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Would you still want it if nobody knew?

Jenn Drummond joins Aimee Rickabus for a conversation about the goals we choose, the roles we inherit and the parts of ourselves we keep saving for someday.

Jenn shares how surviving a car accident changed her priorities; why a hairdryer at Everest Base Camp became a lesson in asking for what you need; and how motherhood can make room for an ambitious life. They also discuss the pressure to keep achieving, the decision to turn around on a mountain, the support behind Jenn’s family life, and why her son’s birthday on Denali became her favorite moment of the trip.

A question to take with you: which goal would you keep if the applause disappeared?

ABOUT JENN
Jenn Drummond is a mountaineer, entrepreneur, author and mother of seven. Guinness World Records recognizes her as the first woman to climb the Second Seven Summits (Bass-version), completed on June 1, 2023. She joins Aimee Rickabus to talk about ambition, motherhood and choosing what comes next.

IN THIS CONVERSATION
00:00 Whose mountain are you climbing?
01:04 Meet Jenn Drummond
03:44 Before the mountains: the good-girl role
04:31 The accident and the someday list
07:08 A hairdryer at Everest Base Camp
09:40 Motherhood and permission to dream
15:50 Mount Logan and the final summit
21:24 The pressure of “what’s next?”
23:59 Would you do it without applause?
26:05 Making an ordinary Tuesday matter
27:08 Breakproof and knowing when to pivot
29:07 Turning someday into today
35:40 Turning around: people over peaks
40:10 Fear can ride along
44:32 Returning to Denali with her son
50:30 What mountains teach about leadership
53:24 Community and asking for help
55:47 The team behind her family life
57:40 Who are you without achievement?
01:03:10 Managing life versus living it
01:05:58 Small intentions, real follow-through
01:08:11 Permission to choose your own mountain

Watch Episode 86: https://youtu.be/1Rv1CqxZa5g
Jenn’s website: https://jenndrummond.com/
Jenn on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thejenndrummond/
Jenn on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2V13TvWZIUszqJqCuMEDZw

———

The Manage Her® Podcast — hosted by Aimee Rickabus. Honest conversations on leadership, financial empowerment, motherhood, wellness, and career reinvention for ambitious women.

🌿 NEW BOOK FROM AIMEE — THE CULTIVATE HER:
Life is a garden, not a ladder. Aimee's new book is out now.
Order your copy: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0HMZB6YSR
Learn more: https://thecultivateher.com

🎧 SUBSCRIBE & LISTEN:
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-manage-her/id1809208475
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/03FuFRyzkaWhZkk5yxFePJ
Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/91c217a5-4245-4b83-8d15-8edfdde06884/the-manage-her

📲 CONNECT WITH THE MANAGE HER®:
Website: https://www.themanageher.com
Instagram: @themanageher
TikTok: @themanageher
YouTube: @themanageher
LinkedIn: @themanageher

💗 If this episode resonated, follow the show, leave a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts, and share it with a woman who needs to hear it.

© 2026 The Manage Her®. All rights re...

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A business can look successful while leaving very little room for the person who built it.

Anabelle Elya learned that through more than one reinvention. After investing her last $700 in doula training, she built work she loved. A difficult pregnancy forced her to step away, and she later found a new path in sales and business systems. But building support for other people did not mean she had enough support herself.

In this closing conversation of the October Brand Builder Series, Aimee Rickabus and Anabelle talk about ambition, caregiving, grief and the pressure to keep doing everything. Anabelle shares how she changed her business model, why she looks at the work a client actually does before recommending systems, and what it means to build a life with room for presence.

You’ll hear:
• How listening and empathy carried from doula work into sales
• Why a profitable business can still need a different operating model
• What a one-week task audit can reveal
• The identity questions underneath delegation
• How systems can create more space for the work and people you care about

A practical place to start: track your tasks for a week. Mark what energizes you and what drains you. Choose one recurring task to simplify, delegate or automate in a way that fits your circumstances.

ABOUT ANABELLE
Anabelle Elya is the founder of The Digital Doula, where she builds sales systems, CRM automation and business operations for service-based entrepreneurs. Her background as a doula informs her approach to supporting people through change. In this conversation, she shares how motherhood, caregiving and rebuilding her business reshaped her definition of success.

