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Why isn’t there a better vodka out there so that people aren’t train wrecks the next day? VELO Vodka is the solution for a new generation of vodka drinkers.
-Colleen & Riley Eyges

We’ve had many entrepreneurs on the show, but never a mother/daughter duo! Meet Colleen and Riley Eyges, founders of VELO Vodka www.velovodka.com. A single mom for decades, Colleen raised her daughter to be strong and independent. Their chemistry in this interview reflects what makes their partnership work: “The secret to my success is grit and determination, says Colleen. For Riley, it is being relentless.” Finally launched in August of 2021 after being forced to wait out the pandemic, the idea for creating a new kind of vodka was planted when the two met a waitress who was clearly hungover from partying the night before. Colleen started researching existing brands and found a hole that a new vodka could thrive in. Concocted at a local distillery in South Boston after 17 iterations, VELO Vodka is specially made to provide a super smooth and refreshing taste; plus, it’s corn-based, which makes it Gluten-free. Targeted toward women 21-55, it took six months to find a distributor, and today, the brand can be found in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Connecticut. With over 600 accounts, including Total Wines, Whole Foods, and several Marriott and Hilton properties, VELO Vodka is growing by leaps and bounds, thanks to the belief that women love to support women-owned businesses. Says Colleen, “When I get up at 6:30 in the morning, the first thing I do is look at our sales reports from the night before, and very often, that news determines my mood for the day.” Yes, there have been obstacles for this mother/daughter duo, but they believe that there are lessons to be learned in both failure and success. Colleen and Riley will not stop until VELO Vodka is a household name. For 23 minutes of the kind of entrepreneurial advice you need to succeed, just hit that download button! @velovodka #entrepreneur #mother #daughter #thestorybehindhersuccess

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You can be the best leader EVER, but who can do anything on their own? You need a village.
-Vanessa Calderon-Rosado, PhD

Welcome to the story of Vanessa Calderon-Rosado, a trailblazing Latina with a passion for social justice and for creating community. Born and raised in Puerto Rico, she’s got a PhD in public policy and has proudly served as CEO of Inquilinos Boricuas en Accion (IBA) www.ibaboston.org for the past 20+ years. One of the largest and most successful Latina-led non-profits in our country, IBA is a national model of economic development with a mission to change lives by providing high-quality, affordable housing, educational programs, and exposure to the arts. In this interview, Vanessa shares the pride she feels when she sees people’s lives transformed by the services IBA provides. Shelter is more than a roof over someone’s head, says Vanessa. “It’s about building vibrant, safe, healthy communities where people can thrive.” Raised in San Juan in a loving but strict household, Vanessa and her older brother were surrounded by a huge extended family that included grandparents, aunts, uncles, and lots of cousins. Her mother was a nurse, and her dad owned car dealerships. The values her parents instilled revolved around the importance of hard work and the morale obligation to give back. Vanessa came stateside to receive her graduate degree from UMASS and her doctorate from Cambridge College thirty-two years ago and never left. The mother of two sons, Vanessa says that her greatest work has been as a parent. “Motherhood is not for everyone, but it is for me. A good life is leaving behind seeds that will continue to grow.” As a trailblazer and social justice champion, Vanessa stands on the shoulders of the many women who have come before her. “I need to do this work,” says Vanessa, “it keeps me going.” For 23 minutes of non-stop inspiration, just hit that download button. #socialjustice #trailblazer #shelter #puertorico #latina

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Success is 99% perspiration and 1% inspiration. I was never the most talented. I was never the smartest, but I was always willing to do the work. -Alison Quandt Westgate

