Episode 449: Investing in Franchises, with Jane Stein

Host Anusha welcomes Aaisha Hamid, VP of Belonging & Engagement at Alliant Insurance Services, for a clear, practical tour of belonging science. Aaisha defines belonging as the fit between a person and a setting—and explains why simple survey questions miss the mark. She maps seven core dimensions (from psychological safety and authenticity to recognition, wellness, and professional investment) and shares how precise measurement links belonging to outcomes like productivity and the employee Net Promoter Score over the long term. Drawing on her own journey—from feeling she had to “shrink” in meetings to finding respect and voice at Alliant—Aaisha shows how manager behavior is the hinge that turns strategy into culture. The pair dig into courage as a leadership necessity (interrupting exclusion in the moment), and agency & trust as antidotes to micromanagement, with practical ways to delegate, cross-train, and de-risk mistakes. Aaisha also spotlights the Alliant Insurance Foundation’s work creating pathways into the industry. A crisp, research-backed blueprint for leaders ready to operationalize inclusion.Thank you to Alliant for sponsoring this podcast. Want to be considered for the podcast? Send an email to [email protected] with your topic focus and a short bio.To learn more about Ellevate Network and how we’re building a community that supports women+ at every stage of their careers, visit ellevatenetwork.com or reach out to [email protected].

In this thought-provoking episode of the Ellevate Podcast, host Ally McDonald sits down with leadership expert, Harvard instructor, and MYLO Center founder Margaret C. Andrews for an honest, insightful conversation about what it truly means to lead. Drawing from her decades of research, teaching, and executive experience, Margaret shares the deeply personal origin story behind her new book, Managing Yourself to Lead Others—a moment when blunt feedback forced her to confront her own blind spots and reshape the way she showed up as a leader.Together, Ally and Margaret explore the often-overlooked foundation of great leadership: understanding and managing yourself. They discuss why so many high performers struggle with self-awareness, how intention and behavior can clash, and why emotions—far from being obstacles—are critical data that inform our decisions and our impact on others. Through compelling examples from Margaret’s work with leaders around the world, they unpack the patterns, challenges, and transformative shifts that help people bridge the gap between who they think they are and how others experience them.This episode is rich with reflection, psychology, and practical wisdom. Whether you’re an emerging leader or a seasoned executive, Margaret’s insights will challenge you to pause, look inward, and consider how mastering yourself is the key to elevating not just your work—but everyone around you.Manage Yourself to Lead Others: Why Great Leadership Begins with Self-Understanding By Margaret Andrews. To learn more about Ellevate Network and how we’re building a community that supports women+ at every stage of their careers, visit ellevatenetwork.com or reach out to [email protected].

In this candid, tools-forward conversation, Ingrid Goldbloom Bloch—founder of Mosaic Careers—shares how to use design thinking to navigate real constraints and real possibilities. She explains why human problems aren’t linear, how to distinguish circumstances from thoughts, and how small reframes shift feelings, actions, and results. Ingrid introduces the idea of “gravity problems” (unchangeable realities like caregiving load or a tight budget) and redirects energy toward what is changeable: the stories you tell yourself, the skills you emphasize, the micro-experiments you try, and the support you invite in through radical collaboration.Drawing on exercises like Odyssey Planning and the “8–12 lives” thought experiment, Ingrid helps listeners surface the themes that run across their many possible futures—then translate those themes into low-risk pilots and resume narratives that point where they’re going, not just where they’ve been. She also tackles time pressure with her “tiger time” practice (non-negotiable blocks for high-energy work), attention batching, and matching tasks to your natural energy curve. Finally, Ingrid invites a kinder inner dialogue—asking whether you’ve become your own toxic boss, and how models like Internal Family Systems can help you notice, name, and soften the inner critic. The result is a grounded roadmap for moving forward toward an unknown future—one reframe, one micro-step, and one protected block of time at a time.Thank you to our sponsor Gies College of BusinessWant to be considered for the podcast? Send an email to [email protected] with your topic focus and a short bio.To learn more about Ellevate Network and how we’re building a community that supports women+ at every stage of their careers, visit ellevatenetwork.com or reach out to [email protected].

Founder & CEO of Paravis Partners and host of HBR’s Coaching Real Leaders, Muriel M. Wilkins dives into the inner game of leadership: the beliefs that silently cap your impact. With Anusha, she demystifies adult development theory (it’s not change, it’s range), shows how to align mindset with increasing complexity, and walks through seven common limiting beliefs she’s seen across 300+ senior clients—from “I need to be involved” to “I know I’m right” and “I can’t say no.” You’ll learn when those beliefs help, when they hinder scale, and how to reframe them so you can delegate, bring people along, and make better decisions under uncertainty. Muriel also shares how to coach peers (and boards) by starting with curiosity and goals, plus a candid look at writing Leadership Unblocked and why this conversation belongs in the corporate arena, not just parenting or wellness.Thank you to our sponsor Gies College of Business.Connect with Muriel Wilkins ​​www.murielwilkins.com Want to be considered for the podcast? Send an email to [email protected] with your topic focus and a short bio.To learn more about Ellevate Network and how we’re building a community that supports women+ at every stage of their careers, visit ellevatenetwork.com or reach out to [email protected].

