and paid him back. To this day, I will never forget two things. That there are people who are rooting for you and that you always have to take opportunities when they arise!

Thank you for that. Here is the main question of our discussion. What are your “5 Things You Can Do To Help Your Living Space Spark More Joy” and why. Please share a story or example for each.

  1. Have a space or spot for everything. If you don’t, toss it!
  2. Have an item in every single room that makes you feel good. Think of a picture frame that encompasses a great memory, a blanket that someone special gave you or a handbag displayed in your closet that you worked so hard for.
  3. Color, color, color!
  4. Make sure you have organizers in your closet pantry and laundry room. A little organization goes a very long way.
  5. Rearrange rooms often and change out just one item occasionally to make the space feel fresh and new.

You are a person of great influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂

Thirty random acts of kindness at least twice a year. I think the most impact we can have in life is helping others with simple kindnesses! There is no greater joy than losing the excuses and helping others!

We are very blessed that some of the biggest names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might see this, especially if we tag them 🙂

I have never felt more love and stronger connection from another human like I have Tony Robbins! He is out to make a HUGE difference! His workshops have allowed me to do more and be more helpful to others.

How can our readers follow you on social media?

Instagram: @Hamptondesignandclosets

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hamptondesignandclosets

Thank you so much for joining us. This was very inspirational!


Mary Hampton of Hampton Design & Closets: 5 Things You Can Do To Help Your Living Space Spark More… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Interior Designer John Barnes of Lamps Plus: 5 Things You Can Do To Help Your Living Space Spark…

Interior Designer John Barnes of Lamps Plus: 5 Things You Can Do To Help Your Living Space Spark More Joy

Add something of your personality or personal interests. It’s your space, after all, so make it your own. Furniture pieces with a memory behind them, framed family pictures, collections of music or art — whatever it is that gives you pleasure and calm, make sure that it’s in the room.

As part of my series on the “5 Things You Can Do To Help Your Living Space Spark More Joy”, I had the pleasure of interviewing John Barnes, Interior Design Expert at Lamps Plus. John has over 15 years of interior design experience working in the home lighting and decor industry. Lamps Plus was founded in 1976 to give consumers a winning combination of service, selection, and value. As the nation’s largest lighting retailer, they carry all the top brands alongside thousands of exclusive and patented designs in lighting, home furnishings, and décor.

Thank you so much for joining us in this series! Before we dive in, our readers would love to learn a bit more about you. Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?

Pure chance! I studied art and film in college, worked in the entertainment industry in LA for a decade, then pivoted to online marketing and design, which I love.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started this career?

The range of personalities you meet are quite interesting. From meeting Mark Cuban at a conference to working with design world stars like Kathy Ireland, sports personalities, bloggers and more. Doing last minute script revisions with Kathy, with dozens of video crew standing around waiting on us, was a great lesson in how to rise to the occasion and be professional.

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

Well, the learning curve in terms of getting a grasp on all the lighting industry and home decor terminology is steeper than you might think. Take a simple conversation about a “regular” light bulb. You can call it an “Edison bulb”, a “standard” bulb, a “medium base” bulb, or all three at once. So there were a number of initial conversations I had with team members where we just talked in circles around each other until we came to an understanding. I think this is pretty common to all industries, and it takes time to understand it and then, even more importantly, time to learn how to communicate it to customers.

What are some of the most interesting or exciting projects you are working on now? How do you think that might help people?

It’s been very gratifying to see the emergence and mass acceptance of LED lighting, a trend that will continue in the years to come. They last a very long time and are so much more energy efficient than regular incandescent designs. That people have come around to them and see the benefits, both from an energy consumption and a design point of view, is really great.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

The job is never done, ever. I once heard the story about how they paint the Golden Gate bridge: they start at one end and by the time they reach the other end it’s time to start all over again. I don’t know if that’s true (seems like it could be?), but it certainly holds true in my work and life experience. Work and life is a constant process of building and revising, and starting over again. Sounds depressing when I say it, but it’s true!

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?

Dennis Swanson, the founder and CEO of Lamps Plus, has certainly helped me get to where I am in this industry. He really sets a great work environment for the company and I admire his mix of hard-headed business sense and creativity, all backed by a steady-as-it-goes personality. I remember him sharing a story about his coming to the corporate headquarters after the big Northridge earthquake in Los Angeles, which was centered near where the corporate offices are. The building was pretty shook up and there was structural damage to part of it. But he took a deep breath, looked around at all the staff pitching in to clean up, and thought, well, things are going to be OK, let’s get back to work. That’s the best lesson from him, in a way, just dig in and work the problem and you will be alright.

Thank you for that. Here is the main question of our discussion. What are your “5 Things You Can Do To Help Your Living Space Spark More Joy” and why. Please share a story or example for each.

Sparking more joy is all about being comfortable where you are. Since everyone is spending more time at home these days, and the “work space” has increasingly shifted to working from home for a great many people, making the home space comfortable is what it’s all about.

The first thing we always want to remind people is that any room should make use of multiple light sources. Most of us only are using one or two sources, and we rely too much on overhead recessed lighting, which is just boring. If you use multiple sources you’ll create dramatic areas of light and dark, which is interesting. It will make any room feel more comfortable and liveable.

The second point is to create a focal point for the living space. Most areas don’t have this, so the natural feeling we get from them is one of anxiety and being uncomfortable. You want a visual point to the room that draws your eye in and lets you know what the room is for — use a sofa to anchor a living room, a desk for a home office, a decorative headboard for a bedroom.

Third is declutter. Personally, I’m not all that good at this, as I have a lot of stuff! You don’t have to go super minimal, but the point is to organize what you have in such a way so that it’s not a point of stress or conflict. Put things away you don’t need or use regularly, add storage space, add a bookshelf — whatever it is you need to do to streamline the visual look of your space.

Then, bring in the outside light. Sunlight and the colors of the outside world are the designer’s secret friend. Open up blinds or add a wall mirror to bring in outside light. You’ll be surprised at the dramatic difference this will make in a room.

And finally, add something of your personality or personal interests. It’s your space, after all, so make it your own. Furniture pieces with a memory behind them, framed family pictures, collections of music or art — whatever it is that gives you pleasure and calm, make sure that it’s in the room.

You are a person of great influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂

I’ve always been a supporter of education and learning for the sheer joy of knowledge and gaining a greater understanding of ourselves. So If we are going to advance this world I think that education is going to be the key and the way we advance. Universal education free for all would be a world changer and a benefit for everyone. And if nothing else, people would be a lot more interesting to chat with!

We are very blessed that some of the biggest names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might see this, especially if we tag them 🙂

Wow, you saved the toughest question for last! Hmmm…well, they would have to be someone you could have a conversation with, meaning that they’d have to be able to hold up their end of the talk. Frankly, I suspect that there are more than a few of the “biggest names” out there who wouldn’t be able to do this. And they know who they are! So maybe…chef and restaurateur Jamie Oliver? I mean, you would at least eat well, I’d hope, and he seems like a good conversationalist. Or, to stick with an Oliver, John Oliver would be fun…remember, no pre-written script! Sports announcer Doris Burke would have some stories to tell. Designer Jonathan Adler is another person I really admire, plus he seems like he’d have a good cocktail suggestion. YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki, author and bookstore owner Ann Patchett…how big a table did you say I could have?

How can our readers follow you on social media?

Instagram: www.instagram.com/lampsplus/

Facebook: www.facebook.com/lampsplus

Thank you so much for joining us. This was very inspirational!


Interior Designer John Barnes of Lamps Plus: 5 Things You Can Do To Help Your Living Space Spark… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Female Disruptors: Artist Niki Woehler On The Three Things You Need To Shake Up Your Industry

One of the biggest contributing catalysts to everything “scary” I’ve jumped into is a video I stumbled across many years ago. I don’t know how I found it, or what made me watch it, but it created a paradigm shift in my mind. Boiled down, the message was, “we all have an expiration date, we just don’t know what it is. If you knew yours was in three years, two days, and seven hours, would you still be doing what you’re doing? Would you still have that job, live in that city, travel the same rate you currently travel, eat the ice cream, spend the same amount of time with the people you love most, etc? If your answer is yes, then keep doing what you’re doing. If the answer is no, then why wait? Take the leap. We never know when our time is up, and wasting a single day doing what you don’t love is a travesty.”

As a part of our series about women who are shaking things up in their industry, I had the pleasure of interviewing Niki Woehler.

Niki Woehler, an Arizona-based artist, who recently opened her first gallery and working art studio in the heart of Old Town Scottsdale. The gallery serves a place for Woehler to create while also displaying her two different types of works: organic, textural canvases and high gloss resins that often resemble stone scattered with minerals. Woehler straddles the line between the corporate and private art worlds. Her large-scale pieces are great visuals and very popular amongst collectors, corporations and interior designers.

Described as modern and abstract, Woehler’s art is filled with lines, layers and textures that invade smooth facades, imbuing surface beauty with depth, character, strength and wisdom. Her unique approach to creating her masterpieces has made her one of the one of the most collectable emerging artists in the West.

Woehler was the presenting artist for the opening of Iconic Haus, a luxury designer showhouse in Paradise Valley featuring beautiful rooms and outdoor spaces created by 19 top marquis design firms. She’s also represented by several galleries throughout the country, and was one of a few select artists invited to show as a “Resident Artist” at the Found:Re Hotel, an upscale boutique hotel dedicated to the visual arts downtown Phoenix.

One of her works, “Silent Partners,” took first place at the Arizona State Fair Fine Art competition and was handpicked from more than 1,100 submissions to be part of a group show titled “Face Off” at the Herberger Theater Gallery. The same piece is currently being turned into a one-of-a-kind rug by David Adler. She has been the featured artist during the Telluride Art Walk October three times in the last four year and successfully showed her art at Art Expo New York, selling out her entire collection of resin works within hours of opening.

To make an appointment to view her work, hire her for commission or learn more about her process, visit nikiwoehler.com.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit more. Can you tell us a bit about your “backstory”? What led you to this particular career path?

I definitely didn’t take the road most traveled to find my path as an artist. In fact, as a kid I didn’t love art and I would try to find ways to skip art class. In retrospect, this was most likely because they wanted me to paint fruit in bowls and I’ve never been one to color inside the lines.

