439 episodes

Engaging and enlightening interviews with women leaders on energy, climate, sustainability and corporate responsibility -- ESG, environment,social and governance issues. Business, policy and technology, money, the arts and careers. Topics include driving innovation, leadership, communications and career advice. Inspiration, trends and insights. Hosted and produced by Joan Michelson, acclaimed journalist, business leader, coach and speaker, based in Washington, DC.

Electric Ladies Podcast Joan Michelson

    • Business
    • 5.0 • 52 Ratings

Engaging and enlightening interviews with women leaders on energy, climate, sustainability and corporate responsibility -- ESG, environment,social and governance issues. Business, policy and technology, money, the arts and careers. Topics include driving innovation, leadership, communications and career advice. Inspiration, trends and insights. Hosted and produced by Joan Michelson, acclaimed journalist, business leader, coach and speaker, based in Washington, DC.

    Performing Our Femininity & Values – Joan Michelson Speaks At Parlay House DC

    Performing Our Femininity & Values – Joan Michelson Speaks At Parlay House DC

     “Sustainable fashion has … given us more permission to wear our values, to choose what reflects our personalities and our values…We have a lot more choices. We have a lot more agency, we have a lot more resources and authority and influence…We can choose to make our impressions the way that we want to…Think about it, because you're sending a message. You're reflecting who you are with how you put yourself together that day….We make a statement with what we wear. So what statement do you want to make?” Joan Michelson at Parlay House DC
    Delia Ephron, sister and collaborator of the late-great screenwriter Nora Ephron, talked about how women “perform their femininity” with what they wear. But because the fashion industry has an enormously detrimental impact on the environment today, more and more women are demanding lower impact clothing to reflect their values. Designers are responding. What does what you wear say about who you are?
    Listen to my recent talk at Parlay House DC on women, clothing, values and identity on how what we wear reflects much more than we think – and how we can choose deliberately – in this episode of Electric Ladies Podcast. 
    You’ll hear about:
    Statistics on the environmental impact of the fashion industry Celebrities and designers who are deliberately making clothing with the environment in mind. What else your clothing says about you. Plus, insightful career advice, such as four questions you can ask yourself: “What do your clothing choices now reflect about who you are today?...What statement are you making with your clothing choices currently? How do you want your clothing to make you feel? And... What message are you sending?...Self-image, self-confidence or values, creative expression. Let what you wear reflect who you are today and what you value, deliberately, proudly, creatively, but make it a choice of how you want to perform your femininity.” Joan Michelson at Parlay House DC
    Read Joan’s Forbes articles here.
    You'll also like (some of these were recorded under our previous name, Green Connections Radio):
    Kerry Bannigan, Managing Director, PVBLIC Foundation, Co-Founder of UN Fashion and Lifestyle Network, Founder Conscious Fashion Campaign How Fashion’s Marketing Machine can promote sustainability, Joan’s Forbes article Laura Jones, Celebrity stylist and Founder of Frontlash magazine, on sustainable fashion trends. Amina Razvi, CEO, Sustainable Apparel Coalition (was VP of Membership when this was recorded) 7 Career Tips For Women In Sustainable Fashion, Joan’s Forbes article Subscribe to our newsletter to receive our podcasts, blog, events and special coaching offers..
    Thanks for subscribing on Apple Podcasts or iHeartRadio and leaving us a review!
    Follow us on Twitter @joanmichelson

    • 30 min
    Ensuring Electricity With Long Duration Storage – Julia Souder, Long Duration Energy Storage Council

    Ensuring Electricity With Long Duration Storage – Julia Souder, Long Duration Energy Storage Council

