Badass Women in Business

Aggie & Cristy
  • 5.0 (18)
  • Entrepreneurship
  • Updated Bimonthly

Welcome to The Badass Women in Business Podcast, the definitive space for unfiltered, tactical insights into female entrepreneurship, enterprise scaling, and business monetization.  Hosted by seasoned business owners, growth partners, and exit strategists Cristy O’Connor and Aggie Chydzinski, this podcast moves past passive advisory to bring you directly inside the high-stakes execution of building and successfully exiting companies on your own terms. As hands-on growth partners who actively engineer scale and value alongside founders, we deliberately strip away the superficiality of traditional corporate highlight reels. Instead, we dissect the raw, hard-earned operational strategies and profound psychological shifts required to unlock true enterprise value.  Each week, our conversations turn systemic business obstacles into high-velocity execution plans, offering sophisticated, real-world frameworks for ambitious women who are leading teams, optimizing cash flow, and engineering highly scalable, exit-ready companies. Whether you are in the trenches of bootstrapping an innovative startup, navigating complex partnership dynamics, or designing the ultimate monetization strategy for your life's work, this podcast provides the active strategy needed to drive valuation and claim full autonomy over your future. Subscribe now to join a premier movement of women rewriting the rules of modern commerce, one definitive story at a time. New episodes deliver partner-level value every Tuesday.

  1. 2d ago

    Giving Patients Their Voice Back: Human-Centered AI with Dr. Maheen Adamson

    Send us Fan Mail When Dr. Maheen Musoof Adamson watched her father lose his ability to speak after a stroke, her life’s work became deeply personal. In this episode, she shares how that experience led her to build Soof Solutions, an AI-enabled communication platform helping stroke, ALS, and non-speaking patients express their needs through eye movement, while challenging what healthcare innovation can look like when science, empathy, and access lead the way. Show Notes This conversation is about building technology that serves real human need, not just market excitement. Dr. Adamson shares how she moved from neuroscience, Stanford, and government research into entrepreneurship, and why responsible healthcare innovation requires clinical rigor, emotional conviction, global access, and the courage to lead without abandoning your values. How her father’s stroke became the catalyst for building Soof Solutions.Why eye-tracking technology can help patients communicate needs like water, comfort, pain, or connection.What it takes to raise capital and build trust as a Pakistani American Muslim woman in healthcare innovation.Why mentorship, women’s networks, and support systems matter when founders can no longer “white knuckle” their way through leadership.Guest Contact & Connect Dr. Maheen Musoof Adamson is a Clinical Professor of Neurosurgery at Stanford School of Medicine, Research Director for a national women Veterans center, Senior Scientist at VA Palo Alto Healthcare System, and CEO and Founder of Soof Solutions. Website: https://soofsolutions.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maheenmadamson/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/soofsolutions_/ X: https://x.com/soofsupport Join the proveHER community and read the companion blogcast for more insight into the founder story, leadership lessons, and human-centered innovation behind this episode. --- Subscribe and Review If you loved this episode, drop us a review, share it with a badass woman in your life, and subscribe to Badass Women in Business wherever you get your podcasts. Stay badass. Stay bold. Build it your way. Keep up with more content from Aggie and Cristy here: Facebook: Empowered Women Leaders  Instagram: @badass_women_in_businessLinkedIn: ProveHer - Badass Women in BusinessWebsite: Badasswomeninbusinesspodcast.comAthena: athenaac.com

    53 min

  2. Jun 23

    Why Legal Strategy Is a Growth Strategy: Protecting Value Before It Costs You Millions with Hillary Hughes

