Virtual Pomp: 14 Women Leaders Give Their Best 2020 Commencement Advice

Millions of high school, college, graduate, law, dental and medical students missed out on the walks across the stages, the diploma hand off and the chance to hear an inspiring speaker sitting next to best friends and peers this year.

According to the National Center for Education Statistics, 56.6 million students attended elementary, middle and high school in the U.S. this year, with 19.9 million attending college. For the nearly 4 million who will receive a college degree this season, celebrations are private, on hold or in isolation.

Career success, Ambition / Intention, Entrepreneur, Inspirational Role Models, Leadership tools and tipsMichele WeldonMay 26, 2020Inspirational Women, Women Leaders, Career Success, How women can advance their careers, Career AdviceComment

Playbook For Later: Co-Founder, CEO Designs Digital Products For 45-60 Year-Olds

If only it were as simple as opening a playbook, reading the rules and mastering the prescribed strategies. It’s not.

Jeannette McClennan, co-founder and CEO of McClennan Masson, an innovation firm focused on human-centered digital products for women—and men—over 45, set out to solve that dilemma for what she says is an ignored market looking for help.

Change Leadership, Ambition / Intention, Career success, EntrepreneurMichele WeldonMay 25, 2020Entrepreneur, women in technology, Women in Business, How women can advance their careersComment

All You Need Is This Course: 9 Leadership Power Tools Go Virtual June 1

The world has changed drastically since February in every possible way across the world—for women especially. And while many are learning to adapt their professional and personal lives in what is the new mid-COVID-19 normal, adjusting to the status quo is not the only choice.

Transformation is another.

Change Leadership, Career success, Ambition / Intention, Changing the Power Par..., Leadership Power ToolsMichele WeldonMay 15, 2020Women Leadership, Gloria Feldt, 9 Power Tools, Online Learning, Career Success, How women can advance their careersComment

New WFH Income: 7 Ways To Monetize Your Quarantine Hustle

Most everyone I know has an income shift or even income elimination due to the shelter in place mandate due to COVID-19. So many in event planning, retail, hospitality, restaurants, and pretty much anything that requires other people and is considered non-essential have been laid off, or their income streams have dropped.

Ambition / Intention, Career choices, Career success, Leadership Power ToolsMichele WeldonApril 21, 2020Coronavirus, Covid-19Comment

Quarantine Creative Distractions: Try Writing To Save Your Life

If only you had the time to write. Maybe now you just might.

Millions across the country are WFH—working from home—and have been for the past several weeks. They will be sheltering in place for several more weeks or months perhaps during the COVID-19 pandemic. Many at the same time are e-schooling children, caring for family members and partners.

Ambition / Intention, Career success, Leadership Power ToolsMichele WeldonApril 13, 2020Coronavirus, Take The Lead, Women Leaders, Life tools and tips, Covid-19Comment

How Can You Help? 8 Ways You Can Step Up During COVID Crisis

During this unpredictable time of great personal and professional upheaval with threats to the health and economic security of millions, it is a good time to step up and give back.

Particularly if you are in a position where you have not been wiped out or depleted by COVID-19 and its consequences, you can use your resources to help others.

Ambition / Intention, Gender Parity, Leadership tools and tips, Leadership Power ToolsMichele WeldonApril 10, 2020Entrepreneurs, Gloria Feldt, Gender Issues, Gender Bias, Women Equality, Coronavirus, Covid-19Comment

Listen Up: Binge On Scores of Helpful Podcasts

We hear you at Take The Lead, that your world has turned upside down personally and professionally in the past month due to the COVID-19 crisis. It has put us through some changes too. But Take The Lead wants you to know we have the content you need to get you through this.

Absolutely we hope you and your loved ones are healthy and we don’t dare diminish t he severity of this global pandemic. Take The Lead acknowledges the severe disruptions to your daily life and your career.

Change Leadership, Ambition / Intention, Career success, Changing the Power Par..., Leadership Power ToolsMichele WeldonApril 6, 2020Women Leadership, Power To You, Women Entrepreneurs, Gender Issues, How women can advance their careers, Women Equality, Take The LeadComment

Close The Dream Gap: Miracle Entrepreneur Mentors With Purpose

“My name is Miracle, because I am one.”

Miracle Olatunji, 20, and a sophomore at Northeastern University in Boston, has launched more startup ideas and done more to mentor others, than most people twice her age. And her name comes from the fact that her mother was bedridden when she was pregnant with her in Nigeria, and was told her baby would not survive.

Ambition / Intention, Career success, Changing the Power Par..., EntrepreneurMichele WeldonMarch 27, 2020Take The Lead, Women Entrepreneurs, Female Entrepreneurs, Women In Leadership, Gender IssuesComment

Sizing Up Inclusive Needs: Co-Founder and Designer Makes It Fit

One size does not fit all.

Tanya Zhang is filling a fashion void with her new clothing line of shirts. But it is not for herself or other women, but for her spouse, father, and other Asian American Pacific Islander men who swear their shirts don’t fit.

Ambition / Intention, Career success, Changing the Power Par..., Entrepreneur, Inspirational Role Models, Leadership tools and tipsMichele WeldonMarch 23, 2020Take The Lead, Female Entrepreneurs, How women can advance their careers, Entrepreneurs, InclusionComment

Equal Pay Day: Working For Pay Parity In Tech And Beyond

Fourteen years into the commemoration of Equal Pay Day—or the day in the U.S. that all women catch up to what men earn for a year of work ending December 31, 2019—and women are still strategizing for pay equity.

It’s not a done deal. Yet.

Ambition / Intention, Career success, Change Leadership, Changing the Power Par..., Changing the WorkplaceMichele WeldonMarch 20, 2020Women Leaders, Female Leadership, Take The Lead, Wage Gap, Power Tools, Gloria FeldtComment

Be Who You Are: 4 Tips From Hair Care Product Founder On Natural Answers

“Be bold. Be Bomba. Be who you are.” This is Lulu Cordero’s mantra. The founder and creator of Bomba Curls, took a turn from her pre-med studies to economics at the University of Chicago, back to her Dominican Republic roots to develop a hair care company that celebrates the natural beauty of women.

Career success, Ambition / Intention, Change Leadership, Changing the Workplace, Inspirational Role ModelsMichele WeldonMarch 9, 2020Female Entrepreneurs, Entrepreneurs, Womens Leadership, Take The Lead, How women can advance their careersComment

The Power of Truth: Advocating For Women’s Mental Health & Strength

Many women may dream about having a fictional drama made about their lives; but Kelley Kitley is actually doing it. This is no ordinary vanity project. Kitley, psychotherapist, author and owner of Serendipitous Psychotherapy, next month begins production on a short educational film, “Gray Area,” on women’s mental health and substance abuse, based on her award-winning 2017 memoir, My Self: An Autobiography of Survival.