CONNECT
https://godigitaldoula.com/home
https://www.instagram.com/thedigitaldoula/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/anabelle-elya-9416a0272/

WATCH EPISODE 85
https://youtu.be/vGRtJahgpIA

CONTINUE LISTENING
Episode 84 with Amanda Carlson explores founder friction and the life around a growing business: https://youtu.be/PO_Ajnsx8mE

Follow The Manage Her® for conversations about women’s work, ambition, identity and the life around it.
https://www.themanageher.com

Preorder The Cultivate Her at https://thecultivateher.com/

This episode includes a difficult pregnancy, medical uncertainty, caregiving and bereavement.

———

The Manage Her® Podcast — hosted by Aimee Rickabus. Honest conversations on leadership, financial empowerment, motherhood, wellness, and career reinvention for ambitious women.

🎧 SUBSCRIBE & LISTEN:
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-manage-her/id1809208475
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/03FuFRyzkaWhZkk5yxFePJ
Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/91c217a5-4245-4b83-8d15-8edfdde06884/the-manage-her

📲 CONNECT WITH THE MANAGE HER®:
Website: https://www.themanageher.com
Instagram: @themanageher
TikTok: @themanageher
YouTube: @themanageher
LinkedIn: @themanageher

💗 If this episode resonated, follow the show, leave a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts, and share it with a woman who needs to hear it.

© 2026 The Manage Her®. All rights reserved.

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A business can look successful while its founder quietly carries the strain.

Amanda Carlson, brand designer, strategist and founder of Muse Multimedia, joins Aimee Rickabus to explore founder friction: the resistance that can emerge when a business has grown but its support has not caught up.

Amanda’s path began in professional theater marketing. Later, building brands and websites led her to a different question: what happens when the design is ready but the business cannot clearly explain who it serves?

This conversation moves from brand messaging and delegation to AI, perfectionism and the emotional weight of a business that feels like part of your identity. Amanda shares why she stepped away from her own business for a week, how her 90-day roadmap evolved into a broader decision-making approach, and three questions founders can sit with before adding more work to their lists.

Consider what decision you are delaying, what work follows you home, and what only functions because someone keeps rescuing it.

CONNECT WITH AMANDA
• Muse Multimedia
• Instagram
• LinkedIn

Watch Episode 84 on YouTube

Follow The Manage Her® Podcast for conversations about the businesses, families, ambitions and identities women are managing.

Hosted by Aimee Rickabus. Produced by Doho Digital.

Explore The Manage Her

———

The Manage Her® Podcast — hosted by Aimee Rickabus. Honest conversations on leadership, financial empowerment, motherhood, wellness, and career reinvention for ambitious women.

🎧 SUBSCRIBE & LISTEN:
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-manage-her/id1809208475
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/03FuFRyzkaWhZkk5yxFePJ
Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/91c217a5-4245-4b83-8d15-8edfdde06884/the-manage-her

📲 CONNECT WITH THE MANAGE HER®:
Website: https://www.themanageher.com
Instagram: @themanageher
TikTok: @themanageher
YouTube: @themanageher
LinkedIn: @themanageher

💗 If this episode resonated, follow the show, leave a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts, and share it with a woman who needs to hear it.

© 2026 The Manage Her®. All rights reserved.

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An idea can take shape long before a resignation letter.

Nami Prakash joins Aimee Rickabus to share how she developed The Mind Quotient alongside corporate leadership and motherhood. They talk about the difference between having an idea and being ready to build it, learning through small tests, and making room for a new chapter without pretending the rest of life disappears.

Nami describes her approach to energy management, why she focuses on one thing at a time, and how feedback helped her explain the human skills she wants to teach. The conversation also explores MQ Circles, the challenge of building beyond the founder, inherited definitions of success, and boundaries around both ambition and personal storytelling.

For the woman with an idea she keeps returning to, this is a conversation about giving that idea attention, language and structure.

Watch Episode 83: https://youtu.be/an03Nz9NG4k
Connect with Nami: https://www.coach-nami.com/
More from The Manage Her: https://www.themanageher.com

Conversation guide
06:44 Building alongside corporate work
14:59 Energy management
23:05 Testing the idea
49:59 Inside an MQ Circle
01:10:59 Family expectations and success
01:27:43 Motherhood and boundaries
01:39:35 Making the message understandable

———

The Manage Her® Podcast — hosted by Aimee Rickabus. Honest conversations on leadership, financial empowerment, motherhood, wellness, and career reinvention for ambitious women.

