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The more we outsource our thinking to AI, the more we all start to sound the same. Takin’ Care of Lady Business Episode 175 Patrice Poltzer, former Today Show producer and co-founder of My StoryPro, has spent decades helping people recognize the value of their own stories. Now, she's tackling a new challenge: how to use AI to tell those stories without losing the voice, personality, and lived experience that make them worth hearing. In this episode of Takin’ Care of Lady Business, Jennifer Justice sits down with Patrice to explore what happens when we let AI do too much of our thinking. Patrice explains why so much AI-generated content ends up in what she calls the “statistical vanilla center,” how that sameness can undermine a personal brand, and why she built My StoryPro to ask better questions before generating content. By digging into someone's experiences, beliefs, and perspective first, the platform helps people create content that actually sounds like them. Patrice also shares how better storytelling has helped her clients become more visible, build businesses that reflect who they are, and find the confidence to put themselves out there. She opens up about her own transition from running a service business to building an AI product, the difference between genuine vulnerability and oversharing, and why knowing your own story can be one of your greatest business advantages. What You'll Learn Why lived experience is the one advantage AI cannot recreate How generic AI content can flatten your personal brand and point of view Why better storytelling starts with stronger inputs, not faster outputs How to use your story to build trust, visibility, and memorable thought leadership Highlights: (00:00) Meet Patrice Poltzer (01:27) Why "I don't have a story" triggers Patrice (04:06) From Today Show to Lisbon: reinventing a business and discovering AI (05:52) What My StoryPro does: AI that coaches your story, not writes it (07:53) Why storytelling matters more than ever in the AI era (10:10) Antoinette's transformation and storytelling through fertility struggles (13:52) Brenna's leap from Target VP to entrepreneur (15:14) What makes My StoryPro different from ChatGPT and Claude (19:51) Bringing your real self to corporate America: the Apple manager story (29:18) The biggest storytelling mistakes founders make with AI (36:17) Raising $1M to scale My StoryPro and diversify who builds AI About Our Guest: Patrice Poltzer is the co-founder of My StoryPro, an AI-powered storytelling coaching platform designed to help people uncover the lived experiences, perspectives, and ideas that make their stories uniquely their own. A former Today Show producer and longtime storytelling strategist, Patrice has spent nearly two decades helping founders, executives, and professionals communicate with greater clarity and authenticity. After running her own storytelling studio in New York, she moved to Lisbon and began building My StoryPro, combining her journalism background with AI to help people develop stronger personal brands, thought leadership, and business content without outsourcing their voice or point of view. Patrice Poltzer’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/patricepoltzer/ Explore My StoryPro: https://mystorypro.ai/pocket-patrice  About Jennifer Justice and The Justice Dept. JJ’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifer-justice-354a0b99 The Justice Dept: https://www.thejusticedept.com/ JJ’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jenniferjusticel/  Newsletter: https://tkolb-newsletter-a50814.beehiiv.com/ JJ’s YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TakinCareOfLadyBusiness  The Justice Dept. is a female-focused advisory, consulting, and law firm advocating for female founders, talent, execs, and brands. We represent bo$$ ladies to make them 💰💰. If you love what you hear, please subscribe and share with a friend. This is a Lady Business LLC Production.

Women’s health does not have an awareness problem. It has an infrastructure and capital problem. Takin’ Care of Lady Business Episode 174 Anna Samuelsson knows exactly what happens when a market is treated like a niche instead of an investment opportunity. As Managing Director and Partner at Factory Capital, she is working to make women’s health an investible category by building the infrastructure needed to move real capital into it.  In this episode of Takin’ Care of Lady Business, Jennifer Justice sits down with Anna to unpack the business mechanics behind the women’s health gap and how Anna’s own experience being dismissed by doctors exposed a much larger problem in research, care, and investment. That realization led Factory Capital to fund the Institute Advancing Women’s Health, a nonprofit designed to bring global medical expertise together, translate research into treatment pathways, and make the category strong enough for more capital to follow. Anna also explains why a private investment firm would put its own money behind that infrastructure, why doing good and doing well are not competing ideas, and why building an entirely new system sometimes starts with one question: what can we move forward this week? What You'll Learn Why women’s health needs investment infrastructure, not just more awareness How research and evidence can make an overlooked category more investible Why Factory Capital chose to fund a nonprofit alongside its for-profit investments What Anna’s approach reveals about turning an enormous systemic problem into something investors can act on Highlights: (00:00) Meet Anna Samuelsson (01:31) Building Factory Capital around overlooked investment categories (04:23) Being dismissed by doctors exposed a larger system failure (06:57) The infrastructure women’s health is still missing (09:09) Building the evidence that makes women’s health investable (13:25) Closing the research gaps holding women’s health back (15:24) Putting Factory Capital’s own money behind the mission (17:25) Bringing global experts together around women’s health (18:51) Building better care pathways across fragmented specialties (22:01) Building the team behind the Institute Advancing Women’s Health (26:22) Why more capital needs to enter women’s health (33:17) Why the institute needed to be nonprofit About Our Guest:Anna Samuelsson is Managing Director and Partner at Factory Capital, a private investment firm spanning health, education, lifestyle, and technology. A former Goldman Sachs executive, she now focuses on women’s health and expanding institutional investment in the category. She also helped establish the Institute Advancing Women’s Health, a nonprofit bringing together medical, research, and business leaders to improve women’s health research, training, and care globally. Anna Samuelsson’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/annaburton/ Explore Factory Capital: https://factorycapital.net/  Explore The Institute Advancing Women's Health: https://www.inawh.org/  About Jennifer Justice and The Justice Dept. JJ’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifer-justice-354a0b99 The Justice Dept: https://www.thejusticedept.com/ JJ’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jenniferjusticel/  Newsletter: https://tkolb-newsletter-a50814.beehiiv.com/ JJ’s YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TakinCareOfLadyBusiness  The Justice Dept. is a female-focused advisory, consulting, and law firm advocating for female founders, talent, execs, and brands. We represent bo$$ ladies to make them 💰💰. If you love what you hear, please subscribe and share with a friend. This is a Lady Business LLC Production.

