I Want Her Job

It’s 7:30 a.m., and your four-year-old waddles up to you in his pj’s, as you’re frantically trying to finish your at-home blowout. You need to get out of the house. You’re already late for your job, only he’s sick and wants you to stay home. So, his wee hands reach out and he asks you for a hug, and that’s it. You don’t want to leave. Moreover, you don’t want to go through this part of your morning routine ever again. And Inkwell’s Manon DeFelice would be right there with you. “It’s fine if you want to lean in to your career,” she says, “But what if you also want to lean in to being a mom?” Frustrated with a lack of flexibility in traditional corporate jobs, Manon founded Inkwell as a recruiting service to help match capable professionals with startups and forward-thinking companies in need of top-tier talent on a flexible basis. It’s a win-win. The women recruited by Inkwell find flexible jobs that grow their resumes, and the startups that hire them get exceptional seasoned talent. Prior to starting Inkwell,

If you love museums and art, chances are Maria Yoon has your dream job. As a performance artist, filmmaker, senior museum educator and founder of the recently-launched Private Museum Tours. Maria is a multi-hyphenate trailblazing her own path. With more than 20 years of museum education on her resume, including 17 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, in her new business Maria guides individuals, VIP’s and groups through various museums and galleries in the greater New York City area. “The best part [of my job] is to be surrounded by beautiful things. It never gets old,” Maria says. “Why? Exhibitions change every three months. At a large museum like the Met, they have such a large scale of collections that every day I find something new, and I find beauty in that.” The last time we interviewed Maria Yoon on I Want Her Job, she had just said her final “I do” as part of her documentary, Maria the Korean Bride, in which Maria had 50 different marriages to 50 different “spouses” (including men, women – and even the

Kerrin Mitchell is a woman who aligns herself with managers who are mavericks. And, we feel it takes one to know one. As the co-founder of Fluxx, a company by philanthropists for philanthropists, that makes software to manage the grants process for foundations, nonprofits and government agencies, Kerrin is a woman truly making a difference. Fluxx strives to elevate grantmakers, empower grantseekers and help change the world one grant at a time. The company, which has experienced triple-digit annual growth for the past four years – has a client list that includes Citibank’s Citi Foundation, charity: water, the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, and even the government of New Zealand, which manages all of its grants through the company’s software. In fact, 7 of the 11 largest foundations globally use Fluxx for their grants process. “I feel lucky. I think oftentimes the industries people get into don’t have that sense of community that my industry has innately … [we’re] people and service-oriented individuals,” Ke

The news cycle reminds us that the world has some serious figuring out to do when it comes to refugees – those individuals who have left their home country due to war, conflict or persecution. Thankfully, there are advocates out there working relentlessly to find solutions. One of these people is Jessica Therkelsen, global policy director for Asylum Access, a nonprofit devoted to refugee rights. And, while we know there’s a problem and that refugees are homeless while building a new life, what many of us may not realize is the scale of this crisis. There are more than 20 million refugees today, and a refugee (including children) stay in a refugee camp in exile for an average of 20 years. This isn’t okay with Asylum Access. The nonprofit believes refugees have a right to a fair chance at a new life – wherever they might be – and the group works tirelessly to help refugees in their new country obtain basic rights to live and work. Last year Asylum Access helped more than 20,000 refugees gain these basic rights

We love to shop. We love to do good. And in episode 8 of I Want Her Job: The Podcast, we meet the woman behind our latest go-to gift for baby shower shopping. Katie Marie Grinold Sigfusson is the founder of Chicago-based luxury social impact shopping brand Babies4Babies. The site, which sells high-quality swaddle blankets, helps your dollars go further. For every one blanket purchased, four blankets are donated to save newborns lives in the developing world.   Previous to Babies4Babies Kate held positions at the World Economic Forum, FAIR Girls (formerly FAIR Fund) and IT.com. She’s also – get this, a 2009 Miss America Top 10 Finalist. On today’s podcast, Kate shares how she built took her idea to product, her tricks for managing business and dealing with fear.   TOPICS DISCUSSED IN TODAY'S SHOW: On Facing Fear: “My biggest challenge was getting comfortable with the idea of failure, and that is what keeps most people from entrepreneurship.” On Getting the Guts: “I just believed in my idea so much I had to do

Six years ago, Malia Cohen was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, the legislative branch of the City’s local government. She represents the southeast corner of San Francisco, District 10, home to more than 70,000 constituents living in neighborhoods like Bayview Hunters Point, Potrero Hill, Dogpatch and Visitacion Valley. District 10 also served as home to Malia, who grew up in the area she now represents. In her job Malia also serves as county supervisor (as San Francisco is both a city and a county). Her job is simple, yet complex: Solve problems. One of those problems? Along with her other 10 elected colleagues, determine who gets how much of San Francisco’s $9 billion budget. Malia also serves as chair of the Board of Supervisors Land Use and Transportation Committee, as vice chair of the San Francisco Employee Retirement System, as a member of the Board of Supervisors Rules Committee and on the Peninsula Corridor Joint Powers Board. During her tenure she’s spearheaded efforts to devel

