Conversations w/ Women Who Lead: A Business Podcast for Female Founders and Executives

Ann Marie McHenry

Conversations with Women Who Lead is a business podcast for female founders, executives, and women in leadership who are building something real and figuring it out as they go. Host Ann Marie McHenry, a licensed therapist and business coach who founded and sold a seven-figure practice, brings honest conversations about what it actually takes to scale a business, lead a team, and sustain yourself in the process. No highlight reels. No generic advice. Just women who lead, talking about what that costs and what it's worth.

  1. 2d ago

    Alexa Gusman on Under-Fueling, Body Image, and Redefining Performance

    Alexa Gusman (née Efraimson) spent eight years as a professional runner with Nike, signing at 17 and competing against women years older than her for her entire career. Today she's a registered dietitian with a master's in nutrition and nutrigenomics, working with athletes and everyday clients on performance nutrition, body image, and their relationship with food. In this episode, Alexa opens up about the body image and confidence struggles that shaped her career and never fully disappeared after she retired. She and Ann Marie talk about the myth that leaner means faster, what actually happens in the body when we under-fuel, and why rest is often the missing piece in performance, not the enemy of it. They also get into the outside comments about weight and bodies that stick with us for years, and how Alexa rebuilt her relationship with food, movement, and confidence on her own terms. In this episode: Why leaner doesn't mean faster or fitterWhat under-fueling really does to the body and brainGrind culture, rest, and redefining productivityThe lasting impact of comments about our bodiesRebuilding confidence from the inside outGuest: Alexa Gusman, Registered Dietitian, M.S. Nutrition and Nutrigenomics Instagram: @alexagefraimson | Website: fuelingforward.com

    Alexa Gusman on Under-Fueling, Body Image, and Redefining Performance

  2. Aug 6

    Dr. Brittany Chidley on Emotional Health, Access to Care, and Building EI Corkboard

    Dr. Brittany Chidley talks about running a generalist private practice instead of niching down, and why the "pick one specialty" advice she got in grad school never fit how she likes to work. She and Ann Marie get into what it's actually taken to build and lead a team of therapists, including the ongoing challenge of holding standards like punctuality with grace, and why her team has ended up being all women without ever setting out to make it that way. They also talk about the harder logistical side of running a therapy practice, like whether to keep taking insurance, and Brittany shares what she's building with EI Corkboard, a free resource hub connecting the community to emotional health resources and connecting providers to each other. What we cover: Why Brittany chose to stay a generalist instead of niching into one specialtyLeading a team of therapists and navigating accountability with empathyThe insurance dilemma facing therapists todayBuilding EI Corkboard, a resource hub for emotional healthWhy everyone has emotional health, just like physical healthListen on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube Guest: Dr. Brittany Chidley, licensed psychologist, LMFT, and owner of Trails Therapy: https://trailstherapy.com/ founder of EI Corkboard: andwefeel.com | eicorkboard.com

    Dr. Brittany Chidley on Emotional Health, Access to Care, and Building EI Corkboard

  3. Jul 30

    Katherine Flechaus on Safeguard Strategies, People-Pleasing, and Imposter Syndrome

    Katherine Flechaus reframes people-pleasing, perfectionism, and imposter syndrome, not as flaws, but as safeguard strategies we built to cope with something we didn't understand at the time. She and Ann Marie talk about where these patterns actually come from, why they stuck around even after they stopped being useful, and how to recognize the strength underneath them. They also get into what it looks like to bring these patterns into corporate spaces and leadership roles, why women are so often taught to shrink their instincts for connection, and Katherine's approach to building a resiliency plan instead of expecting a pattern to disappear for good. What we cover: Why people-pleasing, perfectionism, and imposter syndrome are safeguard strategies, not flawsWhere these patterns actually start, and why they worked at the timeThe difference between fixing someone and taking away their ability to learnWhy women's relational strengths often get undervalued in corporate spacesBuilding a resiliency plan instead of expecting old patterns to disappearKatherine Flechaus is an LCSW and founder of Aligned Core Life Coaching, where she helps ambitious women recognize the protective patterns shaping their careers and relationships. Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube Guest: Katherine Flechaus, LCSW and Core Belief Strategist: alignedcorelifecoaching.com