The conversation most couples avoid before marriage is often the one that can protect them the most. Takin’ Care of Lady Business Episode 173 Julia Rodgers, a family law attorney, saw the same pattern play out repeatedly. Women stepped away from their careers to care for children or family members, only to face financial uncertainty when marriages ended. At the same time, couples who wanted prenups often found the process too expensive, complicated, and disconnected from the conversations they actually needed to have. That experience led Julia to build HelloPrenup, a digital platform designed to make prenuptial agreements more accessible while helping couples have transparent conversations about money, careers, and their future together. In this episode of Takin’ Care of Lady Business, Jennifer Justice sits down with Julia to talk about why she wanted to change how people think about prenups, how financial planning before marriage can create more clarity, and why protecting yourself doesn't mean planning for failure. Julia shares how she built HelloPrenup from scratch while still practicing law, teaching herself the technology side of the business, working with engineers, and eventually leaving her legal career to become a founder. She also discusses appearing on Shark Tank, bootstrapping the company, and what she learned about taking a risk on an idea before the market fully understood it. Julia’s story reminds us that financial conversations aren't just about assets. They are about autonomy, partnership, and ensuring both people understand the choices they are making before building a life together. What You'll Learn Why Julia believes prenups should be viewed as financial planning tools rather than signs of distrust How career sacrifices can impact women’s long-term financial security Why couples should discuss money, debt, careers, and future goals before marriage How Julia transformed her experience as a lawyer into a scalable legal tech company Highlights: (00:00) Meet Julia Rodgers (01:49) What is HelloPrenup? (02:21) From family law attorney to tech founder (04:57) Serving every income level (05:50) The adversarial nature of traditional prenups (09:52) Why 52% of women are initiating prenups (11:44) The prenup that fractured a family (13:02) How prenups actually protect women (16:54) How to bring up a prenup with your partner (20:09) HelloPrenup on Shark Tank (29:28) The worst advice Julia ever received About Our Guest: Julia Rodgers is the Founder and CEO of HelloPrenup, a digital platform designed to make prenuptial agreements more accessible, affordable, and collaborative for couples. Before launching HelloPrenup, Julia practiced family law in Massachusetts, where she saw how the lack of financial planning conversations could leave women vulnerable after making career sacrifices for their families. She built HelloPrenup to help couples create agreements while having meaningful conversations about money, assets, and their future together. Since launching in 2021, HelloPrenup has expanded across 49 states and has become a leading legal tech platform changing the way couples approach relationship planning. Julia Rodgers’ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/juliarodgers/  Julia Rodgers’ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/julia_rodgers_/  Explore HelloPrenup: https://helloprenup.com/  About Jennifer Justice and The Justice Dept. JJ’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifer-justice-354a0b99 The Justice Dept: https://www.thejusticedept.com/ JJ’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jenniferjusticel/  Newsletter: https://tkolb-newsletter-a50814.beehiiv.com/ JJ’s YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TakinCareOfLadyBusiness  The Justice Dept. is a female-focused advisory, consulting, and law firm advocating for female founders, talent, execs, and brands. We represent bo$$ ladies to make them 💰💰. If you love what you hear, please subscribe and share with a friend. This is a Lady Business LLC Production.

Sometimes the best growth strategy is refusing to grow the way everyone tells you to. Takin’ Care of Lady Business 172 Nancy Yen was working as a management consultant and merchandiser at The Gap when a problem she kept running into as a mom sparked the idea for OmieLife. She wanted a better way to pack hot and cold food together for her son, so she started researching, prototyping, and eventually built the product that became OmieBox. But building the company meant ignoring a lot of conventional startup advice. Nancy was told to grow faster, raise venture capital, add technology to the product, and expand into retail before the business was ready. Instead, she focused on profitability, product quality, customer research, and building the brand one step at a time. OmieLife has been profitable since its first year, and nearly a decade after an early conversation with Target, the retailer came back to the brand. In this episode of Takin’ Care of Lady Business, Jennifer Justice sits down with Nancy to talk about bootstrapping OmieLife, learning to trust her instincts, and why the right advice for one founder can be completely wrong for another. Nancy also shares how Kickstarter helped validate the market, why focus became one of her most important operating principles, and what it took to build a consumer brand that could grow on its own terms. What You'll Learn Why Nancy chose profitability over the traditional venture growth model How Kickstarter helped validate demand for OmieBox Why founders need to know when advice does not fit their business How years of patient brand building eventually led OmieLife into Target Highlights: (00:00) Meet Nancy Yen (01:30) When Target said you're not ready yet (02:31) Why you can't run before you walk (04:09) How a lunchbox problem became a business (06:14) Going into people's homes to find the truth (08:58) Why venture capital doesn't fit consumer brands (11:19) The advisor who kept her on a straight path (13:34) How to filter advice and trust your gut (15:28) When no one believes in your vision (20:55) What makes an Omie Box different (24:43) Profitable from day one without VC About Our Guest: Nancy Yen is the Founder and CEO of OmieLife, the consumer products company behind OmieBox, a bento-style lunchbox designed to keep hot and cold foods together. Before starting OmieLife, Nancy worked as a management consultant and as a merchandiser at The Gap. She launched the company after identifying a problem in her own life as a mom and spent months researching how families packed and ate lunch before developing the first product. Today, OmieLife remains a small, fully remote team of nine and has been profitable since its first year in business. The brand has grown from selling through Amazon and its own website to expanding into Target stores nationwide, while continuing to develop new products around the needs of kids and families. Nancy Yen’s LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/nancyyen1/  Explore OmieLife: https://www.omielife.com/  About Jennifer Justice and The Justice Dept. JJ’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifer-justice-354a0b99 The Justice Dept: https://www.thejusticedept.com/ JJ’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jenniferjusticel/  Newsletter: https://tkolb-newsletter-a50814.beehiiv.com/ JJ’s YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TakinCareOfLadyBusiness  The Justice Dept. is a female-focused advisory, consulting, and law firm advocating for female founders, talent, execs, and brands. We represent bo$$ ladies to make them 💰💰. If you love what you hear, please subscribe and share with a friend. This is a Lady Business LLC Production.

