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Inspiring Women with Laurie McGraw

Inspiring Women with Laurie McGraw

By: Laurie McGraw
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 Advancing women to healthcare leadership–and keeping them there. Women comprise 70% of the healthcare workforce. They hold just 20% of the C-suite. Each week, host Laurie McGraw bridges that gap through conversations with the women rewriting healthcare’s leadership playbook.2025 Laurie McGraw. All rights reserved. Career Success Economics Leadership Management & Leadership
Episodes
  • Three Big Failures, $30M Series A, and Why Chapter One Doesn't Define You || EP.228

    Three Big Failures, $30M Series A, and Why Chapter One Doesn't Define You || EP.228
    Dec 16 2025
    Most people build their reputation on successes. Missy Krasner built hers on spectacular, well-funded failures. Google Health? Shut down. Amazon Care? Discontinued. Box's healthcare ambitions? Never quite took off the way she envisioned. And Missy wouldn't change any of it. Because what she extracted from those experiences, watching big tech repeatedly fail to crack healthcare's code, gave her something more valuable than a win: a clear understanding of why transformation efforts collapse and what it actually takes to make change stick in the most regulated, fragmented industry in America. Now, as co-founder of Penguin AI, Missy is applying those hard-won lessons to tackle the trillion-dollar administrative burden crushing healthcare. But this isn't another AI hype story. Missy has been in healthcare innovation for over 20 years. She was building Google Health before meaningful use existed. She was evangelizing platform thinking when electronic health records were still competing with manila folders. She's seen three watershed moments transform the industry: meaningful use driving EHR adoption, COVID forcing telehealth adoption, and now AI. And she believes this moment is fundamentally different. Why Missy's "failures" at Google, Amazon, and Box taught her more about healthcare transformation than success ever could What's really happening with the trillion-dollar administrative burden and how AI can finally address it at scale Why the current political and economic chaos will accelerate consumer-driven healthcare innovation Missy's blunt assessment of the headwinds facing women leaders right now and what it means for advancement Why "nobody's coming to save us" and what that means for how women need to show up in leadership What fuels Missy after decades of innovation and her advice for anyone trying to push through when it's hard About the Guest: Missy Krasner brings 35+ years of healthcare experience spanning big tech (Amazon, Google, Box), government (helped launch the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT), venture capital (Canvas Ventures, Redesign Health), and now as co-founder of Penguin AI, which recently closed a $30 million Series A. She serves on multiple digital health boards including Uplift, Overalls, and Syntax, and holds degrees from Stanford (M.A.) and UCLA (B.A.). Chapters 00:00 - Introduction at Health Conference 01:14 - Journey Through Google, Box, and Amazon 02:53 - Three Watershed Moments in Healthcare 06:59 - Penguin AI and the Trillion-Dollar Administrative Burden 10:34 - Women Healthcare Leaders for Progress Reflection 14:15 - Finding Innovation Opportunities in Chaos 16:45 - Advancing Women in Leadership 22:13 - Learning from Failure and What Drives Success Guest & Host Links Connect with Laurie McGraw on LinkedIn Connect with Missy Krasner on LinkedIn Connect with Inspiring Women Browse Episodes | LinkedIn | Instagram | Apple | Spotify
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    25 mins
  • From Caregiver to CEO: Building Bold Solutions for Aging || EP.227