We’re on the road this week! This interview with Alison Quandt Westgate was recorded at the Costello Athletic Center at UMASS Lowell www.goriverhawks.com soon after the school’s student-athletes arrived back on campus. Known to her friends and colleagues as “Q” Alison is a former women’s ice hockey champion and goalie coach. Off the ice, she’s made a career for herself working in college athletics, first at her alma mater #bostoncollege and now at UMASS/Lowell as the Associate Athletic Director for Student Athlete Excellence. A champion for women’s sports, she’s a true believer in the transforming power sports can have on a person. Born and raised just outside of Boston, Alison grew up in a household full of sports lovers. Pond hockey was the game of choice in her neighborhood full of boys, so they put her in goal. Scrappy by nature, Alison says the key ingredient to her early success as an athlete was fearlessness: “I wasn’t afraid to get down and dirty, to muck it up.” A stand-out player in high school, she was recruited by Boston College and skated with the women’s hockey team throughout her college experience, winning countless awards and being named the 2006 Beanpot Tournament’s outstanding goaltender. Her rich experience as an athlete has been a beacon for her philosophy as she guides student-athletes: “I lead by example,” says Alison. “I will never ask anyone to do something I would not do myself. I may not be very vocal about it, but you will see me walking the walk every day.” In her role at At UMASS/Lowell Alison oversees everything that touches a student athlete’s daily life. 37% of the school’s population are first-generation college students. “They grind,” says Alison. “They work for every single win and there is no replacement for hard work.” For 23 minutes of athletic inspiration, just hit that download button. #sports #womensicehockey #perseverence #studentathlete

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As a 6-year-old, I remember deciding I’m not going to be fearful; I’m going to be furious. -Jodi Tolman

When your childhood is fractured by emotional abuse and the threat of violence, it’s easy to lack confidence and lose your way as an adult.  For Jodi Tolman, there have been plenty of mistakes and regrets, but there have also been incredible triumphs in her life.   Her secret weapon?  resiliency!  Born and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Jodi adored her mother and feared her father, who she describes as “an angry man who would reach for his belt.” The youngest of three children, she recalls making herself small and invisible so that she could hide beneath the dining room buffet cabinet when things got loud and scary at her house.  Says Jodi:   “I thought my mother could save me.  My safety was in her arms. “ An unstoppable force of nature,  Jodi has experienced 27 different career iterations.  Looking back, she regrets her decision to drop out of college one month before graduation at the University of Ohio, but Jodi wanted to be a singer, just like her mother.   In this interview, she shares her experiences as a singing waitress at the Improv in Los Angeles and New York, where she worked alongside Jay Leno and Robin Williams.   A seasoned voice-over talent, business-to-business pro, and sales consultant,  Jodi also spent 15 years working with senior citizens as they transitioned from their homes to senior living communities.  Married three times, Jodi is the proud mother of three children:  one born naturally, one by adoption, and one by a donor egg.   These days, she talks to parents in the throws of infertility, answering their questions and sharing her story.  Say Jodi:  “Parenting comes from the doing, not from the pregnancy”  Her memoir One from Each Column is planned for release in 2025.  A sought-after public speaker, Jodi’s keynote address, “Triumph Over Trauma: Inspiring Belief That Life-Long Dreams Can Still Come True, “ includes her radical theory about childhood abuse.   #childhoodtrauma #resilience #fertility #adoption  

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A concussion is a broken brain. And it doesn’t have to be just a hit to the head. It is an impact on your body that moves up to your brain. -Lynne Becker

Welcome to part 2 of a concussion story every mom, dad, coach, caregiver, and healthcare professional needs to hear. The single mother of two, Lynne Becker’s daughters were both athletes, but when her daughter Natalie was hit at point-blank range with a soccer ball, she got the phone call no parent wants to receive. Natalie was knocked unconscious. The athletic trainer reported that she couldn’t speak or remember her name. This jarring hit to the 17-year-old’s head would unfold in a journey that lasted over 4 years and included 26 brain bleeds, changes to her personality, and the need for homeschooling. In this interview, Lynne shares that her expertise as a biostatistician and an epidemiologist was a secret weapon that would lead to unlocking the many mysteries of how traumatic brain injuries or TBIs are reported and observed. While caring for Natalie full-time, Lynne lost her job but was soon recruited by the Department of Defense and tasked with building a real-world, brain injury database for Special Operations teams. As she began compiling data on Seals and Green Berets, she asked herself: “What is the common denominator? What makes the injury of a 30-year-old Green Beret in a bomb blast similar to a 17-year-old girl injured by a hit to the side of the head with a soccer ball?” Thanks to Lynne’s work with the DOD, she learned about the use of bio-neuro-feedback for the treatment of TBI, and in just 5 sessions, Natalie stopped napping every day and was even able to complete her college degree. Born and raised in a little “whistle-stop” town in upstate New York, Lynne is the founder of powerofpatients.com, where she is devoted to helping those with brain injuries actively engage in their health and well-being. #concussion #TBI #thestorybehindhersuccess