    “We look at how long sharing storage can really fill in the gaps when you don't have wind and solar 24 /7. ….(There are) four families of long sharing storage.….different ways you can store for multiple hours, days, and seasons. This diversity is really important, because whether you're an island nation, and you maybe have floating solar or offshore wind and you want to bring it in and hold it for when you (need it), every week you want to repurpose it for your ports or your infrastructure, your urban centers.” Julia Souder on Electric Ladies Podcast
    The waves of extreme heat, wildfires, hurricanes and tornadoes remind us daily of the need to make sure we can power our lives, communities and economy over long durations – and with energy that is net zero carbon emissions so that we reduce global warming. Renewables are great, but how do we store it for when the sun doesn’t shine and the wind doesn’t blow – or when hydropower plants run dry?
    Enter long duration energy storage. Listen to Julia Souder, CEO of the Long Duration Energy Storage Energy Council, explain how it works and where it comes from, and shares insightful career advice, in this fascinating discussion with Electric Ladies host Joan Michelson. 
    You’ll hear about:
    What exactly long duration energy storage is and how the four types of it work. When long duration energy storage can be tapped and what parts of our economy and communities it can serve, giving us peace of mind. How long duration energy storage can service disaster areas, rural communities and remote areas. Plus, insightful career advice, such as… “I would offer three things of advice. One would be, start looking at boards, even like a local community board, a nonprofit. Just start getting your name out there because you want to build your experience. It doesn't have to be anything big… My next second point is, it doesn't hurt to ask, and I have to remind myself to do this too. You can ask questions. It's not just curiosity, but there's just a joint learning there…. And the last point I'd say is, when you're negotiating your review processes or your next promotion, or even a new job, ask for a coach, an executive coach. I think that's really important. Having executive coaches are phenomenal.” Julia Souder on Electric Ladies Podcast
    Read Joan’s Forbes articles here.
    You'll also like:
    Anna Siefken, Deputy Director, Federal Energy Management Program, Dept. of Energy, on how the federal government reduces the energy use and carbon footprint of its 350,000 buildings. Rachel McCleery, Senior Advisor, Treasury Dept. Inflation Reduction Act Program, on how to leverage the IRA to save money reducing a building or business’s energy use and carbon footprint. Vanessa Chan, Ph.D., Chief Commercialization Officer of the Department of Energy and Director of the Office of Technology Transitions, on the Inflation Reduction Act and the transition to clean energy. Lisa Jacobson of the Business Council for Sustainable Energy & Tara Narayanan, of Bloomberg NEF on their new Energy Factbook 2024, including the Inflation Reduction Act opportunities. Inna Braverman, CEO & Founder, Eco Wave Power, on how they are bringing wave power to scale – and her powerful personal story. Subscribe to our newsletter to receive our podcasts, blog, events and special coaching offers..
    Thanks for subscribing on Apple Podcasts or iHeartRadio and leaving us a review!
    Follow us on Twitter @joanmichelson

    • 54 min
    Reducing The Government’s Carbon Footprint – Anna Siefken, Federal Energy Management Program

    Reducing The Government’s Carbon Footprint – Anna Siefken, Federal Energy Management Program

    “We work with this entire portfolio of buildings of the federal government, as you mentioned, about 350,000 buildings, also including 600,000 cars and trucks in the fleet, all of them looking towards decarbonization…We do it through policy and planning. So, we analyze the management mandates, the energy management mandates that come out, and we help agencies understand what they need to do to meet those legislative goals. We do analysis and strategy, so we help work alongside the agencies to identify the short and long-term opportunities and how they can…save money and to meet these higher goals. We do it through execution and funding.” Anna Siefken on Electric Ladies Podcast
    The federal government has 350,000 buildings across the country and internationally, which are all looking to decarbonize, just as the government suggests we all do. How do you reduce the carbon footprint of such a massive and varied collection of buildings?
    Listen to Anna Siefken, Deputy Director at the Federal Energy Management Program at the U.S. Department of Energy, explain how they do and maybe discover some opportunities for your company to help them, as well as some insightful career advice, in this fascinating discussion with Electric Ladies host Joan Michelson. 
    You’ll hear about:
    What exactly the Federal Energy Management Program does and how they do it. The impact of these buildings and initiatives on their local economies – including how and when they use subcontractors, including women-owned businesses and helping disadvantaged communities. How FEMP trains leaders across the government to make decisions that reduce their energy and water use, and CO2 emissions, as well as tools they provide to help. Plus, insightful career advice, such as… “There are spaces for everyone in this clean energy transition…A way for a person to get more involved is, I've got to say DOE website has a lot of postings….(Or) Find someone (on LinkedIn) who's in a position that is exactly what you think you want to be doing. And then first map your own skills to what that person is saying they're doing… Or you can also do this with like open positions, you go and you look for open positions that you think you might qualify for and then back in your skills…Figure out how your skills map to either what that person is doing or what that position is asking for, because you'll find that the similarities are there.” Anna Siefken on Electric Ladies Podcast
    Read Joan’s Forbes articles here.
    You'll also like:
    Rachel McCleery, Senior Advisor, Treasury Dept. Inflation Reduction Act Program, on how exactly to leverage the IRA to reduce a building or business’s carbon footprint and save money. Vanessa Chan, Ph.D., Chief Commercialization Officer of the Department of Energy and Director of the Office of Technology Transitions, on the Inflation Reduction Act and the transition to clean energy. Polly Trottenberg, U.S. Deputy Secretary of Transportation, on the transportation revolution taking place. Judith Pryor, Vice Chair & First Vice President, Export Import Bank of the U.S., on leveraging exporting and trade for energy, climate and sustainability, as well as economic development. Lisa Jacobson of the Business Council for Sustainable Energy & Tara Narayanan, of Bloomberg NEF on their new Energy Factbook 2024, including the Inflation Reduction Act opportunities. Subscribe to our newsletter to receive our podcasts, blog, events and special coaching offers..
    Thanks for subscribing on Apple Podcasts or iHeartRadio and leaving us a review!
    Follow us on Twitter @joanmichelson

