Conversations on Conversations Sarah Noll Wilson, Inc

Join Sarah Noll Wilson and guest Courageous Fire as they delve into the challenges faced by Black women in predominantly white spaces. Courageous shares insights into her journey of embracing authenticity and self worth, highlighting the power of vulnerability, trust, and empathy in building inclusive spaces.
About Our Guest
Courageous Fire is a Black woman and diligent part of the workforce who learned it was important to have a safe space to do safety planning, what it looked like to get help outside the workplace during the crisis of domestic violence, how far reaching the cost of DV is to health, how disruptive it is to work performance, how expensive it can be for years into the future, and how uniquely this health, economic, social justice issue specifically impacts Black women.
Once Courageous executed her plan to free herself and her daughters, she began to furiously RESEARCH. She wanted to find and/or create the best solutions. She wanted to know if she could find employer partners to create spaces within the work environment for safety planning if she provided the training and materials. She wanted to know if they realized how much money she could save them in employee absenteeism and healthcare costs if she provided them with cultural resources for their Black women employees. And she wanted to teach them how to utilize their position in Black women DV victim-survivor’s lives to be disruptors of the oftentime end result of DV - homicide.
She began Courageous Fire, LLC nearly 5 years ago to educate with a concentration on two distinct groups - Centers of Trust and Centers of Must - to increase the spaces where Black women can be treated with dignity, compassion, and stop being refused services or having services terminated for showing up fully as a Black woman during crisis. Courageous has always known her work would need to broaden to mitigate the harm of systems holding Black women accountable for the perpetrator’s violence against them and their children. That’s why she is moving toward those state-operated systems in her collaborative work with organizations such as Iowa Department of Health and Human Services, Children and Families of Iowa, and Safe and Together Institute to make that happen.
Nearly 5 years later, Courageous has successfully charted relationships with over 30 organizations to increase safe spaces for Black women. These places in Iowa include many cities: Waterloo, Dubuque, Davenport, Iowa City, Decorah, Cedar Rapids, Ankeny, and Des Moines, as well as Illinois and New York. In this time she has 1 organization that has set up a place for safety planning, but she knows there are many more needed.
Courageous is a consultant, trainer, and women’s empowerment speaker who comes with 12+ years of curriculum development and delivery experience, 6+ years as a motivational speaker, and 5+ years of independent studies in historical and systemic racial impact on Black women in DV. She often says her approach is never “shame on you!” which closes people down, but instead it is one of “did you know?” to give people a safe place for consideration. Courageous is aware that there is a temptation to assume how a Black woman will “teach”, but experience has shown her that knowledge, authenticity, and comfort with who she is creates a safe for her audience to be comfortable with themselves while they learn, question, seek, discard, relearn, and grow. She comes ready to invite everyone that attends that level of #permission.
Links and Resources
Website: www.cfirellc.com/home
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/cfire
Instagram: www.instagram.com/cfire_llc
Shared Sisterhood: How to Take Collective Action for Racial and Gender Equity at Work by Tina Opie and Beth A. Livingston : https://a.co/d/dzMZaMD

Join Sarah Noll Wilson and guest Stephanie Chin for a wide-ranging conversation with insights on leadership, personal growth and experimentation, and the complex challenges of creating diverse and inclusive workplaces.
About Our Guest
Stephanie Chin has spent the past two decades as a nonprofit leader, including working for the United Way network both globally and locally and at SRI International, Inc. She believes that we all do better when we all do better and her life’s mission is to help everyone operate near their potential while expanding it, by their own definition. She led day-to-day operations of MyFreeTaxes at United Way Worldwide, expanding the number of free tax filers from 50,000 to over 200,000 in two years, and promulgated an inclusive approach to project management at SRI International, Inc., leading a cross-division project management leadership team on the implementation of the new financial planning system. She approaches poverty fighting with a race conscious lens and advocates for equitable practices and systems change and contributed to United Way Worldwide’s Equity Framework. Chin’s new venture, Spicy Conversations, will help clients improve inclusive leadership practices and focus on behavior and systems change that makes a difference.
Chin has a Bachelor of Arts from University of California, Berkeley, a JD/MBA from Emory University, has a Green Belt in Lean Six Sigma, and coaching training from Co-Active Training Institute.
Links and Resources
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/stephaniemchin
LinkedIn (company): www.linkedin.com/company/spicy-conversations
Schedule a conversation with Stephanie: https://calendly.com/spicyconversation
The Culture Map by Erin Meyer: www.erinmeyer.com/book
Becoming Powerful Makes You Less Empathetic (HBR article): www.hbr.org/2015/04/becoming-powerful-makes-you-less-empathetic
Asch Conformity Experiments (Wikipedia): www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asch_conformity_experiments
The Push and Pull: Declining Interest in Nonprofit Leadership: www.buildingmovement.org/reports/push-and-pull-report