The first thing women are asked to prove is often the thing they’ve already spent years proving. Takin’ Care of Lady Business Episode 171 Emily Ramshaw had nearly two decades in nonprofit media when she started The 19th, a national newsroom focused on gender, politics, and policy. She knew how to run a newsroom and knew the audience existed. But fundraising exposed a different set of rules, including donor meetings where she was told to uncross her arms, smile more, and make the work feel less threatening. In this episode of Takin’ Care of Lady Business, Jennifer Justice sits down with Emily to talk about what raising money taught her about power, leverage, and the size of the ask. Emily shares the meeting where she asked for $100,000 and a donor pushed her to say what she actually needed, then offered $1 million. She also explains how she learned to turn every “no” into new introductions and how repetition changed the way she approached fundraising. Emily also shares why she built The 19th differently from the start, with paid family leave, elder care leave, health coverage, meaningful time off, and a higher salary floor. Her story is a reminder that women are not lacking the experience to succeed. They are navigating conditioning around who gets to ask, who gets treated like a credible bet, and what changes when you understand the rules well enough to rewrite them. What You'll Learn How fundraising exposed the different rules women face around money What a $100,000 ask becoming $1 million taught Emily about scale How Emily turned rejection into a repeatable path to new funders How Emily designed The 19th around the barriers that keep women from advancing Highlights: (00:00) Meet Emily Ramshaw (02:32) Building the newsroom women were missing (04:49) Starting The 19th with $20,000 (06:24) When your experience is the proof (09:39) Women funding The 19th (13:24) Learning to make the bigger ask (16:09) When motherhood changes the career equation (19:03) Turning every no into three introductions (19:54) The story that put The 19th on the map (21:03) Raising nearly $120 million (26:45) Why confidence was never the problem (35:01) The worst advice Emily ever received About Our Guest: Emily Ramshaw is the Co-Founder and CEO of The 19th, an independent nonprofit newsroom covering gender, politics, and policy. Before launching The 19th in 2020, she spent nearly two decades in nonprofit journalism, including serving as editor-in-chief of The Texas Tribune. Today, The 19th has a staff of roughly 60 across more than 20 states and distributes its journalism free to readers and partner newsrooms across the country. Under Emily’s leadership, the organization has raised close to $120 million while building an institution designed around the realities of the people doing the work. Emily Ramshaw’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emily-ramshaw-0b952854/  Emily Ramshaw’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eramshaw/  Explore The 19th: https://19thnews.org/  About Jennifer Justice and The Justice Dept. JJ’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifer-justice-354a0b99 The Justice Dept: https://www.thejusticedept.com/ JJ’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jenniferjusticel/  Newsletter: https://tkolb-newsletter-a50814.beehiiv.com/ JJ’s YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TakinCareOfLadyBusiness  The Justice Dept. is a female-focused advisory, consulting, and law firm advocating for female founders, talent, execs, and brands. We represent bo$$ ladies to make them 💰💰. If you love what you hear, please subscribe and share with a friend. This is a Lady Business LLC Production.

Building a company once teaches you how to survive. Building one again shows you what you actually learned. Takin’ Care of Lady Business Episode 170 Lindsey Boyd, left her dream job at Chanel to co-found The Laundress, bootstrapping the company for 15 years before selling it to Unilever. Now she's back in founder mode with Lindry Lab, bringing two decades of hard-earned lessons about money, ownership, growth, and trusting your instincts. In this episode of Takin’ Care of Lady Business, Jennifer Justice sits down with Lindsey to talk about building without traditional investors, asking for the help and opportunities you need, and what founders should understand before selling a company. Lindsey also shares what she learned navigating an acquisition, including the reality of earn-outs and the money founders actually walk away with. And as she builds Lindry Lab, she’s making different choices, including exploring outside capital to grow faster, while holding onto the instincts that helped her build The Laundress in the first place. What You'll Learn How Lindsey bootstrapped The Laundress without traditional investors Why asking for help can be one of a founder's biggest advantages What founders need to understand about acquisitions and earn-outs What Lindsey is doing differently the second time around Highlights: (00:00) Meet Lindsey Boyd (01:20) From Chanel to founding The Laundress (02:05) Hand-washing cashmere and discovering the gap in the market (03:27) Going all-in on product over service (06:07) Leaving her dream job and calling her parents (07:43) Bootstrapping The Laundress with a soap splash fundraiser (12:11) Why staying the course matters (17:27) The Unilever "love letter" that started acquisition talks (21:35) Facing an investor's "unsexy" comment (25:00) Building Lindry Lab's three pillars: formula, fragrance, packaging (34:55) The worst advice she ever received About Our Guest: Lindsey Boyd is the founder of Lindry Lab and former co-founder of The Laundress, the luxury laundry care brand she bootstrapped for 15 years before selling to Unilever in 2019. With a background in fashion and textiles at Chanel, Brooks Brothers, Nicole Miller, and Malia Mills, Lindsey has spent more than two decades rethinking how consumers care for clothing and their homes. Today, she's bringing that experience to Lindry Lab, a new laundry and home care brand built around high-performance formulas, fragrance, and thoughtful design. Lindsey Boyd’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lindsey-julia-boyd-9007073/  Lindsey Boyd’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lindseyjuliaboyd/  Explore Lindry Lab: https://lindrylab.com/  About Jennifer Justice and The Justice Dept. JJ’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifer-justice-354a0b99 The Justice Dept: https://www.thejusticedept.com/ JJ’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jenniferjusticel/  Newsletter: https://tkolb-newsletter-a50814.beehiiv.com/ JJ’s YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TakinCareOfLadyBusiness  The Justice Dept. is a female-focused advisory, consulting, and law firm advocating for female founders, talent, execs, and brands. We represent bo$$ ladies to make them 💰💰. If you love what you hear, please subscribe and share with a friend. This is a Lady Business LLC Production.