Alisha Gaddis is the consummate I Want Her Job Leading Lady. She’s an actress, musician, author, comedienne, wife and mom. Not only does Alisha wear a plethora of hats, but she’s also damn good at what she does. She is an Emmy-winning actress, to be exact, and along with her husband, Lucky Diaz, the two are the first Americans ever to win a Latin Grammy in the children’s category for their music in Lucky Diaz and the Family Jam Band. In addition, the two lovable entertainers who are reminiscent of a modern-day, kiddo-friendly Lucy and Ricky, star in Lishy Lou and Lucky Too! on The Friday Zone on PBS. And with 26 episodes under their belt, Alisha and Lucky are set to film season two. In addition, Alisha is an editor and author of multiple books, including Women’s Comedic Monologues That Are Actually Funny, and the just-released book in the same applause acting series, Teen Girls’ Comedic Monologues That Are Actually Funny. And Alisha knows a thing or two about being funny. She’s performed comedy in top venues

Jane Mitchell's idea started out with an idea on a sticky note. It has since grown into The Reset Foundation, an organization set to buck convention for those incarcerated. The idea is simple, says the Foundation's website, "Instead of serving time in a dehumanizing prison environment, a sentenced young adult lives at Reset Campus, focused entirely on academics, career and healthy living." The goal of The Reset Foundation is to keep these young adults out of an ongoing prison/poverty cycle through a two-year program focused on training, counseling, education and career support.   The United States has a higher incarceration rate than anywhere in the world -- with 2.8 million behind bars. Of these individuals, 68% are re-arrested within only three years. And while Jane has selected a career path that's far from glamorous, she loves her job, lives her faith and has an unmatched enthusiasm for keeping young people out of jail.

Katherine Brown, practice lead for investors industries, focuses on impact investing for the World Economic Forum. Known for its annual Davos conference, Katherine shares what it's like to work for the WEF, including her role influencing impact investing for communities around the world. She also shares her unpredictable path that led to her role at WEF, as well as why she loves her job -- and the impact it makes -- so much.    Topics Discussed In Today’s Show: Advice for joining a mission-aligned organization. Katherine's work for the World Economic Forum and the Forum for Young Global Leaders: Learn more here. Her participation in the SOCAP conference. The 2012 Olympics Opening Ceremony: Why dancing in the Opening Ceremony was one of the best things Katherine has ever been involved with. Katherine's book recommendation for finding balance: Check out Essentialism -- The Disciplined Pursuit of Less. The future of impact investing: Check out this inspiring video from the WEF website. Why we need more women in

Margot Kane from the Calvert Foundation joins us to discuss impact investing. If you are want to know more about an entirely new way of investing that allows you to invest money while improving communities around the world, join us as we discuss the work Margot is doing. You may be surprise to learn if you have a tax ID and twenty dollars, you too can become an impact investor today! We discuss what impact investing is, projections for growth in this tremedously exciting sector, examples of impact investments, and the potential within impact investing to transform some of our biggest social issues around the world.  Topics discussed in today’s show: If you want to learn more about this field, don't be scared off by the Finance side. Margot Kane says “ Finance is not rocket science, it’s more fancy arithmetic”. “Women are basically going to be running all of this, so don’t be shy about jumping in with both feet if this is what excites you” “Impact investing is a mismatch, a multi-disciplinary practice, it en

With an abundant passion for technology, we're excited to introduce you to Jocelyn Goldfein, an angel investor and technology company adviser. With a resume that includes tenures as an engineering leader at VMware and engineering director at Facebook, Jocelyn is now using her experience and influence to help technology startups build teams and grow business. In our conversation with her, we discuss her career path, how to tackle the issue of a low percentage of women in tech jobs and her thoughts on how our world could change if that number doubles! We're sure that by the end of this episode you'll want to work for Jocelyn as much as we do!  

Dona Sarkar is an Engineering Lead for Microsoft’s HoloLens, a fashion designer, blogger and author of several books. We talk to Dona about her career in technology and how following your interests on the side can enhance your career.   Dona compares learning to coding to learning a new language, it takes time. We discuss online resources to start learning new skills, and the massive opportunity to build products for the 5 billion people who are currently underserved in the markets. “We keep going after the same 2 billion people over and over again in tech, but why, lets go after 5 billion.”   Growing up in Detroit, Dona didn’t have a lot of money or resources, so she made up her own stories and characters. Dona talks about how writing and the benefits of growing up with a need to constantly use her own creativity to entertain herself. Dona says “when you don’t have very much, consider it your superpower”. Dona also explain how a lack of resources can help you understand the 5 billion undeserved people in t