    Katherine Flechaus on Safeguard Strategies, People-Pleasing, and Imposter Syndrome

  4. Jul 23

    Dr. Bluma Sapir - Relationship Expert - on Pair Therapy, Estrangement, and Cut-Off Culture

    Dr. Bluma Sapir on Pairs, Acknowledgement, and Why No One Grows Up in the Same Household Dr. Bluma Sapir has spent her career studying what happens in the space between two people. As a psychologist who's worked with couples, parent-adult child relationships, siblings, and even workplace pairs, she's built a framework she calls "pair work," the idea that so much of our suffering and our healing happens not within one person, but in the dynamic between two. In this conversation, Bluma traces her own path into this work back to her childhood, where she became the emotional bridge in her family long before she had language for it. She and Ann Marie talk about why one partner in a relationship often carries the emotional labor while the other struggles to express themselves, and the skill it takes to learn both. Bluma introduces her concept of "acknowledgement, not apology," a way of validating someone's pain without taking on blame for intent, and unpacks why she believes respect between parents and adult children has to be earned rather than assumed. They also get into the cultural moment around family estrangement and "no contact," what Bluma sees in her own practice about who's actually seeking help, and her nightly practice of forgiveness that lets people rebuild the capacity for connection after being hurt. What we cover: Why Bluma calls relationships "pairs" instead of just couplesThe difference between apologizing and truly acknowledging someone's painWhy parent-adult child conflict often isn't about what actually happenedHer honest take on estrangement, respect, and what actually helps repair a relationshipA simple nightly practice for building the capacity to trust again Dr. Bluma Sapir is also a contractor at Rose & Stone LLC, serving as the team's in-house relationship expert, specializing in family, sibling, and couples dynamics. Connect with Dr. Bluma Sapir on Instagram and Facebook, and at thepairinstitute.com (coming soon).

    Dr. Bluma Sapir - Relationship Expert - on Pair Therapy, Estrangement, and Cut-Off Culture

  5. Jul 13

    Kayla Shurson on Buying a Business, Leading Through Crisis, and Making Peace with Money

    Kayla Shurson never planned on owning a business. She was five years into working at a small tax and accounting firm when the founder decided to retire and offered to sell it to her. Kayla said yes, took over ownership on January 1, 2020, and then spent the next several months learning what it actually means to lead a team through a global crisis while running a seasonal business that depends on cash flow discipline all year round. In this conversation, Kayla talks about the early scramble of those first six months as an owner, why she sought out business coaching almost immediately, and the slower, harder transition of becoming the boss to people who used to be her peers. She and Ann Marie get into what it actually looks like to build a family-style team culture while still holding people accountable, why Kayla doesn't like saying sorry (and what she's learned about doing it anyway), and how she's grown her team from six people to seventeen. They also talk candidly about money: the gender gap in financial confidence, why so many business owners avoid looking at their numbers, and Kayla's own advice for anyone who feels behind on understanding their finances. Kayla shares what she needs support with right now, even after nearly doubling her team and building a brand-new office space for her firm. In this episode: Buying an existing business versus building one from scratchLearning to lead a team that used to be your peersBuilding a family-style culture while holding boundaries as a leaderWhy proactive communication is Shurson Group's top valueAdvice for business owners who avoid looking at their numbersConnect with Kayla at shursongroup.com or @shursongroup. Connect with Ann Marie at roseandstonellc.com or @roseandstonellc. Kayla's Podcast Recommendations: Her Money w/ Jean Chatzky; Netwoth and Chill w/ Vivian Tu; Financial Feminist w/ Tori Dunlap Kayla's Favorite IG Financial Gurus: Haley Sacks - Mrs. Down Jones; Tori Dunlap - Her First 100k; Vivian Tu - Your Rich BFF Shout-out to our Executive Leadership Coach Kris Plachy who's guided both Kayla and Ann Marie through many twists and turns in their businesses. Photos of Kayla by https://www.1210.photography/ and https://mckenziellaphotography.mypixieset.com/

    Kayla Shurson on Buying a Business, Leading Through Crisis, and Making Peace with Money

  6. Jul 9

    A Mid-Year Check-In: What Have You Actually Accomplished This Year?