Your biggest career opportunities may not come from what you know, but from who remembers your name. Takin' Care of Lady Business Episode 169 On this episode of Takin' Care of Lady Business, Jennifer Justice sits down with Caroline Dell, Co-founder and CEO of Goodword, to explore why your network is one of the most valuable assets you'll ever build, and why its real power comes from knowing how to activate it. Drawing on her experience helping scale Chief and now building Goodword, Caroline shares why relationships, not resumes, algorithms, or AI alone, continue to create the biggest career opportunities. From finding her co-founder through a single introduction to raising her first $500,000 almost entirely through her personal network, she explains why the people who advocate for you behind closed doors often shape your future more than any application or pitch ever could. Jennifer and Caroline also unpack why women are often more hesitant to ask for introductions, support, and opportunities, how understanding the realities of fundraising creates leverage rather than limitation, and how AI can strengthen, not replace, the human relationships that move careers forward. This conversation is a reminder that your network isn't just who you know. It's the trust you've built, the people willing to vouch for you, and the opportunities that become possible when you're willing to make the ask. What You'll Learn: How relationships become a real source of career leverage Why asking for an introduction doesn’t require turning every contact into a friendship How Caroline used her own network to find her co-founder and fund her company How AI can help preserve the context that makes professional relationships valuable Highlights: (00:00) Meet Caroline Dell (01:39) Why your network is your most powerful asset (06:08) The gap Goodword fills that communities can't (06:53) Why our brains can’t keep up with our networks: The Dunbar number (13:52) Why women hesitate to ask for favors (19:53) Leaving Chief and deciding to found a company (23:56) Finding her technical co-founder Chris (24:59) The hard truth about women raising venture capital (34:38) The worst advice Caroline ever received About Our Guest: Caroline Dell is the co-founder and CEO of Goodword, a modern relationship management platform designed to help professionals manage, cultivate, and leverage their networks. Before launching Goodword, she spent nearly a decade building communities and creating access for women in leadership, including serving as an early employee and executive at Chief. Drawing from her experience scaling a professional network to thousands of members, Caroline recognized that while relationships drive career-changing opportunities, people struggle to maintain the context and connections needed to use those networks effectively. Today, she is using AI to transform how people understand and activate their relationships, helping professionals turn their networks into a powerful source of opportunities, introductions, and growth.  Caroline Dell’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/caroline-dell/  Caroline Dell’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/foundercaroline/  Explore Goodword: https://www.goodword.com/  Get $25 off (1 free month) of Goodword with the code: FRIENDOFJJ About Jennifer Justice and The Justice Dept. JJ’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifer-justice-354a0b99 The Justice Dept: https://www.thejusticedept.com/ JJ’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jenniferjusticel/  Newsletter: https://tkolb-newsletter-a50814.beehiiv.com/ JJ’s YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TakinCareOfLadyBusiness  The Justice Dept. is a female-focused advisory, consulting, and law firm advocating for female founders, talent, execs, and brands. We represent bo$$ ladies to make them 💰💰. If you love what you hear, please subscribe and share with a friend. This is a Lady Business LLC Production.

Tamara Warren has spent decades test-driving thousands of cars, covering the automotive industry as a journalist, and watching one truth play out over and over again: women drive the majority of car-buying decisions, yet the industry still isn't built with them in mind. Takin’ Care of Lady Business Episode 168 From crash-test standards and product design to dealership experiences and executive leadership, the systems behind one of the biggest purchases of our lives continue to overlook the people making most of the buying decisions. The result isn't just frustrating – it's costly, inefficient, and, in some cases, dangerous. In this episode of Takin' Care of Lady Business, Jennifer Justice sits down with Tamara Warren, Founder and CEO of Le Car Inc., to unpack the hidden power mechanics of the automotive industry. They explore why representation has to start long before the marketing campaign, how women can make more informed and empowered purchasing decisions, and why designing for women isn't just good equity, it's good business. This conversation isn't really about cars. It's about what happens when the people driving the economy aren't the ones shaping the products, systems, and decisions that affect them. What You'll Learn Why women's purchasing power still isn't reflected in how cars are designed or sold How product design, leadership, and representation shape the customer experience long before a sale is made Why knowledge—not intimidation—is one of the greatest sources of leverage when making a major purchase How Tamara built Le Car by rejecting the traditional business model and putting consumer trust first Highlights: (00:00) Meet Tamara Warren (02:47) The everyday ways cars still fail women (06:26) How the automotive industry became a system built by—and for—men (16:04) Why traditional negotiation advice doesn't always work for women (30:27) The safety gap: what crash testing still misses (33:48) Why representation in leadership changes the products we buy (38:38) Building Le Car to empower women before they ever step into a dealership (43:19) The worst business advice Tamara ever received About Our Guest: Tamara Warren is the founder of Le Car, a Techstars company built to validate women in the automotive space. Raised in Detroit, Michigan, Tamara spent decades as a journalist and author covering transportation, lifestyle, and business for top outlets including The New York Times, Car and Driver, Elle, Esquire, and The Verge, as well as serving as a jurist for the World Car of the Year awards. After recognizing that women control the vast majority of car-buying decisions yet remain overlooked by traditional auto design, marketing, and dealership networks, she launched Le Car to disrupt the industry. Today, she shares her perspective on dismantling male-dominated spaces, reclaiming female economic power in major life purchases, and proving that women belong in the driver’s seat, literally and figuratively. Tamara Warren’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tamaralwarren/  Tamara Warren’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tamarawarren/  Explore Le Car Inc.: https://www.lecar.co/  About Jennifer Justice and The Justice Dept. JJ’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifer-justice-354a0b99 The Justice Dept: https://www.thejusticedept.com/ JJ’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jenniferjusticel/  Newsletter: https://tkolb-newsletter-a50814.beehiiv.com/ JJ’s YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TakinCareOfLadyBusiness  The Justice Dept. is a female-focused advisory, consulting, and law firm advocating for female founders, talent, execs, and brands. We represent bo$$ ladies to make them 💰💰. If you love what you hear, please subscribe and share with a friend. This is a Lady Business LLC Production.

