Women Worldwide With Deirdre Breakenridge

We often hear about self-care and it is definitely a buzzword right now. But there are many misconceptions about what self-care really is. Ultimately, self-care is a thing, even the small things, that bring you peace and joy. That’s why Roberta Hughes joins us today because the work she does with her clients is all about finding moments of peace and joy in their life so they can feel value and purpose. Roberta Hughes is the Founder and lead instructor at PeaceFull Living, a boutique hybrid studio that conveys a delicate and personalized Peaceful Living instruction through customized Pilates, Meditation, and Yoga classes. Peaceful Living grants clients a way to filter out life’s pressures through a delicate and highly personalized approach. Its nurturing and customized approach guides clients who desire to change their relationship with stress. In our conversation today, we discuss how to declutter our thoughts, how to find the meaningful things that bring us peace and joy, and we even talk about social media’

Energy is a broad term, isn’t it? Sometimes something so broad can be hard to understand. So, today’s episode is all about tuning into your energy with guest Rebecca Ahmed. Rebecca Ahmed is an award-winning speaker, business consultant, and an Energy Leadership Index™ Master Practitioner (ELI-MP), which is an exclusive training in human energy and how we can experience, express, and expand it in ourselves and others. Rebecca is also a Professional Certified Coach (PCC) with the International Coaching Federation (ICF), and published writer. Her work has been featured in Forbes, National Association of Colleges and Employers, Talent Management & HR, Recruiting Daily, and Talent Culture. Under her direct supervision, Allegiant Airlines won Glassdoor’s “Best Places to Interview” award. Caesars Entertainment, the largest casino-entertainment company in the U.S. retained Rebecca as their new “Chief Energy Officer” in 2021. With all these credentials, Rebecca is an expert on this topic of energy. In our conversa

Inspiration can come from anywhere, but for today’s guest, her family has been the biggest inspiration of all, creating opportunities to channel her passion into writing. Author Annette Berkovits does just that with each and every one of her books and today she shares her journey. Annette Libeskind Berkovits was born in Kyrgyzstan and grew up in postwar Poland and the fledgling state of Israel before coming to the U.S. at age sixteen. Despite being uprooted from country to country, Berkovits has channeled her passions into language study and writing.  Her first memoir, In the Unlikeliest of Places: How Nachman Libeskind Survived the Nazis, Gulags and Soviet Communism, a story of her father’s remarkable survival, was published in 2014. She is also the author of a second memoir, Confessions of an Accidental Zoo Curator, a poetry book, Erythra Thalassa: Brain Disrupted, and a historical fiction novel, The Corset Maker. Aftermath: Coming of Age on Three Continents is her latest release and all have been inspi

Brand equity is a big buzzword in the business world. Brands like Apple are highly recognizable not just for what they sell but also for what they stand for. Today, all businesses strive to have that type of impact with their brands. My guest today is an expert at helping women transform their business visions through building brand equity.  Ari Kryzek, CEO & Head of Strategy at Chykalophia, is a certified brand strategist. She works with women-led firms to help them carve out their brands and build brand equity. She’s also the host of the Halo Femtech podcast honoring innovative female disrupters.  So how can you hone in on your brand equity while staying true to your principles? In our conversation today, Ari shares her journey, her advice for women-led brands, and the questions you need to ask to dig deeper into your own story to build a brand that will create far-reaching customer connection and loyalty.  Show Notes: [2:10] - Ari shares her foundational journey growing up in Bali. [4:04] - The discov

It’s no secret that the corporate boardroom is still a “man’s world,” but we also know that diversity at every level of an organization is so impactful. And when it comes to getting more women on corporate boards, you won’t find many more passionate than today’s guest Jocelyn Mangan. Jocelyn is a co-founder of Him For Her, a social impact venture that aims at accelerating diversity on boards. Him For Her is building the boardroom of the future by making female candidates more visible. Prior to founding Him For Her, Jocelyn spent over 20 years in the tech field and in our conversation today, she describes her journey and the pivot she made into entrepreneurship. So what prevents women from getting their seat at the table? Jocelyn shares the interesting myths about being board ready and the new challenges brought to us in recent years, including the challenge of personal wellness in leadership. Show Notes: [1:57] - Jocelyn spent 20+ years in tech but pivoted to entrepreneurship. [4:22] - Although the job is de