When I was in my mid 20’s a friend and coworker died in a car accident, needlessly…he fell asleep at the wheel. On my way home from his funeral, I looked up to the perfectly blue sky from my little convertible and told Michael (my friend) that he should have been here with us on this beautiful day. Then I heard a little voice whisper in my ear to pull in. I looked over and there was a Michael’s store. Still not sure why, but I pulled in, parked my car, and purchased 3 canvases, a bunch of brushes and several tubes of paint. I went home and painted my first painting.

As luck would have it, my neighbor was an art professor at ASU, so I knocked on her door and asked her to come and give me some advice. When she saw the painting she asked, “This is your first painting?” I said, “yes.” She turned on her heels and started to walk out the door. Perplexed, I asked, “Is it that bad!” She said “No, that’s good. Just keep painting.” And she left.

I painted two more paintings, and shortly thereafter, gave birth to my first child. Then two more children came rapid fire after that. Between three kids three and under, and a full-time job in marketing, I simply ran out of time and I didn’t paint again for almost 10 years. But as the kids became more self-sufficient, I would paint to relax on my down time. It was my escape.

Flash forward a few more years and one day a client caught me playing hooky from work so I could paint (by then I owned my own boutique marketing agency). She asked what I was doing, and I told her, sheepishly. She then asked to see some of my work. Reluctantly, I sent her some photos. Next thing I knew, she sent me back a photo of a blank wall and asked me to paint her something for it. I did. She loved it and commissioned two more. At the end of it, she told me I was an idiot if I didn’t quit marketing and paint for a living. I forced myself to be brave for 20 seconds, and posted one of my paintings on Facebook, just to see what my friends would say. It sold in under an hour. Shocked, but encouraged, I did it again with another painting. That one sold as well, in the same timeframe. So I looked up to the sky again and said, “ok, I’m listening. If it happens again, I’ll quit marketing and be an artist.” It happened again. I closed shop within 30 days. That was seven years ago now. I’ve never looked back. And I’ve never been happier or more fulfilled in my life.

Can you tell our readers what it is about the work you’re doing that’s disruptive?

I wouldn’t say my art is disruptive, but what IS disruptive is bucking conventional wisdom, leaving the safety of what you know and jumping off of an enormous cliff to do what you love, at the risk of everything. I walked away from almost 30 years in my field of expertise, a single mother of three, to be an artist. Let’s face it, no one goes into art because they think they’ll get rich (they didn’t coin the phrase “starving artist” for no reason). People probably thought I was crazy! And maybe I was, thinking about it now.

However, in my early 20’s I was hit by a city bus as I was walking across the street. The bus launched me 40 feet through the air, and I somehow landed on one foot, still holding my mug of raspberry tea (thank you for all of those years of gymnastics when I was a kid). Granted, I couldn’t put my right foot down again for 8 months, but I remember so clearly thinking, “I should be dead”. It changed me forever.

I no longer say no to dessert, no longer sweat the small stuff, and most importantly, I lost my fear. It really drove home quickly that life is short. We should do what we love, because we never know when our time is up. Don’t waste your time on this planet. So now, I share my story whenever I’m able to, so that it might give someone else the courage to follow their dreams.

I read somewhere that people used to say that it was impossible to break the four-minute mile, until the first person did it. Then thousands of people broke it shortly thereafter. Things are only “impossible” until someone proves that wrong. Then the doors are flung wide open for everyone else who believes they can. I’m here to tell you, do what you love, do it with passion and heart, and you’ll be amazed at what you can achieve. The universe will conspire on your behalf in ways you cannot fathom!

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

Oh, I have a few of those, but I think I’ll share the one about when I set a canvas on fire and hurled it into the pool. It was about a year into my art career. I had landed representation in a really great gallery that had two locations, Slate Gray in Telluride and Kerrville, TX. I was working with the gallery director selecting from my works for the Texas gallery, and she requested a specific painting. Unfortunately, that painting had sold already. When I told her it was gone, she asked me to paint something similar to it, but instead of it being my rendition of the mountains in Lake Louise, make it a mountain scene from Texas.

Typically, I paint abstracts, but I had been to Lake Louise twice in my life, and each time was struck so deeply by the incredible beauty. I had to paint it. It came from the heart, which is why the painting was so beautiful. Because I was so new, I didn’t have the courage to say no to the request of a Texas rendition. I was more concerned with pleasing them more than I was about staying true to myself. I set to work on that painting. I fought with it for weeks. In my heart I knew it wasn’t great, but she seemed to love it and against my better judgement, I delivered it, along with several other paintings.

A year later, when the painting didn’t sell (surprise surprise), I took it back. I was so annoyed with myself that I turned it around so I couldn’t see it and forgot about it. Later, when in need of a canvas, I decided to paint over it. For weeks I wrestled with that canvas again! Absolutely nothing I did to it worked. In fact, I started to think maybe the canvas was cursed. I told myself that I would try one last time, and if I still didn’t love it, I was going to roast marshmallows over it with my kids that night. I started painting again…and this time, I was LOVING what I saw and in an effort not to overwork the piece, I left the canvas to dry, and went to work on another that I was doing simultaneously.

Hours later I returned to the table, super excited to see how it had dried, and was horrified. It was awful. I got so angry that I grabbed the cans of spray paint I used to touch up the paint on my outdoor potted plants and wrote “F**k Art” across the canvas. I then set it on fire, and tossed it in my swimming pool. A few minutes later it dawned on me that it was sinking, and being late fall, the last thing I wanted was to have to jump in to fish it out.

When I pulled the canvas out of the water I couldn’t believe my eyes. It was so damn cool. For fun, I posted the painting on Facebook and it sold in minutes. In fact, there was a lineup for it. I ended up naming it “The Teacher”, because it taught me incredibly valuable lessons: have courage to stay true to yourself, and always work from passion. When you do, it will resonate. Its where palpable connection comes from.

We all need a little help along the journey. Who have been some of your mentors? Can you share a story about how they made an impact?

I wouldn’t say I’ve had “mentors” in the traditional sense of the word. However, I’ve had people and experiences that have made enormous impacts on my life and way of thinking. One of the things I’ve learned is that the universe will give you what you need, when you need it, you just have to ask, and then be open to the source.

One of the biggest contributing catalysts to everything “scary” I’ve jumped into is a video I stumbled across many years ago. I don’t know how I found it, or what made me watch it, but it created a paradigm shift in my mind. Boiled down, the message was, “we all have an expiration date, we just don’t know what it is. If you knew yours was in three years, two days, and seven hours, would you still be doing what you’re doing? Would you still have that job, live in that city, travel the same rate you currently travel, eat the ice cream, spend the same amount of time with the people you love most, etc? If your answer is yes, then keep doing what you’re doing. If the answer is no, then why wait? Take the leap. We never know when our time is up, and wasting a single day doing what you don’t love is a travesty.”

Curiously, this video showed up during the same time that I was feeling “stuck” in my marketing career. Even though I had taken the leap and built an agency I was proud of, with great clients, it had lost its luster. I no longer felt that same passion for what I was doing and wanted something more. There are no coincidences. The universe gives you signs every single day. The question is, are you listening?

In today’s parlance, being disruptive is usually a positive adjective. But is disrupting always good? When do we say the converse, that a system or structure has ‘withstood the test of time’? Can you articulate to our readers when disrupting an industry is positive, and when disrupting an industry is ‘not so positive’? Can you share some examples of what you mean?

For me, it’s all about INTENT. Are you disrupting with the intent for good? Then it’s a good thing. But if you’re disrupting for the sake of disruption, or to cause a negative effect, then it’s not good. I want to leave this world a little more beautiful than it was before I lived. Whether via my art, or through inspiring just one person to live their own dreams because I had the courage to live mine. Can you imagine how amazing this world would be if we all followed our dreams??

Can you share 3 of the best words of advice you’ve gotten along your journey? Please give a story or example for each.

Often when I post images of my work on social media I attach inspiring quotes from famous artists or poets to them. I remember so clearly reading the quote “Don’t think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it’s good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art.” — Andy Warhol.

This one was HUGE for me. I painted this painting a few years ago that was so atypical for me, but I had to paint it. It was screaming to get out. The problem was, I didn’t know what to do with it. It was colorful, and had so many elements that I’d never incorporated before. I was afraid to show it to the galleries that represented me because it didn’t look like a “Woehler”.

In fact, I almost painted over it, worried that no one would like it. For whatever reason, I snapped a pic of it and posted it on instagram, calling it “squirrel” because it made me think of the dog from the movie UP. Not that it looked like a dog, but rather, how it would go on a tangent and then suddenly get sidetracked by a squirrel. Anyway, the next day I received an email with “squirrel” in the subject line. A woman had seen the photo, and she was hoping I still had the painting. I took it to her house and was completely blown away. Never was there a more perfect painting for her space. In fact, even if she had commissioned me to paint for her, I wouldn’t have come up with it.

I renamed the work “Connecting the Dots” because I realized how right Warhol’s words were. Just paint from your heart with abandon and the universe will connect the dots for you.

Can you share 3 of the best words of advice you’ve gotten along your journey? Please give a story or example for each:

In the very beginning of my art career I gave myself a gift and hired an artist consultant to help me navigate my start. We don’t know what we don’t know and I flat out refused to be a “starving artist”. She helped me build an art appropriate website, guided me on things like artist bios and statements, and most importantly, she told me to value my work. if I didn’t, no one else would either. And she was right.

I know this probably sounds strange, but one of the most impactful pieces of advice I ever got was courtesy of Denzel Washington- “fall forward”. What he meant by that was don’t be afraid to fail. Keep trying new things, keep perfecting your craft, just keep going, even when you do fail. Because everyone who’s ever accomplished anything great in their life failed several times first. But they kept advancing. When they fell, they fell forward. Did you know that Thomas Edison had 999 failed inventions? But each of those didn’t matter, because his 1000th invention was the lightbulb. No one talks about the 999 that didn’t work.

We are sure you aren’t done. How are you going to shake things up next?

I’ve got so many incredibly exciting things in the works, like a series of silk scarves of my art being made in Italy, limited edition prints, but the one that has my heart beating a million miles an hour is taking flight after years of dreaming it into being. I’m working with a team of engineers and Hollywood riggers to create a custom motorized flying system in my studio that will allow me to hover over huge canvases to paint fluidly and freely!

Yep, think “Mission Impossible” kind of hovering! I paint with my canvases lying flat, and for so long I’ve been limited by my ability to reach the middle of the really giant ones, so I’ve been restricted. Those days are almost over! I’ll be able to paint enormous paintings with complete abandon. I’m not sure I’ve ever been more excited about anything in my entire life!!!

