Advertise on podcast: Girl, Why Not You?

On May 10, 2020 (Mother's Day), Amber Lee's heart stopped while she was driving with her husband and daughter in the car. No pulse. Her car went across four lanes of traffic and into a brick home. When she woke up in the hospital with every rib broken, she didn't ask for time to heal. She asked for her computer. Three weeks later, she and her longtime colleague Sandra Myers launched Select Date Society, a luxury matchmaking firm for high-net-worth clients. She had spent 20+ years making millions for someone else. Now it's her firm, with fees that start at $150,000 and a $1 million Founders' Club that takes one client at a time. On this episode of Girl, Why Not You? with Jennie Blackwood, we get into what's really keeping you on the shelf. It isn't timing. It's permission, and nobody is coming to give it to you. In this episode: Why "the biggest killer of entrepreneurship is a healthy paycheck"The hospital-bed phone call that finally made the business realLaunching with broken ribs, pain meds and one shared Google Doc checklistHow she went from charging $10K to a $150K minimum by proving results firstInside the $1 million Founders' Club, and why most of her clients are high-achieving womenWhy boardroom skills backfire in your love lifeWhy she caps the firm at 30 clients on purposeHer message to the woman who's 40 or 50 and still "has time" If this one moves you, send it to the woman in your life who's been sitting on her dream. Maybe it's you. Girl, why not you? Connect with Amber Lee and Select Date Society: selectdatesociety.com (use the inquiry page if you'd like to be considered as a client or a match) Connect with Jennie Blackwood: Instagram @girlwhynotyou_  Disclaimer: Guest experiences and results are their own and aren't typical or guaranteed. This episode shares a personal health story and isn't medical advice.

Perfectionism isn't high standards. It's fear wearing a better outfit — and it's costing you money. Kelli France went from food stamps to seven figures on social media, built a team of 25,000 people, and then watched the income disappear almost overnight when the company changed its comp plan. In this episode she tells Jennie what she learned on the way up, what she learned on the way down, and why the women who win aren't the confident ones — they're the ones who move before they feel ready. In this conversation: Why perfectionism is fear, not high standards — and how to spot it in yourselfThe $16 checkout that started everythingGoing all in, and building a 25,000-person teamLosing her income stream overnight — and what she did nextFight, flight, freeze, fawn: how your body hijacks your business decisionsThe four perfectionist archetypes — which one is running youHow to date discomfort instead of avoiding itThe client who got on TikTok Live terrified — and what happenedInside Kelli's Breaking Up With Perfect program and her POWER habits frameworkWhy confidence comes after the action, never before If you've been waiting to feel ready — to launch the thing, post the video, raise your prices — this is the episode that gets you moving. Connect with Kelli France: Instagram: @kellifrance Website + links: http://www.kellifrance.com/linktree Podcast: Finally Fearless Program: Breaking Up With Perfect Book: One Goal for 100 Days Girl, Why Not You? is hosted by Jennie Blackwood.