Building a company is one thing. Keeping control of it is another. Nicole Eckels moved to Australia armed with nothing but a hunch that the country's beauty market was missing something. She didn't have a business plan or industry experience, just an obsession with fragrance and a refusal to accept "there's nothing like that here" as a permanent answer. Twenty years later, that hunch is the largest fragrance brand in the Southern Hemisphere. Takin’ Care of Lady Business Episode 167 In this candid conversation, Jennifer Justice sits down with Nicole Eckels, Founder and CEO at Glasshouse Fragrances, to trace her path from expat makeup artist to CEO of a global luxury brand. Nicole walks through finding her one and only investor, becoming her own manufacturer when no contractors existed for the category, and the boardroom crisis where her own leadership team nearly pushed her out of the company she built. She's unflinching about the mistake that caused it: assuming instead of directing, and letting a board dilute her ownership of her own vision. Together, they dig into what pay equity actually looks like in practice, why long-term incentives matter more than annual bonuses, and how Nicole scaled into the notoriously crowded US market during COVID by refusing to copy what every other candle brand was doing. What You'll Learn: Why protecting your vision is just as important as building your business How to spot real opportunities before everyone else sees them What founders get wrong about leadership, ownership, and long-term growth How to filter advice, trust your instincts, and make decisions you can stand behind Highlights: (00:00) Meet Nicole Eckels (03:00) Spotting the gap in Australia's beauty market (04:15) Deciding to build the world's best bath and body brand (07:33) Finding her one and only angel investor (09:05) Becoming her own manufacturer when none existed (13:17) Making her first hire and early team growth (14:51) The danger of relying on one advisor's opinion (19:06) When her leadership team tried to push her out (25:03) Rethinking pay equity and long-term incentives (38:17) Nicole's worst advice ever received About Our Guest: Nicole Eckels is the Founder & CEO at Glasshouse Fragrances, the largest fragrance brand in the Southern Hemisphere. Originally from New York, Nicole moved to Australia as a single mother with a 12-year-old son, drawn by a desire for a safer, more balanced life. Noticing a gap in the market for luxury home fragrance, she built her scented candles from her own kitchen, secured a single angel investor, and became her own manufacturer at a time when no contractors existed for the category. Over 20 years, Nicole grew Glasshouse into a global brand, weathered a boardroom attempt to push her out of her own company, and expanded into the notoriously crowded US market during the height of COVID. Today, she shares her experience building a business on her own terms, learning to trust her instincts over any single advisor, and creating a company where pay equity and long term investment reflect the value people bring. Nicole Eckels’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicole-eckels-32649a46/   Nicole Eckels’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nicoleeckels/  Explore Glasshouse Fragrances: https://www.glasshousefragrances.com/  About Jennifer Justice and The Justice Dept. JJ’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifer-justice-354a0b99 The Justice Dept: https://www.thejusticedept.com/ JJ’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jenniferjusticel/  Newsletter: https://tkolb-newsletter-a50814.beehiiv.com/ JJ’s YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TakinCareOfLadyBusiness  The Justice Dept. is a female-focused advisory, consulting, and law firm advocating for female founders, talent, execs, and brands. We represent bo$$ ladies to make them 💰💰. If you love what you hear, please subscribe and share with a friend.