In your opinion, what are the biggest challenges faced by ‘women disruptors’ that aren’t typically faced by their male counterparts?

When I first began my career in art, I was told that women artists have a much harder time getting their work into galleries and art museums. In fact, I know of a few women who paint under a man’s name, just to avoid that. I don’t know if I have personally experienced that, but it’s entirely possible. What I can tell you I’ve experienced is the juggling act of being a full time artist, single mom of three, friend, significant other, and all of the other roles women play at one time, while trying to build a business that requires creativity. Some days it’s a challenge to quiet the noise and manage all of the “duties” long enough to let inspiration flow.

Do you have a book/podcast/talk that’s had a deep impact on your thinking? Can you share a story with us?

I’m not sure where I’d be today without Eckhart Tolle or Abraham Hicks. I’ve listened to their videos/talks almost daily for the last year, and my entire life has changed as a result. It was a paradigm shift in the way I think that’s led to everything I’ve ever dreamed about coming into being. The truth is, I’ve learned that thoughts really do become reality. Choose what you think about, and how you speak to yourself wisely. The universe is always listening and will find a way to give you what you focus on, whether it’s good or bad. And happiness is a choice.

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂

If I could inspire a movement it would be “Do what you love”. That means walking away from the things that no longer bring you joy, and doing what does. We all have our gifts and talents, but so few of us are living them. When we’re young, we’re so idealistic and full of promise. And then life happens, and we let our dreams fade away. I can’t tell you how many people have told me they still haven’t figured out what they want to do, but they don’t like what they’re doing. My response to them is always the same, “lay down on your bed and quiet your mind for a moment. Then imagine you just won the lottery, and you don’t ever have to worry about money again. After the killer vacations, and the new house, etc, what would you CHOOSE to do every day that brings you joy? What would you do if money didn’t matter? Would you be a painter? A singer? A guitarist? An attorney for children’s rights? Would you teach people how to trek through the mountains? What would you do with your days? Because THAT is what you’re meant to be doing”. I often imagine what the world would be like if we were all living our lives doing what we loved…I think it would be amazing. People would be happy, fulfilled, and full of life.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

“Do what you love and you’ll never work a day in your life”. Don’t get me wrong, the almost 30 years I spent in the ad/marketing world were really satisfying in many ways, and for many years I really loved what I did. I think I was pretty good at it and accomplished some great things along the way. But it doesn’t begin to compare to my days as an artist. Even my best day in the office doesn’t hold a candle to my hardest day in the studio. I’ve never felt so much satisfaction or so fulfilled when I complete a painting I love, or better yet, see the joy it brings to its new owner. Going to the studio never feels like work. It feels like play. And who doesn’t want to spend their days playing?

How can our readers follow you online?

They can go to my website nikiwoehler.com or follow me on Instagram, NikiWoehlerArtist. My instagram page is definitely the most up to date (I need to get better about adding new works to my site), and is far more personal. I love showing peeks into my process, my life and my thoughts on IG. It just feels like I’m talking to a friend there when I’m posting.

This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for joining us!


Female Disruptors: Artist Niki Woehler On The Three Things You Need To Shake Up Your Industry was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Female Disruptors: Dr Angela Reddix of ARDX On The Three Things You Need To Shake Up Your Industry

Female Disruptors: Dr. Angela Reddix of ARDX On The Three Things You Need To Shake Up Your Industry

Choose your circle wisely. People are placed into your life for a reason. You should think of your life and those you meet as parts of a tree. The people that are your rocks and foundation are part of the trunk and the roots of the tree. The people who make up the branches of a tree are around us for a shorter period of time but they provide us what we need and then they break from us. We then have bus that provide new opportunities and joy to those who behold them. They, too have a season and time where they eventually float away or grow into a new tree. Finally, we have leaves that represent the people that come and go very quickly in our lives. As you can see, there’s value for everyone you will meet in your lifetime. It’s where they fit into your life that is the exciting part of life.

As a part of our series about women who are shaking things up in their industry, I had the pleasure of interviewing Dr. Angela Reddix.

Dr. Angela D. Reddix is an award-winning businesswoman, author, and TEDx speaker who has grown her healthcare management and IT consulting firm, ARDX, into a multi-million-dollar operation. Reddix serves as the Executive Director and professor of the Hodge Center for Entrepreneurship at Norfolk State University. She is the founder of Envision Lead Grow (ELG), a non-profit that serves young girls, and author of Envision Lead Grow: Releasing the Boss Within. Reddix is committed to her community as a board member and trustee for various local organizations

including the United Way of South Hampton Roads’ Foundation and YWCA. She’s also the co-host of “The Vine Experience” podcast and will launch another podcast with her daughter, Anyssa in December 2020.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit more. Can you tell us a bit about your “backstory”? What led you to this particular career path?

I was raised primarily by my grandmother during my formative years in Virginia. My grandmother encouraged me in everything that I did with her unwavering love and support.

As a child, I had always dreamed of becoming a teacher and while that wasn’t exactly what my mother had envisioned for me, the idea of educating others eventually found its way back to me throughout my career. Between leading employee training, both as a consultant and as an employer, and becoming faculty at NSU, and most importantly, my middle school girls at my nonprofit, Envision Lead Grow, I’ve been able to teach others in some capacity and the reward is immeasurable.

Can you tell our readers what it is about the work you’re doing that’s disruptive?

One thing about me is that I’m always on a mission to help others and because of that, I simply don’t settle for mediocrity in anything I do. To me, that stand to not settle IS disruptive. It’s certainly not the status quo. I work tirelessly to research the most poignant data and in turn, I use that data to disrupt the current state of our economy, one community at a time through Envision Lead Grow. My disruptive approach is to provide middle school girls living in poverty the resources to transform their communities and their lives.

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

When I first started ARDX, I was doing everything just to keep the lights on — answering the phone, scheduling meetings, meeting clients, paperwork, as well as hiring. I have learned so much in that span of time. In one particular instance, I had hired an exceptional employee. Her work was stellar and I knew I could go to her to execute anything. One morning, I overheard her tell another employee that they shouldn’t turn in a certain project that was due because I was “a beast.” I was crushed and felt as if this employee was being disloyal. In no way did I associate that comment in a positive light. That comment really shifted the dynamics of our relationship and it was no surprise that she was not employed with the company much longer after that. Flast forward to almost 10 years later when I overhear my husband watching a football game and saying, “That man is awesome -he’s a beast!” I instantly had a flashback to that moment almost 10 years ago and I realize that I didn’t totally understand the slang being used. It showed me that we are all so different and take things so differently, especially when things are just assumptions. I now take pride in knowing my expectations and that I have amazing teams that work to ensure they, too are on the same page of their own expectations.

We all need a little help along the journey. Who has been some of your mentors? Can you share a story about how they made an impact?

A period of my life was spent working for Mary Kay. I was and still am inspired by the life, legacy, and empowerment of Mary Kay Ash and the business model she created. She was a true trailblazer for women in business and she most definitely defined a lane next to businessmen all over the world. She made a mark, letting everyone know she was here to stay. Working for the Mary Kay brand helped me realize my goals were achievable and instilled deep values of leadership, teamwork, and accountability. These are some of the very values I hold true to who I am as an entrepreneur today.

In today’s parlance, being disruptive is usually a positive adjective. But is disrupting always good? When do we say the converse, that a system or structure has ‘withstood the test of time’? Can you articulate to our readers when disrupting an industry is positive, and when disrupting an industry is ‘not so positive’? Can you share some examples of what you mean?

Disrupting is always a positive thing when you are bringing or providing value to something that otherwise, could not stand on its own. I think being disruptive means you are no longer sitting or waiting in silence. It means you are standing up for what you believe in and you aren’t backing down. Those are very important qualities that make you a powerful human being.

A time that I was disruptive in my organization happened when I decided that we were going to be CMMI Level 3 certified. CMMI stands for Capability Maturity Model Integration and it is a process level improvement training and appraisal program. Being verified Level 3 meant we would be operating at a “defined” level. The company leaders and staff felt that preparing for this certification would completely disrupt the way they were used to working. It became a sales job for me to get my team to understand the value. The distinction allowed us to win a seat on a contract vehicle that was a 10-year, $100+ million opportunities. Not only did we get a seat at the table for the large deal, but three years later, we were ranked in the top 1% of companies in the country with a CMMI Level 5 distinction. Had we not had those credentials, we would have lost out on the deal.

Where disrupting carries a negative connotation is when is it self-serving, without a mission, and without value-added.

An example of this was when, as a small business owner, I had decided to move away from the day to day operations. In that first year of these changes, I had hired a team that essentially led aimlessly, approaching change for the sake of making changing. It was like a tornado hit the company. Needless to say, they did not last long within the company and I quickly pivoted.

Can you share 3 of the best words of advice you’ve gotten along your journey? Please give a story or example for each.

“The Devil is in the details,” might not resonate as some of the best advice or phrase I’ve heard in my life, but it truly challenged my interpretation of what it meant and what it now means to me. I see it as God is in those very details. Instead of actually taking the line verbatim, attaching it to something negative, I see God’s wisdom and grace. When you learn the details of anything, you can save yourself time, money and heartache.

Choose your circle wisely. People are placed into your life for a reason. You should think of your life and those you meet as parts of a tree. The people that are your rocks and foundation are part of the trunk and the roots of the tree. The people who make up the branches of a tree are around us for a shorter period of time but they provide us what we need and then they break from us. We then have bus that provide new opportunities and joy to those who behold them. They, too have a season and time where they eventually float away or grow into a new tree. Finally, we have leaves that represent the people that come and go very quickly in our lives. As you can see, there’s value for everyone you will meet in your lifetime. It’s where they fit into your life that is the exciting part of life.

My third piece of advice is to never manage by criticism or compliments. People will love you one day and criticize you the next. Leaders can’t effectively lead or manage by things that upset or enlighten you.

We are sure you aren’t done. How are you going to shake things up next?

I really believe in setting an example for the millennial group of women. I want them to know what it looks like to have healthy relationships with men and with women. I want them to know what it looks like to have a loving relationship, get married, bring children into the world, and balancing life and work. In this cycle of life, one of the first and most important relationships is that of a mother and daughter. Because of how strongly I feel about this, I’m working on developing a podcast with my daughter, Anyssa. She’s a brilliant girl-boss and my Senior Program Manager at Envision Lead Grow. I couldn’t be more proud of her. She always inspires me and keeps me on my toes. We plan to have very real conversations about our experiences, mother to daughter. We really want to share a piece of our relationship with the world and make people feel like they are listening to a family member. Important conversations are happening everywhere and it’s important to add to that ongoing conversation and be relevant in today’s society. We aim to do just that and so much more.