Starting over at 50, career change, clean beauty, and building a business through cancer treatment — Girl, Why Not You? host Jennie Blackwood talks with Lynn Power, founder of clean haircare brand MASAMI and the last CEO of J. Walter Thompson New York. Lynn started as a receptionist in 1989 because she could type. She worked her way up through Ogilvy, BBDO and Grey to run the flagship office of the oldest advertising agency in the world, on brands like Listerine, American Express, Clinique, Hershey’s, L’Oreal and Rolex. In 2018 she left all of it. She launched MASAMI — premium clean haircare built around mekabu, a Japanese ocean botanical — at New York Fashion Week in February 2020, one month before the world shut down. A year later she was diagnosed with aggressive stage 3 breast cancer. In the middle of six-hour chemo sessions she started something new: the Power Beauty Collab, now a collective of 65+ indie clean beauty brands. WHAT YOU’LL LEARN Why “if you don’t like change, do not become an entrepreneur” is the most honest business advice you’ll hear this yearHow to make a career change in your 40s or 50s without starting from zero — your experience is the assetHow collaboration beat a marketing budget: giveaways, gift exchanges, live streams and pop-ups that cost almost nothingThe conversations to have BEFORE you go into business with a partner — roles, accountability, and who does whatWhat “clean beauty” actually means, and why clean products can outperform the drugstore versionHow to build when the timing is objectively terrible CHAPTERS 00:00 Cold open 02:59 Meet Lynn Power — receptionist to CEO of J. Walter Thompson NY 06:23 1989, a typing class, and the job she got on the spot 10:28 “If you don’t like change, do not become an entrepreneur” 14:25 Why she walked away from the top job 18:04 A stage 3 diagnosis, chemo, and buying the apartment in Italy anyway 23:48 Starting the Power Beauty Collab from a hospital chair 25:51 The power of community when you’re building alone 31:22 Business partnerships: define the roles early 35:21 Clean beauty is not a marketing gimmick 40:36 Where to find Lynn 41:51 Girl, why not you? CONNECT WITH LYNN MASAMI: lovemasami.com — @lovemasamihair on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, YouTube and TikTok Power Beauty Collab: powerbeautycollab.com Lynn on LinkedIn (she answers her DMs there) CONNECT WITH JENNIE Instagram: @girlwhynotyou_ Girl, Why Not You? — new episodes weekly. Follow the show and leave a review, it’s genuinely how other women find us.

How to start a spray tan business with no loan, no investor, and a full-time job — Stacy Fike built Glow Girl Spray Tanning Boutique in Houston on a $500 start while teaching sixth grade as a single mom. One year after opening her first storefront, a client asked her to do the math, and she found she'd earned eight times what her teaching salary had paid her. On this episode of Girl, Why Not You? with Jennie Blackwood, Stacy walks through every stage: Spa Nordstrom, mobile, a converted room in her own house, a rented closet inside someone else's salon, and finally her own storefront with a team — more than 60,000 spray tans and 400-plus five-star reviews later. It's a masterclass in turning a beauty side hustle into a systemized business you own instead of one that owns you, and in the mindset shift from technician to CEO. WHAT YOU'LL LEARN How to start a spray tanning business on a small budget and calculate your break-even before you spend a dollarHow to build a side hustle around a full-time job, a mortgage, and a kid's scheduleWhen to quit the day job — what Stacy had in place before she left teachingThe moment a service turns into a brand, and the client question that triggered itThe 15-minute service system that changed how she manages capacity and incomeHiring and delegating when you're type A and convinced nobody can do it like you canChoosing salon and spa software that handles booking, marketing, payments, and analyticsWhy spray tanning is an unregulated industry, and the sanitation, safety, and compliance standards that actually matterInside GlowPro, her spray tan certification and business development program CHAPTERS 0:00 Cold open 0:31 Welcome — the two women this episode is for 1:41 Booked is not free: busy is not a business model 2:37 Meet Stacy Fike — $500, a mortgage, and a sixth-grade classroom 5:11 The woman in the classroom, and the tanning supply catalog she ordered as a kid 7:52 Convincing Nordstrom to let her try spray tanning in the early 2000s 9:04 Why mobile didn't work — and converting a room in her own home 11:22 700 women through her house, then renting a closet in a hair salon 12:57 The scary leap: quitting teaching and opening a storefront 15:28 "I'm not building a spray tan business, I'm building a brand" 16:28 "Have you done the math?" — the client question that changed everything 18:58 Who was in her corner, and why customer feedback built the business 21:20 Systems: the 15-minute spray tan and what it does to your capacity 23:58 Hiring the right people and getting okay with asking for help 25:09 Invest in the software — booking, payments, marketing, analytics 26:55 GlowPro: bringing spray tan education into cosmetology programs 27:37 The unregulated side of the sunless industry, and why standards matter 32:46 Where to find Stacy and how to work with her 33:51 Jennie's close: stop being the girl doing the work CONNECT WITH STACEY FIKE Website: glogirltanning.com GloPro spray tan certification + business training: glopro.glogirltanning.com Instagram — boutique: @glogirlspraytan Instagram — training program: @glopro2024 LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/stacey-fike Facebook: facebook.com/glogirlspraytan GloGirl Spray Tanning Boutique — Houston, TX CONNECT WITH JENNIE Website: jennieblackwood.com Instagram: @socialgraze.charcuterie Podcast: Girl, Why Not You? — new episodes weekly

