The Story Behind Her Success

Candy O'Terry
  • 4.9 (59)
  • Personal Journals
  • Updated Biweekly

Women from every walk of life reveal how they got to where they are today, sharing their wisdom and the lessons they have learned along the way.

  1. 2d ago

    Heather Roberts

    Founder & CEO of Mom Bomb MomBomb.shop & MomBomb.org  Women are underestimated.  I sit in board rooms with capital investors and other decision makers and I know that there are women with better ideas, and still, they don’t get a chance.  – Heather Roberts  Welcome to the story of an entrepreneurial mother of 6 who made the discovery of her life during the most difficult time in her life.   In the spotlight, Heather Roberts, Founder & CEO of  Mom Bomb, MomBomb.shop,  a social impact company that makes all-natural bath bombs while funding mombomb.org to support women in need.   Why bath bombs?  Heather explains:  “One day, my body just said “enough” and I started having seizures.   Over the next ten months, I saw 16 doctors and some of them said I was crazy. Then, one neurologist took the extra time to study my medical reports carefully and she diagnosed me with a rare condition nicknamed “the suicide disease” because it is so painful, people kill themselves.”  Trigeminal Neuralgia is a chronic pain condition that causes sudden, intense, electric shock-like, stabbing pain to the side of the face. Finding the right medication for Heather took more time, too, and she found relief laying in a warm bath with bath bombs just for relief.  However, once she started reading the ingredients in bath bombs,  she learned that they are filled with “endocrine disrupting garbage” that can cause sleep dysfunction, headaches and more.  That’s when Mom Bomb came to life.  She learned how to use all-natural ingredients to create safe, soothing bath bombs for moms who just might need a little TLC at the end of a long day, and then she asked herself:  what if I sell this product to women who need to relax and use the proceeds to help other moms in crisis?”Mom Bomb is a social impact company and in bringing her concept to market, she has redefined what it means to do well, by doing good.   Many companies are following suit and that’s okay with Heather.  “Mom Bomb.org is why I get up in the morning.  We’re gonna give our money away and money is going to be the by-product of doing the right thing.” Inspiring?  We think so.  Go ahead and hit that download button.   #womeninspiringwomen #thestorybehindhersuccess #trigeminalneuralgia #entrepreneur

    Heather Roberts

  2. Jun 30

    Maria Woods

    Host of That Mom podcast thatmompodcast.com   Guess what?  Becoming a mom actually changes your brain.   -Maria Wood Meet a working mom on a mission to help other moms create lives that align with the things that matter most to them.  Maria Woods is the host of the all-new podcast series That Mom thatmompodcast.com.   Born and Raised in the little town of Royalston, Massachusetts, she’s the daughter of an educator, and holds three degrees in cultural anthropology, law and business.   In this interview, she shares the story behind the creation of her popular series, and the joy she gets from offering her audience knowledge they can use from the experts who appear on the show. Says Maria:  “Motherstoday are under pressure to do it all and there’s been no mention of the sacrifice that goes into it.”   Now the mother of two young children, Maria says she makes no apologies for the time she spends at work.  Why?  Because she loves her career in marketing. So, instead of telling her children “mommy has to go to work”  Maria has flipped the guilt script and says “mommy gets to go to work today and I’ll have lots to tell you when I get home.”  Prioritizing what really matters to you is the key to fulfillment as a parent, says Maria. “As moms, it’s hard to do everything and maybe sometimes, we can’t.  You have to give from a place of love, but you also have to give from a place of wanting to give, and that nuance makes modern motherhood so complicated.”   For 24 minutes of priceless mom wisdom, just hit that download button.  #motherhood #wisdom #workingmom #thestorybehindhersuccess

    Maria Woods

  3. Jun 18

    Cara Belvin

    Founder of EMPOWER                       weareempower.org  Here’s what my dad did for me after my mother died:  He told me he loved me every single day. It wasn’t his job to teach me how to grieve. It was his job to love me. -Cara Belvin This episode features Cara Belvin, one of the first women to share her story on The Story Behind Her Success when we launched the show back in 2018.  She’s the founder of a charity called EMPOWER, which creates community for children grieving the loss of a parent.  Raised in Southington, Connecticut, Cara’s mother, Kit, died of breast cancer when she was only 37 years old, leaving a grieving husband and two young children.  Cara was only 9 years old when this life-changing experience happened to her, and in this interview, she explains that it was her father and a large extended family who surrounded her with love and support. The loss of our mothers early in our lives is what initially connected us.  We grew up about 10 miles apart in Connecticut, and if I had met her back then, I would have taken her by the hand and shown her the way.  My 18-year-old self would have reassured her that she would survive.    EMPOWER is Cara’s homage to her mother; originally created to connect girls with female mentors who have also experienced motherloss, EMPOWER now includes boys and nonbinary kids, connecting them to mentors who know firsthand how it feels to lose a parent. In this interview, we learn that Cara has raised 10 million dollars in 13 years .   What started as a bereavement program with only 7 girls in Boston is now a national non-profit that helped more than 1000 children in 2025.  This Father’s Day, we acknowledge the love of our fathers during the most difficult time of our lives.  “Grief is like a tattoo, says Cara, it will fade, but it’s not going anywhere.  I see the weight of the world on the shoulders of a lot of dads who are parenting alone after the loss of a partner.  I have a lot of empathy for them, because they look just like my dad.”  For 27 minutes of #fathersday inspiration, just hit that download button.  #womeninspiringwomen #motherloss #fatherloss #bereavement #children

