Women Of Influence

Today we are joined by the Founder and Owner of Third Street Digital, Helen Speiser, to chat about her career journey, what inspired her to launch an agency of her own, and how she walks the walk as a people-first employer.Learn more at https://columbusbusinessfirst.comProduced by Crate Media.

Today's featured business leader is Heather Hiller, General Counsel and Senior Vice President at The Daimler Group.Heather illustrates her experience as a woman in a male-dominated field, surveys the shifting landscape of remote vs. office working, shares some great career advice and transports us to the new Downtown Columbus district that's earning favorable comparisons to the city that never sleeps.But first, we begin with Heather's introduction to The Daimler Group, its mission and culture—a connection with surprising roots on opposing sides of the courtroom.

Today we're joined by Brooke Minto, the Columbus Museum of Art's new Executive Director and CEO.With over 20 years of curatorial, educational, and fundraising experience all around the world, Brooke brings a fresh approach and big goals to the 145-year-old museum on East Broad Street.We talk about her early experiences in the city and in her role, what's in store for the future of the museum, and which surprising local sports team has made her transition to Columbus that much more comfortable.Mentioned in this episode:Let Crate Media help uncover your company's story and amplify your messaging with a branded podcast. Get a free one-hour casting session at crate.media/cbf

Today's guest, Leah McDougald, works in the field of design research, studying our world and people in it on behalf of Columbus's biggest brands, to innovate better experiences, products, and services.It's wide-reaching work: even as she now runs her own business, Leah remains closely involved in the firm's projects, working on her business, and working in it, at the same time.She's also a newly-appointed board member for the Women's Fund of Central Ohio, a reader of non-business books, a Carolina Cabin vacationer, and an energized proponent for female mentorship.Mentioned in this episode:Let Crate Media help uncover your company's story and amplify your messaging with a branded podcast. Get a free one-hour casting session at crate.media/cbf

Rehgan Avon felt the time had come to start her own company. She had been thinking about it for a while, reflecting on the ways artificial intelligence was impacting businesses and the unsolved issues she saw across industries.So she made the jump, putting in her notice and readying for her next phase in February of 2020. Of course, that's when the world changed. The arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic made Rehgan one of scores of female business owners who took the dive into entrepreneurship during a seismic shift in the global economy.As part of our coverage of National Women's Small Business Month, we sat down with Rehgan to talk about her journey and her experience so far. The first thing I noticed when she walked into her office was something I had to ask about.She is, simply put, quite young, having graduated from college in 2016. I wanted to know if and how she deals with imposter syndrome.Mentioned in this episode:Let Crate Media help uncover your company's story and amplify your messaging with a branded podcast. Get a free one-hour casting session at crate.media/cbf

Julie Granillo didn't expect to take the top job at Paul Werth Associates when she did. Her aunt and mentor, Sandy Harbrecht Ratchford, died this summer after decades running the family business.Just four years earlier, she'd suggested Julie, then living in Nashville, come back to Ohio and join her at Paul Werth. The Western native took her up on the offer and spent the ensuing years settling into a leadership role at the firm. Now she's running it, and while taking over came much faster than she wanted or hoped, Julie said she's excited about the team she has and the work they're doing.In prepping for my interview with Julie, though, I was struck quickly by one of our main similarities, a shared history in Music City, USA. We kick things off by talking through her journey from Nashville to Columbus.Mentioned in this episode:Let Crate Media help uncover your company's story and amplify your messaging with a branded podcast. Get a free one-hour casting session at crate.media/cbf

