Bianca Best's lifelong pursuit of ambition led her from a corporate career in advertising, creativity, and publishing to a successful freelance writing career. While juggling motherhood in her late 20's, she inadvertently founded the Bespoke Gift Company. What started as a creative, personalized anniversary gift has become a wildly successful company. Bianca is an award-winning global business leader, author, certified success strategist, entrepreneur, speaker, and single mother of four. Bianca describes her CV as a chronology of passions, explored and includes a decade as a tech-preneur running the bespoke gift company, which pioneered the personalized gift industry forever. A decade of corporate ascendancy running vast digital divisions of the world's largest CommEd conglomerates certifying in healing modalities. From hypnotherapy to executive coaching to her international impact, inspiring the working world through her keynotes, workshops in organizations like Google and Amazon. Her organization, Bianca Best, is dedicated to infusing the working world with graceful productivity, kind, leadership, and unlocked human potential whereby individuals and organizations flourish without burnout.

What You Will Hear in This Episode

02:30 Bianca's Journey: From Ambition to Entrepreneurship

03:53 The Birth of the Bespoke Gift Company

08:46 Balancing Motherhood and Business

10:43 Transition to Corporate Life

12:39 Overcoming Burnout and Finding Purpose

18:17 Graceful Productivity and Kind Leadership

30:24 The Ideal Work Environment for Women

35:52 Conclusion and Final Thoughts

Quotes

" I have always leaned into pursuing what has excited me and followed the potential opportunities, even if I felt a bit scared. "

" If you don't pay attention to your natural rhythms and start healing yourself, then you are gonna be unable to sustain. "

" If our attention is stolen, our time is stolen. And if our time is stolen, then inevitably our energy is stolen and it's a cascade of catastrophic negativity. "

" Changing companies and leaving dead end jobs or toxic environments doesn't show weakness. It's owning who you are and honoring that, and that's badass. "

Mentioned

BiancaBest.com

Book: Big Impact without Burnout

eConnect with Bonnie

Substack Newsletter: Own Your Ambition

Gendered Ageism Survey Results

Forbes article

5 Tips to own the superpower of your age

IAMMusicGroup

Purchase my book Not Done Yet on Amazon:

If you enjoyed this episode of Badass Women Podcast, then make sure to subscribe to the podcast and drop us a five-star review

Sandy Rosenthal was an ordinary citizen who became an extraordinary activist following Hurricane Katrina. After uncovering that defective flood walls built by the Army Corps of Engineers caused the disaster, Sandy founded the nonprofit levees.org and rallied over 25,000 supporters for safer infrastructure. Her book, 'Whispered in Water,' and her podcast, 'Beat The Big Guys,' continue to inspire change and empower listeners to take on powerful institutions and make a difference in their communities. Sandy shares her journey from a part-time copywriter to a relentless advocate for truth and accountability, highlighting the power of community mobilization and persistence.

What You Will Hear in This Episode

00:21 Meet Sandy Rosenthal: Uncovering a Scandal

02:08 The Day the Levees Broke

04:41 Life After the Disaster

09:51 Fighting Back: Founding Levees.org

12:33 Facing Harassment and Legal Battles

17:35 The Aftermath and Lessons Learned

21:22 Mobilizing Communities and Partnerships

33:03 Conclusion and Call to Action

Quotes

" I'm gonna point out first that two thirds of the nation's population lives by levies and probably don't know it. "

" You do have to ask the questions, and if you stop asking, and if it appears that you're not paying attention, that's when bad things can happen, and that's when, I don't wanna call 'em the bad guys, but that's when the big guys win, when you stop paying attention."

" It didn't take me long to realize that the big guys, like the Army Corps of Engineers are really just like bullies in the fourth grade playground. They're, they're big, but they're not smarter. They, they they, and, and the, they're elegant because they're big. And, and you know what happens when you're big and you're arrogant, you make big mistakes."

" When that criticism comes, you need to look at it like free advice, free advice. What they're doing is they're finding problems with what you're doing and, and some of their points may actually be correct. They've actually helped you, even though they didn't mean to."

Mentioned

SandyRosenthal.net

Levees.org

eConnect with Bonnie

Substack Newsletter: Own Your Ambition

Gendered Ageism Survey Results

Forbes article

5 Tips to own the superpower of your age

IAMMusicGroup

Purchase my book Not Done Yet on Amazon:

If you enjoyed this episode of Badass Women Podcast, then make sure to subscribe to the podcast and drop us a five-star review

 Feeling lost and purposeless when her youngest child left for college, Rita Lussier leaned into her writing and running to cope. Forming a new morning routine along with the process of running and writing helped her find a new sense of purpose, culminating in the creation of her book, And Now Back To Me. Rita is an award-winning journalist and writer whose column 'For The Moment' was a popular feature of the Providence Journal for a dozen years. Her writing has also been featured on National Public Radio in the Boston Globe, the New York Daily News, and many other publications. Rita enjoys coaching writers, conducting workshops, and has worked as a publicist and editor. She's taught at both University of Rhode Island and Rhode Island College.

What You Will Hear in This Episode

01:12 Rita's Journey: From Empty Nest to Published Author

03:37 The Healing Power of Writing

05:04 Navigating Midlife Changes and Empty Nest Syndrome

06:51 The Emotional Rollercoaster of an Empty Nest

09:34 Finding New Purpose and Joy

13:29 Advice for Empty Nesters

26:45 Comparing Empty Nest Syndrome to Retirement

29:01 Conclusion and Final Thoughts

Quotes

" I think I'm at my best when I'm reaching out to others and using the things that I have learned and helping others with them."

" The best advice I can give to anyone is to just acknowledge that this is a huge transition. You're going through a big change, and you need to be patient with yourself. It's not gonna happen right away, and I think women in particular are very patient with everybody and everything else in their lives, but maybe not necessarily themselves."

" I think it's important to acknowledge the loss before you can really embrace a new beginning."

" I believe writing your life honors your life."

Mentioned

https://www.ritalussier.com/

Instagram

Facebook

threads

eConnect with Bonnie

Substack Newsletter: Own Your Ambition

Gendered Ageism Survey Results

Forbes article

5 Tips to own the superpower of your age

IAMMusicGroup

Purchase my book Not Done Yet on Amazon:

If you enjoyed this episode of Badass Women Podcast, then make sure to subscribe to the podcast and drop us a five-star review