    • 54 min
    Unusual Career Advice – Powerful Insights From 5 Renowned Electric Ladies Guests

    Unusual Career Advice – Powerful Insights From 5 Renowned Electric Ladies Guests

    “Women often have far more skills than their resumes translate into. And actually we're going into a good period now where I think employers and organizations are looking for the skillset that you have more than the job titles that you have. And that's good for women because we have a lot of skills that we will have acquired in different arenas. Bring in your all… It's tough out there. It requires resilience, but just remember that you have a tremendous amount to offer and, um, you know it, and sooner or later somebody's going to figure that out too.” Celinda Lake on Electric Ladies podcast
     The highly-accomplished women who appear on Electric Ladies Podcast give powerful and insightful career advice in every episode. Since listeners have asked us to air collages of some of that advice now and then, here is our next one.
    This episode brings you advice from:
    ·       Celinda Lake, Founder/CEO of Lake Research Partners, renowned 30-year old opinion research firm
    ·       Mary Morrissey, Renowned Leadership Coach & Author of several books including, “Brave Thinking”
    ·       Michele Mueller, head of Automation, Connectivity and Electrification at Michigan Dept. of Transportation
    ·       Evelyne Saelens, UL Solutions ESG Advisory Lead
    ·       Katie McGinty, Chief Sustainability Officer of Johnson Controls
    Read Joan’s Forbes articles here too – which also include career advice, as well as ways to stay abreast of the clean, green economy.
    Subscribe to our newsletter to receive our podcasts, blog, events and special coaching offers..
    Thanks for subscribing on Apple Podcasts or iHeartRadio and leaving us a review!
    Follow us on Twitter @joanmichelson

    • 35 min
    Making A Difference Where You Are – Laur Hesse Fisher, MIT’s Environmental Solutions Initiative

    Making A Difference Where You Are – Laur Hesse Fisher, MIT’s Environmental Solutions Initiative

    “There are those individual actions that we can take. But if I can work with my community or work inside of my company, or if I can work inside of my house of worship and we can build some community and some action that way, it will have a much bigger impact than anything that I can do as an individual… The communities that they're already a part of, whether they're residential, like in their neighborhoods, or it's the nonprofits that they're a part of, or the places where they have other kinds of communities like religious communities, and start conversations there. What could we do as a community? What could we do as an organization?” Laur Hesse Fisher on Electric Ladies Podcast
    There are steps each of us can take individually to help avert climate change, but if we can leverage the larger entities we are a part of, then we can have a much larger impact. How?
    Listen to Laur Hesse Fisher of MIT’s Environmental Solutions Initiative and TIL Climate podcast, in discussion with Electric Ladies host Joan Michelson, explain ways you can leverage the places you already go and people you currently encounter to reach people who might not get the climate message elsewhere. 
    You’ll hear about:
    Why reaching people outside the climate-tuned bubble is critical. How important the Inflation Reduction Act, Infrastructure Investment Act & CHIPS and Science Act are to addressing the climate crisis and in an equitable way. How we can leverage the relationships we already have, the local media, and local events to make a bigger difference than we can make on our own. Why voting is so crucial this year – and not for the reasons you might have heard Plus, insightful career advice, such as… “My advice would be, as you're thinking about where you want to go, talk to people about that. So you might not know where you want to go, in which case I recommend informational interviews. Those are great for learning about other people's career paths, what it took for them to get there, what did they learn along the way? I mean, people are really open to having a half an hour conversation.”
    Laur Hesse Fisher on Electric Ladies Podcast
    Read Joan’s Forbes articles here too.
    You'll also like:
    Rachel McCleery, Treasury Dept. Senior Advisor, Inflation Reduction Act Program, on how to benefit from the IRA, including where to find out what it covers Vanessa Chan, Ph.D., Chief Commercialization Officer of the Department of Energy and Director of the Office of Technology Transitions, on the Inflation Reduction Act and the transition to clean energy. Jill Tidman, Executive Director of The Redford Center, environmental storytelling through media, film, series and documentaries. Polly Trottenberg, U.S. Deputy Secretary of Transportation, on the transportation revolution taking place. Judith Pryor, Vice Chair & First Vice President, Export Import Bank of the U.S., on leveraging exporting and trade for energy, climate and sustainability, as well as economic development. Subscribe to our newsletter to receive our podcasts, blog, events and special coaching offers.. Thanks for subscribing on Apple Podcasts or iHeartRadio and leaving us a review!
    Follow us on Twitter @joanmichelson