    Send us Fan Mail Most entrepreneurs view legal support as something they need when problems arise, yet the most successful founders understand that legal strategy is one of the earliest and most important investments they can make in protecting enterprise value. In this conversation, Hillary Hughes shares how thoughtful contracts, intellectual property protection, governance structures, and investor readiness can help founders avoid costly mistakes, preserve negotiating power, and build businesses that are both investable and acquirable. Show Notes The Strategic Focus This episode explores the often-overlooked connection between legal infrastructure and business growth, demonstrating how the decisions founders make in the earliest stages of company building can significantly impact valuation, fundraising success, operational stability, and long-term exit opportunities. Through practical examples and cautionary tales, Hillary reveals why proactive legal planning is not an expense, but a critical component of sustainable growth. Key Takeaways Why founders should view legal counsel as a strategic business partner rather than a resource reserved for disputes and emergencies.The hidden risks within contracts, intellectual property ownership, vendor relationships, and manufacturing agreements that can destroy enterprise value during due diligence.What investors look for when evaluating a business, and how strong governance, clean records, and operational discipline increase confidence and valuation.Why AI can be a powerful tool for education, but remains an imperfect substitute for experienced legal judgment when negotiating complex agreements.Guest Contact & Connect Hillary Hughes Chair, Business Practice | Foster Garvey Consumer Brands Industry Group Leader Website: Foster Garvey LinkedIn: Connect with Hillary Hughes Join the proveHER Community for resources, events, and conversations designed to help ambitious women build, scale, and exit successful businesses. For additional insights from this episode, visit the companion Blogcast at Badass Women in Business. --- Subscribe and Review If you loved this episode, drop us a review, share it with a badass woman in your life, and subscribe to Badass Women in Business wherever you get your podcasts. Stay badass. Stay bold. Build it your way. Keep up with more content from Aggie and Cristy here: Facebook: Empowered Women Leaders  Instagram: @badass_women_in_businessLinkedIn: ProveHer - Badass Women in BusinessWebsite: Badasswomeninbusinesspodcast.comAthena: athenaac.com

    54 min

  3. Jun 16

    When Money Feels Unsafe: Tiffany Carter on Trauma, Sales, and Building Real Wealth

    Send us Fan Mail Tiffany Carter’s story challenges the polished mythology of entrepreneurship by exposing how trauma can quietly shape the way high achieving founders earn, sell, lead, and stay visible, even when they appear successful from the outside. In this deeply honest conversation, Tiffany reframes money mindset as more than a confidence issue; it is a nervous system, identity, safety, and self trust conversation that determines how much capacity a leader truly has for wealth, visibility, and growth. Show Notes Tiffany Carter joins the Badass Women in Business Podcast for a raw, strategic, and profoundly human conversation about money attachment, trauma informed business growth, emotional based selling, and the hidden survival patterns that can follow ambitious women into leadership. A former TV news broadcaster turned multimillionaire entrepreneur, Tiffany is the host of ProjectME with Tiffany Carter, a top ranked money and entrepreneurship podcast, and the creator of Emotional Based Sales Techniques™, a system credited with helping clients generate more than $265 million in sales. Her work sits at the intersection of business strategy, emotional intelligence, attachment theory, and nervous system awareness, helping entrepreneurs understand why they may crave wealth, freedom, and visibility while still unconsciously resisting the very success they say they want. Why childhood trauma can become adult money drama, showing up as under earning, overworking, hoarding, burnout, fear of reinvesting, or resistance to being fully seen.How the “false self” can help high achievers perform, succeed, and receive praise, while quietly disconnecting them from their real voice, values, boundaries, and deeper purpose.Why visibility can feel dangerous for entrepreneurs who learned early that attention, power, or money were tied to control, exploitation, criticism, or emotional risk.How trauma wired founders can stop shaming their automatic stress responses and begin managing money, sales, leadership, and growth with more awareness, guardrails, and support.Why emotional based selling is not manipulation, but a deeper way of creating trust, communicating value, and helping the right buyers feel seen, safe, and ready to invest.How Tiffany’s decision to finally build ProjectME became a turning point in moving from survival, secrecy, and self doubt into truth telling, service, and financial autonomy.Why conventional business advice often fails people with complex lived experience, and why the right strategy has to account for the human being behind the brand.This episode is for the founder, executive, advisor, coach, or creator who knows she is capable of more, but keeps meeting an invisible wall around money, visibility, expansion, or self trust. Tiffany’s message is not about pretending fear disappears; it is about learning how to build wealth without abandoning yourself, how to sell without performing, and how to lead from the real self instead of the survival identity that once kept you safe. Guest Contact & Connect Tiffany Carter is a money attachment expert, business mentor, international speaker, multimillionaire entrepreneur, creator of Emotional Based Sales Techniques™, and host of ProjectME with Tiffany Carter. Through ProjectME, she helps business owners multiply sales, clients, and cash online while healing the emotional and subconscious patterns that keep them stuck in scarcity, self sabotage, and inconsistent income. Learn more about Tiffany at https://www.projectmewithtiffany.com and connect with her on Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Facebook, and LinkedIn at ProjectME with Tiffany Carter. Join the proveHER community and read the companion blogcast for more conversations with women building bold, strategic, and deeply human businesses. --- Subscribe and Review If you loved this episode, drop us a review, share it with a badass woman in your life, and subscribe to Badass Women in Business wherever you get your podcasts. Stay badass. Stay bold. Build it your way. Keep up with more content from Aggie and Cristy here: Facebook: Empowered Women Leaders  Instagram: @badass_women_in_businessLinkedIn: ProveHer - Badass Women in BusinessWebsite: Badasswomeninbusinesspodcast.comAthena: athenaac.com

