Today’s guest, Lauren Sikes, understands that honest, courageous conversations can transform lives. That’s why she made the brave decision to leave her job as a teacher and start her own company. Lauren is the founder of DesignEd (soon to be rebranded as BeTrue Collective), a company that guides leaders and organizations on how to build…

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Hi friends! I’m doing something a little different on the podcast today.  I am sharing with you the very first episode of Antiracism in Action, a new podcast by my good friend, Stan Smith. If you’ve been listening to Make it Brave for awhile, you might remember my interview with Stan back on episode 41,…

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Why This Teacher & Mom of Three is Running for Office with Elizabeth Madeira

  Elizabeth Madeira never had aspirations to run for office. Her deepest desire had always been to become a mother. But as you’ll hear in our conversation, that was not an easy journey for her. And now as a teacher and mom of three, Elizabeth is running for Tennessee state representative. She is running as…

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Creating Brave Spaces at Work with Brittany Cole

Everyone wants to have a good experience at their job and to work for an organization where you feel valued and can thrive. But for many people, that’s not the case. Toxic company culture can create a challenging work environment, especially for people of color. That’s something that Brittany Cole found when speaking to groups…

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Building Cross-Cultural Relationships with Chris Schirm

Building relationships with people who speak different languages and come from different places and backgrounds can be challenging, or even scary, for many people. But for today’s guest, Chris Schirm, it’s all part of his job as a foreign service officer for the U.S. State Department.  In this role, Chris builds relationships and communicates U.S.…

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Women are experts at juggling lots of plates––from work to childcare to household demands––just to name a few. And it can be overwhelming to manage it all.  That’s where Mridu Parikh comes in. She’s a productivity strategist who helps women overcome the overwhelm so they are not feeling so frazzled and stressed, which is especially…

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Stretching Beyond Your Own Limitations with Gina Miller

When it comes to courage and bravery, so often we view it as one big, courageous act. However, the more I interview people about this subject, I see that bravery is far more about continually pushing past our own limitations and showing up as our true, authentic selves day in and day out.  That’s definitely…

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Pursuing a Dream Across the World with Naima Spencer

Can you imagine moving to a country you had never visited before? And what about if you didn’t speak that country’s language? Sounds pretty daunting, right? That’s exactly what Naima Spencer did at the age of 24. She left her home country of Morocco and moved to the United States with only $500 and an…

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Ditching Society's Checklist with Brittany Tucker

Have you ever felt like you had to follow a prescribed set of rules to achieve success and happiness in your life? That’s exactly how Brittany Tucker felt. She did all of the things she thought a woman was supposed to do to feel loved, accepted and worthy. Captain of the cheerleading squad? Check. Go…

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Creating a More Equitable Workplace with Laura Reinbold

Although women have come a long way in the workplace, in many industries, women are still vastly underrepresented. That’s definitely the case with engineering. Depending on which numbers you look at, women only make up roughly 20-30% of the workforce in that industry. That’s why it’s remarkable that Laura Reinbold is in a position of…

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