Join Sarah Noll Wilson and guest Rachel Formaro as they share their personal journeys of entrepreneurship, with a focus on the ways that intentionality and purpose can shape workplace culture and foster growth.
About Our Guest
Rachel Formaro is the CEO at Blu Pagoda LLC, a company she founded in 2014. With more than 20 years of both corporate and agency experience, Rachel is known for her creativity, compassion, and commitment to ensuring success for both clients and consultants, while having a positive impact on her community.
Prior to starting Blu Pagoda, Rachel was a Managing Director with Charles Schwab for almost 15 years. Before joining Schwab, Rachel started and ran a small advertising agency in Toronto, Canada.
Rachel attended the University of Toronto, where she earned a BA in English and History, and holds a post-graduate certificate in Market Research Analysis.
Outside of her work at Blu Pagoda, Rachel prioritizes her family, community, and well-being. In addition to being a mom and wife, she is an active volunteer and board member— Rachel is currently on the board at the Chrysalis Foundation for Women and Girls.
Links and Resources
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/rachelformaro
Website: www.blupagoda.com
12 Principles for Prototyping a Feminist Business by Jennifer Armbrust: www.sister.is
Holstee Manifesto: www.holstee.com/pages/manifesto

Join Sarah Noll Wilson and guest Ify Walker as they discuss Ify's work challenging and disrupting the norms and biases involved in hiring, and offer actionable insights for creating inclusive workplaces.
About Our Guest
Ify Walker is a proud product of Nigerian parents, Wisconsin, and Head Start. A fierce believer in the power of equitable culture and talent practices, Ify’s experience sits at the intersection of law, fundraising, and talent cultivation. She is a steady and courageous advisor whose firm has helped over 200 companies hire top executives from Offor’s talent network of over 10,000 leaders. As the Founder and CEO of Offor, Ify leads with her values: she believes that when people’s needs are prioritized, everyone can do their best work. As such, Offor invests in a paid certified financial planner and mandatory paid six weeks off for all of its employees. When she is not leading a growing national firm and debunking the meritocracy myth, Ify is running Mom's School of Excellence with her husband—the most important decision she has ever made.
Links and Resources
Website: www.offor.co
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/ifywalker
X: twitter.com/ifywalker
White Women: Everything You Already Know About Your Own Racism and How to Do Better by Regina Jackson and Saira Rao: www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/669854/white-women-by-regina-jackson-and-saira-rao

Join Sarah Noll Wilson and guest Beth Shelton as they explore the complexities of addiction and sobriety. Sharing candidly from her personal experience, Beth provides valuable insights into understanding addiction, supporting loved ones, and embracing vulnerability for personal growth and healing.
About Our Guest
Beth Shelton is the Chief Executive Office of Girl Scouts of Greater Iowa, overseeing all operations for 13,000 members in portions of Iowa, Nebraska and South Dakota.
With thought-provoking discussions among hundreds of speeches, conferences, podcast interviews, and articles written, Beth has reached millions of people from coast to coast, on topics ranging from workplace transformation to mental wellbeing to sobriety.  Beth unapologetically speaks about the human experience and has received national accolades, highlighted on platforms ranging from Good Morning America, CNN and Working Mother Magazine, to The Washington Post, USA Today and the Today Show.
Beth is persistently curious, an avid reader, and uses solution-focused leadership to encourage radical innovation. She received her BA from Simpson College and MBA from Drake University, and has been named an alumni of achievement from both, while recently completing the Artificial Intelligence certificate program at MIT.
Beth, a life-long amputee, embraces a spirit of empowering others, having served various causes; including the Iowa Amputee Golf Association, leading a local Girl Scout troop, serving on her local school board, and coaching youth teams in multiple sports. 
She has a lifelong love of sports, having been a 3-time collegiate MVP in tennis. She loves driving her vintage Jeep with the top off, just took up guitar lessons, and is enjoying the journey of visiting every national park. 
Links and Resources
Website: www.bethshelton.com
This Naked Mind by Annie Grace: www.thisnakedmind.com
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA): www.samhsa.gov

Join Sarah Noll Wilson and guest Kathryn Valentine as they discuss negotiation strategies tailored for women, navigating workplace biases, and fostering inclusive cultures. Through personal anecdotes and research insights, they explore empowering women to advocate for themselves and promote gender equality in professional settings.
About Our Guest
Kathryn Valentine is the CEO of Worthmore Strategies, where she leverages over a decade of research gendered business skills to help companies advance female talent. A top-rated speaker, her clients include multi-national organizations such as JP Morgan, KPMG and TIAA. Her work has been featured in the Harvard Business Review, the Wall Street Journal, Fast Company and Forbes; she has been invited to speak on her research at Harvard, Wharton and Kellogg business schools.
Website: www.worthmorestrategies.com
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/kval
75+ Negotiation Secrets: main-union-183.myflodesk.com/75things