    From Caregiver to CEO: Building Bold Solutions for Aging || EP.227
    Dec 9 2025
    Medicare spends as much on falls as it does on cancer—but 30-50% of those fall-related costs are preventable. Amanda Rees watched her grandmother develop a "goose egg" from a fall while gardening, then watched the shame make her stop gardening altogether, spiraling into depression and isolation. A decade of caregiving radicalized how this Princeton-trained engineer thought about aging. So she built Bold, a company now serving 10 million older adults—with a leadership team and cap table that's "very, very female" in a notoriously male-dominated space. But first, she had to stop making herself small. "You're really good at making yourself seem small," someone told Amanda early in her fundraising journey. The irony wasn't lost—she was downplaying a Princeton engineering degree, $100M in energy investment experience, and a decade caring for her grandmother while running a company literally called Bold. She only needed to hear that feedback once. What followed was a masterclass in building with intention. Amanda raised funding from Rethink Impact, the largest fund dedicated to investing in women, and assembled a predominantly female leadership team—not through quotas, but through mission alignment. "Women tend to be the frontline caregivers for a lot of families, and they see it. They understand that's a very real problem," she explains. In this conversation, Amanda dismantles the preparation myth holding women founders back: "If you have the itch and you wanna do it, do it. Don't go get an extra degree or do this thing before I'm ready." She explains why your first pitch will be terrible, why pitch five is the hardest, and how objection handling refines not just your deck but your entire business model. She also shares why she only hires people who'll stay "when things are tough, when the challenges ahead look really big and scary"—because fair-weather teams crumble, and resilience must be embedded from day one. Key Takeaways: Stop waiting to be "ready"—the best data comes from actually doing it, not preparing endlessly Making yourself small doesn't help anyone, especially not you—authenticity beats false modesty Build your team and investor base with people who deeply connect to your mission, not just the opportunity Your first pitch will suck; by pitch fifty you'll be excellent—you just have to survive pitch five The DNA of the people you hire becomes the DNA of your company—choose accordingly When older adults lose independence, it's the shame and isolation that does the damage, not just the physical limitation About the Guest: Amanda Rees is the CEO and Co-founder of Bold, a pro-aging health company serving over 10 million older adults through Medicare partnerships with organizations like UnitedHealth Group. Bold's platform has demonstrated a 46% reduction in falls and 182% increase in weekly physical activity in peer-reviewed research. A Princeton graduate with a degree in biological and chemical engineering, Amanda previously managed a $100M renewable energy portfolio at The Schmidt Family Foundation and has been selected for The Aspen Institute's 2025 class of Finance Leaders Fellows. Health Podcast Network Chapters 00:00 - Introduction at Health Conference 00:55 - From Caregiver to Founder: The Bold Origin Story 03:35 - Keeping Humanity in Fall Prevention 08:12 - Building a Female-Led Company and Cap Table 10:08 - Fundraising Advice: Just Start Pitching 13:41 - The Feedback That Changed Everything: Stop Making Yourself Small 15:21 - AI and the Future of Aging 16:52 - Building Your Team: The DNA of Your Company Guest & Host Links Connect with Laurie McGraw on LinkedIn Connect with Amanda Rees on LinkedIn Connect with Inspiring Women Browse Episodes | LinkedIn | Instagram | Apple | Spotify
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    19 mins
  • Lifting As You Climb: Ambassador Shefali Razdan-Duggal on Service, Sacrifice, and Success || EP.226

    Lifting As You Climb: Ambassador Shefali Razdan-Duggal on Service, Sacrifice, and Success || EP.226
    Dec 2 2025
    At nine years old watching a presidential debate, Shefali Razdan Duggal realized something: in America, a peanut farmer and the son of divorced parents could become president. Her mother was cutting vegetables at night, working as a seamstress by day. Politics became the path to help people like her mother. Decades later, she became the first person of color to serve as U.S. Ambassador to the Netherlands, where the Dutch named a fuchsia-pink tulip after her, the first ambassador from any country ever honored this way. But the journey between that childhood revelation and diplomatic triumph involved a different calculation entirely. "Women of color have to work four times as hard," Shefali states. Her response wasn't resentment—it was a choice. She calls it "weed whacking" for the people behind her. While serving 90-hour weeks, she operated from what she calls "complete and utter equality" with her entire embassy staff. The result? Her Marines ranked as one of the best detachments in Europe. Her embassy became one of the best-run on the continent. And when women of color visited the ambassador wall and saw her photo next to John Adams, they would start crying. In this conversation, Shefali explains why ego kills opportunities faster than anything else, how she managed crushing stress without punishing anyone around her, and what happens when you choose to "do something" instead of "be someone." She also reveals why your work may not benefit you immediately—but that's actually the point. Key Takeaways: Why working harder (when you shouldn't have to) clears the path for everyone behind you How to build relationships before you need them What "lift as you climb" actually looks like in practice Why starting at the base level with zero ego changes everything How to manage stress without taking it out on your team When your work benefits someone else instead of you—and why that matters About the Guest: The Honorable Shefali Razdan Duggal served as U.S. Ambassador to the Kingdom of the Netherlands from 2022-2025, becoming the first person of color in this role. Born in India and raised in Cincinnati, Ohio by a single mother working multiple minimum-wage jobs, she began her political career volunteering on Senator Ted Kennedy's campaign. The Dutch honored her by naming a tulip "Tulipa Shefali"—the first ambassador from any country to receive this tribute. Her book about her journey from immigrant daughter to diplomat releases summer 2026. Chapters 00:00 - Introduction at Health Conference 02:17 - From Humble Beginnings to Public Service 05:08 - Starting at the Bottom: Early Campaign Work 07:39 - Working Four Times as Hard: Breaking Barriers 09:51 - Lifting as You Climb: Human Rights Commitment 15:15 - Learning Diplomacy: The Path to Ambassador 19:06 - EQ and IQ: Leading with Humanity Under Pressure 26:48 - Advice for Women and What's Next Guest & Host Links Connect with Laurie McGraw on LinkedIn Connect with Former Ambassador Shefali Razdan-Duggal on LinkedIn Connect with Inspiring Women Browse Episodes | LinkedIn | Instagram | Apple | Spotify
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    32 mins
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