    56 min

  4. Jun 9

    The Retail Breakthrough That Almost Didn’t Happen with Shan and Erika of Shades By Shan

    Send us Fan Mail Shan and Erika built Shades By Shan from a San Francisco garage into a nationally distributed cosmetics brand carried in more than 600 JCPenney Beauty stores, but the real lesson is not simply how they scaled, it is how they protected their mission while navigating the pressure of national retail. This conversation is a sharp, deeply human study in founder discipline, radical honesty, community-led growth, and the kind of purpose-driven strategy that turns a small team into a powerful market presence. Show Notes Shan and Erika’s story reveals what happens when a brand is built with commercial ambition and a deeply personal North Star, because Shades By Shan was never designed to be just another cosmetics company; it was created as a vehicle for representation, retail readiness, and direct support for single parents through The MamaBerries Nonprofit Foundation. Shan and Erika share how their experience growing up with a single mother became the foundation for both Shades By Shan and their 501c3 nonprofit, proving that a founder’s “why” can become a true strategic advantage when it is embedded into the business model.They break down the realities of national retail, including why they initially had to decline JCPenney’s offer, how the retailer ultimately backed their expansion, and what small brands must understand before saying yes to a massive opportunity.The sisters discuss the operational discipline behind scrappy growth, from launching with limited capital to building community, visiting stores, protecting cash flow, and making decisions without outside investors.Their partnership offers a powerful lesson in family business leadership, showing how clear lanes, trust, honest conflict, and ego-free execution can help founders move through pressure without losing the mission.Guest Contact & Connect Shan and Erika are the founders of Shades By Shan, a San Francisco-based cosmetics company founded in 2018 and now available online and nationwide at JCPenney Beauty. A portion of every purchase supports single parents in need through their 501c3 nonprofit, The MamaBerries Nonprofit Foundation. Website: Shades By Shan Instagram: @shanberries TikTok: @shanberries LinkedIn: Shan Berries --- Subscribe and Review If you loved this episode, drop us a review, share it with a badass woman in your life, and subscribe to Badass Women in Business wherever you get your podcasts. Stay badass. Stay bold. Build it your way. Keep up with more content from Aggie and Cristy here: Facebook: Empowered Women Leaders  Instagram: @badass_women_in_businessLinkedIn: ProveHer - Badass Women in BusinessWebsite: Badasswomeninbusinesspodcast.comAthena: athenaac.com

    53 min

  5. Jun 2

    Building the Business of Caregiving with AI, Trust, and Tenacity with Nicole àBeckett

    Send us Fan Mail Caregiving is one of the most universal experiences in life, yet it remains one of the most overlooked problems in healthcare, technology, and the workplace. In this episode, Nicole àBeckett shares how her own experience caring for both parents became the foundation for HeroGeneration, an AI powered platform designed to help families organize care, reduce overwhelm, and build real support before crisis takes over. Show Notes Nicole’s story reveals the hard but necessary leap from lived experience to scalable business, especially when the market is emotional, fragmented, and historically underbuilt because so much unpaid care has quietly fallen on women. This conversation explores what it takes to build in a category with no easy playbook, how AI can support rather than replace human care, and why founders solving deeply personal problems must keep listening beyond their own story. Why caregiving is not a side issue, but a major family, workplace, healthcare, and economic issue that affects women in their prime earning and leadership years.How HeroGeneration uses AI as a “second brain” for caregivers, helping families track information, coordinate tasks, and receive proactive support that preserves more space for human connection.Why asking for help is not weakness, and how better systems can make it easier for people to step in without adding more work to the person already carrying the load.What Nicole has learned about building a need to have product in a sensitive market, where trust, timing, and user feedback matter more than speed alone.Guest Contact & Connect Nicole àBeckett is the Founder and CEO of HeroGeneration, an AI powered caregiving platform built to help families stay organized, supported, and better prepared through life’s most complex care moments. Website: herogen.co LinkedIn: Nicole àBeckett Company LinkedIn: HeroGeneration Facebook: HeroGeneration Instagram: @hero__generation Join the proveHER community and read the companion blogcast for more conversations with women building companies, solving real problems, and leading with substance. --- Subscribe and Review If you loved this episode, drop us a review, share it with a badass woman in your life, and subscribe to Badass Women in Business wherever you get your podcasts. Stay badass. Stay bold. Build it your way. Keep up with more content from Aggie and Cristy here: Facebook: Empowered Women Leaders  Instagram: @badass_women_in_businessLinkedIn: ProveHer - Badass Women in BusinessWebsite: Badasswomeninbusinesspodcast.comAthena: athenaac.com

