“Create a workplace for women, and you will create a workplace for everyone” - Shelley Zalis Our guest today is the dynamic Shelley Zalis, CEO of The Female Quotient and an internationally renowned leader, movement maker and champion of equality. Shelley is a pioneer for online research, becoming the first female chief executive ranked in the research industry’s top 25. Today as CEO of the Female Quotient she works with Fortune 500 companies and impact organizations to advance equality in...

“I need you to step into your power and your confidence and lead because my daughter is watching you” - Julie Castro Abrams In this episode we meet Julie Castro Abrams, founder and CEO of Silicon Valley based How Women Lead. A national organization that is out to mobilize powerful women through community building, venture founding, preparing women to join corporate boards, and advocacy on critical legislative issues such as abortion rights. As women we are on the precipice of losing essential...

“These issues are too important to just not do anything” - Cindy Changyit Levin In this episode we welcome back author and activist Cynthia “Cindy” Changyit Levin, who talks about her new book From Changing Diapers to Changing The World: Why Moms Make Great Advocates and How to Get Started. Mothers have been at the forefront of change from advocating against drunk driving, getting out the vote, reproductive rights, equal pay and gun safety. Cindy talks about her path to advocacy, and shares...

“It's really interesting to work in a space where people practice what they love” - Gaude Paez Our guest today is Gaude Paez, Senior Vice President, and Head of Global Corporate Affairs at Riot Games. We talk about her early start in the competitive world of big agency public relations, and her steady rise in the ranks of the entertainment industry, to her current role in gaming where she's breaking barriers and creating opportunities for a new generation of women executives in gaming. The...

“Inspiration exists, but it has to find you working” - Natalie Nixon Our guest today is Creativity Strategist Natalie Nixon who is known as the creativity whisperer for the C-suite. Natalie is CEO of Figure 8 Thinking, and in addition to being a creativity strategist she is a global keynote speaker, and author of the award winning The Creativity Leap: Unleash Curiosity, Improvisation and Intuition at Work. Natalie advises Fortune 500 leaders on transformation by applying wonder and rigor to...

“Find spaces that celebrate you and not tolerate you” - Minda Harts In this bonus episode of The Manifista Podcast, host Portia Mount sits down with New York Times bestselling author, Minda Harts. They talk about her new book, Right Within: How to Heal from Racial Trauma in the Workplace, the follow-up to her bestselling book and corporate survival guide, The Memo: What Women of Color Need to Know to Secure a Seat at the Table. They take a personal look at how Minda has used the pandemic to...

“This is a political movement to value care but it's also a personal movement to start treating our homes as our most important organizations" - Eve Rodsky In the final episode of season two host Portia Mount sits down with Eve Rodsky, New York Times best selling author of the book Fair Play. They talk about her early years as a child growing up on the Lower East Side in New York, the crucial life lessons she learned from her mother and how Eve’s early career planted the seeds for her success...

“The thing that's tough on moms is the mental labor”  - Audrey Goodson Kingo In this episode host Portia Mount sits down with Audrey Goodson Kingo, journalist and former editor in chief of workingmother.com. As a working mother herself, Audrey has been writing for years about the challenges for working mothers, whether it is childcare, family leave or other policies that impact our lives. Now, nearly a year and a half into the pandemic, we talk about what's ahead for working mothers as we...

“ I realized that I couldn't smell ” - Molly Birnbaum In this episode host Portia Mounts sits down with Molly Birnbaum, editor in chief of America's Test Kitchen Kids. They explore Molly’s passion for food and cooking and the major life change that altered her goal of becoming a chef but ultimately opened her up to a whole new way of looking at food. They talk about bouncing back from failure and what she is learning building a new business centered around kids. Molly's story is a story of...

“Acting is not about putting things on, it’s about bringing things out” - Eda Roth In this episode host Portia Mount talks to actress and consultant Eda Roth. Eda is a trained actress who works as a business coach and consultant, specializing in bringing theatre based skills to business communications. We go deep on a topic that is often talked about but rarely understood, executive presence. We discuss what it really means and how women can access the deepest parts of themselves to uncover...

“If you are really going to be the best version of yourself, you have to be present” - Jane Geraghty In this week’s episode host Portia Mount sits down with Jane Geraghty, group global CEO of branding powerhouse Landor & Fitch. They talk about the beginnings of her extraordinary career in advertising, dig into her philosophy on leadership and the choices and tradeoffs she's made to lead one of the world’s most renowned branding firms. And they explore the habits and routines she has...

“What does it take to be a good ally and accomplice?”  In this episode host Portia Mount talks to three dynamic founders; Jennifer Martineau, President of Leap and Inspire Global, Tiffany Waddell Tate, CEO of Career Maven and Amy C. Waninger, founder and CEO of Lead at Any Level. We are going deep on allyship among women, and specifically allyship among Black women, women of color and white women. In this no holds barred conversation we talk about the barriers that keep us from being better...

“I'm not sure how I define success. But I know I've had it.” - Jackie Levin In this week’s episode host Portia Mount talks to Jackie Levin, storyteller and TV producer. We will follow this midwest native’s extraordinary career in broadcast journalism, from early career intern to the dizzying heights of producer for The Today Show and The Megyn Kelly Show. We’ll talk about succeeding at work and at motherhood in high stress jobs, the importance of self care, taking risks and using continuous...

“The excitement of what my next 20 years will be like is what fuels me everyday” - Denielle Finkelstein In this episode host Portia Mount talks to Denielle Finkelstein, entrepreneur and co-founder of The Organic Project. A startup focused on providing women and girls with organic, eco-friendly period products. They dig into the most important lessons Denielle learned as a corporate executive working with some of the world's largest retail fashion brands, and what ultimately led her to leave...

“I want every woman to make a shit ton of money” - Cindy GallopEpisode Summary:In this episode host Portia Mount speaks to legendary advertising guru, business consultant and entrepreneur Cindy Gallop. This episode is quintessential Cindy - blunt,...

The Manifista Podcast explores the career paths of ambitious women and how they charted their own unique path to success. In season two we have fresh and inspiring conversations with successful women about their careers and the lessons they've learned...

“We are wired to want simple” - Jen GreshamJennifer Gresham is the executive director of Work for Humanity, an organization that is making bold moves to fundamentally rethink the nature of employment and solve one of the biggest challenges the US...

“China is an amazingly diverse place in terms of food” - Jen Lin-LiuJen Lin-Liu is a journalist, memoirist and founder of Beijing based culinary school Black Sesame Kitchen. In this episode she talks about life as a journalist abroad and how she...

“A career maven is someone who really takes ownership of her career story and is charting her own path” - Tiffany Waddell TateIn this episode Tiffany Waddell Tate, founder of Career Maven consulting, talks about her advice for job seekers and her...

“Really be fearless from the start” - Samantha Lomow Samantha Lomow is the president of branded entertainment at Hasbro, the global play and entertainment company. She is currently responsible for leading popular brands such as The Transformers and My...

“Within two weeks of leaving the workforce, I made my salary for the year” - Blessing AdesiyanBlessing Adesiyan is a mom of three and founder of the popular platform Mother Honestly and her new venture Villo. In this episode we explore what led her to...

The Manifista podcast explores the career paths of ambitious women and how they charted their own unique path to success. Each episode we have fresh and inspiring conversations with successful women about their careers the lessons they've learned along...