Sometimes life hands you something unfair, there's no lesson in it, and no amount of positive thinking makes it make sense. In this solo episode of Girl, Why Not You?, Jennie Blackwood talks about how to stop overthinking something you can't control — and the 5 things that are actually yours. If you're a woman in the middle of something hard — lying awake at 2am replaying it, having full conversations in the shower with someone who isn't there — this one is for you. Jennie shares the mindset shift that let her stop arm wrestling the weather, plus the one sentence that changed her life: let it be theirs, and let it be mine. WHAT YOU'LL LEARN - Why being a fixer turns on you the moment you hit something you can't fix - The hard truth nobody puts on a graphic: trying hard does not entitle you to an outcome - How to stop caring what people think about you (and why you get input, not a vote) - The 24-hour rule for never sending an angry text, email, or DM again - The 5 things you actually control: your response, your hands, your circle, your presence, your character - How to stay present with your family while you're going through something hard - The one sentence to say out loud when something isn't yours to carry CHAPTERS 00:00 Intro 00:30 Why I sat on this episode for weeks 00:59 Sometimes it's just b******t — and there's no lesson in it 01:38 It's what you do in the days after 02:33 The fixer problem: when you hit something you can't fix 03:16 2am replays and shower arguments 03:50 Trying hard does not entitle you to an outcome 04:38 The fast list of what you don't control 05:54 The sentence that changed my life: let it be theirs 07:28 #1 Your response - nothing goes out warm (the 24-hour rule) 08:45 #2 Your hands - why making something breaks the loop 09:50 #3 Your circle - tell two people, not fourteen 10:30 #4 Your presence - those dinners don't come back 11:36 #5 Your character - "I stayed me" 13:16 It's a practice, not a one-time decision 13:34 Say it out loud: "That is not mine to carry" 14:28 You can be in the middle of something hard and still be building 15:20 Most things don't resolve - they get smaller as your life gets bigger 16:24 You've got this, girl Send this to the woman in your life who's white-knuckling something right now. She won't tell you she needs it. Send it anyway. Girl, why not you? Hosted by Jennie Blackwood - mom of four, founder of Social Graze, and creator of Cart to Cashflow. Instagram: @socialgraze.charcuterie Website: jennieblackwood.com

What do you do when someone tells you you're behind? Nesha Pai walked into her annual performance review at a Charlotte CPA firm ready to ask for a raise — and her boss told her she was "nowhere near her peers" because she'd taken time off to raise her son. She quit on the spot, with no plan and no backup income, at 40, as a single mom. One client followed her. Fifteen years later, Pai CPA is the first fully remote accounting firm in North Carolina, serving 80+ clients with a team of stay-at-home moms. In this episode, Jennie and Nesha talk about the "mom gap" and why the time you spent raising your kids is not a hole in your resume, how to advocate for yourself in a room full of men, the biggest money mistakes women business owners make, why she fired her largest client to protect her core values, what to do this week if you're scared to open your books, her book Overcoming Ordinary Obstacles, and what it looks like to reinvent yourself again at 55. In this episode: - The performance review that changed everything - "Little Nesha stood up and said I quit" - Starting a firm at the kitchen table with one client - Building the first fully remote CPA firm in North Carolina - The hustle: every networking event in her city for six months - Perfectionism vs. actually investing in yourself - Firing her biggest client over her core values - How to stop being afraid of your own numbers - Writing a book to heal, and the reader she never expected - Keynote speaking and the "Don't Settle" speech - Why there is no age limit on reinvention Connect with Nesha Pai: Instagram: @neshapai Website: neshapai.com LinkedIn: Nesha Pai Book: Overcoming Ordinary Obstacles If this episode hit you, share it with the woman you were thinking about the whole time you listened, and leave a review — it's how these stories find the women who need them most. Girl, why not you?