Your doctor says your results fall within the “normal range.” But what happens when you know something still isn’t right? Takin' Care of Lady Business Episode 166 On this episode of Takin' Care of Lady Business, Jennifer Justice sits down with Dr. Florence Comite, founder of the Comite Center for Precision Medicine and Healthy Longevity, to examine who gets to define “normal” when it comes to women’s health, and why population averages rarely tell the whole story of an individual body. Dr. Comite explains how precision medicine uses personal health data to identify risks before they become diagnoses. They discuss the relationship between genetics and daily choices, the blood tests Dr. Comite believes women should understand, the role of testosterone in women’s health, and why she views GLP-1 medications as one of the most consequential medical developments of this century. This conversation is ultimately about having the information to ask better questions. Because advocating for your health begins with knowing that “normal” does not always mean optimal—and that one answer does not have to end the conversation. What You'll Learn: Why population-based lab ranges may not reflect what is optimal for an individual The five biomarkers Dr. Comite recommends discussing with your healthcare provider How genetics, lifestyle, and environment can influence long-term health risks Why Dr. Comite believes GLP-1 medications could have an impact far beyond weight loss Highlights: (00:00) Meet Dr. Florence Comite (06:01) Why biological age matters more than chronological age (09:10) Why your DNA is only “a draft” (09:31) The problem with “normal” lab ranges (11:06) JJ’s experience challenging her cortisol results (19:45) Five biomarkers women should understand (31:40) Why Dr Comite believes GLP-1s are the antibiotics of the 21st century (46:50) The worst advice Dr. Comite ever received This conversation is for information, not medical advice. Talk to your own doctor before making changes. About Our Guest: Dr. Florence Comite is the founder of the Comite Center for Precision Medicine and Healthy Longevity, with practices in Silicon Valley and Miami Beach. A graduate of Yale Medical School and trained at the National Institutes of Health, she spent decades on faculty at Yale working across reproductive endocrinology, adult endocrinology, and pediatric endocrinology, and helped bring pioneering peptide therapies to market for fertility treatment. In 1992, she launched one of the first women's health practices built on precision, data-driven care rather than one-size-fits-all medicine. Today, she is the author of Invincible: Defy Your Genetic Destiny to Live Better, Longer, and continues to help patients of all ages use their own biomarkers to detect disease risk decades before it strikes, proving that with the right data, aging and genetic destiny don't have to be the same thing. Dr. Florence Comite’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drflorencecomite/  Dr. Florence Comite’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drflorencecomite/  Explore Comite Center for Precision Medicine & Healthy Longevity: https://www.comitemd.com/ Explore Dr. Florence’s book, Invincible: Defy Your Genetic Destiny to Live Better, Longer: https://www.amazon.com/Invincible-Genetic-Destiny-Better-Longer/dp/0316595551  About Jennifer Justice and The Justice Dept. JJ’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifer-justice-354a0b99 The Justice Dept: https://www.thejusticedept.com/ JJ’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jenniferjusticel/  Newsletter: https://tkolb-newsletter-a50814.beehiiv.com/ JJ’s YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TakinCareOfLadyBusiness  The Justice Dept. is a female-focused advisory, consulting, and law firm advocating for female founders, talent, execs, and brands. We represent bo$$ ladies to make them 💰💰. If you love what you hear, please subscribe and share with a friend. This is a Lady Business LLC Production.

Playing it safe is supposed to protect your business. But what if it’s actually costing you growth? Women are taught to protect every dollar while men are encouraged to raise and bet bigger. Women are often taught to protect every dollar, do more themselves, and wait for guaranteed success before investing. Men, meanwhile, are taught to raise capital, hire for growth, and take bigger bets. That difference in training has consequences. Takin' Care of Lady Business Episode 165 On this episode of Takin' Care of Lady Business, Jennifer Justice sits down with Dani Lynn Robison, CEO at Freedom Family Investments, to explore how she went from performing as a musician on cruise ships to building a successful real estate investment firm. Dani shares how she found her way into real estate after trying multiple careers, learned to navigate a male dominated industry, and built wealth by embracing challenges instead of avoiding them. Together, Jennifer and Dani unpack the realities of investing in real estate and the importance of surrounding yourself with people who believe in you. They discuss the difference between preserving money and putting it to work, and how needs-based real estate can become part of a more intentional investment strategy. Because playing small has a price, too. What You'll Learn: Why playing it safe can be an expensive business strategy How Dani built authority in a male-dominated industry The difference between preserving money and building wealth Why the right mentor should strengthen your confidence How needs-based real estate and passive investing work Why every dollar should have a clearly defined job Highlights: (00:00) Meet Dani Lynn Robison (01:34) From cruise-ship musician to real estate investor: Dani's career journey (06:34) Finding a mentor and learning 12 ways to buy and sell real estate (16:24) Proving herself as CEO in a male-dominated industry (20:19) What Freedom Family Investments actually invests in (24:24) How her real estate funds work: minimums and returns (27:57) Permission to build wealth (32:46) Confronting a mentor who threatened her (36:03) Afford the people that are around you About Our Guest: Dani Lynn Robison is the CEO of Freedom Family Investments, a private equity real estate firm focused on investing in needs based real estate including multifamily, senior housing, and self storage. After starting her career as a musician performing on cruise ships with her husband, Dani explored multiple paths before discovering her passion for real estate during the 2008 market crash. She went on to build her expertise through investing, mentoring, and hands on experience, eventually creating a company that helps others build wealth through real estate. Dani Lynn Robison’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danilynnrobison/  Dani Lynn Robison’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/danilynnrobison/  Explore Freedom Family Investments: https://freedomfamilyinvestments.com/  For a free copy of Dani’s bestselling book, Calm Money Never Panics, check out this website: ChatwithFreedom.com and enter the code LADY.  For more info on the book check it out here: https://calmmoneyneverpanics.com/  About Jennifer Justice and The Justice Dept. JJ’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifer-justice-354a0b99 The Justice Dept: https://www.thejusticedept.com/ JJ’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jenniferjusticel/  Newsletter: https://tkolb-newsletter-a50814.beehiiv.com/ JJ’s YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TakinCareOfLadyBusiness  The Justice Dept. is a female-focused advisory, consulting, and law firm advocating for female founders, talent, execs, and brands. We represent bo$$ ladies to make them 💰💰. If you love what you hear, please subscribe and share with a friend. This is a Lady Business LLC Production.