    • 54 min
    Accessing Inflation Reduction Act Tax Credits – Rachel McLeery, Senior Advisor, Dept. of Treasury

    Accessing Inflation Reduction Act Tax Credits – Rachel McLeery, Senior Advisor, Dept. of Treasury

    “We like to break (the tax credits) down by industries and audiences...On the industry side, we have energy efficiency, energy generation, manufacturing, vehicles, fuels, and carbon capture. Now, overlaying all of those are a handful of cross crosscutting bonuses and requirements that can greatly affect, in many cases, increase the amount of the underlying tax credit within those industry driven tax credits. And then we have the audiences who are applicable to these tax credits. Now, the beauty of the IRA is that it is so wide sweeping that almost everybody is eligible for some type of tax credit within the law.” Rachel McLeery on Electric Ladies Podcast
    There are so many ways to benefit from the Inflation Reduction Act, Infrastructure Investment Act and the CHIPS & Science Act, but it can be kind of confusing to know which elements are best for you. How do you find which ones can benefit you?
    Listen to Rachel McLeery, Senior Advisor at the Department of Treasury, explain where and how to access the benefits of these ground-breaking pieces of legislation in this fascinating discussion with Electric Ladies host Joan Michelson. 
    You’ll hear about:
    How and where to access the benefits of the Inflation Reduction Act, Infrastructure Investment Act & CHIPS and Science Act – no matter what industry or taxpayer you are, including examples. The impact of these bills on the economy – in energy, climate, sustainability, infrastructure, electric vehicles. The ground-breaking collaboration between Treasury and the Dept. of Energy & Dept of Transportation & the Dept. of the Interior, and the White House. Plus, insightful career advice, such as… “You have to have a little bit of fearlessness at this stage of your career. I think at this point, you know, like Joanie mentioned, you're in the space of your career where you know what you want. You have the ambition, you have the drive, you know how to do it, you have the confidence. But confidence and fearlessness, to me they are two very different things. And in order to take that step, you have to be able to take some risks and you have to assume space that you haven't before.”
    Rachel McLeery on Electric Ladies Podcast
    Read Joan’s Forbes article about this new report here and more of her articles here too.
    You'll also like:
    Vanessa Chan, Ph.D., Chief Commercialization Officer of the Department of Energy and Director of the Office of Technology Transitions, on the Inflation Reduction Act and the transition to clean energy. Heather Boushey, Ph.D., National Council of Economic Advisors in the White House, and Chief Economist, Invest in America Cabinet Polly Trottenberg, U.S. Deputy Secretary of Transportation, on the transportation revolution taking place. Judith Pryor, Vice Chair & First Vice President, Export Import Bank of the U.S., on leveraging exporting and trade for energy, climate and sustainability, as well as economic development. Lisa Jacobson of the Business Council for Sustainable Energy & Tara Narayanan, of Bloomberg NEF on their new Energy Factbook 2024, including the Inflation Reduction Act opportunities. Kristen Sullivan, Deloitte Audit Partner & Head of the firm’s Sustainability practice, on the final SEC climate rules Subscribe to our newsletter to receive our podcasts, blog, events and special coaching offers.. Thanks for subscribing on Apple Podcasts or iHeartRadio and leaving us a review!
    Follow us on Twitter @joanmichelson

    • 43 min

Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5
52 Ratings

52 Ratings

JReinhard88 ,

Perfect Blend of Inspiration & Practicality

Electric Ladies delivers smart, thoughtful & real conversations around sustainability. Love how host Joan & her insightful guests make it easy to follow — and see the potential solutions. I leave every episode more informed & inspired!

oliviabaker13 ,

Inspiring and engaging!

Electric Ladies has quickly become a favorite in my feed! I'm consistently impressed by the engaging conversations, insightful content, and actionable ideas shared. I truly learn something every time I listen!

The Variety Artist ,

Passionate and making a difference!

Just listened to the Lee-Anne Walters podcast. Very inspiring. Love the host. To the point. No frills. Love it!!! Better than the news. Really gets to the bottom of the crisis.

Top Podcasts In Business

George Kamel
Ramsey Network
The Ramsey Show
Ramsey Network
Money Rehab with Nicole Lapin
Money News Network
REAL AF with Andy Frisella
Andy Frisella #100to0
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Vox Media Podcast Network
The Diary Of A CEO with Steven Bartlett
DOAC

You Might Also Like