    Cara Belvin

  4. Jun 10

    Kim Carrigan

    Host of Carrigan & Company carriganandcompanypod.com I have appreciated every day and every minute of this big, huge career I’ve been blessed with.  -Kim Carrigan  This episode features a woman I have admired for many years, not only because she’s an award-winning news anchor but because she is savvy, smart, resilient, and kind.  Kim Carrigan is an example of what I would call:  grace under fire.  Born and raised in Missouri, Kim got her start on television at her college TV station and later climbed the ladder at stations throughout the Midwest.  Married to her college sweetheart, Kim and her husband moved 5 times during her early years on the air, requiring him to pass the bar in 5 states!  In this interview, Kim shares stories about reporting live when historic tragedies like 9/11, the death of John F. Kennedy, Jr and his wife Carolyn Bessett, and the Boston Marathon Bombings took place.   She also talks about how devastating it was to be fired while pregnant, following contract disputes at Boston’s WHDH, where she and her co-host Randy Price were consistently #1 in the ratings; a story so controversial, it made the New York Times.  When I asked her how she made it through this difficult time in her life, Kim replied:  “I have the most supportive husband on earth and I made a decision that I was going to take care of my 4 year old son and wait for my baby girl to be born, but through it all, I learned a tough lesson:   In life, we can do the best that we can do, but sometimes, the universe has a different plan.”   For Kim, adversity gave way to good fortune when she moved to mornings on Boston’s Fox 25, enjoying 10 years of ratings superiority, during which time the unique ensemble cast of broadcasters became a national model for the network.   Now the host of the podcast series Carrigan & Company carriganandcompanypod.com, Kim loves the concept of co-hosting with someone new every week.   She’s living her best life, taking the reins of her own career while cherishing time with her husband, Randy, and their two grown children.  Listener alert:  I made Kim Carrigan cry in this interview.  Sorry, not sorry!  For 27 minutes of outstanding storytelling, grace and guts, just hit that download button.  #womeninspiringwomen

    Kim Carrigan

  5. May 27

    Lindsey Disch

    PPD survivor & outpatient therapist soleowellness.com When I finally sat down to write my postpartum depression story, the words just came pouring out.  -Lindsey Disch  In this latest episode,  we meet Lindsey Disch, whose journey through Post Partum Depression or PPD casts a bright light on a condition many people still don’t understand. Profiled in a prominent women’s magazine,  Lindsey’s “A Letter to My Daughter” essay caught my heart and my attention.  https://www.pinkchairstorytellers.com/storytellers/lindsey-disch.   Back in the day, people would see a mom who felt sad after childbirth and wave her off, saying, “she’s got the baby blues,” but thanks to heightened medical protocols regarding PPD, more women are getting the help they need.  For Lindsey, that meant admission to a mental hospital during the first year of her daughter Alexa’s life.   In this interview, she reveals what it was like to give birth after a complicated and unexpected pregnancy and shares the story of how ashamed and overwhelmed she was in the weeks following her daughter’s birth.  “I just didn’t care about anything anymore. All I wanted to do was lay in bed, and I thought this horrible feeling would never end.” It was during this time that her husband found her crying in the closet.  A certified mental health clinician herself, Lindsey knew there was something wrong with her.  She sought counseling and was prescribed medication, but nothing worked.  A trip to the ER resulted in Lindsey being admitted as an inpatient at McLean Hospital in Belmont, Massachusetts (mcleanhospital.org).   Nationally recognized as the #1 psychiatric care facility in the nation, Lindsey followed the advice of her care team and received 30 rounds of ECT or Electroconvulsive Therapy.  Administered under anesthesia, ECT treatment sends small electric currents through the brain, changing its chemistry, often improving symptoms of certain mental health conditions, including severe depression. However, this treatment has side effects, including difficulty with thinking, word retrieval, and memory loss. Lindsey experienced all of them.  Thriving now and back at work as an outpatient therapist at soleowellness.com in her hometown of Duxbury, Massachusetts, Lindsey lives by the wisdom her father taught her:  “the biggest challenges can present the biggest opportunities.” She is completely bonded with her daughter and is now sharing her expertise with other women experiencing depression after childbirth.   Says Lindsey:  “I want women to know that there is no shame in asking for help, and you will not recover if you try to do it alone. “ When I asked her if she’d do those treatments all over again, Lindsey replied without hesitation:  “1000%.  I’m a total badass now.  Throw something at me?  I got it.   This is my life, and I’m so lucky to be here.”  #postpartumdepression #womeninspiringwomen #thestorybehindhersuccess #mentalhealth