    It's the start of Q3, and if you're anything like most business owners, you're probably looking at your revenue and your goals and thinking it's not enough. In this episode, Ann Marie walks through a mid-year reflection practice, looking back at January and tracing everything that's actually changed since then. She shares an honest look at her own last six months, including the grief that showed up when she returned to Arizona a year after selling her first business, the identity shift that came with stepping away from a company she built for almost a decade, and the decision to move from therapy into business coaching. She talks about getting certified as a coach, building a small team of licensed therapists turned coaches, launching the Four Pillars course, and what it's actually looked like to start over in a completely different business landscape than the one she started in ten years ago. This episode is an invitation to take stock of your own year so far. What did you try? What didn't work? What did you learn? And how are you talking to yourself about the person you were in January? In this episode: A guided mid-year reflection for founders and leadersAnn Marie's own six months, from grief to rebuildingWhy she moved from therapy to business coachingBuilding a team of licensed therapist-coaches at Rose & StoneThe Four Pillars framework: know your numbers, establish your vision and values, set clear expectations, know yourselfConnect with Ann Marie at roseandstonellc.com or @roseandstonellc.

  7. Jun 20

    Lauren Stephens of Dudley Stephens on Shame, Motivation, and Building a Family-Owned Business

    This episode is something a little different: an actual recorded coaching call with Lauren Stephens, co-founder and CEO of Dudley Stephens, the fleece apparel brand she built with her sister Kaki into an eight-figure business. Lauren and Ann Marie have been friends since college, which means this conversation goes deep fast. Lauren talks openly about the shame she's carried around never raising outside capital, what it felt like to watch her company's explosive early growth level off, and the identity crisis that came with learning to manage a team for the first time. She also gets into something most founders don't say out loud: the guilt of being pulled in two directions, one part of her chasing bigger and faster growth, the other deeply protective of the autonomy and family-first business she actually built. This is a real coaching session, not a polished interview, and it shows what it actually looks like to work through the mental chatter that holds founders back. What we cover: Why staying self-funded isn't a failure, even when it feels that wayThe shame cycle that comes with comparing your business to others who raised moneyLearning to manage people and lead through conflict without taking everything personallyReconnecting with the original reason you started your business in the first placeListen on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube Guest: Lauren Stephens, co-founder and CEO of Dudley Stephens: www.dudley-stephens.com Special Shout-Out: Kris Plachy, our fabulous business coach and CEO of The Visionary CEO: https://www.thevisionary.ceo/

    Lauren Stephens of Dudley Stephens on Shame, Motivation, and Building a Family-Owned Business

  8. Jun 13

    What Founders Actually Feel When Scaling Their Business (It's Not What You See on Social Media)

    What does it actually feel like to build a business from the ground up? Not the highlight reel version, but the real one: the imposter syndrome when you post your first job listing, the moment you realize someone is depending on you for their livelihood, the exhaustion that doesn't stop even when things are going well. In this episode, Ann Marie McHenry, founder of Rose & Stone Consulting, LLC, pushes back on a trend she's been seeing on social media: the idea that building a successful business is about reaching the top and collecting praise. She shares what scaling a team actually looks like, why knowing your numbers is non-negotiable, and what success really feels like when you're living it. Featuring a nod to Liesel Kiel of Central Saucy (www.centralsaucy.com) and Shelby Leigh, nervous system and neurodivergent coach at Rose & Stone Consulting, LLC (https://www.roseandstonellc.com/shelby). If you're a female founder, business owner, or leader who wants an honest conversation about what building something really costs, this one is for you.

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About

Conversations with Women Who Lead is a business podcast for female founders, executives, and women in leadership who are building something real and figuring it out as they go. Host Ann Marie McHenry, a licensed therapist and business coach who founded and sold a seven-figure practice, brings honest conversations about what it actually takes to scale a business, lead a team, and sustain yourself in the process. No highlight reels. No generic advice. Just women who lead, talking about what that costs and what it's worth.

Information

  • Creator
    Ann Marie McHenry
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    16
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2025 Ann Marie McHenry