I took my three-and-a-half-year-old to see Moana expecting popcorn, candy, and a cute little mom-son afternoon. Instead I sat in a dark theater and ugly-cried through about 70% of it. Apparently, I was not ok... Ha! Because what I saw on that screen wasn't an island adventure. It was the entire journey of being a female entrepreneur, laid out scene by scene — and nobody warned me it was coming. In this episode I break down why Moana is secretly the most entrepreneurial movie Disney has ever made: The ocean calling her — that whisper you hear folding laundry at 2am that says there's more. Mine showed up while I was standing in my kitchen, eight months pregnant, after the rug got pulled out from under my family."No one goes beyond the reef" — why the people who love you most will hand you their fear disguised as protection, and why their reef is not your boundary.Grandma Tala — every woman building something needs one person dancing on the shoreline saying go. If you don't have one, I'll be her.The storms and the crashes — my first year was me getting rocked by every wave. Wrong pricing. Flopped marketing. Events that went sideways. She stays on the boat. That's the whole game."Just choose someone else" — the scene that broke me, because I've sat on my couch and said those exact words."Do you know who you are?" — the single question that separates the women who build empires from the women who almost did.Walking toward the fire — how many of us have turned our pain into walls and become our own version of Te Kā. I started with a toddler at home, a baby on the way, and served my first event three days before giving birth. It was messy. It was scared. It happened anyway. So here's your Moana challenge: listen to the whisper. Sail past the reef. Stay on the boat. Pick the heart back up. Walk toward the fire — because the most beautiful version of your life is on the other side of it. Girl, why not you? WEBSITE: www.girlwhynotyou.com

What do you do when your child is diagnosed with a condition so rare that only nine other kids in the world have it — and there's no playbook? Today's guest, Kasey Walsh, lived that reality. After her daughter Robbie was diagnosed with a rare form of hereditary spastic paraplegia at just two years old, Kasey refused to sit on the sidelines. She bought Neuroscience for Dummies, taught herself genetics, co-founded a nonprofit, and connected with researchers at Boston Children's Hospital — all while raising two kids. Now she's the Founder & CEO of Winsights, a groundbreaking patient-powered platform using AI to turn real family experiences into research-grade evidence for rare disease communities. In this episode, we talk about: -The moment that took her breath away — and how she found the strength to keep going -Why families often have to connect the dots that the medical system misses -How she found her voice in rooms full of experts -What she's building with Winsights and why it matters for every rare disease family -Her advice for anyone facing something unexpected: don't say "why me" — say "plot twist" Timestamps: 00:00 — Intro 00:30 — Meet Kasey Walsh 02:16 — The diagnosis that changed everything 04:43 — Navigating the early days as a special needs mom 05:32 — Starting a nonprofit & finding other families 09:16 — Buying Neuroscience for Dummies — the moment she took control 12:16 — What is Winsights? Turning anecdotes into evidence 14:59 — Finding her voice in rooms full of experts 16:28 — Advice for anyone afraid to advocate for themselves 19:36 — "Don't say why me — say plot twist" 20:09 — Where to connect with Kasey & learn about Winsights Connect with Kasey: Winsights: https://winsights.life Website: https://kaseywalsh.com Connect with Jennie: Podcast IG: @girlwhynotyou_ Website: https://girlwhynotyou.com Email: mailto:[email protected] #raredisease #patientadvocacy #momentrepreneur #healthtech #winsights #kaseywalsh #hereditaryspasticparaplegia #caregiver #AIinhealthcare #rarediseaseresearch #womeninbusiness #girlwhynotyou #jennieblackwood #podcast #femalefounder

