Women's Work

Lacey Beam is a small-town attorney, primarily doing indigent defense work. Where she lives and works isn’t large enough for a public defender’s office, so this means she works for a small firm, but the majority of her caseload is court-appointed work. She says it allows her to have her heart broken on a regular basis, but she’s grateful she gets to serve her community with this type of legal work. Plus, a big announcement about some BIG changes around here! Stay to the...

Sallie Miura and her family have lived in Brazil for quite awhile, for her husband’s work, actually, but she’s taken it upon herself to create her own career as a conversational English teacher. She takes in students and uses the power of conversation to help them learn English without the hassle of a classroom. Notes: TwitterInstagramTwitterThe Untethered SoulAn American MarriageJoin us in Patreon5 Quick Things

Liz Dolan has been a podcaster since before podcasting was even a well-known thing, which is why many in the industry consider her truly a podcasting pioneer. Her show, Satellite Sisters, has won more Gracie Allen awards for excellence in women's media than any other radio show/podcast ever. And before this? She was a badass in the business world, working for brands you might have heard of: Nike, Oprah, and National Geographic, just to name a few. Notes: Satellite...

Lauren Porter is a scientist who does research at basically a think tank — you can hear it in her voice how excited she gets about the tiny little things most of us don’t even know about, much less pay attention to. But her work is so important, and it both depends on the work of others and contributes to what future scientists like herself can discover and learn for the betterment of our entire world. These scientists are truly unsung heroes, because they contribute so much to our...

Cori Salchert is a hospice mom. What's that? Basically, she says she’s ready and willing to receive babies into her home with her family who have a life-limiting prognosis or terminal diagnosis. Her job? Is to love them just like a mama for whatever time they have before they pass away. She has 8 biological children and have fostered or adopted 7 more children. Cori says she and her family aren’t professionals; they’re just here, telling their story so others are aware of the needs of these...

Amy Anderson's title is civil engineer, but really, she’s a water resources engineer — which is really cool, you’ll hear more about what that means in our chat. Amy’s part of the Partnership for River Restoration and Science in the Upper Midwest (pronounced "prism"); basically, she’s one of the many engineers who make our world function without most of us non-engineers even realizing it. Interviewing smart women like Amy has given me a newfound appreciation for...

Both of Luci Ramos Hoppe’s parents grew up in poverty, but then she grew up with some wealth—and she’s the daughter of an immigrant and a woman of color. This all ties closely to her calling to social work education and social justice. In her work as a professor of social work, Luci’s focus includes diversity, ethical faith integration in social work practice, work with children and families, curriculum development and undergrad student experiences. And? She was the first person in her...

Kate Edwards hosts quarterly gatherings where 16 creatively-driven women, most of whom have never met before, come together and share a meal, conversation, and experience. Every attendee brings something both literally and figuratively to the table, and the night's success, from the tablescape to the food to the entertainment, relies upon the group's collective efforts. Kate started all this, and the idea has completely taken off. Notes: Create...

Toni McEwan is a project manager, which sounds pretty broad, right? I mean, what is that, even? Well, she’s worked for her company, Dow Agro Sciences, for awhile now, but specifically, she simply leads teams of people. Her work is all about the people who do the work, making sure they have what they need to do their job well. She helps leads projects, from start to finish, and encourages people to do their best work so everyone can work well together — and if you’ve had any experience in...

Jenni Burke a fairly unassuming literary agent, because she’s one of the nicest people in the world to talk to, but the woman can get things DONE when it comes to contracts, business negotiations, and representing her authors well. I love her approach and philosophy of slow publishing, authors living well so they don’t burn out, and writing from a genuine place of having something to say instead of writing just to publish something. (And yep… she’s actually my own literary agent, and as...

Jo Ellis started a nonprofit crafting school in her town called Make Do, where she and others in the community use the unassuming power of different crafting skills like sewing, quilting, felting, and painting to make a difference in their community. Jo first saw overseas how teaching something like sewing could change the attitude, perspective, and even future of young women, so when she returned home, she wanted to impart that same simple power in her small town. She’s learning a lot...

Amber Rae began her work in marketing, but then took a giant leap of faith and moved into work as an artist, which for her, also took a major move across the country for a clean do-over. She ended up doing some pretty cool installations across New York City, and eventually, took her experience and encouraging voice and put it to use encouraging others to take risks with their own work and art. The title of her book says it all about her approach. Notes: TwitterInstagramwebsiteChoose...

What’s a presentation creator, right? Well, Sandra Johnson has been in this industry a long time now, enough to where she used to call herself a power point creator, but now she works in all sorts of mediums. Basically, she helps presenters make good presentations. Anyone who needs help giving a compelling talk, she’s your gal. And because she’s been doing this for awhile, she knows what makes a presentation that WORKS. She loves what she does, and she has a lot to say about how we sell our...

Callie Salmon has been in the wedding industry for a few years now, but she just started her business less than a year ago at the time of our conversation. So this one’s a fun, slightly different episode because I’m talking with her about the early stuff she’s learning as a wedding florist — how to run her business as a young solopreneur, the lessons she’s learning about finance, marketing, time management, and learning her trade. It’s a good reminder on what it’s like to start something...

Maile Urbancic saw a gap in both the jewelry and STEM fields, and wanted to intersect the two. So, she founded Boutique Academia when she was pregnant with her third child (she actually did her business taxes during labor!). She loves both science and art, so creating this somewhat unorthodox jewelry has given her a creative outlet for giving women like her a way to express their love for things like anatomy, engineering, astronomy, tech, and more. She’s learning a lot about being her own...

Heather Whaling started the PR company she’s currently president of, called Geben Communication, a PR firm where she oversees a small team of people that handles multiple clients. She’s currently passionate about helping other small businesses roll out comprehensive paid parental leave programs similar to the one she started at her company, which is called Geben Loves Families. Her workplace program offers 10 weeks of 100% paid leave to new moms and dads whether they give birth or adopt, in...

Tanorria Askew is a personal chef and runs a business called Tanorria’s Table, where people can hire her for both everyday meals and special occasions. Her cooking roots originate from the south, and Tanorria’s had fun putting a modern spin on American Comfort Food — she recently placed 4th on Master Chef! She’s passionate about good food, gathering people around the table to have good conversations, and enjoying life through it all. Her can-do attitude is contagious. Notes: Tanorria's...

Bethany Rydmark is an eighth-generation Oregonian and a small business owner, raising her young kids and helping shape the places people live with their families. She's passionate about care for the natural environment and leaning into its natural cycles of cycles of growth, beauty, respite, and renewal. She’s also the founder of something called the PDX Food Swap, a pretty fantastic idea! Notes Bethany's business websiteHer blogInstagramTwitterPDX Food...

Kirstin Yates is a therapist working at a local community clinic, doing work that’s so valuable and necessary to our communities, but largely goes unnoticed and unappreciated. I’ve personally benefited so much from the therapists in my life, so I’m grateful for the work Kirstin does in her local space, and I’m honored to share her story so we can all benefit. There’s many, many people like her all around us — they deserve our many thanks. Notes Kirstin's...

Connie Gabbert is a book cover designer, and you may have heard me talk about her before—this is because she’s not only a personal friend of mine, but she also designed the covers of my last two books, At Home in the World and Notes From a Blue Bike (and I’m so impressed with her work that if I have it my way, I’m going to ask for her to design all my book covers for the rest of my career). Connie is supremely talented, her portfolio keeps growing with new and brilliant takes on book cover...