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Listen to me. My daughter walks into walls. She sleeps 20 hours a day. -Lynne Becker

Back in the day, if 2 athletes smashed into one another, coaches would keep them in the game. Not anymore. Traumatic brain injuries, known as TBI, are serious business, and if you doubt this fact, just listen to this interview with Lynne Becker. A biostatistician and epidemiologist with an MS in public health, Lynne has spent her entire career analyzing charts and graphs, looking for clues that lead to better medical outcomes for patients. The single mother of two girls, she got a phone call from her younger daughter’s boarding school hours after Natalie was hit in the head intentionally with a soccer ball by a male student at point-blank range. The force of the blow knocked the 17-year-old unconscious. The athletic trainer told Lynne: “Your daughter can’t talk. She doesn’t know her name or what day it is.” It was at this moment that Lynne’s momma bear instincts, combined with a lifetime of amassing medical information, came into play. Lynne takes us through her constant frustration with her daughter’s school administrators, the school nurse, multiple hospitals, interns, doctors, and neurologists who missed 28 brain bleeds. “Concussion is a broken brain says Lynne, and the patient is never the same.” In fact, it took nearly 4+ years for her daughter to reclaim any normalcy in her young life. Fueled by the power of mother love, Lynne began gathering vital research so that patients and doctors could understand more about concussions. As the creator of powerofpatients.com, this unstoppable mother is a champion for patients, caregivers, and providers with the first patient-led brain injury data warehouse. For a dose of powerful storytelling and vital information on #concussion, just hit that download button.

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Be true to yourself. Know who you are as a person because people will try to break you. If you have a strong sense of self-esteem, you will be successful. -Megan McShane

In the spotlight: Megan McShane. She spent 13 years working for global coaching sensation Tony Robbins and years later, developed the concept for Your Best Life Now www.yblnow.com with two business partners. Designed to bring together four key parts of a person’s life, Your Best Life Now is a results-driven, membership-based mastermind community focused on what Megan calls “the wheel of life”: faith, family, fitness, and finance for entrepreneurs. While most coaching models are based on the individual, Your Best Life Now is focused on inclusivity. Says Megan: “You want to grow with the people around you, and if you are not growing together, it causes strain in a relationship. With our coaching, it’s all about the whole.” Members of Your Best Life Now receive a year’s worth of business coaching and personal coaching, plus 3 empowering live events per year. Born and raised near the Canadian border in the small town of Ogdensburg, New York, Megan is the daughter of a legendary NCAA hockey coach and a labor & delivery nurse. When her Dad’s coaching gig took the family from St. Lawrence University to Providence College, the family moved to Providence, Rhode Island, with Megan playing sports year-round, including girl’s ice hockey. Also a certified yoga instructor, Megan is a true believer in the power of positive thinking. “It’s really easy to see the negative, but it is just as easy to see the good. Mindset is everything. We live in a world that’s go, go, go, but it is in the quiet moments that creativity comes to life.” For a 20 minute glimpse into living your best life now, just hit that download button. #mindset #empowerment #coaching #thestorybehindhersuccess

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As a child, I tried to sign up for Little League, and they said, “No” you’re a girl.  And I remember thinking:  That’s not right. It hurt me in my heart.   -Digit Murphy

Margaret Pearl “Digit” Degidio Murphy admits that as a child, she cried when she couldn’t play baseball or ice hockey just because she was a girl.   As she skated alone around local ponds in her hometown of Cranston, Rhode Island, Digit knew she could be a champion.  A scrappy kid from the wrong side of the tracks, she decided to never give up trying and, in the wake of crucial changes thanks to #title9,  continued to break down barriers for women and girls in sports. A student athlete at Cornell, Digit was named Ivy League Player of the Year, finishing her college career with 123 goals and 90 assists.  Digit loved the sport so much, she coached at Brown University for 23 seasons and holds the record as the winningest ice hockey coach in NCAA Division 1 history.  But as she climbed the ladder in sports, Digit experienced pay inequality herself and fought for Olympic ice hockey athletes to be paid for the very first time.  She would go on to coach on the pro level in the US, Canada, and China, with a philosophy focused on leading, guiding, and directing athletes.  Says Digit:  “You are like a conductor creating energy. You give your athletes a roadmap and the keys to the car, and then you let them drive.”  In this interview, Digit takes us for a wild ride through a career in ice hockey that stands alone when it comes to creating opportunities for females:  “Half a loaf is not enough. We cannot lose what we fought so hard to have. You have to have gritty, intestinal fortitude in order to continue to push boundaries, and I’d like to see all women doing that in all areas of sport.”  For 25 minutes of true grit, just hit that download button.  digitmurphy.com. @digitmurphy @usahockey

