“In 2015, the influencer industry was a half a billion dollar industry,” says Aliza Freud; “This year it’s projected to be close to $25 billion.” As the founder and CEO of SheSpeaks, a global community of female influencers, Freud connects brands with the social media entrepreneurs who can help them amplify their message. “I think it’s giving women a huge opportunity,” she tells CoveyClub founder Lesley Jane Seymour. In fact, in a recent study her company spotted a rising trend of women...

“Most people think that if somebody from the Philippines is marrying an American, maybe she only wants money,” observed Filipino-born Kristy Yoder. “I’m a living testimony that it’s not true…I hired my husband full-time.” When Yoder first moved to the United States she began working as a freelance virtual assistant in the hopes that entrepreneurship would allow her to spend more time with her loved ones. Yet, like so many of us, she soon experienced the overwhelm of being a one-woman show....

"The thing you might want to do may not be the thing you need to do in order to start the ball rolling so you can reinvent," says Izolda Trakhtenberg. "What is the thing that you need to actually change?" A former NASA Master Trainer, Trakhtenberg has reinvented herself as an author, educator, and master podcaster. She believes in the power of the Fives Cs: Creativity, Curiosity, Compassion, Confidence, and Communication. Thoughtful and illuminating, this conversation between Trakhtenberg and...

"As corny as it sounds, it really is about doing the inner work and knowing who you are," observes lawyer, author, and emotional well-being expert Poonam Bhuchar. "We put energy into going to the gym, we put effort into our relationships, why do we not honeymoon ourselves…why don't we spend the time to get to know who we are and what we want?" A powerhouse reinventor and master of resilience, Bhuchar overcame assault, bullying, and attempted suicide before dedicating her professional life to...

Is it possible to reinvent yourself as a writer in your second act and also make a sustainable living? Journalist and writing coach Rebecca Weber is proof that you can. Her reinvention took her from Washington, DC to Cape Town, South Africa where she covers social justice, travel, the environment and the arts. Listen in to her conversation with CoveyClub founder Lesley Jane Seymour as she shares her hard-won insights, expert hacks, and the exact steps you can take to finally make your passion...

As an entrepreneur, Barbara Viteri was wildly successful: she was regularly featured on magazine covers and television, and yet she didn’t feel fulfilled. “I noticed that the passion we tell everyone to have…was not really a passion,” she tells CoveyClub founder Lesley Jane Seymour in this candid conversation. “It was a bit scary.” Listen in as she shares the personal reinvention that took her on a career whirlwind, how she chose to leave the world of celebrity interior design on a high note...

"If you look at [menopause] in a positive way, you could do anything," says Michelle Jacobs, co-founder of Womanness, a wellness brand dedicated to supporting women going through menopause and perimenopause. "The women I have found are happiest at this time look at it as an opportunity and not the end of something. And that's really what Womanness is all about." When her longtime friend Sally Mueller started to struggle with the unexpected symptoms of menopause, Jacobs and Mueller decided to...

“I am everything without the job. I am everything without the title…I’m a badass. I’m a trailblazer. I’m a lighthouse.” This was the manifesto that led Shelley Paxton to leave her job as Chief Marketing Officer of Harley-Davidson in search of what set her soul on fire. “I didn’t believe it for a while,” she tells me, “I had to keep rereading it and saying it out loud.” Now she's on a mission to lead a reinvention REBELution through her coaching and bestselling book, Soulbattical: A Corporate...

“I can make money and live a good life rather than trying to figure out how to make money,” says Kim Daly, creator of the Millionaire Mindset program, “because it's in that trying time that most startup businesses fail.” Before becoming one of America’s top franchise consultants, Daly had a successful career as a sought-after entrepreneur in the health and fitness industry. Having experienced life at both ends of the career spectrum, she shares her observations in this insightful conversation...

When Sharon Linder saw a need gap, she left a 32-year career at IBM to jump into the world of entrepreneurship and fill it. After her mother and sisters survived breast cancer, Linder became more diligent about her own exams. It was in the waiting room where she saw the need gap. “The skinny girls were freezing in their little gowns and the big girls were basically falling out of their bigger gowns,” she tells CoveyClub founder Lesley Jane Seymour. “I thought, ‘there has to be a better way.’”...

“I was a stay-at-home mom, became addicted to drugs, lost custody of my children, got into long term recovery, and started a New Orleans recovery community.” So begins this revealing and vulnerable conversation with Felicia Montiforte Kleinpeter, co-founder and CEO of Imagine Recovery, one of the foremost recovery communities in New Orleans. After a car accident, Kleinpeter developed an addiction to painkillers that led to a years-long spiral. Her greatest reinvention came when she sought...

While in law school at the age of 27, Donna Cryer found herself with colon cancer and in need of a liver transplant, all the result of a rare autoimmune disease born of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). “It is really an honor to use my lived experience, especially the painful part of my journey, to help solve problems in the the healthcare system,” she tells CoveyClub founder Lesley Jane Seymour in this vital conversation. Cryer founded the Global Liver Institute, the only patient-driven...

