VEST Her Podcast

The whispers about hormones, perimenopause, and menopause have remained frustratingly quiet for too long. Dr. Kristen Markell, a double-board certified OBGYN and certified menopause practitioner, breaks the silence with game-changing clarity in this essential conversation moderated by VEST Member Alison Anthony.

For decades, women experiencing brain fog, anxiety, fatigue, and mood changes during perimenopause have been dis...

Women have long navigated workspaces that weren't built with us in mind, fueling an inner voice of self-doubt that can hold us back. Dr. Amelia Duran-Stanton, author of "The Lotus Within" and Colonel in the US Army with decades of service, shares strategies for quieting that inner critic while building sustainable confidence as a leader.

• Dr. Duran Stanton explains her book "The Lotus Within" focuses on s...

In this episode, we sit down with Niren Chaudhary, former Chairman and CEO of Panera Bread, and VEST Member Beverly Carmichael, a seasoned corporate board director for several iconic brands. Together, we explore the rising demand for empathetic leadership in today’s volatile and unpredictable world.

“Leaders have to be peddlers of hope,”  Niren Chaudhary.

For our guests full bio and show notes click here...

Are you ready to stop waiting for recognition and start owning your strengths? In this episode, we revisit one of our most transformative sessions: Turning Strengths Into Opportunities—an essential conversation for women professionals ready to take charge of their careers.

Too often, high-achieving women are so consumed by deadlines, expectations, and the constant comparison trap that they lose sight of their unique value....

Women in the U.S. aren’t just balancing careers and caregiving—they are the invisible backbone of a broken system keeping our economy afloat. In this episode of the VEST Her Podcast, we sat down with Dr. Jessica Calarco, sociologist, professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and author of Holding It Together: How Women Became America’s Safety Net. 

Moderating this discussion was Monica Barczak, VEST Member and Founder & ...

In this episode, we dive into why plans, goals, and resolutions often fail—and how to overcome those challenges. We introduce the WOOP Framework (Wish, Outcome, Obstacle, Plan) to help you create a personalized action plan and share practical resources to keep you on track all year long.

We’re also sharing key takeaways from a session we hosted for VEST Members, our peer network of women professionals. You’ll learn effective strateg...

In this episode we talked about Ageism at Work with Maureen Wiley Clough, host of the acclaimed podcast It Gets Late Early. In it we unpacked the unique challenges women face as we progress in our career and share actionable strategies for overcoming age-related obstacles and redefining our career trajectories at any age.

For our guest full bio and show notes go to www.vesther.co/podcast 

This episode is brought to you by V...

Your personal brand is the sum of how others perceive you—your strengths, the expertise they associate with you, and the way you communicate your skills and personality both in person and online. But why is having a personal brand so important? Throughout your career, one thing is certain: you will need to pivot. Pivots are inevitable, often unexpected. Whether it’s a layoff, taking breaks to care for loved ones, or another curveba...

Discover the invisible barriers that hold women back from seizing their rightful places in political and civic spaces. In this episode, Andy Moore, founder of Let’s Fix This and Executive Director of the National Association of Nonpartisan Reformers, speaks with Mia Barros, founder of Voluntarios por Kamala, Blaire Postman, Founder of Cat Ladies for Kamala, and Cortney Tunis, former Executive Director of Pantsuit Nation. In it, the...

In this episode VEST Member Claudia Naím-Burt co-founder and COO of Keep Company, a group learning platform helping employers care for the caregivers on their teams, talks to Paul Sullivan, former New York Times financial columnist and founder The Company of Dads, a platform supporting “Lead Dads”—men who are the “go-to” parents whether they work full-time, part-time, or are devoting all their time to their families.

Join us as we t...

In this episode, we're joined by Dr. Vanessa Scaringi, a licensed psychologist and co-owner of CALM Counseling in Austin, TX. Dr. Scaringi recently authored an insightful article in TIME magazine examining the psychological effects of modern identity trends like the "soft girl" and "tradwife" movements, which are gaining popularity among Gen-Z women.

Together, we'll dive into the psychological implicati...

In this episode we talk to Shalynne Jackson, Oklahoma City's Chief Equity Officer, and Mikeale Campbell, Diversity & Inclusion Program Manager at Williams on the topic of Future of Work as it relates to inclusion. We talk about SHRM's decision to remove the word “equity” from DEI due to the anti-DEI movement. If and how companies should evolve DEI efforts. How executives can address the wrongful implication that DEI e...

In this episode VEST Member Terra-Branson Thomas, Senior Policy Advisor at Clause Law and former Secretary of the Nation for the Muscogee Creek Nation talks about the Status of Women in Politics with Kelly Dittmar, Associate Professor of Political Science at Rutgers University and Director of Research at the Center for American Women and Politics at Eagleton Institute of Politics. Kelly is a published author in the field of Gender ...

In this episode VEST Members talk to gender-inclusive culture expert Brad Johnson, Professor of Psychology at the United States Naval Academy and Faculty Associate at John Hopkins University, about the skills and benefits men earn when they engage in advocating for women at work. The misconceptions and challenges that often get in the way of men engaging in gender-equity advocacy and the economics of inclusive workspaces. Special t...

In this episode we talk to Oklahoma State Senator Julia Kirt and Oklahoma State Representative Melissa Provenzano about why it is becoming harder and harder for people to engage in politics. Join us as we talk about why people are feeling disenfranchised and divided. How can we better navigate the process, skip the noise, and be more effective in our advocacy efforts? 

Together, we dissect the urgency of empowering women in politics...

In this episode we talk to VEST Members about how they've managed to navigate career transitions and setbacks, while rediscovering themselves and building meaningful connections. We discuss the importance of asking for help, leveraging peer networks, advocating for ourselves and other women unapologetically. Join us as we dive into double standards women face at work like self-promotion, work-life balance, and ageism. 

Remote-work has dwindled over the past few years as employers issue return-to-office mandates. But will that continue in 2024?

In this episode VEST Member Jess Kyle, Data Engineer Manager at Underdog Sports, a fully remote company with more than 350 distributed employees, talks to Lynn Greenberg, Founder of Pivt, a platform helping employers reduce turnover and enhance the social well-being of relocated, mobile, and remote workers a...

More and more women are considering switching roles or leaving the labor force in general as a result of burnout. This burnout is in large part due to caregiving responsibilities. In fact, caregiving responsibilities are the number two reason (behind retirement), that people, mostly women, leave the labor force. This negatively impacts our nation’s workforce availability as well as women’s lifetime earnings. Making this not a women...

In this episode Accountability Coach and Author of "Why Not You," Amanda McKinney shares tips, tools and resources with VEST Members on how to achieve goals through discipline and accountability systems. We also talk about the struggle we all grapple with: self-doubt, fear of failure, and decision fatigue. We share strategies to overcome these barriers and discuss how honesty about our fears and seeking support from trust...