Host Anusha sits down with Helen Hanison—leadership speaker, former board-level PR director, and author of Unstuck: A Smart Guide to Purposeful Career Redesign—to decode what being “stuck” really looks like for high achievers. Helen shares her formula: start by acknowledging stuckness, then design a personal career compass (strengths, values, purpose), and iterate using Agile Career Design. They explore practical tactics like job crafting inside your current role, running low-risk pilot tests, and “collecting conversations” instead of stiff networking. You’ll hear how to talk about short stints or zig-zags in interviews, how to curate your narrative on LinkedIn, and why it’s never too late to redesign a career that feels alive and aligned. Helen also pulls back the curtain on bringing her book "Unstuck" to life via a hybrid publishing process—and why support and accountability turn insight into action.Thank you to Gies College of Business for sponsoring this Ellevate Podcast. Want to be considered for the podcast? Send an email to [email protected] with your topic focus and a short bio. To learn more about Ellevate Network and how we’re building a community that supports women+ at every stage of their careers, visit ellevatenetwork.com or reach out to [email protected].

Host Anusha Harid-Paoletti sits down with author, activist, and world-record skydiver Melanie Curtis to reframe what fear really is—and how to act anyway. Melanie shares the mental playbook she uses from aircraft door to boardroom: identify fear’s signal, interrupt it with breath, name the sentence you’re believing, and choose a simple, confidence-anchored reframe. She opens up about healing and vulnerability (and why both are skills you can practice), then takes us behind her documentary that parallels the 80-woman, 200-mph world record with the grit of the women’s suffrage movement. For parents, educators, and young women, Melanie offers ways to cultivate safe support, permission to care about what lights you up, and a path to real resilience. We close with what’s next: fewer jumps, more stages, and a mission to champion women and girls by speaking boldly in every room.Thank you to our sponsors Gies College of Business Want to be considered for the podcast? Send an email to [email protected] with your topic focus and a short bio.To learn more about Ellevate Network and how we’re building a community that supports women+ at every stage of their careers, visit ellevatenetwork.com or reach out to [email protected].

In this episode of the Ellevate Podcast, host Anusha sits down with Tiffany Irving, Senior Vice President and Wealth Advisor at Mesirow Wealth Management, to talk about building wealth with purpose. Tiffany shares her path into financial advising, the importance of serving diverse communities, and her Three P’s approach—Prepare, Plan, Protect—as a practical framework for financial security. She also dives into the power of financial literacy for younger generations, common mistakes people make when planning (or failing to plan), and why redefining legacy matters. Listeners will leave with insights that make money management approachable, personal, and empowering.Thank you to our sponsors Gies College of Business Want to be considered for the podcast? Send an email to [email protected] with your topic focus and a short bio.To learn more about Ellevate Network and how we’re building a community that supports women+ at every stage of their careers, visit ellevatenetwork.com or reach out to [email protected].

What separates good managers from leaders people line up to work for? In this energizing conversation, host Anusha sits down with Whitney Faires—internationally recognized coach, keynote speaker, and former senior executive at Intuitive Surgical who helped scale a $2B business line—to unpack the Courageous Leader Roadmap. Whitney shares the “Sunday-night test” for honest self-assessment, explains why people-first leadership outperforms results-only management, and reframes fearless communication as a practice of refusing to let fear decide what gets said—not saying everything that crosses your mind.You’ll learn how to identify your leadership archetype, build judgment and self-awareness in high-stakes moments, and consistently access your power zone using personal activators (and guarding against depletors). Whitney also talks candidly about navigating guilt, competing priorities, and career pivots you didn’t choose—plus how to reclaim agency by focusing on what you can control and designing growth inside any role.Whether you’re managing your first team or scaling a division, this episode gives you practical prompts, mindset shifts, and repeatable routines to raise your game—and your team’s.Connect with Whitney on LinkedIn or Instagram (@whitney_faires) and join her mailing list for upcoming workshops and group coaching opportunities.Thank you to Gies College of Business for Sponsoring this Podcast. Want to be considered for the podcast? Send an email to [email protected] with your topic focus and a short bio.To learn more about Ellevate Network and how we’re building a community that supports women+ at every stage of their careers, visit ellevatenetwork.com or reach out to [email protected].

Award-winning marketing strategist and entrepreneur Sacha Awwa (Founder, SAMG; Co-founder, My Marketer Mentors) joins Anusha Harid-Paoletti to demystify why marketing feels complicated—and how to make it simple, measurable, and effective. Drawing on 22 years across the New York Times and high-growth startups, Sacha lays out a foundation-first approach: clarify mission/vision, nail the Four W’s (why, who, way, what), define accurate ideal customer profiles, and build customer-market fit before spending a dollar on channels. She shares a right-sized MarTech stack (GA/Search Console, CRM/ESP) and how to use AI tools (ChatGPT, Claude) to accelerate research and planning. We dig into B2B vs. B2C nuances, community-building that beats tiny ad budgets, and two unforgettable war stories, one about scaling customer service with moms, another about founders getting in their own way. If you’ve ever wondered where your ad dollars go, or whether you even need ads yet, this episode gives you the roadmap to market smarter, not louder.3 TakeawaysDon’t buy tactics; build the foundation first.Prioritize customer-market fit and community over low-budget ads.Use AI + lean tools to research, test, and measure before you scale.Thank you to our Sponsors Gies College of Business.

In this thought-provoking episode, host Anusha Harid-Paoletti sits down with Dr. Camille Preston, business psychologist and author of Living Real, to explore how leaders can navigate disruption, grief, and the “shallowing” of modern life. Drawing from her own journey through profound loss, Camille shares how avoiding hard conversations not only limits our resilience but also our joy. Together they discuss practical ways to rethink energy, resist digital distraction, and embrace radical presence in leadership and life. With wisdom forged at the intersection of psychology and business, Camille offers listeners a blueprint for leading with authenticity, compassion, and strength in times of uncertainty.Thank you to Gies College of Business for sponsoring this podcast. Want to be considered for the podcast? Send an email to [email protected] with your topic focus and a short bio.To learn more about Ellevate Network and how we’re building a community that supports women+ at every stage of their careers, visit ellevatenetwork.com or reach out to [email protected].