🎧 SUBSCRIBE & LISTEN:
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-manage-her/id1809208475
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/03FuFRyzkaWhZkk5yxFePJ
Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/91c217a5-4245-4b83-8d15-8edfdde06884/the-manage-her

📲 CONNECT WITH THE MANAGE HER®:
Website: https://www.themanageher.com
Instagram: @themanageher
TikTok: @themanageher
YouTube: @themanageher
LinkedIn: @themanageher

💗 If this episode resonated, follow the show, leave a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts, and share it with a woman who needs to hear it.

© 2026 The Manage Her®. All rights reserved.

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What kind of life do you want your business to support?

Angela Villa, chocolatier and co-owner of Garden Island Chocolate on Kauai, joins Aimee Rickabus to share her path from collecting candy bars to making chocolate and educating others about cacao.

They discuss:
• How curiosity became practical expertise
• Why farm tours became part of the business
• Sharing knowledge through simple videos
• The work behind each chocolate bar
• Choosing manageable production and time with family

Follow The Manage Her for weekly conversations about the businesses, families, ambitions and identities women are managing.

Watch Episode 82: https://youtu.be/4n_2KA7w7as
Garden Island Chocolate: https://gardenislandchocolate.com/
Guest Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gardenislandchocolate/
The Manage Her: https://www.themanageher.com

Continue with Missy Kelly’s Episode 80, on turning an idea into a product: https://youtu.be/wLbMpBKrjh4

Hosted by Aimee Rickabus. Produced by Doho Digital.

———

The Manage Her® Podcast — hosted by Aimee Rickabus. Honest conversations on leadership, financial empowerment, motherhood, wellness, and career reinvention for ambitious women.

🌿 NEW BOOK FROM AIMEE — THE CULTIVATE HER:
Life is a garden, not a ladder. Aimee's new book is out now.
Order your copy: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0HMZB6YSR
Learn more: https://thecultivateher.com

🎧 SUBSCRIBE & LISTEN:
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-manage-her/id1809208475
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/03FuFRyzkaWhZkk5yxFePJ
Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/91c217a5-4245-4b83-8d15-8edfdde06884/the-manage-her

📲 CONNECT WITH THE MANAGE HER®:
Website: https://www.themanageher.com
Instagram: @themanageher
TikTok: @themanageher
YouTube: @themanageher
LinkedIn: @themanageher

💗 If this episode resonated, follow the show, leave a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts, and share it with a woman who needs to hear it.

© 2026 The Manage Her®. All rights re...

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There are brilliant women everywhere with something important to say — and almost nobody outside their circle knows who they are. How to become a thought leader isn't a mystery once you know how the doors actually open.

In this episode, Aimee Rickabus talks with Jacquelyn Fletcher Johnson — author of 14 books, keynote speaker, executive coach, and founder of the Gateway Gathering & Pitch Fest — about getting your ideas out of your head and onto agents' desks, conference stages, and into the rooms where decisions get made.

Jacquelyn shares:
- How to find a literary agent, and how to land a book deal without one first
- What a query letter has to do in 30 seconds ("no AI" and "show me you know me")
- When you actually need a speaking agent, and what they want to see first
- The three lenses for deciding what's yours to share and what's someone else's story
- The lava bracelet trick she used to walk onto a stage of 2,000 people

Whether you're sitting on a book, a keynote, or an idea that won't leave you alone, this conversation will make "not ready yet" a lot harder to believe.

🎟️ The Gateway Gathering & Pitch Fest is October 6–8, 2026 (virtual). Get your ticket through Aimee's link and use promo code AIMEE: https://events.zoom.us/ev/Amr-bxdqj7Y_NssOg5hpaW3QiQh5V2kcsIVJEL5Zo-kl_IUJoiMZ~ApMB4a9_EFyg9oDBb1YQhSoh_hhXwRAchVZqQvgGfO1V4wsfaqDWyxWaUQ?promo=AIMEE

Affiliate link — The Manage Her® may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.

🔗 CONNECT WITH JACQUELYN FLETCHER JOHNSON:
Website: https://jacquelynfletcherjohnson.com
The Gateway Project: https://www.gateway-project.com
Instagram: @jacquelynfletcherjohnson
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jacquelynfletcherjohnson/

———

The Manage Her® Podcast — hosted by Aimee Rickabus. Honest conversations on leadership, financial empowerment, motherhood, wellness, and career reinvention for ambitious women.