In your opinion, what are the biggest challenges faced by ‘women disruptors’ that aren’t typically faced by their male counterparts?

I think as women, we tend to overcompensate for the things we think we are lacking or missing. We forget that we ARE the total package and that we don’t need to present ourselves with any extras. I also feel that it’s in our nature to apologize for successes or growth. Apologizing is a step backward and I refuse to let that happen. While there are many men who celebrate our accomplishments, there are still men who feel we are undeserving and that we are not equipped with the same caliber of education to sit at their table. The times are changing. It’s best to get on board and watch the beautiful transformations and growth. We can learn so much from one another.

Do you have a book/podcast/talk that’s had a deep impact on your thinking? Can you share a story with us?

I have had many influences and influential individuals in my life. Two books in particular have helped form and expand my leadership as an entrepreneur. The first book happens to be a yearly ritual of mine. Each January, I read The Year of Yes by Shonda Rhimes. I read it to remind myself of what it means to be the first and only, a series of experiences that led me to feel completely isolated. This book is my liberation and reminds me to live in those successes. The second book that also continues to inspire me is Daring Greatly: How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead by Brene Brown. Brene’s research ethic and standards inspire me and it was her mission in this world that ignited my mission — to transform communities through empirical data.

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂

I feel humbled and fortunate that one of my dreams to create a movement has indeed become a reality. That movement is inspiring young middle school girls all over the country and transforming communities of poverty to communities of prosperity. My nonprofit Envision Lead Grow is now in 178 cities across the country.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

“If you always do what you’ve always done. Then you will always get what you’ve always got” Albert Einstein.

When I was in graduate school working on my master’s degree, my favorite professor would always say that quote. Almost 23 years later, I think about that message. In my company, I always challenge the staff to question the process and ensure that it makes sense for the direction we are going today and tomorrow. Yesterday brings experience, but we always have to question if the results of yesterday have the same results we expect tomorrow. If not, we have to improve our processes.

This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for joining us!


Female Disruptors: Dr Angela Reddix of ARDX On The Three Things You Need To Shake Up Your Industry was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Female Disruptors: Graciela Chichilnisky of ‘Global Thermostat’ On The Three Things You Need To…

Female Disruptors: Graciela Chichilnisky of ‘Global Thermostat’ On The Three Things You Need To Shake Up Your Industry

The work I am doing can change the global economy, making the carbon dioxide removed from the atmosphere the new petroleum, while reversing climate change and helping achieve basic needs for the poorest people on Earth. It is possible.

As a part of our series about women who are shaking things up in their industry, I had the pleasure of interviewing Dr. Graciela Chichilnisky, author of REVERSING CLIMATE CHANGE, is a Professor of Economics and Mathematical Statistics at Columbia University, and Director of the Columbia Consortium for Risk Management. She is also co-founder and CEO of Global Thermostat, and co-creator of a carbon removal technology that the National Academy of Sciences has said is the only one that can reverse climate change. In 2020, Global Thermostat was named to the Pepperdine Graziadio Business School’s third annual Most Fundable Companies list and one of the 50 Best Companies to Watch 2020 by The Silicon Review. Global Thermostat’s technology was chosen by MIT Technology Review as one of the Ten Breakthrough Technologies of 2019, curated by Bill Gates. Additionally, the company was named one of the top ten most innovative companies in energy by Fast Company in 2015 and Dr. Chichilnisky was selected by International Alternative Investment Review as the 2015 CEO of the Year in Sustainability.

In 2020, Global Thermostat and ExxonMobil expanded their joint development agreement following 12 months of technical evaluation to determine the feasibility and potential scalability of Global Thermostat’s technology.

Dr. Chichilnisky worked extensively on the Kyoto Protocol, creating, designing, and negotiating the carbon market that became international law in 2005, and she acted as the lead U.S. author on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which received the 2007 Nobel Prize for its work in deciding world policy with respect to climate change.

Dr. Chichilnisky is the author of more than 300 scientific articles and more than 15 books, including the award-winning Saving Kyoto, which won the American Library Association’s 2010 Outstanding Academic Title of the Year and the American Geographical Society’s Book of the Month Award in October 2009. She holds two Ph.D. degrees, in Mathematics and Economics, and her graduate studies were at MIT and the University of California, Berkeley.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit more. Can you tell us a bit about your “backstory”? What led you to this particular career path?

I was born in Argentina in a prominent Jewish family. My father, a Professor of Neurology at the University of Buenos Aires and minister of Public Health under Peron, built hundreds of hospitals all over Argentina. I still have some of the letters that Perón wrote to my father. When I was a child, Buenos Aires seemed a magical place at a magical time. People were interesting and intense. In reality, Buenos Aires then reminds me of New York now.

Toward the end of the 1960s and early 1970s, though, the military staged several coup d’états and in one of them they closed down the University in Buenos Aires. I was finishing high school at that time and had started taking University courses without permission. I met wonderful professors and students who opened my eyes to the world of science and mathematics. An MIT professor, Warren Ambrose, a well-known mathematician, was teaching at the University before it closed. He arranged to take six Argentinian students to MIT to continue their studies. The other five students were taking doctoral courses in mathematics — except for me.

Although I had not gone to college, MIT accepted me, a single mother without a college degree, as a Special Graduate Student in Mathematics. The Ford Foundation gave me a scholarship. After a year of very hard but enjoyable work, I was ranked at the top of the Mathematics Ph.D. class. I then became an official Ph.D. candidate and obtained a doctorate in Mathematics, and then another in Economics at U.C. Berkeley.

I have taught at Stanford, Harvard, and Columbia University where I am a Professor of Economics and Mathematical Statistics, and Director of the Columbia Consortium for Risk Management. My topics in Mathematics are Algebraic Topology and Nonlinear Analysis. In Economics, I have done work in international trade, development economics, extensive work in environmental economics, on the economics of markets and social risk, economic theory including game theory, growth theory, the economics of networks, and the economics of gender.

All of this helped form my determination to impact the global environmental risks we face. That is why I created the carbon market of the Kyoto Protocol in 1997, which resolved climate change for the Kyoto protocol nations. I co-founded Global Thermostat with Peter Eisenberger in 2010. We invented a patented carbon capture process that removes carbon dioxide from the atmosphere so that it can be re-used commercially. We currently have a partnership with Exxon Mobil in which we are working together to bring our technology to scale. I am very close to reversing climate change now. It is incredibly challenging, but possible.

Can you tell our readers what it is about the work you’re doing that’s disruptive?

The work I am doing can change the global economy, making the carbon dioxide removed from the atmosphere the new petroleum, while reversing climate change and helping achieve basic needs for the poorest people on Earth. It is possible.

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

I have made so many mistakes over the course of my career — and I continue making them. It is difficult to think which is funniest.

We all need a little help along the journey. Who have been some of your mentors? Can you share a story about how they made an impact?

I have had many mentors: from famous mathematicians, Nobel Laureates in Economics, and great politicians to famous physicists. It is long list and probably worth writing a book about. They are truly impressive, in fact, much more so than me.

In today’s parlance, being disruptive is usually a positive adjective. But is disrupting always good? When do we say the converse, that a system or structure has ‘withstood the test of time’? Can you articulate to our readers when disrupting an industry is positive, and when disrupting an industry is ‘not so positive’? Can you share some examples of what you mean?

One never knows when a disruptive innovation will be positive — but it is true that disruption for disruption’s sake is dangerous. The issue is to maintain flexibility so that you can adapt to challenges not to disrupt.

Can you share 3 of the best words of advice you’ve gotten along your journey? Please give a story or example for each.

The best 3 words are, “believe in yourself.”

When I created the economic approach to measuring poverty called Basic Needs in 1975 and then the carbon market of the Kyoto Protocol in 1997, both of which became international laws in 1992 and in 2005, respectively, I was told they were impossible to implement and that I should abandon them.

Furthermore, it turns out that the Kyoto carbon market has traded almost one trillion dollars so far, and has been, in great part, responsible for the solar energy revolution. My work has helped lead to hundreds of billions of dollars to be transferred to poorer nations like China, which helped the country use the money for building thousands of solar photovoltaic plants, reducing the cost by 80% in 10 years. This will transform in a couple of decades the $57 trillion global power plant infrastructure, which is responsible for about 45 percent of global emissions of CO2. It can be done. Just as long as you believe in yourself.

We are sure you aren’t done. How are you going to shake things up next?

I will complete the job of reversing climate change, turn Global Thermostat into a $1 billion company, and revolutionize quantum theory using topology for the benefit of understanding what is time and who we really are.

In your opinion, what are the biggest challenges faced by ‘women disruptors’ that aren’t typically faced by their male counterparts?

I truly see only one challenge and that is male chauvinism.

Do you have a book/podcast/talk that’s had a deep impact on your thinking? Can you share a story with us?

The research that I have done for my own books and papers have had the deepest impact on my thinking. I have written 16 books and over 300 papers.

My most recent book, Reversing Climate Change: How Carbon Removals Can Resolve Climate Change and Fix the Economy, was just published by World Scientific Publishing. In it, I state unequivocally that the Earth is at a crisis point.

The planet’s polar caps are melting, and the sea levels are rising. We have increasingly violent, frequent, and severe climate events, major floods, and unusual severe droughts that do not correspond statistically to standard deviations from the mean. Thousands of scientists from all over the world have come to the conclusion that changes in temperature are associated with changes in the concentration of greenhouse gases, of which the main one is carbon dioxide, and that the mean temperature is increasing due mostly to the burning of fossil fuels — coal, natural gas and petroleum for economic purposes: industrialization.

The next few years will determine whether we will implement solutions or unleash irreversible, catastrophic damage. In my book, I present concrete solutions for reversing climate change.

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger.

I am starting a movement to bring the most amount of good to the most people. It all begins with Global Thermostat and carbon capture as my team and I work to reverse catastrophic climate change. We hope that thousands of corporations, industries, non-profits, and other local and international organizations will join us in thwarting the biggest threat to the future of our planet that we have ever experienced.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

“It is easier to create the future than to predict it.”

How can our readers follow you online?

Visit www.globalthermostat.com, follow the company on social media on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn. You can also see what I have going on next at www.Chichilnisky.com.


