Category Archives: Episodes

Emily Tamilio -165



In the spotlight, a dynamic healthcare leader who is a champion for women’s health. Emily Tamilio is a registered nurse who is a member of the Beth Israel Lahey Health Women’s Leadership Council and Emerson Hospital Auxiliary. She has worked in leadership roles in health systems, start-ups and as a consultant, and is proud of her work for the the 131 year old Deaconess Abundant Life Committee’s leadership team. And there is so much more to this story. Raised outside of Boston in a strong Armenian family, bound together by the Armenian genocide, Emily often heard the stories both grandmothers told her about escaping their country to come to America. She learned at a very early age that life requires giant doses of courage. She is a mother and a breast cancer thriver who always sees the glass as hall full, choosing a heart full of gratitude that in turn feeds her persistence. No stranger to obstacles in her path, she tunes out negative talk, believing that fear is what stops us in our tracks. According to this exceptional woman, “fear is false evidence appearing real.” In this interview, Emily shares news about co-hosting her first podcast called “Bridgin” which will focus on fostering equity through connection. For a dose of positive energy you can use, just hit that download button.


Caroline C. Werner -164



A wise person once told me:  show up, speak your truth and don’t be attached to the outcome. -Caroline C. Werner 
Make no mistake about it, Caroline C. Werner is a superstar in the field of HR.  She’s the Senior Vice President, Global Talent for Korn Ferry with over 8,000 employees in 50 countries.  In this role, she responsible for talent acquisition, operations, learning and development, administration, human relations business strategies and more.  How can there possibly be enough hours in the day for this dynamic, successful, young woman?   And if she does find one minute of spare time, what does she do with it?  In this interview, we learn that Caroline was raised to rise and shine. Her tireless work-ethic and can-do attitude have served the young executive well, and the sky is the limit. #thestorybehindhersuccess #youngprofessionals 

Chris Vasiliadis -163



Success to me is being in alignment with what is important to you and following through on that in your actions and in your behavior, in your words. -Chris Vasiliadis

Meet Chris Vasiliadis, founder of Priority Wellness www.prioritywellness.com and author of the book Ignition: A Professional Woman’s Guide to Energized, Burnout-Proof Living. She has reinvented herself many times. In fact, she’s worked in high-tech with roles in systems engineering, computer security, cryptography, software project management, and as Director of Performance Improvement…and then she started down her entrepreneurial path flexing her artistic muscle as a make-up artist and then as a marketing consultant. But it was a health crisis in 2005 that rocked her world and inspired her to shift her mindset and adjust her compass. In this interview, Chris shares her wisdom about how managing your energy has far greater results than trying to manage your time. A self-described “recovering Type-A personality, Chris shares how she deliberately created a more healthy, active life for herself and you can, too. The secret is: you have to make it a priority. #storybehindhersuccess #prioritywellness


Karla MacDonald -162



Look around and find people who you want to be like or who you want to learn from. Make sure they see who you are, and what you can do. -Karla MacDonald

With so much attention on the rollout of the vaccine, delivered to the world in record time, I wanted to find a woman in a leadership role in the pharmaceutical world who could give us a bird’s eye view on the industry. Enter Karla MacDonald, Vice President, Communications & Patient Advocacy at Ipsen Biopharmaceuticals. With 20 years of experience working in life sciences, Karla has the knowledge and the insight about how clinical trials work, why patient advocacy matters, and how the scientific community has responded to the pandemic. I also wondered how much progress has been made by women and minorities in “big pharma”, and how much more work is yet to be done. Born and raised in Canada where her heroes were scientists, Karla shares the story of her childhood and the many gifts her parents passed on to her, including her father’s words of wisdom: “always sit in the front of the class and make sure the professor knows your name.” For a tutorial on what it’s like to climb the ladder and succeed in the pharmaceutical industry, just hit that download button #lifesciences #pharmaceuticals


Dr. Tamika Jacques -161



Every child is unique and every child has a skill. It is up to us parents to guide them and be attentive to those skills. -Dr. Tamika Jacques

Meet Dr. Tamika Jacques, mother of three and workforce specialist with a doctorate in Educational Leadership Science. She’s the author of two groundbreaking books: A Brown Girls Guide to Employment & Networking, and her latest: A Brown Parents Guide to Preparing Our Children for Employment in the 21st Century. Using the many challenges she faced over the course of her own career, Tamika’s goal in writing the book has been to open up the conversation between parents and their children around recognizing and tapping into passions and interests sooner than later. A third-generation Cape Verdean-American from Bridgewater, MA., Tamika was prepared by her parents to deal with a world that would judge her by the color of her skin. In this interview, she offers tools and techniques to shepherd the next generation of brown children toward actively creating opportunities for themselves. Says Tamika: “Never let anyone put you in a box because of their own racial bias. Dream big. Be who you are, because that is when you are going to shine.” For a dose of parenting advice that will put your child on a pathway toward success, hit that download button.