    49 min
  6. From Financial Shame to Strategic Control with Nancy Benet

    May 26

    From Financial Shame to Strategic Control with Nancy Benet

    Send us Fan Mail After divorce left Nancy Benet with four children, no income, five failed businesses, and more than $650,000 in debt, she had to rebuild not only her finances, but her confidence, judgment, and sense of personal agency. In this conversation, Nancy shares how women can move from avoidance and overwhelm into financial clarity, sustainable business ownership, and a more grounded definition of success.  Show Notes The Strategic Focus This episode examines the discipline required to rebuild a life and business when the old plan has collapsed. Drawing from her experience as a CPA, entrepreneur, and founder of two companies, Nancy Benet reframes financial recovery as a leadership practice rooted in responsibility, visibility, systems, and the courage to make small decisions that compound over time. Key Takeaways Financial shame loses power when it is brought into the open. Nancy explains why debt and money fear become more dangerous in secrecy, and why the first step toward control is often naming the problem, asking for help, and creating a clear plan. A sustainable business cannot depend entirely on the founder. After a family crisis nearly derailed her company, Nancy realized that recurring revenue, strong systems, and a capable team are not luxuries; they are what allow a business to survive real life. Tax strategy is not about avoiding taxes; it is about making better decisions earlier. Nancy shows how forward looking financial planning can help owners reduce surprises, protect cash flow, invest wisely, and use their numbers as a strategic tool rather than a year end reckoning. Confidence is rebuilt through action, not waiting. For women who feel stuck or unready, Nancy’s advice is practical and direct: start small, get educated, hire the right support, and stretch just beyond your comfort zone until courage becomes a habit. Guest Contact & Connect Nancy Benet is a licensed CPA, entrepreneur, and CEO of Fix-It Accounting and Success Your Way, where she helps women take control of their money, strengthen their business foundations, and create success on their own terms. Websites: https://www.fixitaccounting.com/ | https://www.successyourway.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/mwlite/profile/in/nancy-benet-cpa-18145014 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nancybenet Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/success.your.way Join the proveHER community and read the companion blogcast for deeper insights, practical tools, and more conversations with women building businesses, wealth, and lives with intention. --- Subscribe and Review If you loved this episode, drop us a review, share it with a badass woman in your life, and subscribe to Badass Women in Business wherever you get your podcasts. Stay badass. Stay bold. Build it your way. Keep up with more content from Aggie and Cristy here: Facebook: Empowered Women Leaders  Instagram: @badass_women_in_businessLinkedIn: ProveHer - Badass Women in BusinessWebsite: Badasswomeninbusinesspodcast.comAthena: athenaac.com

    50 min

  7. May 19

    How Scarlett Leung Built a Beverage Brand Into 2,000 Stores and Learned When to Walk Away

    Send us Fan Mail Scarlett Leung, co-founder of Pretty Tasty, joins us for an honest conversation about what it really takes to build a modern consumer brand. From turning around retail businesses and launching companies from scratch to rebuilding after founder heartbreak, Scarlett opens up about the realities behind entrepreneurship, leadership, fundraising, and growth.  Scarlett never planned to become a founder, but after careers in luxury retail, finance, wellness, and consumer brands, she found herself building one of the fastest-growing beverage brands in the country. In this episode, she shares the real story behind scaling Pretty Tasty, navigating painful co-founder fallout, raising capital, and learning that resilience sometimes means letting go... Key Takeaways  Why Scarlett walked away from a company she helped build  The co-founder lessons every entrepreneur needs to hear  How Pretty Tasty scaled to 2,000+ retail doors in its first year  What investors actually look for in founders and brands  The truth about founder salaries, fundraising, and exits  How relationships and reputation can accelerate growth  Why resilience is about adaptability, not just pushing through  The emotional side of leadership and identity as a founder Timestamps 05:40 From Deloitte to luxury retail and running a $200M business 15:20 The co-founder conflict that changed everything 33:45 How Pretty Tasty was created and positioned in the market 45:10 Scaling into CVS, Sprouts, and Target 58:30 Founder identity, ego, and learning to let go Resources Mentioned  Pretty Tasty  BevNet Best New Beverage Award  MIT Sloan School of Management  Deepak Chopra Wellness  National Board for the Diabetes Research Institute Connect with Scarlett Instagram: @drinkprettytasty LinkedIn: Scarlett Leung Website: prettytasty.com Connect with Us Subscribe to the Badass Women in Business Podcast for new episodes every Tuesday featuring honest conversations with women building meaningful businesses. --- Subscribe and Review If you loved this episode, drop us a review, share it with a badass woman in your life, and subscribe to Badass Women in Business wherever you get your podcasts. Stay badass. Stay bold. Build it your way. Keep up with more content from Aggie and Cristy here: Facebook: Empowered Women Leaders  Instagram: @badass_women_in_businessLinkedIn: ProveHer - Badass Women in BusinessWebsite: Badasswomeninbusinesspodcast.comAthena: athenaac.com