Female Disruptors: Graciela Chichilnisky of ‘Global Thermostat’ On The Three Things You Need To… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Female Disruptors: Ashley Kirk of ‘Empower Us Agency’ On The Three Things You Need To Shake Up Your

Female Disruptors: Ashley Kirk of ‘Empower Us Agency’ On The Three Things You Need To Shake Up Your Industry

Relationships are Critical: Every successful executive and industry leader knows that the most important asset is their network. Relationships are critical to maintaining and opening doors for future work. I was grateful to learn this at the start of my career and have continued to keep this top of mind with whomever I meet. You never know whom someone else knows or can connect you with.

As a part of our series about women who are shaking things up in their industry, I had the pleasure of interviewing Ashley Kirk.

Ashley Kirk is the co-founder of Empower Us Agency. This company serves as an industry linkage to support up and coming Black entrepreneurs, incubators, and accelerators connect to social and financial investment opportunities to maximize their capital gains and organizational goals. With the recent launch of the company in late summer 2020, her organization has gained traction from some of the most prominent Black figures in the entrepreneurial/investment ecosystem, such as Melissa Bradly (co-founder of 1863 Ventures) and Connie Evans (CEO, Association for Enterprise Opportunity). They see the organization’s value-add in its efforts to be a valuable source for building Black generational wealth in the business sector.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit more. Can you tell us a bit about your “backstory”? What led you to this particular career path?

My life as a young Black woman in this country has forever changed in the wake of the murders of Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, and the countless other unarmed Black women, men, and children that have lost their lives in this country. The national and now worldwide attention garnered by these murders over the last several months has again exposed society to the barriers and systemic racism Black people have faced for well over 400 years. What makes this moment different than any other time is that people and corporations are now starting to listen. The momentum of these uprisings has caused me to shift gears from my day-to-day job as a financial Medicaid consultant and think about how I can utilize my talents to help create long-lasting opportunities for the Black community. During this period of thinking about how I can be a leader for my community, I noticed several local small Black businesses popping up on the weekends where I live in Oakland, California, selling everything you could think of (e.g., food, hair products, clothing, health/wellness products). At this moment, I realized I needed to utilize my talents in this ecosystem of business and contribute to growing Black entrepreneurship beyond an idea and creating a pathway to funding.

Can you tell our readers what it is about the work you’re doing that’s disruptive?

Before I jump into answering this question, I think it’s important for readers to understand what the entrepreneurial/investment ecosystem looks like for Black women and men regarding access and opportunity. In an industry that thrives on captivating ideas of talented entrepreneurial geniuses, Black-owned businesses continue to be overlooked by angel investors and venture capitalists for investment funds and or network resources and support. Similar to the tech industry, this isn’t something new and has been happening for some time. The Bold Italic recently released statistics that indicate from 2009 to 2017, startups have raised nearly half a trillion dollars of venture capital — only .0006% of that went to Black women, and less than 1% went to Black people overall. And in terms of venture capital investment firm ethnic representation, Black people make up less than 2%. The biggest takeaway from these two important statistics is that there is an access issue for Black entrepreneurs and Black investors that limits our ability to control capital and receive investments. As a disruptor, I am focused on eliminating these systemic barriers that revenue-generating Black entrepreneurs face by creating a platform and space for us that leads to success in the form of financial and social capital. What is unique about this approach is that nothing like this currently exists in the industry. There isn’t a business focused on creating synergy and support for Black entrepreneurs and Black investors.

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

There isn’t a story I can share about the funniest mistake I made when starting. What I can say in terms of a lesson learned when first starting on this journey, especially during my period of outreach, is making sure to be concise in my description of who we are as an organization and make my asks clear. Investors, business owners/startups, accelerators are busy and don’t have time to read an essay of why you want to work with them. It’s important to get to the point quickly in your outreach efforts.

We all need a little help along the journey. Who have been some of your mentors? Can you share a story about how they made an impact?

Since the start of my career, I’ve been very blessed to have strong women leads whom I not only reported to but mentored me along the way and shaped me to be the woman I am today. Someone I can credit with this career shift is my former managing director lead, Michele McGinn. Over the last four years, she has helped me realize how important my voice is as a young Black female leader in my personal and professional career. She has always advocated for me to feel comfortable taking up space. She will forever be an important mentor and friend to me.

In today’s parlance, being disruptive is usually a positive adjective. But is disrupting always good? When do we say the converse, that a system or structure has ‘withstood the test of time’? Can you articulate to our readers when disrupting an industry is positive, and when disrupting an industry is ‘not so positive’? Can you share some examples of what you mean?

In the entrepreneurial/investment industry, the systemic barriers Black and other ethnic groups face regarding access to capital and resource support is one of the most profound examples of a negative disruption. I believe what Empower Us Agency is striving to provide for the ecosystem in terms of limiting these obstacles and closing the White-Black wealth gap is our way of bringing positive and impactful disruption.

Can you share 3 of the best words of advice you’ve gotten along your journey? Please give a story or example for each.

Along my journey

  • Relationships are Critical: Every successful executive and industry leader knows that the most important asset is their network. Relationships are critical to maintaining and opening doors for future work. I was grateful to learn this at the start of my career and have continued to keep this top of mind with whomever I meet. You never know whom someone else knows or can connect you with.
  • Network or No Work: This was again another piece of advice I learned at the start of my career over 10 years ago that has served me very well. As a young person starting in any career or field, we have aspirations and goals we hope to obtain. Whether that be running our own company, becoming a hospital executive, etc. It’s important, no matter what journey or trajectory you are on, to network and meet people along the way. This can be in the form of meeting industry leaders at conferences or reaching out to people via LinkedIn or e-mail to request informational interviews. This effort provides insight into what steps leaders completed to get to their current positions and it also serves in expanding your network. Sometimes it can even lead to internships or jobs. Networking is one of the most important skills to harness.
  • Don’t Be Discouraged By People Who Don’t Believe In Your Work: I learned this last piece of advice from a gentleman in the venture capital space who was kind enough to talk about our business model and approach to building Black wealth in the industry. Like me, he took an unconventional path to get into the VC industry that didn’t include business school. As cliché as it sounds, he believed he could build his own venture capital firm on his own, and now he’s done just that. One of the lessons he learned across this journey during his fund-raising phase was that many people doubted his efforts or told him his concept or approach wouldn’t work. Despite hearing such negative feedback, he kept at it because he believed in himself and didn’t let anyone discourage him from his dream. As I continue to venture into this ecosystem and meet more industry leaders, I keep this piece of advice top of mind.

We are sure you aren’t done. How are you going to shake things up next?

We are just beginning in terms of our business journey, and there is still so much to do and strive for in the industry. With this next phase in our work, we are focused on continuing to build meaningful and trusted relationships across the industry through our outreach efforts and start to think about how to build meaningful partnerships with our stakeholders that really get at our approach of building synergy across entrepreneurs, investors, incubators and accelerators.

In your opinion, what are the biggest challenges faced by ‘women disruptors’ that aren’t typically faced by their male counterparts?

This question is unique because I strongly believe Black women disruptors face challenges that aren’t typical for White women or men. Unlike White women disruptors, Black women disruptors face gender and ethnic stereotypes that are extremely exhausting stressors. It just adds another layer in terms of the barriers in achieving success in our respective industries and feeling respected as Black female leaders. Often strong Black female leaders are stereotyped as aggressive, angry, sassy. These are all perfect examples of the use of negative words to describe powerful Black women. Society needs to allow for the idea of strong Black women to exist because we do.

Do you have a book/podcast/talk that’s had a deep impact on your thinking? Can you share a story with us?

I have always been a huge fan of Alicia Garza! For those of you who aren’t familiar with her name, she is one of the Black Lives Matter movement co-founders. I’ve been an avid listener of her podcast, “Lady Don’t Take No.” She is not one to shy away from important topics impacting Black people, nor is she someone that is afraid to speak her mind. She is a strong Black woman that has inspired so many people through her advocacy efforts. In addition to her impact, she also interviews many different advocates and leaders in various industries to expand her listeners knowledge. Alicia Garza’s inspires me to be focused on my goals as a disruptor and creating meaningful change for Black people.

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂

If I could inspire a movement, it would have to be self-care. The pandemic has taken a toll on many people over these last nine months. This happens to be our new normal and new way of life. With that being said, it’s so important for people to practice self-care, whether that be through cardio, meditation, talking to family/friends, to make sure they are doing well.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

My favorite life lesson quote has to be from Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm. She was the first African American elected to Congress. She said, “if they don’t give you a seat at the table, bring a folding chair.” As a college-educated Black woman, there has never been a seat at the table for me; it’s been inexistent. I am sure many other people of color reading this can relate to my experience. I’ve always had to work twice as hard as my White counterparts to be noticed and valued. I eat, breathe, and sleep hustle because I know my worth.

How can our readers follow you online?

Readers can follow me via our Twitter @empowerusagency to learn more about us or check out our website at www.empowerusagency.com.

This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for joining us!


Female Disruptors: Ashley Kirk of ‘Empower Us Agency’ On The Three Things You Need To Shake Up Your was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Female Disruptors: Silvia Santiago of Destilería Serrallés On The Three Things You Need To Shake Up

Female Disruptors: Silvia Santiago of Destilería Serrallés On The Three Things You Need To Shake Up Your Industry

Don’t solely rely on written communication. There are many things that can be resolved by talking it through. The written word is hard to retract and tone is hard to interpret. For example, I once reported what I thought was a problem that could affect a product and, in the end, there was no error but what I wrote affected many individuals. This is a lesson I have not forgotten.

As a part of our series about women who are shaking things up in their industry, I had the pleasure of interviewing Silvia Santiago.

Silvia Santiago is the Maestra Ronera at Destilería Serrallés, Inc. She began her career with Don Q Rum in 1973 working with fermentation as a microbiologist and continued moving to other positions such as Laboratory Supervisor, Director of Quality Control and Compliance Director up to her current position. Besides being responsible for the entire manufacturing process, starting with the purchase of sugarcane molasses up to bottling the finished product, blending and tasting distillates and aged products is part of her daily work.

For Santiago, every opportunity is a good one to find a new aroma and a new flavor. She believes that it is important to maintain the traditional way of making the best rum, but “the brave new world” also requests innovation. Balancing both forces is her daily task at Destilería Serrallés.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit more. Can you tell us a bit about your “backstory”? What led you to this particular career path?