When it comes to communicating, there are a surprising number of elements that go into effectively speaking to others, whether that be in a professional setting or a personal one. And it all starts with knowing your baseline. In this episode, I explain what a baseline is and how the knowledge of your own baseline can impact the effectiveness of your communication. As you are thinking about your baseline, you have to consider things like the sound of your voice and body language. It is broken down into three parts: voice, verbal cues, and non-verbal cues. Listen on to find out more about each and the magical thing that happens when all three align. Show Notes: [1:08] - Baseline communication is something we don’t often consider. What is the baseline? [2:33] - The baseline is broken down into voice, verbal cues, and non-verbal cues. [3:23] - Pitch is how you modulate your voice. [4:01] - Upspeak is a lilt up at the end of a sentence and doesn’t help you come across as a thought leader. [5:18] - The baseline an

Did you get the memo or do you feel like you missed something? Today’s guest admits that for a long time, she felt that she had totally missed the memo. But in reality, she just hadn’t made her own yet. Today’s guest is Yemi Penn, an engineer by profession, a fascinating and successful entrepreneur, author, speaker, and transformation mindset coach. In our conversation, Yemi helps us understand transformation and how we can make the necessary shifts to feeling empowered. Yemi uses the “memo” comparison to life because many of us feel or have felt at some point that we’re not living life the way we should. We might feel like we’re not on the right path or that it's too late to make a change. But as Yemi explains in this episode, it’s never too late to start trusting yourself. So did you get the memo? Don’t worry if you’ve missed it because it probably wasn’t for you anyway. Let’s get started writing your own memo. Show Notes: [0:25] - This week’s episode is all about transformation and feeling empowered with

Today’s guest is proof that you can have it all and you don’t have to wait. Mary D’Souza has built a very successful career and focuses her efforts on living her best life. But what’s her secret? For Mary, it has always boiled down to relationship building. In her experiences in private credit, equity, real estate, and investment banking, Mary learned what it takes to build meaningful relationships when you want to move forward with an investment. And now as the Chief Investment Officer at Misha Investments, she continues to build relationships with team members and clients. Not only are relationships with clients important, but Mary also discusses the impact of a mentor/mentee relationship and the fostering of trust that goes into this kind of connection. She says that in order to build the best life ever, you have to surround yourself with the “best” people. To her, that means the people who share your values and people you can learn from. Mary is full of wonderful tips that are not only great for business,

How do you go from med school to becoming a franchise consultant? My guest today is Kim Daly, a top consulting franchising expert, and international bestselling co-author. She is also the creator of the Daly Plan, a millionaire mindset coaching program, and the host of KimDaly.tv. We discussed Kim's path from preparing for med school to becoming a successful franchise consultant, how to overcome limiting beliefs and realize your dreams, how to develop a millionaire mindset, and more. Our conversation started with what a franchise business is, the misconceptions around it, and how it can help anyone regardless of their business experience (or lack of) take a proven business plan and become a successful business owner. One of the things Kim highlighted is the importance of setting your own goals for your business, finding your motivation to succeed, and working on your mindset to become successful because success is always an inside job. On her YouTube show, KimDaly.tv, she talks about all things franchising, f

I am sitting down with Amy Pyles in this episode of Women Worldwide to discuss various topics such as how to embrace technology and become better at solving problems! Amy is the president of Saxum, a digital integrated agency that solves complex problems for brands and organizations! Amy helps brands make more effective connections with those whom they serve – even brands as big and as recognizable as Walmart! Tune in as she shares her journey, touching upon how she got on this path and how she launched Saxum. Amy also reveals what she believes makes an effective leader and why empathy is so important.  Amy tells us what her approach is as a marketer, how tennis helps her manage stress, and so much more! Show Notes: [0:07] – Today's guest is Amy Pyles of Saxum. [2:33] – Amy dives into what put her on her path. [4:40] – Amy argues that innovation can be scary. [5:50] – What makes Amy an effective leader? [7:30] – What should women look at in terms of skills? [9:17] – Amy talks about some of her mentors and in