    50 min

  8. May 12

    From Refugee to Founder: Soon Hagerty on Building Businesses That Give Back Without Burning Out

    Send us Fan Mail What if success is not about balance, but about building a life with purpose, curiosity, and impact? In this episode, Soon Hagerty shares how fleeing Vietnam as a child shaped her entrepreneurial mindset, why “business for good” has to be built into the model from day one, and the biggest mistake women founders make when chasing growth. This conversation is packed with honest insights on leadership, resilience, growth mindset, and creating businesses that actually mean something.  Show Notes Key Takeaways  Why the best businesses solve meaningful problems first  How Soon built mission driven brands without making impact an afterthought  The mindset shift from survival thinking to expansion thinking  Why curiosity and asking better questions are founder superpowers  The truth about “work life balance” and why Soon believes in seasons instead  How women founders can start giving back without overextending themselves  Why growth mindset is less about talent and more about learning fast Pivotal Moments Soon’s origin story: From escaping Vietnam to entrepreneurship The rug pull moment: Losing a succession plan and starting her first agency The Good Bowl: Building a restaurant that donates with every purchase Growth mindset in action: Why founders must stay curious to survive The “seasons not balance” philosophy: A refreshing take on ambition and burnout Resources Mentioned  Boundless Futures Foundation (BFF)  The Good Bowl  Hagerty  CHIEF  How Women Lead  Uber’s women driver initiative Favorite Quotes “There’s barely a risk you can’t unravel. So why not take it?” “You don’t create a business and then make it meaningful. You create a meaningful business from the beginning.” “The most important person you manage is yourself.” Connect + Learn More Guest: Soon Hagerty Founder, Boundless Futures Foundation LinkedIn: soon-hagerty-5637448 Instagram: @soonhagerty --- Subscribe and Review If you loved this episode, drop us a review, share it with a badass woman in your life, and subscribe to Badass Women in Business wherever you get your podcasts. Stay badass. Stay bold. Build it your way. Keep up with more content from Aggie and Cristy here: Facebook: Empowered Women Leaders  Instagram: @badass_women_in_businessLinkedIn: ProveHer - Badass Women in BusinessWebsite: Badasswomeninbusinesspodcast.comAthena: athenaac.com

    51 min
See All (153)

5
out of 5
18 Ratings

About

Welcome to The Badass Women in Business Podcast, the definitive space for unfiltered, tactical insights into female entrepreneurship, enterprise scaling, and business monetization.  Hosted by seasoned business owners, growth partners, and exit strategists Cristy O’Connor and Aggie Chydzinski, this podcast moves past passive advisory to bring you directly inside the high-stakes execution of building and successfully exiting companies on your own terms. As hands-on growth partners who actively engineer scale and value alongside founders, we deliberately strip away the superficiality of traditional corporate highlight reels. Instead, we dissect the raw, hard-earned operational strategies and profound psychological shifts required to unlock true enterprise value.  Each week, our conversations turn systemic business obstacles into high-velocity execution plans, offering sophisticated, real-world frameworks for ambitious women who are leading teams, optimizing cash flow, and engineering highly scalable, exit-ready companies. Whether you are in the trenches of bootstrapping an innovative startup, navigating complex partnership dynamics, or designing the ultimate monetization strategy for your life's work, this podcast provides the active strategy needed to drive valuation and claim full autonomy over your future. Subscribe now to join a premier movement of women rewriting the rules of modern commerce, one definitive story at a time. New episodes deliver partner-level value every Tuesday.

Information

  • Creator
    Aggie & Cristy
  • Years Active
    2022 - 2026
  • Episodes
    153
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Badass Women in Business
  • Show Website
    Badass Women in Business

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