Advertise on podcast: Dream Possible With Maria Reitan

Anna Bonavita, founder of Esperienza.org – a totally immersive experience with small-scale, intimate tours where you interact with locals with unique experiences. All in the Italian region of Emilia Romagna.

Storyteller, children’s book author, columnist, former TV anchor/host, wife, and mother Leslie Means is the founder of the popular online community and motherhood website, Her View From Home (2.5 million monthly readers), which encourages women to share their heartfelt stories of faith and family and to connect with one another. Her View From Home is thriving submissions-based publisher millions turn to for positive inspiration and advice on motherhood, marriage, kids, grief, friendship, life, gift guides, and faith. In 2012, a group of former TV industry professionals and authors got together to dream up a plan to create a place for women to share stories. Together, they won a business plan competition from the University of Nebraska, Kearney which helped make their dream a reality. Leslie started Her View From Homeworking out of her tiny closet. The website now receives over 2.5 million visitors each month and offers readers insightful and encouraging advice on motherhood, marriage, relationships, grief, faith, and life, as well as a collection of faith-inspired clothing (best-seller So God Made a Mother t-shirt) and lifestyle products. Means is publishing a book called So God Made a Mother (pre-order available Fall 2022), which will be out from Tyndale next year. So God Made a Mother is full of 50-60 powerful stories of motherhood—written by women of all backgrounds, from all stages of raising kids—meaning every mom will find herself somewhere within its pages. Leslie Means takes the reader on a journey that will make you laugh and cry and nod along, all the while highlighting a mother's God-given purpose and worth, just as she is. Means currently lives in Nebraska with her husband and three children, and, when she isn’t managing HVFH or writing her monthly newspaper column, is likely shopping at Target.

Maria speaks with Founder & CEO at AddWomxn, a collaborative of creative entrepreneurs with a vision to advance racial and gender equity in marketing and advertising. AddWomxn's diverse and inclusive team is highly experienced and deeply vetted. We strive to offer clients exceptionally strategic and impressively creative work through our collaboration of brilliant women entrepreneurs. AddWomxn empowers entrepreneurial women in a safe and supportive environment. We believe deep human respect and high ethical principles should guide all our relationships. Simply, we attract women of substance and clients of distinction for their passion to create a better world – a world that advances both gender and racial equity. BRINGING DIVERSE CREATIVE TEAMS TOGETHER TO SOLVE PROBLEMS! If you are a BIPOC creative, please connect with me. I want to hear your story, advocate for you, and connect you with others. BRANDING AND DESIGN LEADER. Well-versed in both the agency and corporate world. Thrives in making a difference by elevating teams to creatively solve problems by valuing diversity, collaboration, and innovation. FOCUSED ON GENDER AND RACIAL EQUITY. As a thought leader and speaker in marketing to women, and a tireless advocate for gender diversity in marketing, I feel it’s past time to bring our BIPOC sisters to the table. Committed to bringing more equity to the design world and championing our BIPOC designers, illustrators, photographers, and marketing creatives to build teams that are not only top-notch but diverse. #WhereAreTheBlackDesigners #HireBlack COMMITTED ACTIVATOR-IN-CHIEF. Committed to giving back and a tireless advocate for making a difference in our community. Founder of PurpleRide. Created and branded the annual fundraising bike ride from the ground up that has raised over $2.5M to date (in the Twin Cities alone). The event – now Purple Stride – has become Pancreatic Cancer Action Network’s signature fundraising event and has grown to over 50 events nationwide.

Jennifer Gilhoi of JenGilhoi.com. Jen is a friend, a business partner, and an inspiration to me, and many, many others. She’s committed to helping people make healthier choices. 

Lillian Rafson, founder and CEO of Pack Up + Go, launched the business in January 2016 at 23 years old. Originally from Pittsburgh, PA, and a graduate of New York University’s Gallatin School with a major in Consumer Culture, Lillian has always had a passion for travel and supporting small businesses. Without raising a dollar, Lillian has grown Pack Up + Go to a multi-million-dollar business. She has been honored as a member of the inaugural Pittsburgh Business Times 30 Under 30 class, a Tory Burch Foundation Fellow, a Travel & Leisure A-List Travel Planner, and a Top Woman in Hospitality. She is thrilled to share her love for exploration through Pack Up + Go’s mission of embracing the unknown and encouraging spontaneity in all of its travelers. Outside of Pack Up + Go, Lillian is a business coach, focusing on helping womxn entrepreneurs get their small businesses off the ground! 

Claire Powell, owner of Bella Virtu Organics and former CEO of luxury leather goods brand and retailer J.W. Hulme.

Roshini is a strategic communication and crisis coach to C-Suite executives and a mainstage speaker. She hosts Discovers Minnesota with Roshini on Facebook. Roshini is a licensed attorney and former TV reporter called upon by media across the US for commentary about crisis management, leadership, political strategy, and PR blunders. She’s conducted thousands of interviews during 24 years in broadcasting. Roshini is a legal analyst for Court TV; a political analyst for KNUS Denver and WJR Detroit; and a success coach for Twin Cities Live on KSTP-TV in Minneapolis.

Vanessa is the founder of multiple startups and recently exited in the cannabis industry with Greenlight, the first mobile order-ahead cannabis app for dispensary purchases within 9 months of launching. She is now the Co-founder and CEO of Drop Delivery, an all-in-one compliant SaaS platform specifically designed for cannabis retailers to offer delivery services. The Drop Delivery platform offers advanced technology that empowers business owners to manage inventory, dispatch and driver logistics, marketing tools, digital loyalty programs, and provides them with their own white-labeled, e-commerce mobile app. With Drop Delivery, cannabis businesses can launch their own delivery services within hours.

When one mom of three was told the only option for her child’s Crohn’s was steroids and daily meds, she questioned why there wasn’t talk of a specific diet, stress management, or supplements to help prevent and treat flare-ups. As a yogi and whole health advocate, she began to search for options to support her decision-making. What she found was a disparate collection of opinions from acupuncturists, herb suggestions in blogs, hard-to-understand scientific studies, and websites promoting products with little to no quality control. As she pieced it all together, she wondered if she was the only one lacking a quality resource and set out to do something about it.

Sherron is the founder and CEO of the P3 Solution, a full-service marketing and communications (marcomm) firm located in Silver Spring, MD, that specializes in providing simple strategy, design, and social media marketing solutions for small businesses, non-profit organizations, associations, and entrepreneurs.

Tracy Pleschourt of Self Made U joins us today on  Dream Possible, only on WMR.FM Tracy and I have known each other for more than 15 years – I’ve watched her journey from corporate to entrepreneur and its various forms. Not only has Tracy made her dreams a reality, but she is also in the business of helping others do the same. That’s why I wanted her to be among my first guests on Dream Possible.

Chris Olsen, founder of My Founder Story. Chris seeks to amplify women’s voices. Empower fierce founders. Fueled by Purpose. It’s right there on her website Myfounderstory.com. How did Chris come up with the idea for her business – really built on the concept of sharing other women’s stories. How did she make that dream a reality, what did she overcome to be successful and what did she learn along the way? We find out all this and more today on Dream Possible.