We have conversations just about every single day, but are you having conversations with the companies from whom you're buying products?  Well, in this episode of Women Worldwide, I am sitting down for a discussion with Brooke Sellas to talk about just that and more!  Brooke is the C.E.O. and founder of B Squared Media, an award-winning digital marketing agency focusing on social media management, advertising, and social-led customer care. She also teaches Digital Marketing & Voice of the Customer courses (virtually) at the University of California in Irvine. Brooke’s marketing mantra is Think Conversation, Not Campaign, and she is also the author of Conversations That Connect! Brooke founded B Squared Media in 2012. Serving mostly middle-market and enterprise brands, their services include social media management, advertising, and social-led customer care solutions. Brooke is an “in the trenches” marketer with 18+years of sales and marketing experience and a BA from Penn State University in Media &

Have you ever had one of those moments when you just don't feel like you're in sync? Maybe your voice is shaky, you can't find the words that you want to use, and/or your body feels stiff. Join me as I fly solo today and share my tips to help you overcome these no-flow moments! A no-flow moment is when, for whatever reason, your vocal cues, your verbal cues, and your body language are not synchronized, and I share with you how to get back into a synchronized flow! You, for starters, need to be able to recognize that you're having a no-flow moment, and I give you three no-flow moments and what you can do. I walk you through the three different types of no-flow moments – the previously mentioned vocal cues, verbal cues, and non-verbal cues (or body language) – giving examples of each and tips on how to overcome them. These tips include mindful breathing, a verbal fluency test that can help you determine whether or not you're going to experience a verbal no-flow moment, and letting your hands flow rather than cl

Loss of any kind in one’s life is tragic and soul-altering. The grieving process that follows, while painful and difficult, is necessary in order to return to a place where you can live life to the fullest. Someone who knows a lot about this process is Kristine Carlson, the co-author of the book Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff.  Richard Carlson, her late husband, wrote the book and was considered the foremost expert on happiness and stress reduction. Then one day in 2006, he left to go on a trip, and due to a pulmonary embolism, never made it home.  This harrowing experience has forever altered Kristine’s life and her work. It was through the process of her own grieving that she realized how prepared she was despite the sudden nature of her loss. She had the tools to be able to find her way back to a life worth living.  Much of that was due to her late husband’s work and the way they lived their lives together.  What she realized is that most people do not have the same tools and practices to help them through lo

So many women believe they’re bad at negotiations because it’s not a skill they’ve ever been successful at building. Not because they haven’t sought out the knowledge and advice, but because the advice they were given was not gender neutral.  That’s right. Negotiation is a highly gendered skill, and that needs to change.  Kathryn Valentine founded Worthmore Negotiations after having a bad experience with negotiations while she was in college. She had an amazing internship where she’d completed her tasks in a fraction of the time allotted. However, when it was time to present her project, she was told that she wasn’t a good fit for the company.  Why? Because she’d tried to negotiate like a man.  This experience led her down the path of researching more about this issue overall. Come to find out, women really do need to negotiate in a different way in order to be heard, respected, and compensated.  Listen as Kathryn shares the three main principles women should keep in mind as they’re negotiating, her 9-step fr

Dr. Martha Saunders, the President of the University of West Florida, has worked in higher education for over three decades. She has served in academic leadership roles in Florida, Georgia, Wisconsin, and Mississippi, and is known for her ability to manage and navigate crises.  She credits her ability to help move through tough times to her views on innovative learning and creating cutting-edge academic programs. Higher education is facing some big challenges these days and she’s passionate about creating innovative solutions to deal with them.  Academic leadership was not her first stop on her career journey. She actually started out in communications and helped navigate the waters of creating proper communication channels during crises.  Those years have served her well as she has worked to make UWF one of the top three public schools in all of Florida. Listen as she shares her story, why they were already prepared for an instance like Covid, and what it takes to truly step into innovative learning. Dr. Sau