Krisanthi Pappas -160



There are paths of life that aren’t easy and the music industry is certainly a difficult one. If you don’t love it, don’t do it. But if you love it, you have to do it. -Krisanthi Pappas

Massachusetts native Krisanthi Pappas has been using her gifts and talents as a singer, songwriter, musician, arranger, recording artist, and live performer since she was about eight years old! A classically trained pianist, she would sing for the traffic stopped outside her house at the red light, singing songs like ABC by the Jackson Five. Throughout the course of Krisanthi’s career, her wide range of singing styles have gotten the attention of national publications like Jazz Times Magazine and All Music Guide whose writers have compared her to Norah Jones and Diana Krall, Karen Carpenter, Carole King and Bonnie Raitt. She’s a full-time entertainer who has opened for Sheryl Crow, Steely Dan, Heart, Queen with Adam Lambert, The Doobie Brothers, Chicago, Chuck Mangione, Branford Marsalis, and the list goes on and on. Krisanthi’s success as a songwriter has earned her many awards and her songs have found homes on popular TV shows and in films, surpassing 3 million spins on Pandora, with her single “One Slow Dance A Day” at the top of that list. In this interview, she takes us along for a ride through her career, including the stories behind her songs, what it takes to sustain a career in music, her devotion to her fans, and charity work on behalf of the fight against breast cancer. Her latest song “Hug A Million Times” is an anthem for anyone who has yearned to see friends and family during the pandemic. www.krisanthi.com.
https://smarturl.it/HugAMillionTimes


Hilary Porta -159



In my practice, we really peel it back. We get pretty naked with it and we architect a life where you can have greater impact, service to others, and beautiful relationships. – Hilary Porta

Hilary Porta is a success coach, a life architect, a business alchemist and a mindset ninja who lives her life on all cylinders. Whether you listen to this episode on your smartphone, your laptop or on your favorite radio station, today’s guest brings the power of positivity to everything she does and you are going to feel it. She is a bright and shining example of a success story on steroids. Raised in Tennessee, Hilary shares the experience of a childhood trauma that shaped her life for quite some time, leaving her feeling dirty and unworthy saying: “sometimes you have to be broken in order to be used as an instrument.” The work she does for others as a success coach is the result of her own self-discovery about how to tap into her strength through faith and to see life through a different lens. Hilary says: “we get so disconnected sometimes, and that’s when we have to pull back and remember who we really are.” The Founder of R3 International & Principal/CEO of H Porta, Hilary works with high energy, high potential people in just about every field. www.hilaryporta.com. She’s also a contributing writer for more than 35 publications including Forbes and is considered one of the world’s top Success Coaches. a life architect, a Business Alchemist…and a mindset ninja. #thelifearchitect #success


Heidi Edwards -158



The geneticist said: you are negative for the mutation and my husband and I just collapsed into each other’s arms. -Heidi Edwards

Imagine what it would be like if your family genetics harbored a deadly disease that began with symptoms like slowed movements, poor balance, memory impairment, speech changes, personality changes and then, dementia. Now imagine that 50% of your relative’s genetic pool might contain this rare mutation for which there is no cure. That is exactly what happened to Heidi Edward’s family. Hereditary diffuse leukoencephalopathy with spheroids or HDLS, now
known as Adult-onset leukoencephalopathy with axonal spheroids and pigmented glia or ALSP was not an easy disease to research because it is so rare. It took medical scientists 13 years to properly identify the genetic mutation that existed in her family and by then, 4 of her closest relatives had. Says Heidi “we were walking on egg shells because we have such a large family and we wondered who would get the disease next. Heidi decided to be tested to see if she had the mutation and was relieved when geneticists told her she was negative. Today, her twin sister is in the end stages of the disease. As President and Founder of Sisters’ Hope Foundation www.sistershopefoundation.com, Heidi is more determined than ever to raise awareness, education and support, not just for her family but for other families who have suffered quietly for so long. “I’ve been chosen to carry on this mission says Heidi. I’m the only sibling without the disease and I have to keep pushing forward.”


Lau Lapides -157



I always felt like I was running a race. Like I was keepin’ score. I had to do more, I had to do better. My husband would always say: who is keeping score? You’re enough. -Lau Lapides

Lau (short for Laurie) Lapides has always known what she wanted to do. Raised in Randolph, MA she remembers vividly that as a child, all she wanted to do was dance. As a teenager, she discovered acting and that passion for the stage continues to this day. The Founder of Lau Lapides Company, Lau holds an MFA from the University of California at Irvine and she has honed her skills as an actor, director, teacher, consultant, executive coach and speech coach. All of these specialities have come full circle to bring her where she is today as the leader of a dynamic team of talented coaches and production pros at laulapidescompany.com. The recipient of many awards, Lau takes great pride in nurturing the talents of others: “I look for people who come from a place of authenticity. I call that bringing the real. The real is you and your history, your personality. As a coach, it’s always about layering the cake, not tearing it down and baking it all over again.” For a bird’s eye view into the heart of a true talent, hit that download button. #acting


Lyn Burke -156



I do wake up happy. If you stay focused, and positive, nothing can get you down. -Lyn Burke

In the spotlight, a woman who is devoting her career to lighting up the night, and inspiring us all. She is the co-founder and executive director of a local non-profit called LuminArtz which is one of the Northeast’s most influential producers of large scale, light-based art works www.luminartz.org. There is something magical about light installations because they require us to use our own imagination, to open up our hearts and our senses, and experience their beauty as a community. What inspires Lyn to do this work and why does it matter so much to her? The daughter of a politician, she got her start as a lobbyist and also worked in the gaming and lottery industries, but in the middle of her career, a life long love of art lead her back to where her heart belongs: public art. A resident of Gloucester, Massachusetts, which is a historic fishing village and artist colony, Lyn is right where she belongs, b