    Lindsey Disch

  6. Apr 15

    Donna O’Kane

    American Bald Eagle Photographer @rocked_by_kindness A friend of mine is a birder, and she posted a picture of a bald eagle, and I messaged her and said, “Where did you take that picture?  -Donna O’Kane  You are about to hear one of my all-time favorite second chapter stories!   After spending 40 years working for the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority, Donna O’Kane decided to start photographing American Bald Eagles.   The mother of three grown children, Donna is also a breast cancer survivor who spreads kindness wherever she goes by leaving painted rocks beside park benches and on nature paths, in the hopes of making someone smile during the pandemic.  Follow her on Instagram @rocked_by_kindness.  Always the creative type, Donna noticed a post from a friend who followed eagles, watching their nests for signs of eaglets, and marveling at their mating behaviors.   She began taking pictures of eagles with her iPhone, soon graduating to more sophisticated cameras with lenses that capture the magic of birdwatching.   In this interview, Donna shares her life story, including sexual abuse by a babysitter at only 4, the physical punishments inflicted on her by her mother, the abiding love of her father, and the pain of a failed marriage. Throughout her life, and in everything she does, Donna embraces the gifts of creativity, kindness, resilience, and purpose.  “We all have choices.  We can sit and wallow, or we can get up and walk out the door every morning and rebuild our lives.” For 27 minutes that will leave you speechless and inspired, just hit that download button.  #americanbaldeagle #womeninspiringwomen#breastcancer #secondchapter

    Donna O’Kane

  7. Mar 13

    Sue Brady: heart of gold

    radio pro, philanthropist, caregiver, docf.org  By heart, and with closed eyes, I have a very vulnerable spot for the unhoused.  -Sue Brady For millions of radio listeners in Boston, Sue Brady was that fun, friendly, relatable voice they heard on the air for years.  In this episode, we get to know the deepest layers of a woman who will always love radio but has turned the page to discover a whole new passion as a Certified Nursing Assistant.   Born and raised in Stoneham, Massachusetts, by an Army vet and a beloved school teacher, Sue learned lessons in kindness and charity early in life from a mother who would prepare peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for the homeless every weekend, load her girls in the car, and distribute the food at the Boston Common.   This experience informed Sue’s devotion to the unhoused, and she has passed these values on to her own children.   A tireless volunteer and fundraiser for Boston Rescue Mission, The Winter Walk, Rosie’s Place, and Back on My Feet,  I asked Sue what she wishes people knew about the issue: “We are all the same, and we are a life choice, addiction, or diagnosis away from being homeless.”  Always willing to go the extra mile for a worthy cause, Sue also supports Boston Children’s Hospital, The Red Sox Foundation, and the Ellie Fund.  In fact, she serves on the board of the David Ortiz Children’s Fund www.docf.org and enjoys a long friendship with the Red Sox slugger and Hall of Famer who calls her “Rubia,” which means “blonde” in Spanish.  When I asked Sue to explain the motivation behind becoming a caregiver,  the story that emerged will break your heart and lift your soul.    Trust me, this conversation is gold.   Go ahead and hit that download button. #radio #homelessness #charity #hospice #caregiver #motherhood

    Sue Brady: heart of gold

  8. Feb 25

    Dede Ulbrich: 86 years young!

    Keep your eyes open and don’t be afraid of life. If you want to age gracefully, stay busy, positive, and connected. -Dede Ulbrich This week, we meet Dede Ulbrich, a beautiful 86-year-old woman whose secret to staying young is laughter, love, and connection.   The granddaughter of former New Hampshire Governor Francis P. Murphy and founder of WMUR radio and television stations, Dede was raised in Worcester, Massachusetts, where her big, Irish family believed in the glory of hard work and having fun.  In this interview, Dede recalls that men returning from World War II and Vietnam were changed forever, and she was determined to live her life to the fullest. As a friend and former colleague of political consultant and White House special assistant Kenny O’Donnell, Dede attended the Inaugural Ball for President John F. Kennedy and later experienced the horror of losing her favorite president to an assassin’s bullet in Dallas. Years later, as the single mother of three sons, Dede rebuilt her life after divorce, taking a job selling running shoes at the Nike store in Wellesley, Massachusetts. Identified as a talented salesperson, she was recruited by company executives to join their elite marketing team.  Dede climbed the corporate ladder in a man’s world with zero hesitation, creating relationships with Olympic runners like Joan Benoit Samuelson.  A runner herself, she later met and married her second husband, Dick Ulbrich, DMD, experiencing the joy of finding love the second time around. Known affectionately as“Doc”, her husband built a lasting friendship with a gardener from Weston, Massachusetts named Nelson McNutt, who lived to be 105, leaving his entire estate in gratitude to the couple.  www.nelsonsgarden.com.  Filled with the kind of wisdom that can only come from a life well lived, Dede says,“Life is good. Always look for the beauty in life.  Keep searching for the things that make you happy.”   For 25 minutes of inspiration, just hit that download button. #gratitude #age #kennedyassasination #nelsonsgarden

    Dede Ulbrich: 86 years young!
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Women from every walk of life reveal how they got to where they are today, sharing their wisdom and the lessons they have learned along the way.

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