Austin Fremont learned exactly what her time was worth when she had less of it to give away. After becoming a solo mom by choice, the President of Fremont Blue Events started looking at her business differently. Every event meant childcare. Every unnecessary meeting meant time away from her children. And every yes suddenly had a very real cost. Takin’ Care of Lady Business Episode 164 In this deeply personal conversation, Jennifer Justice sits down with Austin Fremont, President of Fremont Blue Events, to compare their paths of becoming solo mothers by choice, from egg freezing, IVF, and donor decisions to the financial and professional realities of parenting without a second household income. Austin also shares how becoming a mother changed the way she priced her work: every event now carries the cost of childcare and time away from her children. Because when your time stops feeling infinite, you get very clear about what it’s worth. What You'll Learn: Why JJ and Austin stopped waiting for partnership before pursuing motherhood What egg freezing, IVF, and choosing a donor actually looked like for each of them The financial difference between single parenting and solo parenting How Austin began charging more because every project required childcare and time away from her children How refusing to wait for the right time changed the way she runs her business and prices her work. Highlights: (00:00) Meet Austin Fremont (02:16) Building a boutique events company in New York City (03:32) Growing up around Andy Warhol and the art world (06:09) Deciding to become a solo mom by choice (09:23) Why marriage was no longer a requirement for family (15:23) Navigating IVF, egg freezing, and donor decisions (20:33) The difference between single and solo parenting (23:39) How motherhood changed the way she valued her time (25:56) Building a support system while running a company (30:57) Creating a relationship with a known donor (35:03) Austin’s worst advice ever received About Our Guest: Austin Fremont is the President of Fremont Blue Events, a boutique events firm based in New York City that produces benefits, galas, and intimate gatherings for organizations across the arts, design, environmental, and nonprofit spaces. Growing up in Greenwich Village surrounded by the art world, Austin developed a passion for creativity, storytelling, and bringing people together. After building her events company and dedicating years to her career, Austin chose to become a solo mom by choice, navigating IVF, donor conception, and motherhood while continuing to lead her business. Today, she shares her experience of building a family on her own terms, redefining success, trusting her instincts, and proving that there is no single path to creating the life you want. Austin Fremont’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/austin-fremont-8b026567/  Austin Fremont’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/austingrayish/  Explore Fremont Blue Events: https://fremontblueevents.com/  About Jennifer Justice and The Justice Dept. JJ’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifer-justice-354a0b99 The Justice Dept: https://www.thejusticedept.com/ JJ’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jenniferjusticel/  Newsletter: https://tkolb-newsletter-a50814.beehiiv.com/ JJ’s YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TakinCareOfLadyBusiness  The Justice Dept. is a female-focused advisory, consulting, and law firm advocating for female founders, talent, execs, and brands. We represent bo$$ ladies to make them 💰💰. If you love what you hear, please subscribe and share with a friend. This is a Lady Business LLC Production.

You negotiate your salary. You negotiate your title. But what if the biggest negotiation is buried in the paperwork you sign before your first day? Takin' Care of Lady Business Episode 163 On this episode of Takin' Care of Lady Business, Jennifer Justice sits down with Gretchen Carlson, journalist and Co-founder of Lift Our Voices, to unpack the hidden contract clauses that shift power away from employees without them realizing, before anything ever goes wrong. After her landmark lawsuit against Roger Ailes and Fox News, Gretchen discovered just how much leverage employers gain through forced arbitration and NDAs. What began as one woman's fight became a movement that helped pass two bipartisan federal laws and continues to reshape how workers understand their rights. Together, Jennifer and Gretchen explore why legal protections only matter if you know they exist, how culture changes more slowly than legislation, and why understanding the contracts you sign is one of the smartest investments you can make in your own career. Because power isn't just about what happens when something goes wrong. It's about knowing what you're agreeing to before it ever does. What You'll Learn: How to recognize when a contract understatedly limits your leverage The difference between forced arbitration and NDAs – and why it matters What Gretchen Carlson's lawsuit changed for workers across the country Why changing the law is only the first step toward changing workplace culture The questions every employee should ask before signing an employment agreement Highlights: (00:00) Meet Gretchen Carlson (01:02) Suing Roger Ailes at Fox News (02:08) Deciding to file the lawsuit (04:56) How her kids handled the fallout (09:58) Discovering the arbitration clause in her contract (12:11) Why forced arbitration was never meant for this (14:21) Only 2% of employees win in arbitration (16:47) NDAs versus forced arbitration explained (19:07) The Love Where You Work AI tool (23:54) Fighting cultural silence around speaking up (29:30) States banning NDAs in settlements (38:33) The worst advice she ever received About Our Guest: Gretchen Carlson is an award-winning journalist, bestselling author, and co-founder of Lift Our Voices, a nonprofit dedicated to ending workplace silencing mechanisms. After her landmark lawsuit against former Fox News Chairman Roger Ailes, she became a leading advocate for ending forced arbitration and non-disclosure agreements, helping pass two landmark bipartisan workplace reform laws in 2022. A former CBS News and Fox News anchor, Gretchen is also a CNN contributor, TED speaker, and author of the New York Times bestsellers Be Fierce and Getting Real.  Today, Lift Our Voices continues to push for state-level legislation, educate workers through its free Love Where You Work AI tool, and share survivor stories through its #LoveJustice campaign. Gretchen Carlson’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gretchen-carlson/ Gretchen Carlson’s Website: https://www.gretchencarlson.com/ Gretchen Carlson’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gretchencarlson/  Explore Lift Our Voices: https://liftourvoices.org/  About Jennifer Justice and The Justice Dept. JJ’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifer-justice-354a0b99 The Justice Dept: https://www.thejusticedept.com/ JJ’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jenniferjusticel/  Newsletter: https://tkolb-newsletter-a50814.beehiiv.com/ JJ’s YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TakinCareOfLadyBusiness  The Justice Dept. is a female-focused advisory, consulting, and law firm advocating for female founders, talent, execs, and brands. We represent bo$$ ladies to make them 💰💰. If you love what you hear, please subscribe and share with a friend. This is a Lady Business LLC Production.