🎧 SUBSCRIBE & LISTEN:
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-manage-her/id1809208475
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/03FuFRyzkaWhZkk5yxFePJ
Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/91c217a5-4245-4b83-8d15-8edfdde06884/the-manage-her

📲 CONNECT WITH THE MANAGE HER®:
Website: https://www.themanageher.com
Instagram: @themanageher
TikTok: @themanageher
YouTube: @themanageher
LinkedIn: @themanageher

💗 If this episode resonated, follow the show, leave a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts, and share it with a woman who needs to hear it.

© 2026 The Manage Her®. All rights reserved.

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What if the somebody who should invent that is you? Missy Kelly didn't set out to build a company — she just refused to let skateboard grip tape scratch up her house. Nine prototypes later, that slippery phone became a patented material used by Walmart, SpaceX, and the U.S. Navy.

In this episode, Aimee Rickabus talks with Missy Kelly, Co-Founder and CEO of CatTongue Grips and founder of Born for Impact, about how to turn an idea into a product with zero experience, how a small women-owned business gets into big box retail and government contracting, and the inner work of running a company without letting it become your identity.

Missy shares:
• The Verizon-store moment and the 18 months it took to get the material right
• How a Paralympian, a trucker named Earl, and a chicken coop steered the product
• The one question she asks every corporate buyer — and the wrap-dress pitch that landed Walmart
• What a WBENC certification does (and doesn't) do, and how to play the long game
• Why perfectionism is an outer symptom of feeling unworthy — and how to separate who you are from what you built

Whether you're sitting on a "someone should make this" idea or you own a small business and assume the Fortune 500 won't buy from you, this conversation will make you ask Missy's favorite question: why wouldn't they?

🔗 CONNECT WITH MISSY KELLY:
Instagram: @melissackelly
Website: https://missykelly.com/
CatTongue Grips: https://www.cattonguegrips.com/
Women Gone Wild: Leadership Edition (preorder): https://missykelly.com/women-gone-wild/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/missy-kelly

———

The Manage Her® Podcast — hosted by Aimee Rickabus. Honest conversations on leadership, financial empowerment, motherhood, wellness, and career reinvention for ambitious women.

🎧 SUBSCRIBE & LISTEN:
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-manage-her/id1809208475
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/03FuFRyzkaWhZkk5yxFePJ
Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/91c217a5-4245-4b83-8d15-8edfdde06884/the-manage-her

📲 CONNECT WITH THE MANAGE HER®:
Website: https://www.themanageher.com
Instagram: @themanageher
TikTok: @themanageher
YouTube: @themanageher
LinkedIn: @themanageher

💗 If this episode resonated, follow the show, leave a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts, and share it with a woman who needs to hear it.

© 2026 The Manage Her®. All rights reserved.

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What does it take to build a business in a male-dominated industry when you never planned to start one? Que Alicea went from medical day spa owner to founder and CEO of an award-winning environmental consulting firm, without a big bank loan behind her.

In this Entrepreneur Spotlight episode, Aimee Rickabus talks with Que Alicea, founder and CEO of Q & A Consulting LLC in San Francisco, about the accidental path from skincare to industrial hygiene, and the relationships that turned a one-person contracting gig into a firm working on major construction and infrastructure projects around the Bay Area.

Que shares:
• How a disaster recovery job meant to fund her spa became an environmental firm
• What it's like when people talk to your male project manager before they talk to you
• The self-funded early days: rented equipment, lab fees, and net 30 turning into net 45
• Why women-owned business certification puts you on a shorter list, not a signed contract
• The best business advice she ever got: hire up

Whether you're a woman in a male-dominated field, building a business without a roadmap, or wondering if certification is worth it, this conversation is a reminder that the entrepreneur gets built along the way.

🔗 CONNECT WITH QUE ALICEA:
Instagram: @qaconsultingllc
Website: https://www.qaconsulting-llc.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/q-a-consuting-llc/

———

The Manage Her® Podcast — hosted by Aimee Rickabus. Honest conversations on leadership, financial empowerment, motherhood, wellness, and career reinvention for ambitious women.

🎧 SUBSCRIBE & LISTEN:
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-manage-her/id1809208475
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/03FuFRyzkaWhZkk5yxFePJ
Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/91c217a5-4245-4b83-8d15-8edfdde06884/the-manage-her

📲 CONNECT WITH THE MANAGE HER®:
Website: https://www.themanageher.com
Instagram: @themanageher
TikTok: @themanageher
YouTube: @themanageher
LinkedIn: @themanageher

💗 If this episode resonated, follow the show, leave a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts, and share it with a woman who needs to hear it.

© 2026 The Manage Her®. All rights reserved.