I studied Medical Technology. My plan was to work in a hospital, running blood samples and drawing blood from patients. Meanwhile, Destilería Serrallés was looking for someone to research the yeast and fermentation process. My studies in microbiology were relevant to the research work and they hired me. I graduated on a Friday and started working at the distillery’s laboratory the following Monday. Working in a rum production facility was such a different scenario from working in a hospital. I fell in love immediately! The smell of the molasses, the sounds of the distillation, interacting with people who were so involved with the process and so passionate about their work; my inner being felt that I was in “my place.”

Can you tell our readers what it is about the work you’re doing that’s disruptive?

Leading as a woman in a male-dominated industry has been disruptive for some time and still is today. The perception has been, “what do women know about alcohol, distilling, blending, and tasting?” Because of my female intuition, I sometimes lean on my sixth sense when it comes to the aging and blending process. So for me, introducing intuition in the rum-making process is disruptive and also adds an extra dimension that has worked for me throughout my career.

For example, when working on a specific blend, my gut told me to give it more contact with the wood and leave it in the barrel longer. When my colleagues questioned me, I told them that I was guided by my intuition, which I believe is information hidden in the subconscious, and I was being guided to make certain decisions. When the final product was ready, it had a certain “something else,” what some may call umami, that can’t be explained, but it worked and made the product a winner.

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

When I first started using contact lenses, my eyes were always irritated and red. While visiting the restroom and applying eyedrops, I complained to a colleague. She smiled softly and said: “Oh, I thought your eyes were like that because you have to continuously taste the rum in the laboratory.” I was shocked to hear that my co-workers thought I spent my entire workday drinking rum! I have since made it a point to educate people on the marvelous combination of craftsmanship, tradition and science involved in rum making and that, in tasting, you do not swallow the sample. You just “wash” your mouth and use a spittoon, similar to wine tasting.

We all need a little help along the journey. Who have been some of your mentors? Can you share a story about how they made an impact?

When I started at Destilería Serrallés, I was the first female to work in the production area. All the “bosses” were older men with a lot of experience, and they were very protective of their responsibilities. They were my mentors. I asked a lot of questions and they took the time to explain every step of the process to me. I was very young and did not pose a threat to them. They led by example and were dedicated to their work, loyal to the company and passionate about the process. They taught me that the product (in this case, rum) must be respected, the customers are the reason for our existence and the suppliers are the ones who tend the hand in moments of need, and above all, they taught me to be ethical.

In today’s parlance, being disruptive is usually a positive adjective. But is disrupting always good? When do we say the converse, that a system or structure has ‘withstood the test of time’? Can you articulate to our readers when disrupting an industry is positive, and when disrupting an industry is ‘not so positive’? Can you share some examples of what you mean?

When to discard something that has existed for decades or when not to shake the tree… is a difficult decision. I would say that if what you are going to introduce could have a positive impact, do it. Don’t introduce change for the sake of making a mark, if certain things have withstood the test of time, there must be a good reason. An example of this in the spirits business is the laws that establish a product or category. For example, broadening the definition of a spirits category, for example rum, so that anything can be classified under this category dilutes the integrity of the category as a whole and causes confusion to the customer.

Can you share 3 of the best words of advice you’ve gotten along your journey? Please give a story or example for each.

1. Don’t solely rely on written communication. There are many things that can be resolved by talking it through. The written word is hard to retract and tone is hard to interpret. For example, I once reported what I thought was a problem that could affect a product and, in the end, there was no error but what I wrote affected many individuals. This is a lesson I have not forgotten.

2. Employees do not come to work to do their jobs poorly, it’s important to give them an opportunity. For example, I had an employee who continually made accounting errors. He was not thriving in his position but there was another opportunity in another department with different responsibilities. When we spoke about this, I expected him to be discouraged and displeased, however, it was the contrary. He was excited and grateful for another opportunity where he would apply a different skillset because he wanted nothing more than to do his job well. He worked at the distillery in this new department until he retired.

3. Help those in need, including your competition. In manufacturing, we all have similar processes. I once helped another producer who had an ingredient shortage. Several years later, that same producer set up a factory for one of the packaging elements that we use. They supplied us with the best quality material, at the best price because they knew how we conduced business. That applies to all aspects of life, both professional and personal.

We are sure you aren’t done. How are you going to shake things up next?

Keeping myself active in manufacturing is a disruptive act. I have been working with Destilería Serrallés for 47 years, but much remains to be done. We must contribute to society and help in the areas that we understand affect us all. New generations must learn the value of hard work, ethics and education. Whether they like it or not, they are the inheritors of today.

In your opinion, what are the biggest challenges faced by ‘women disruptors’ that aren’t typically faced by their male counterparts?

Believing that they can be positive disrupters.

Do you have a book/podcast/talk that’s had a deep impact on your thinking? Can you share a story with us?

With little time to read, I am a big fan of audio books. Steel Magnolias by Robert Harling is a classic and my favorite. It highlights the humanity in us, to be true to who you are, not to be afraid of death, and that life is precious no matter what.

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂

I would start a movement for active listening to one another, and ensure we are REALLY listening. This entails paying attention with the purpose of hearing the other person closely with our ears, our eyes and with our heart. When we truly listen, a connection is made between the participants and then productive relationships are formed.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

“It is nice to be important, but it’s more important to be nice.” John Templeton

I saw this quote early in my career, in the office of a Vice President at a large company. At the time, I didn’t understand the meaning. It sounded more like a clever phrase. Now, that the road behind me is long, its meaning is clear: we want to be remembered and at the end of the day, people remember you for the way you treated others.

How can our readers follow you online?

Twitter: @donqrum

Facebook: @DonQ

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/destileria-serralles-inc.


Female Disruptors: Silvia Santiago of Destilería Serrallés On The Three Things You Need To Shake Up was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Female Disruptors: Julie Christopher of ‘Best of Seven’ On The Three Things You Need To Shake Up…

Female Disruptors: Julie Christopher of ‘Best of Seven’ On The Three Things You Need To Shake Up Your Industry

When I was in grade school and played basketball, my dad used to “incentivize” my sister and I with one dollar per foul and $10 if we fouled out of a game. While that might seem a little aggressive, I think that taught me to be assertive and go for what I want. My coach loved my style of play.

As a part of our series about women who are shaking things up in their industry, I had the pleasure of interviewing Julie Christopher.

As a lifelong sports fan with a spirited love for fashion, Julie Christopher breaks the mold of a modern-day entrepreneur, blending her two passions to create an entirely new accessories and apparel category for women. Christopher is CEO and Founder of Best of Seven, a new lifestyle brand offering sophisticated and versatile leather goods, accessories and apparel made for game day and every day.

Christopher grew up in the Western suburbs of Chicago, actively participating in school, sports and social activities while discovering early-on her passion for attending sporting events with her tight-knit family. She remained an avid sports fan while attending Indiana University and through post-graduation, when she moved back to Chicago to pursue her professional journey in corporate communications. After building her resume at several notable companies, including e-commerce kitchenware brand The Pampered Chef (founded by her mother), Christopher found herself driven by her entrepreneurial family roots to explore starting something of her own.

As she grew more involved with team affinities and cause-specific organizations, Christopher remained dedicated to her sense of style in boasting bold color palettes with a sophisticated edge, but was missing a direct link between her fashion choices and day-to-day interests. So, she set out to create Best of Seven to marry her greatest passions — sports and fashion. The brand, which launched its first collection in Fall 2020, features elevated, versatile accessories and apparel for stylish women looking to connect with their allegiances or simply wear their favorite color in an expressive, untraditional way. Comprised of versatile leather accessories that can be customized with the choice of colors and adjustable straps and flaps, the line caters seamlessly to every woman’s personal style on game day and every day.

In her personal time, Christopher enjoys traveling with family and friends, staying on-trend with fashion and interior design, collecting art, playing violin, writing, and of course, cheering on and attending sporting events (especially the NHL Chicago Blackhawks and tennis star Roger Federer). A longtime resident of Chicago’s Gold Coast neighborhood, giving back to her local community is a top priority, serving on many organizations’ boards, including at The Ann and Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, Boys & Girls Club of Chicago, Women’s Philanthropy Leadership Council at Indiana University and CSC Partners.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit more. Can you tell us a bit about your “backstory”? What led you to this particular career path?

I’ve enjoyed playing and watching sports — at all levels — all my life. As a little girl, my dad, uncle and grandfather (all big sports fans and hobby athletes) encouraged my sister, cousins and I (all girls) to watch and play a wide variety of sports. On the flip side, I’ve loved and informally studied fashion for as long as I can remember. As an adult when attending a game, I struggled with what to wear to represent my team but dress in sync with my everyday style. Not finding great “fan wear” options, especially in the women’s range, I gravitated towards purchasing pieces from my favorite brands that represented colors of the teams I cheered for. I wondered why more brands didn’t focus on fashionable items in team colors, sans logos, and thought, perhaps it’s up to me to fill that void.

Can you tell our readers what it is about the work you’re doing that’s disruptive?

We’re filling a void by offering females well-made, versatile, stylish options that can be worn game day and every day. As a female founded brand, we’re contradicting the “shrink it and pink it” mentality often adopted by traditional sportswear brands when creating apparel and accessories for women. The notion of game day, every day also disrupts the idea that fanwear is only to be worn to the game. Why spend money on something that can only be worn a few times a year? Because we don’t utilize logos, our styles can easily be integrated from workday to weekend.

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

So. Many. Mistakes. And no doubt, I’ll continue making them. At this point I can laugh at some of the early mistakes, which were clearly the result of inexperience or, perhaps, optimistic naivete — however, many are still a little raw.

Here’s one I can laugh at…When we were building out our office and design center in Chicago, I was adamant we include a space where we could host groups for sports watch parties and “in-store” shopping events, to introduce friends and potential customers to the brand on a more personal level. We decked it out with custom millwork, a huge TV, a special ice bucket built into the counter, an “Instagram Wall” and a beautiful hand-painted rendition of the Best of Seven logo and a signature stripe pattern we use in our branding. We imagined all sorts of fun gatherings and parties. Now, for the punchline: COVID. We’re going to throw one heck of a celebration in that space once this is all over.

We all need a little help along the journey. Who have been some of your mentors? Can you share a story about how they made an impact?