The lie we’ve been told is that working harder is how you get promoted. Kelly Mooney feels the real difference is understanding the rules that no one hands you.  Takin' Care of Lady Business Episode 162 On this episode of Takin' Care of Lady Business, Jennifer Justice sits down with Kelly Mooney, founder and CEO of Equipt Women, to explore what happens when you stop internalizing broken systems and start rewriting the rulebook. Kelly shares how selling her company to IBM taught her what corporate culture gets wrong about power, why a single dinner with Gloria Steinem redirected her entire career, and why sponsorship, not just mentorship, is the real accelerant behind promotion. Together, Jennifer and Kelly unpack the invisible rules of the workplace, the courage it takes to ask "do I have your support," and why building confidence, community, and financial literacy often does more for women's careers than simply working harder ever will. What You'll Learn: How to spot the unwritten rules shaping your workplace Why sponsorship creates more career momentum than mentorship alone How to recognize when your anger has become your greatest fuel What it means to become a protector, not just a participant Why confidence, class, and clarity outlast playing small every time Highlights: (00:00) Meet Kelly Mooney( 001:30) Selling a digital agency to IBM (02:41) The dinner with Gloria Steinem that changed her (04:31) Why your circle of trust should be women (07:04) Learning IBM was not the right fit (14:57) Life inside a global corporation (20:19) Watching women get talked over on calls (21:36) Owning your choices in corporate America (22:43) What Up and Equipt Women really teach (27:36) Why sponsors matter more than mentors (31:00) The power of asking do I have your support (37:33) The worst advice she ever received About Our Guest: Kelly Mooney is the founder and CEO of Equipt Women. With a background spanning design, digital marketing, and executive leadership, Kelly built a digital agency that she ultimately sold to IBM, later serving as an executive within the organization. She founded Equipt Women to help women get paid and promoted at the same rates as men, giving them the tools to build careers and lives they love. Kelly is also the co-author of the book Up, a playbook for navigating the unwritten rules of the workplace. Today, Equipt Women partners with organizations investing in their leadership pipelines, while also offering free tools, courses, and a weekly newsletter that help women build confidence, negotiate compensation, and take ownership of their careers. Kelly Mooney’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pkmooney/  Kelly Mooney’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pkmooney/  Explore Equipt Women: https://equiptwomen.com/  About Jennifer Justice and The Justice Dept. JJ’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifer-justice-354a0b99 The Justice Dept: https://www.thejusticedept.com/ JJ’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jenniferjusticel/  Newsletter: https://tkolb-newsletter-a50814.beehiiv.com/ JJ’s YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TakinCareOfLadyBusiness  The Justice Dept. is a female-focused advisory, consulting, and law firm advocating for female founders, talent, execs, and brands. We represent bo$$ ladies to make them 💰💰. If you love what you hear, please subscribe and share with a friend. This is a Lady Business LLC Production.

The startup world loves a scoreboard. More funding. More locations. More growth. But what if those aren't the numbers that actually tell you whether you're building a great business? Takin' Care of Lady Business Episode 161 On this episode of Takin' Care of Lady Business, Jennifer Justice sits down with Rachel Krupa, founder of The Goods Mart and Krupa Consulting, to explore what happens when you stop building for optics and start building for longevity. Rachel shares why she walked away from the pressure to scale at all costs, how redefining success changed the way she grew her business, and why the expertise you earn through experience may be your greatest source of leverage. Together, Jennifer and Rachel unpack the difference between growth and leverage, the pressure founders face to follow someone else's definition of success, and why operational excellence, community, and institutional knowledge often create far more lasting businesses than speed ever will. What You'll Learn: How to distinguish growth from real leverage Why operational excellence creates more lasting success than rapid scale How to recognize when your expertise has become one of your most valuable assets What it means to define success on your own terms Why the strongest businesses are built around intention, not optics Highlights: (00:00) Meet Rachel Krupa (01:39) What The Goods Mart is really building (03:47) Finding brands before everyone else does (04:35) Learning retail the expensive way (06:36) Why fast growth was the wrong scoreboard (11:29) Refusing slotting fees from day one (13:52) Building the Williamsburg flagship (17:17) How COVID proved their curation worked (19:58) The reality of raising money (26:27) Closing a store and choosing focus (32:21) Turning industry knowledge into power (39:26) Charging for the expertise you earned About Our Guest: Rachel Krupa is the founder of The Goods Mart and Krupa Consulting. With more than 20 years of experience across CPG, retail, food, wellness, and brand strategy, Rachel has helped launch and grow brands including Thrive Market, Our Place, Goop’s wellness vertical, Tastemade, Milk Bar, La Colombe, and more. She launched The Goods Mart in 2018 as a highly curated, better-for-you convenience store designed to spotlight emerging, founder-led snack brands, and create real community around discovery. Today, The Goods Mart operates across retail, hotel mini bars, corporate pantries, and curated snack programs, giving emerging brands access to the shelves, rooms, and buyers that move a business forward. Rachel Krupa’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachelkrupa/  Rachel Krupa’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rachkrupa/  Explore The Goods Mart: https://www.thegoodsmart.com/  Explore Krupa Consulting: https://www.krupaconsulting.com/  The Goods Mart on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thegoodsmart/ Krupa Consulting on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/krupaconsulting/  About Jennifer Justice and The Justice Dept. JJ’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifer-justice-354a0b99 The Justice Dept: https://www.thejusticedept.com/ JJ’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jenniferjusticel/  Newsletter: https://tkolb-newsletter-a50814.beehiiv.com/ The Justice Dept. is a female-focused advisory, consulting, and law firm advocating for female founders, talent, execs, and brands. We represent bo$$ ladies to make them 💰💰. If you love what you hear, please subscribe and share with a friend. This is a Lady Business LLC Production.