Imagine carrying a women’s fashion label dedicated to reinventing workwear through a global pandemic that shuts down offices worldwide and makes “work from home” the new normal! “The only way through was forward,” remembers Sarah LaFleur, who founded the MM LaFleur clothing brand in 2013. By relying on the purpose of their pieces (still easy dressing for work) but reframing their presentation (instead, say, of dresses-that-travel, tops that look professional on video), MM LaFleur was able to...

"It's our responsibility to be more vocal and visible about who we are," says Celebrate the Gray founder Stephanie O'Dell. "So when you're asked your age, say your age...because then perception and reality start to get closer." A true reinventor, O'Dell is changing the way women 50+ are represented in media and everyday advertising. She started Celebrate the Gray as a blog before revamping the business into its current iteration: an agency that promotes real, midlife women as models and...

"Almost all women will have to reinvent," says veteran journalist and author Joanne Lipman. "There's no guidebook for us...that's what I wanted to do." During the pandemic, she embarked on the journey of writing her bestselling book, Next!: The Power of Reinvention in Life and Work, to be such a guide. Listen in to her enlightening conversation with CoveyClub founder Lesley Jane Seymour to learn Lipman’s secrets for revamping your life and career through practical tips and empowering stories...

"If you're thinking about reinventing...keep your network strong," advises journalist turned career coach Katie Fogarty. "You need to tell people what you want to be doing, what you're excited about, what you're looking towards...because then they can be helpful." Fogarty has gracefully navigated various reinventions in her own life - from TV news writing to global PR firms, Capitol Hill, and teaching in Japan. Her secret? A deep love of learning and a fearless willingness to embrace...

She was called the one with the Midas touch, but for Shilpa Kulshrestha, having four graduate degrees (!!) and a decades-long successful career didn't feel like enough. "I realized that no, this was not something that was going to get me to the greatest heights in life," she tells CoveyClub founder Lesley Jane Seymour in this important conversation. "In the hustle and bustle of life, somewhere I started giving my bare minimum." Learn how Kulshrestha took the leap to leave her boring rote job...

"Find the one thing [your competitors] aren't doing that other people would like," says serial entrepreneur Sean Castrina, "and carve your complete business model around that." The founder of the Weekend MBA, author of four bestselling business books, and host of the "10-Minute Entreprenuer " podcast has started more than 20 companies in the last two decades. In this conversation with CoveyClub founder Lesley Jane Seymour, Castrina reveals his secrets for successful startups and how he...

LeeAnn Marie Webster's life is truly a one-woman show. Multiple reinventions took her through a series of careers that include lawyer, speed dating event owner, and business coach. Next week she will add "star of the stage" to her list. Her autobiographical stage production, "Fancy Meeting Me Here", which plays at Chicago's Den Theatre from June 22-24, recounts her journey of coping with the loss of her brother when she was a child, searching for her calling, and the personal transformation...

“The more you experience an emotion versus resist the emotion…you create self-confidence.” Career strategist, executive coach, and renowned speaker Jill Griffin has been on a personal odyssey to reinvent her relationship to uncertainty. After an 18-year quest to understand the traumatic brain injury that changed her life, Griffin developed not only clarity around her personal health, but also a collection of tools to deal with anxiety. In this intimate conversation with CoveyClub founder...

"What purpose can this pain serve?" asks serial reinventor Rebecca Contreras. From childhood abuse and neglect to poverty and addiction, Contreras has risen above all manner of challenges in her life. She recounts these experiences in her book, Lost Girl: From the Hood to the White House to Millionaire Entrepreneur, and in this intimate conversation with CoveyClub founder Lesley Jane Seymour. A must-listen for anyone who has ever contemplated leaving their corporate job and venturing into the...

When the pandemic shook the world in the spring of 2020, Stacey Birch, a career bartender with a special-needs son, was in Bali working on a 12-month plan to reinvent her life. “Bringing Bob his beer and ranch dressing was no longer fulfilling,” she observes wryly. So after turning 50, she entered a contest to learn social media in Bali. Then Covid struck. “I crashed hard,” she CoveyClub founder Lesley Jane Seymour in this wildly candid and humorous conversation. Hear how Birch pivoted her...

Do you ever wonder how the most popular speakers and coaches land guest spots on top podcasts? Writer and podcast publicist Alice Draper knows the secret sauce. “Let’s say you’re leaving corporate and you’re starting a business,” she says. “Look at the examples around you…you’re bringing your own unique value.” With podcasts becoming the new platform for information and visibility, it’s important for entrepreneurs to understand how to use podcast guest-speaking to enhance their personal...

“My family was advised that they needed to come very quickly to say goodbye," says Geralyn Ritter. "My brother packed a dark suit for my funeral.” For Ritter, a near-fatal experience on the 2015 Philadelphia Amtrak derailment was the life-altering catalyst for a complete life and career reinvention. Her 2022 book, Bone by Bone: A Memoir of Trauma and Healing, details the story of her remarkable journey to recovery, moving through grief, trauma and healing. “The main reason I wrote it was to...

What would you do if, as a healthy 20-something on the verge of achieving your dreams, your world was shattered by a health diagnosis? Elena Sonnino thought her body was broken and her life as she knew it was over. Through years of treatments and mystifying test results, she was determined to reinvent her relationship with her body and transform her health. In this intimate conversation with CoveyClub founder Lesley Jane Seymour, Sonnino shares her incredible story of overcoming. "I realized...