I’ve been blessed with many role models in my life. I always admired women who knew what they were born to do and did it, and those who cut a clear (or even jagged) path “to the top.” In life, and now in business, I’ve drawn upon what I’ve learned from and by family and friends who I respect and admire. Like my parents, for instance, who are entrepreneurs themselves. They started their business in a very different time and space, yet there were translatable lessons to be learned and applied to my own business. I also admire my late grandmother, who treated every single person she encountered with kindness and hospitality, whether she was cooking them a meal at a homeless shelter, throwing a bridal shower for the new pastor’s wife, or taking in her nieces for a year while her sister sorted out her marriage. I keep my eye on successful female founders, like Tory Burch, the late Kate Spade, Sara Blakley (Spanx) and Nell Diamond (Hill House Home), to see how they handle(d) things, taking notes on their successes, challenges and learnings. While I don’t know them personally, their stories inspire me.

In today’s parlance, being disruptive is usually a positive adjective. But is disrupting always good? When do we say the converse, that a system or structure has ‘withstood the test of time’? Can you articulate to our readers when disrupting an industry is positive, and when disrupting an industry is ‘not so positive’? Can you share some examples of what you mean?

I think disruption is most always positive when it causes us to look or think about something in a new way. We should honor things that stand the test of time, but think disruptively, even when something is working “the way it’s always been done.” Good leaders or “disruptors” are continuously looking at new ways to do things, whether related to design, manufacturing, distribution, communication, customer experience, community engagement, etc. Disruptive thinking leads to disruptive action, which is what moves things forward, or at least gives us the opportunity to.

For instance, with our color-based assortment, Best of Seven is disrupting the “fanwear industry” by offering options beyond team names and logos. That doesn’t make logos bad. In fact, we hope that fans who like to dress in jerseys and tees proudly bearing team names will look at our products as a wonderful add-on to their game day look. We’re all about making fans feel and look good when they’re cheering on something or someone they love.

Can you share 3 of the best words of advice you’ve gotten along your journey? Please give a story or example for each.

  1. When I was in grade school and played basketball, my dad used to “incentivize” my sister and I with one dollar per foul and $10 if we fouled out of a game. While that might seem a little aggressive, I think that taught me to be assertive and go for what I want. My coach loved my style of play.
  2. While observing and working in our family business, I learned from my parents to focus on the things you’re really good at and know when to bring in experts to help guide the rest. I’ve built my Best of Seven team based on that philosophy — I know a little about a lot, but my team knows more than I ever will about their individual areas of expertise. I need to lean on their collective expertise to move the business forward.
  3. Never say or do something you wouldn’t want printed in your local paper the next day (or, by current standards, posted to social media or the Internet). ‘Nough said.

We are sure you aren’t done. How are you going to shake things up next?

First things first, let’s start with surviving the launch of a social and sporting events-driven business in a global pandemic. I always tell my team, if we can survive this, the rest will be a piece of cake. We’ve had to balance the difficult task of staying on brand while being relevant in the current atmosphere with empty stadiums, campuses, and workplaces — all places people would gather wearing Best of Seven. Game day looks completely different right now, as does workday, every day and the holidays. But teams are still playing, and we’re learning to look our best in Zoom classrooms, boardrooms and cocktail parties. We still walk the dog and perhaps stop for coffee. Best of Seven is creating new ways to remain relevant, while maintaining a spirited, colorful outlook. Eventually, we’ll all get back to doing the things we love, and because of the challenges faced in this pandemic, we’re learning even more about ourselves and our capacities than we would have if things had been smooth sailing from the get go. We started in bumpy waters but are holding steady until the storm passes.

In your opinion, what are the biggest challenges faced by ‘women disruptors’ that aren’t typically faced by their male counterparts?

I look forward to (and will work toward) the day when we talk merely about challenges faced by disruptors, without the preceding gender clarification. I’ve been surrounded by strong, creative disruptors my entire life, some of whom happen to be women. One thing I’ve learned is that women need to support other women in any way possible. Whether through mentorship, opportunity, purchasing from women-owned businesses, having a point of view on issues that affect women, good things happen when we support each other.

Do you have a book/podcast/talk that’s had a deep impact on your thinking? Can you share a story with us?

I soak up the stories on Guy Raz’s “How I Built This,” broadcast through National Public Radio. His questions are so good and dig deep into how creators create. The podcast was recommended by a friend as a source of inspiration in the early days of Best of Seven. I think I’ve listened to his interview with the late Kate (and Andy) Spade a dozen times. The stories Guy draws out of founders are inspirational and reassuring.

Another podcast that particularly impacted me this year is, GirlTrek’s “Black History Bootcamp,” which tells the stories of 21 Black women who helped shape history. GirlTrek is one of the leading health organizations for Black women, which builds on a 30 minute “walk and talk” as the basis for making positive changes to one’s health, family and world. The stories and the ensuring dialogue between GirlTrek’s founders who host the podcast, Vanessa and Morgan, opened my eyes to perspectives and lessons one couldn’t possibly learn without metaphorically walking in their shoes, alongside them. It was my privilege, as a White woman, to lean in with them, while acknowledging the fact that their experience, and that of their ancestors, is one I will never fully feel or comprehend.

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂

There’s been a lot of research surrounding color theory; what different colors mean or how they make us feel. Color has such a deep impact on the world. Color can be representative of something important to us — a team, a school, a cause, a holiday, an organization. I hope Best of Seven inspires more people to adopt a colorful, spirited, representative outlook!

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

My faith is important to me, and in it I find great strength. When I’m feeling challenged or overwhelmed, I’ll often reference bible verses I’ve earmarked over the years. One that I keep coming back to, especially in times like these, is “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” — Philippians 4:13. In this time of tremendous uncertainty and upheaval, I encourage others to find whatever it is that strengthens and encourages them, and allow themselves a daily dose.

How can our readers follow you online?

You can find us on Facebook and Instagram @bestofsevenshop, or via our website www.bestofseven.com.

This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for joining us!


Female Disruptors: Julie Christopher of ‘Best of Seven’ On The Three Things You Need To Shake Up… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Female Disruptors: Attorney Rebecca Zung On The Three Things You Need To Shake Up Your Industry

“Stop trying to make not your people your people” — not sure where I heard this first but this is just seriously one of the best pieces of advice ever. Some people just won’t like you, won’t get you, or don’t think what you wanted them to think about you. It’s fine. Wish them well and move on. They aren’t your people. Lots of other people are your people. Just focus on them. I take this advice pretty much every single day.

As a part of our series about women who are shaking things up in their industry, I had the pleasure of interviewing Rebecca Zung.

Rebecca Zung is one of the Top 1% of attorneys in the nation, having been recognized by U.S. News & World Report as a “Best Lawyer in America”, as “Legal Elite” by Trend Magazine, and recognized by her peers and the judiciary as AV preeminent rated in family law, the highest possible rating for an attorney by Martindale Hubbell. She is the author of the bestselling books, Negotiate Like You M.A.T.T.E.R.: The Sure Fire Method to Step Up and Win (foreword by Robert Shapiro) and Breaking Free: A Step-by-Step Divorce Guide for Achieving Emotional, Physical, and Spiritual Freedom, and is a sought after major media contributor. Her perspectives are in high demand by television and print outlets, as she has been featured in or on Extra, Forbes, Huffington Post, Newsweek, Time, Dr. Drew, NPR Talk Radio, Good Day New York and CBS Los Angeles among others. Now, based in Los Angeles, she is continuing to serve through her very popular YouTube channel, media appearances, podcast, articles and on-demand programs such as S.L.A.Y. Your Negotiation™ with a Narcissist and Breaking Free™ Divorce Masterclasses.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit more. Can you tell us a bit about your “backstory”? What led you to this particular career path?

I was married at 19 the first time and had 3 children by the time I was 23. At 29, I found myself divorced and was teaching elementary school in inner city Ft. Lauderdale. As a divorced single mom, I was desperate for a way to feed my kids and put a decent roof over their heads. The only advanced degree program that didn’t require lots of pre-requisites was law school. Luckily, University of Miami had a night school at that time, so I applied and got in. My ex husband watched the kids while I went to school at night. I taught during the day, went and got my kids, helped them with homework, took them to sports and dance, fed them dinner then went to school at night from 7 -10 pm and studied until 2 AM. Then up at 6 AM to do it all again.

I then got a job straight out of law school with a top divorce attorney. I got remarried and had another child too. Then I started my own firm and wrote a bestselling divorce book, which allowed me to do a lot of press. I learned how to negotiate at a mastery level because my entire divorce practice was all high net worth, high conflict cases. In 2019, I wrote a second bestselling book on negotiation. By learning about narcissism, I was able to apply my knowledge of negotiation to narcissists.

Can you tell our readers what it is about the work you’re doing that’s disruptive?

I am the only attorney on the planet right now who is giving people real advice on how to negotiate and shift the power dynamic with narcissists. I started discussing this on YouTube early in 2020 and my channel went from zero subscribers to now closing in on 100,000 and nearly 5 million views. My SLAY program is changing lives every day. SLAY stands for S- Strategy; L — Leverage; A — Anticipate; Y- You.

1 in 10. That’s how many people are estimated to be afflicted with narcissistic personality disorder or just simply lack a conscience. 3.4 billion people. That’s how many people are estimated to be victims of narcissists. There is a pandemic of narcissism and no-one is immune. While there are many who are talking about defining narcissists, or what causes narcissism, I give step by step guidance by offering a plan to shift the dynamic of power in dealing with them. It’s time to stop being surprised by narcissists’ behavior and get on the offensive. It’s a power switch. We ALL have to know how to effectively deal with narcissists in everyday life and get what you want.

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

I am not sure this was a mistake but it was definitely funny. I had taken the bar exam but didn’t have my results yet. My boss, the managing partner of the firm, had asked me to draft a marital settlement agreement, which I had done and he had heavily edited. Then the client was coming in to sign it. My boss said that he would be unavailable but that I could meet with the client, a dentist, and have him sign it. The client signed in front of the paralegal, then she left the room. Thus, the only person with any real knowledge of the process had just left the room. Then, to my horror, the client asked a seemingly innocuous, but to me, deadly question which was “So what happens from here?” My gut dropped out of me. I wanted to say “I have no idea buddy — your guess is as good as mine! I’ve got nothing for you!” But I did not say that. Using large hand gestures for effect so that it would seem I knew what I was doing, I said “Well, um, we will put it all together…. John will review it one more time…. And um…we’ll give you a call!” Then I quickly ushered him out before he could ask any more questions! I remember thinking, wow, 4 years of college, and 3 years of law school, and I knew nothing about the actual practice of law. I often think of that moment because I try to remember to give myself credit on how far I have come since that moment.