For so many people, finding love is one of the most difficult things they’ve ever done. It makes you wonder, why do some people find love so easily and others have immense trouble? Venus Castleberg, author of Here to Forever: Finally Free to Be Me, joins me to chat about looking for love in all the wrong places, and where she finally found hers.  Venus has spent much of her life jumping from modality to modality, practice to practice looking for something to fix her. What she finally realized was that she was never broken; she simply didn’t love herself. How can you find love with another person if you don’t have love for yourself?  This realization changed so much in her life, her career, and her relationships. She’s now an Access Consciousness Certified Facilitator and coaches others in rediscovering their love for themselves.  Writing Here to Forever: Finally Free to Be Me gave Venus even more insights into her own issues with self-love. It had always been a bucket list item to become an author, but she d

Have you ever been faced with a decision that could mean someone lived or died? Jillian Haslam, author of the new book, A Voice Out of Poverty, has faced life-threatening decisions, which kept her younger sister alive. Jillian is an inspiration and her story is one you won’t want to miss. Listen as Jillian shares her inspirational story and learn more about the principles behind her decision-making process. She took those words to heart and when her little sister was born and given only three days to live, she said no. Instead, she took a bowl to tea shops in the area and asked for milk. That one decision saved her sister’s life and now she’s happily married and thriving.  Despite their poverty, her parents were unbelievably giving because no matter what they had they always had room to give.  Growing up around such truly inspirational people helped her to never see the suffering in the situation. Instead, she and her siblings found happiness and joy. She’s now a successful author, speaker, and entrepreneur

I was recently chatting with a colleague and she was sharing with me her frustrations because she felt like no one was paying attention. It got me thinking about why that might be. I’m going to impart the knowledge I shared with her here. Let me know, are people listening to you?  First, be fully present when you’re in a meeting or one on one. Think about it, why would someone connect with you if your mind is obviously elsewhere. Be present and focused on the person you’re having a meeting with.  Second, are you stating facts and figures or are you using the data to paint a picture of next steps? Anyone can read from a report. Anyone can read numbers and figures off of a spreadsheet. If you want to be heard, you need to be able to share facts and figures in a way that tells a story.  Next, dig down to the essential information you’re sharing and be sure that’s all you share. You don’t want to jump down into rabbit holes and start providing irrelevant information. That’s a surefire way to lose your audience’s

Maria Brito started her career as an attorney. She grew up in a household that believed the best way to make money was to become a professional. Once she graduated and started working in law, she realized she couldn’t do that work.  She hated every single minute that she spent at the law firm. The final straw came when she had her first child and the thought of going back devastated her.  When she was a kid she was always writing plays and creating exciting new worlds. Maria wanted to be involved in the arts somehow. She started following the art world and figured out exactly what she wanted to do.  Now Maria helps art collectors procure special pieces and consults on how to create art catalogs and more.  Every single time she has made gains in her business or found that something was working, it was when she was leaning into her creativity. Without creativity, progress stops.  Listen as Maria shares her story and why she’s so passionate about helping others find and use their own creativity. Show Notes: [02

In this day and age people have trouble being alone with themselves. With social media opening the door into our lives in new and persistent ways, we no longer have the solitary space to just be. Alone time however is necessary for growth, alignment, and joy.  Listen as Rebekah Iliff and I chat about her new book and why having the space to be alone is so important.  Rebekah is an author, speaker, and entrepreneur who has spent a lot of time alone. Between getting married a little later in life to moving frequently, she’s had time to get comfortable with herself. Then she experienced a tragedy and her need for alone time grew.  Through her grief, she authored Champagne For One which is a humorous take on why alone time is a requirement for life. When you sit in silence and spend time with yourself, oftentimes you’ll find answers to questions you’ve been asking yourself for a long time. So, do you feel comfortable when you’re alone? Or do you avoid alone time like? If you’re the latter, listen in as Rebekah sh