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The doctor said, “You are going blind, and there is no cure.” My mom burst into tears, and I remember thinking, “This can’t be happening to me.” -Eavan O’Neill

When she was only 13 years old, Eavan O’Neill started having trouble seeing the blackboard at school. A gifted athlete, she began missing the ball while playing lacrosse and soccer. One of her coaches suggested that she have her eyes checked. Unfortunately, glasses didn’t do much to solve the problem. Throughout her teens, Eavan’s eyesight continued to deteriorate, and in this interview, she admits that wishful thinking set in until one day, she mistook the moon for a street light and it was obvious something was very wrong. Diagnosed at 20 by Rachel Huckfeldt, MD, PhD, an opthalmologist in the Inherited Retinal Disorders Service at Mass Eye And Ear, with a rare and incurable condition called Stargardt disease, Eavan is now legally blind. In this interview, she recalls returning to St. Lawrence University after her diagnosis in January 2020, only to go home two months later to her family in Yarmouth, Maine, due to the pandemic. Distraught and uncertain about her future, she accepted an invitation from her neighbor to go for a run and discovered that running flipped a switch inside of her. Says Eavan: “Running has made me feel strong, happy, and capable again.” An experienced marathoner who can only see 4 feet in front of her, Eavan runs to raise awareness and funds for a cure for Stargardt disease. Now a Development Officer at Mass General Brigham, Eavan is determined to be a voice for anyone struggling with this rare disease: “I felt so isolated when I was first diagnosed. It was like diving off of a cliff into no-man’s land. It’s hard to find hope. That’s what I want to be for people. Hope.” Although she still has “bad blind girl days,” Eavan looks on the bright side with her Instagram handle @bright.side_group. For 22 minutes of inspiration, just hit that download button. #blindness #stargardtdisease

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I love what I do, and it’s a privilege and an honor to do it. I feel such a duty to report on things that happen in my community, in my backyard, in your backyard. -Maria Stephanos

Maria Stephanos is a household name in Boston and beyond. This interview was taped in between newscasts at WCVB, Channel 5, www.wcvb.com where she anchors the 4:30, 6:00, 7:00, and 11:00 PM newscasts. And for good measure, Maria also anchors the 10:00 PM news on sister station MeTVBoston. A devoted mother, this high-energy, high-empathy woman has been honing her craft for 30 years and says that going to bed at midnight is simply routine. Born and raised in the little town of Groveland, MA, Maria recalls an idyllic childhood where she would climb trees and skate in the woods in a town with no traffic light. Her heritage is Greek (think My Big Fat Greek Wedding), and laughter, passion, loyalty, and hard work were hard-wired into the family dynamic. A graduate of Emerson College with bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Mass Communications, Maria got her start on the radio as a statehouse reporter and credits that experience with teaching her how to tell compelling stories. In this interview, she reveals that a scratch ticket and a conversation with a colleague propelled her toward television, and she’s been there ever since. On the air for massive news events like 9/11 and the Boston Marathon bombings, Maria takes us behind the scenes, painting a picture of what it is really like to be a responsible, compassionate journalist in the middle of a tragedy. When asked about role models, she quickly names her mother, offering one of her parent’s golden rules: “Don’t judge people. You never know what they are going through.” In this interview, we come to know WCVB’s Maria Stephanos not only as a beloved news anchor but also as a daughter, sister, wife, mother, friend, mentor, and running enthusiast. She’s the real deal. Go ahead and hit that download button. #journalist #television #news #mothersday