You're posting. You're showing up. You're doing all the "right" things — so why does it still feel like you're running in place? Here's the truth nobody wants to hear: the thing holding you back probably isn't your strategy. It's you. In this episode, I sit down with Leanna de Bellevue — a single mom who was making $80/hour doing massage, got told her job was disappearing overnight, and said "OK, I'll figure it out." She taught herself marketing from a Google search, built a six-figure agency from scratch with zero budget, scaled it across 17 countries for 15 years, and then sold it for over asking in 10 days flat. Now she helps entrepreneurs uncover the blind spots they can't see on their own — and 85-90% of the time, the real problem isn't systems or marketing. It's mindset. We're talking about:  The "Whisper Theory" — why ignoring your gut always costs you more later  Why imposter syndrome gets LOUDER at every new level (yes, even after you "make it")  The one free thing you can do today to find your biggest blind spot  Why the promises you keep breaking are always the ones you make to yourself  How accountability — real, uncomfortable accountability — changes everything If you're stuck and you've tried everything, this one's going to hit different. Connect with Leanna: @debellevueconsulting | debellevueconsulting.com

What happens when you stop waiting for someone else and just go? In this episode, Jennie Blackwood sits down with Charlotte Lilly, founder of The Retreat Co, who turned a spontaneous solo yoga retreat in Cuba into a thriving business creating transformative travel experiences for women. Charlotte shares how that one trip gave her a confidence she didn't know she needed, why the scariest part is always saying yes, and what she sees happen when women finally stop waiting to feel ready. Whether you're dreaming about starting a business, booking a solo adventure, or just taking that first scary step — this episode is your sign. Just go. Guest: Charlotte Lily, Founder of The Retreat Co  Website: theretreat.company  Instagram: @_theretreatcompany

She was thriving in corporate — big teams, big projects, 60-hour weeks, addicted to the next promotion. Then her son was born five weeks early, and she almost didn't make it. In that hospital room, everything she thought she wanted stopped mattering. In this episode of Girl, Why Not You?, I sit down with Wendy Jensen — bestselling children's book author and founder of Scandinavian Hearts — about the moment she realized climbing the corporate ladder wasn't her path anymore. Not because she hated it. Because she loved something else more. Wendy shares how she went from corporate executive to freelance consultant to launching a heritage-inspired brand — starting with stickers — that turned into four bestselling children's books. No publishing deal. No writing degree. Just a woman who Googled "how to write a children's book" and went for it. We get into: Why she almost died during childbirth and how it rewired everythingThe difference between corporate success and the success that actually fills you upHow helping small business owners inspired her to become oneTurning family traditions into a bestselling book seriesWhy "test and learn, fail fast" isn't just corporate jargon — it's how she built her whole second chapter If you've ever felt stuck on a ladder that doesn't even lead where you want to go — this one's for you. Find Wendy at scandinavianhearts.com and on Instagram @scandinavianhearts.

She went from accounting at one of the largest mining companies in the world to growing a financial firm from $500 million to $4.6 billion in four years — as a single mom. Then her body stopped letting her push through. In this episode of Girl, Why Not You?, I sit down with Jackie Yoder — executive consultant, leadership strategist, and growth advisor — for the conversation women in leadership aren’t having out loud. We’re talking about what happens when perimenopause collides with your biggest professional season. The brain fog. The anxiety out of nowhere. The moment you realize "just push harder" isn’t going to work this time. Jackie shares how burnout and premature menopause forced her to completely rethink how she led — and how letting go became the thing that actually made her team (and her business) stronger. We also get into: - What feminine leadership actually looks like in male-dominated industries - Why high-performing women hide what they’re going through - The delegation breakthrough that changed everything - Jackie’s new female executive roundtables in Scottsdale (and virtual options coming soon) If you’re a woman in leadership quietly wondering what’s happening to your brain, your energy, or your edge — this one’s for you. Find Jackie at jackieyoder.com and on Instagram @jackiemyoder.