We all need a little help along the journey. Who have been some of your mentors? Can you share a story about how they made an impact?

My father was my first mentor. He had come from China at 15 and was immediately accepted into Bronx High School of Science, then went on to Columbia Undergraduate and Medical School. He was very loving but also had very high standards for me. My mother, who is German, was very successful in business and was one of the first female real estate brokers in the state of VA. Being Chinese and German, I often joke that I have no fun genes at all. It’s all work hard, be very efficient etc. All kidding aside, my parents taught me the value of hard work, integrity and being the best I can be at whatever I am doing.

My first bosses in the law were also great mentors in a lot of ways. The male managing partner taught me a lot about how to run a law firm and grow a practice. The female partner was a master at marketing. I used to call her the Madonna of family law. She actually gave me a book on my very first day at the law firm called “Women Rainmakers”. I learned so much about how to create, grow and maintain a successful practice.

In today’s parlance, being disruptive is usually a positive adjective. But is disrupting always good? When do we say the converse, that a system or structure has ‘withstood the test of time’? Can you articulate to our readers when disrupting an industry is positive, and when disrupting an industry is ‘not so positive’? Can you share some examples of what you mean?

Can you share 3 of the best words of advice you’ve gotten along your journey? Please give a story or example for each.

“People will think what you tell them to think” — my business coach, Kelly Townsend, was working with me while I was setting up my own law practice. I was worried because I had practiced law, then spent a couple of years as a financial advisor (had my Series 7 and 66) and was going back to law. I thought everyone would think I was a flake going back and forth. She said “people will think what you tell them to think” — and then said “you are going to tell them to think that you are the only family law attorney in town that has a financial background, so you are more qualified than everyone else.” So I marketed myself that way and guess what — many people who hired me said that they were hiring me because I was the only attorney in town that had a financial background so they knew I could handle their case better! Go figure!

“Whatever you say, say it with authority and people will believe you” — my dad used to say this all time. Now I use that when I teach about negotiation. I also use this as an example of how narcissists are able to use their voodoo and cast spells on people.

“Stop trying to make not your people your people” — not sure where I heard this first but this is just seriously one of the best pieces of advice ever. Some people just won’t like you, won’t get you, or don’t think what you wanted them to think about you. It’s fine. Wish them well and move on. They aren’t your people. Lots of other people are your people. Just focus on them. I take this advice pretty much every single day.

We are sure you aren’t done. How are you going to shake things up next?

I want to create SLAY Your Negotiation with a Narcissist for lots of different sectors –

SLAY Your Negotiation with a Narcissist in Business

SLAY Your Negotiation with a Narcissist in Divorce

SLAY Your Negotiation with a Narcissist in Family Relationships

SLAY Your Negotiation with a Narcissist for Teens

Etc

I also want to create a program for lawyers and a network for lawyers who are certified in my SLAY methodology.

I also want to create a non-profit for people to get access to funds for legal representation against narcissists.

I’m also planning a TED talk, a documentary and so much more!

In your opinion, what are the biggest challenges faced by ‘women disruptors’ that aren’t typically faced by their male counterparts?

Women are often not taken seriously especially in business. There really still is a glass ceiling at the very top of the food chain. Even women lawyers are only paid $.70 cents on every male dollars. It’s time we all learn to “negotiate our best lives” (the name of my podcast ☺)

Do you have a book/podcast/talk that’s had a deep impact on your thinking? Can you share a story with us?

I read Marianne Williamson’s “A Women’s Worth” when I was about 30. It was so impactful for me — especially the quote that says something like when others are jealous of you or your accomplishments, just turn away and smile and say to yourself “I haven’t even started yet”

I also loved her quote in “A Return to Love” about “our greatest fear” isn’t that we are inadequate but that we are powerful beyond measure….

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂

That you can create that power switch and shift the dynamic with anyone.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

That would be the Marianne Williamson quote. I love it because it speaks to how the universe is abundant. We all have access to create the life we want. It is quantum law. We are all stars that can shine. My shine has nothing to do with anyone else’s shine except that if we all shine, we have a gorgeous universe filled with incredible light.

Here’s the full quote:

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, ‘Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?’ Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”

How can our readers follow you online?

https://www.youtube.com/rebeccazung

https://www.instagram.com/rebeccazung

https://www.facebook.com/rebeccazung

https://www.twitter.com/rebeccazung

This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for joining us!


Female Disruptors: Attorney Rebecca Zung On The Three Things You Need To Shake Up Your Industry was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Female Disruptors: Ira Kaganovsky Green On The Three Things You Need To Shake Up Your Industry

Trust your gut instinct, sometimes people are not invested in your plan and that is okay. Everyone will have an opinion and you do not have to listen to it. For example, I had male advisors that expressed I needed coaching because I did not always agree with them. When women are strong, they can be labeled as “bitchy”, but when men appear strong, they are labeled as “leaders.” I never understood this theory.

As a part of our series about women who are shaking things up in their industry, I had the pleasure of interviewing Ira Kaganovsky Green.

In 2016 Ira Kaganovsky launched FREEDOM right from her kitchen in honor of her three friends who were diagnosed with breast, and the strong need for a natural deodorant that will keep women healthy AND odor-free.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit more. Can you tell us a bit about your “backstory”? What led you to this particular career path?

When I was 6 years old my family immigrated to the United States from the USSR. I became inspired by the work ethic in America and went on to spend 20 years in finance while being a single mother to my 3 amazing girls.

Can you tell our readers what it is about the work you’re doing that’s disruptive?

I became inspired by the health benefits of taking an all-natural approach to what we put on and in our bodies. Many companies include harmful chemicals such as talc and aluminum in everyday products. Continued use of these harmful chemicals has been linked to cancer and other diseases. After my 3 friends were diagnosed with breast cancer, I sought out to find another way to keep women healthy through the use of natural products. As for the name, Freedom by George Michaels is my favorite song, so that was a huge inspiration to me in naming my brand.

Creating all-natural products can be difficult. It takes a lot of trial and error, but that requires determination. I knew eventually we would find the right scent, the right formula, and the best possible results, it just required time and effort. I did not want to have to choose between FREEDOM being effective or good for you. This was a huge concern for me when building the brand. However, we were able to achieve BOTH without comprise, which is why you need FREEDOM in your life!

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting?

I am a firm believer in learning from your mistakes. Without mistakes, we will never grow. Every mistake I have made, and there were many, made me stronger and more knowledgeable. Mistakes are opportunities for me. The best was when I had no idea what a bottom fill was. I thought it was self-explanatory when running a production line, but it cost our first run thousands. Luckily, it was an easy fix and I never made that mistake again!

Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

No question is a stupid question! Always ask questions, the worst thing that can happen is that you learn something, which is pretty awesome to me!

We all need a little help along the journey. Who have been some of your mentors?

I find a lot of inspiration in podcasts and books. I heavily researched companies that inspired my brand and reached out to the founders for advice and insight. Some responded and some didn’t, of all, Chris Birchby from COOLA was a great resource that I really learned from. Remember, ask as many questions as you need!

We all need a little help along the journey. Who have been some of your mentors? Can you share a story about how they made an impact?

Chris allowed me to come in and see the everyday operations of COOLA. I really appreciated his willingness to share and mentor me. It was nice to see this first hand. It opened my eyes to the type of team, culture, and responsibilities I wanted for Freedom. Podcasts and other resources do not really address the reality of da-to-day and it is hard to grasp the foundations through a computer screen. This was definitely a great learning opportunity!

In today’s parlance, being disruptive is usually a positive adjective. But is disrupting always good? When do we say the converse, that a system or structure has ‘withstood the test of time’? Can you articulate to our readers when disrupting an industry is positive, and when disrupting an industry is ‘not so positive’? Can you share some examples of what you mean?

I would love to focus on the positive, as I am an optimist. You make things that are better for people, with a better application, ingredients, and overall experience. It is great when you switch to something better and you actually enjoy it — it’s fulfilling to me.

Can you share 3 of the best words of advice you’ve gotten along your journey? Please give a brief story or example for each.

Trust your gut instinct, sometimes people are not invested in your plan and that is okay. Everyone will have an opinion and you do not have to listen to it. For example, I had male advisors that expressed I needed coaching because I did not always agree with them. When women are strong, they can be labeled as “bitchy”, but when men appear strong, they are labeled as “leaders.” I never understood this theory. One time, I was told I was a man-hater by my advisor (I am not and I am actively looking for a nice single one too!) because I disagreed with hiring a bookkeeper out of state. I fired my advisor and got that bookkeeper. They have been with us ever since — trust your gut instinct. And last but not least, if I had a dollar for every time my family or friends thought FREEDOM was a dumb idea or unfriended me because of my love for a natural deodorant, I could’ve self-funded this company years ago!

We are sure you aren’t done. How are you going to shake things up next?

There are lots of things in the works for Freedom and well, I love the element of surprise so stay tuned. What I will say is, wait until you see our new packaging and where you’ll be able to find our products for purchase — definitely keep this on your radar!

In your opinion, what are the biggest challenges faced by ‘women disruptors’ that aren’t typically faced by their male counterparts?

Ambition and strength are some of the biggest challenges I believe women face. Women are viewed as hard to work with, while men are viewed as disruptors and leaders. The truth is, I think we’re all leaders in our own way. Determination is key and essential to building a brand!

Do you have a book/podcast/talk that’s had a deep impact on your thinking? Can you share a story with us?

How I Built This is a must listen, it is my happy place. While I was going through a tough divorce, I went to see a tealeaf reader to tell me where my life was going as I really didn’t know what my next step was going to be (anyone who has gone through this knows you tend to try anything). The tealeaf reader saw a hummingbird in my tealeaves…I immediately got upset. I thought to myself, “I spent $200 to get what? A hummingbird?” As I was leaving, she told me the hummingbird would bring me my FREEDOM, and she was right. When you check out the FREEDOM logo, you will see a hummingbird.

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂

To bring more investment into female-owned brands, more advice, more opportunity…it blows my mind that women only get 2% of VC money. The industry is getting better, but it’s still very tough for female-owned brands. I would love to see more women invest in women, not just philanthropies. Empower a woman and she will empower her whole community.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

“Jump off the cliff and build the airplane on the way” It basically means don’t wait for perfection, just do it! (Thank you, Nike).


Female Disruptors: Ira Kaganovsky Green On The Three Things You Need To Shake Up Your Industry was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.