Breaking the Rules of Leadership with The Female Quotient's CEO & Founder, Shelley Zalis

I’ve known Shelley Zalis, Founder & CEO of The Female Quotient (TFQ), for a long time now…10+ times at CES together (including one where I was pregnant walking the floor 😅), Advertising Weeks, Possibles, AI events, airport run-ins. And every time we talk, I leave thinking differently about leadership, community, and honestly… how much of our industry needs to be redesigned.I’m really excited to share this new BOSS episode with Shelley, as it's a long time in the making.And it's perfect timing as we’ll both be back at POSSIBLE this year in Miami in April… and you already know I’ll be spending time in the TFQ Lounge.If you’ve been, you know.That’s where the real conversations happen.That's where I know I will run into industry friends old and new.Within the first couple of minutes of the interview, Shelley said:“I never want to look back and say shoulda, woulda, could have.”“I’m a chief troublemaker… I break every rule that makes no sense.”“We don’t get anywhere by just sitting around.”That’s the energy.She didn’t just build a company…She built a global community of millions of people showing up, connecting, and supporting each other across industries.That’s not easy to do.But she’s done it with her team.We also got into what’s happening right now:→ Why we’re moving from audience → community → Why community isn’t just a buzzword, it’s how trust, relationships, and business actually happen → And why AI is an opportunity, opportunity, opportunity, if you lean inAnd honestly—this is what I keep coming back to:So much of what’s shaped my career didn’t come from a meeting or a title.It came from people.From communities.From moments where you show up, connect, and something real happens.That’s why spaces like TFQ matter.Also, very on brand—30 seconds into the interview she flipped it and started asking me questions 😂If you’re building, leading, navigating your next move or just thinking about what kind of leader you want to be—You’ll want to watch this one.If you’re going to POSSIBLE—are you stopping by the TFQ Lounge?👇 And bigger question…What’s one “rule” in our industry that just doesn’t make sense anymore?Let’s rewrite a few of them.Follow me, Ali Levitan, for more BOSS executive interviews, agentic AI insights, and the real talk on work and life as Jake and Sophia's mom.