More than 50% of women are unsatisfied with their lives because they gave up on their dream. In this episode of Girl, Why Not You?, bestselling author and women's leadership expert Emily Lampkin reveals exactly why — and gives you the step-by-step playbook to start changing that THIS week. Emily is the founder of the Women Leaders Series, has spent 25+ years training thousands of women across corporate, nonprofit, education, and politics, and her book Duct Tape and White Lies is the practical, no-fluff guide women have been begging for. We go DEEP: why talking to men the way you talk to women is costing you promotions, deals, and respect. The 3 things you must do before walking into any networking event (I learned this the hard way after eating alone at a millionaire conference). The "dream slashers" keeping you stuck — and how to fire them today. Plus, the wild story of a country president who flew back just to hear Emily speak again. If you've been waiting for permission to bet on yourself, this is your sign. Stop waiting. Start now.  Grab Duct Tape and White Lies on Amazon ($17 paperback | audiobook available) SHOW NOTES: About the Guest Emily Lampkin is a bestselling author, sought-after speaker and advisor, and the founder of the Women Leaders Series. She has spent more than 25 years training thousands of women across the country and around the world in corporate, nonprofit, education, and political leadership. Her book Duct Tape and White Lies: A Woman's Practical Guide to Real-Life Success was published by Simon & Schuster and is available now. Connect with Emily Website: emilylampkin.comInstagram: @emilyklampkinLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/emilylampkinFacebook: facebook.com/emily.k.lampkinBook: amazon.com — Duct Tape and White Lies Emily Lampkin  Connect with Jennie Website: jennieblackwood.comInstagram: @girlwhynotyou_Podcast: Girl, Why Not You?

You work hard for your money. So why does it still feel like you're behind? Maybe you've been telling yourself you'll "figure it out later." Maybe you've googled "what to do with savings" at midnight and closed the tab more confused than when you opened it. Maybe you just feel like everyone else has it together and you're the only one faking it. You're not. And this episode is proof. I sit down with Hayley Dickson — Certified Financial Planner, CEO and founder of Rippl Wealth Management — and she pulls back the curtain on the 3 things silently eating your wealth alive: taxes, inflation, and your own emotions. We talk about why "I'm not a money person" is the most expensive story you've ever believed, why your savings account is actually working against you, and what financial freedom really looks like (hint — it's not some far-off retirement dream). Hayley left a cushy Hollywood career, started over with a toddler on her hip and a baby on the way, and built a firm specifically to help women like us — women who weren't handed a trust fund, who are building something from scratch, and who deserve a financial partner that actually speaks their language. Whether you're a mom, a 9-to-5er, a business owner, or all three — this conversation will make you feel seen, fired up, and ready to stop leaving your money on the table. FREE OFFER: Hayley is gifting every listener a complimentary 30-minute chemistry session — normally $500. No pressure, no pitch. Just real talk about your money and what to do next. Email her for details! Find Hayley: www.rippl.nm.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hayleywdickson/ Email: [email protected] If that quiet little voice inside you is saying "maybe it's time" — listen to it. This is your permission slip.

Jennifer Blair was a stay-at-home mom of four with no business plan, no investor, and no experience. She just wanted a way to feel like herself again. She took a one-day lash certification class, ran a Groupon expecting maybe 20 sales… and over 300 people showed up. She almost quit before she even started. Instead, she leaned all the way in — practiced on friends' couches, opened a tiny studio, created her own training program, and built Deka Lash into a nationwide franchise with 125+ locations. In this episode, Jennifer shares: • How a Vegas trip sparked the entire idea • Why her Groupon almost made her quit on day one • How she created a training academy when the industry didn’t have one • What it took to go from 1 rented chair to 125+ franchise studios • The real talk on mom guilt, imperfect starts, and betting on yourself If you’ve ever felt like you’re carrying everything and wondering when it’s YOUR turn — this episode is for you.  Find Jennifer & Deka Lash: dekalash.com — use "Find a Studio" to locate a Deka Lash near you Jennifer Blair on LinkedIn — speaking events & more Shop Deka Lash products at dekalash.com or on Amazon