For nearly five years, our Women of Influence podcast has featured conversations with some of the most influential female executives in Central Ohio. This year, Columbus Business First decided to take things a step further with the launch of our inaugural Women of Influence Awards.We fielded 126 nominations, ultimately honoring 27 outstanding women in six categories: nonprofit leaders, community champions, entrepreneurs, trailblazers, mentors, and a rising star, along with Businesswoman of the Year, OhioHealth's Karen Morrison. We encourage you to check out our July 14th print edition for short profiles of each honoree and an extended Q&A with Karen. During our July 12th awards event, I sat down for brief chats with three of our honorees:Merry Korn, CEO and Founder of Pearl Interactive Network; Kari Jones, President & CEO of the Down Syndrome Association of Central Ohio; and Emily Foote, Area Manager for Bechtel Corp.Listen on to hear what they had to say; and stay tuned for my onstage conversation with our keynote speaker, Bath and Body Works CEO Gina Boswell.Mentioned in this episode:Let Crate Media help uncover your company's story and amplify your messaging with a branded podcast. Get a free one-hour casting session at crate.media/cbf

When Lisa Shuneson talks about accounting, it makes you want to be an accountant. Her passion for the industry is all the more notable given her path to it — while she studied accounting in school, she took a long break to have a couple kids before finally taking the CPA exam. But in the years since she’s risen quickly, and now leads Whalen CPAs as its CEO. Lisa recently visited our office to chat about her path, her role at the firm today and what people misunderstand about the industry she loves. Mentioned in this episode:Let Crate Media help uncover your company's story and amplify your messaging with a branded podcast. Get a free one-hour casting session at crate.media/cbf

Christy Farnbauch serves as executive director of the Contemporary Theatre of Ohio. If that name's not familiar to you, perhaps you might know the organization by its former brand: CATCO.The just-completed and revealed rebranding is one of the first major projects undertaken by Farnbaugh since she joined amid the uncertainty of Spring 2020.She recently visited our office to talk about that experience, what's on the schedule for this year, and much more.Mentioned in this episode:Let Crate Media help uncover your company's story and amplify your messaging with a branded podcast. Get a free one-hour casting session at crate.media/cbf

Melody Birmingham was a bit of a “unicorn” early in her career. There weren’t many young Black women from the Midwest in management at the Rochester, New York car factory she started her career at after college. But while she did stand out during her time there and later in the utilities industry, that didn’t change anything about the way she approached her work. Today, Melody serves as executive vice president of Nisource. During a recent visit to our office, she talked about her experience with gender parity – and the lack thereof – in the utilities industry, plus a whole lot more.Mentioned in this episode:Let Crate Media help uncover your company's story and amplify your messaging with a branded podcast. Get a free one-hour casting session at crate.media/cbf

Sarah Perez thinks people should be lawyers, if that’s what they really want to do with their lives. That might seem obvious, but talk to enough lawyers and you’ll hear plenty that discourage following in their footsteps. But Perez, who today leads Columbus law firm Perez Morris, says law school is the right path for someone who actually wants to practice law. But for those who go into the field with different aspirations in mind, it could be a mistake. On the latest episode of our Women of Influence podcast, Perez talked about her own journey into the law, and her experience taking over her father-in-law’s law firm, among other topics. Mentioned in this episode:Let Crate Media help uncover your company's story and amplify your messaging with a branded podcast. Get a free one-hour casting session at crate.media/cbf

For the first time in more than 31 years, Darci Congrove isn’t spending this tax season doing taxes. The longtime Columbus CPA and managing director of GBQ Partners retired from the firm’s tax department at the end of last year. That doesn’t mean she’s not busy, of course; there’s still plenty to fill her schedule as managing director of Central Ohio’s sixth-largest accounting firm. But she’s no longer working the crazy hours tax professionals often find themselves doing this time of year. That said, neither are many team members at GBQ. In the latest episode of our Women of Influence podcast, Congrove talked about how the firm has found new ways to embrace flexibility and make tax season more bearable for employees at all levels. She also talked about GBQ’s international approach to finding enough staffers, the ways she makes decisions about community involvement and more.Mentioned in this episode:Let Crate Media help uncover your company's story and amplify your messaging with a branded podcast. Get a free one-hour casting session at crate.media/cbf

Courtney Falato was used to being on the side of the table asking for money. She had spent much of her career in education research, often seeking out dollars to fund that work. But in early 2020, just as the world changed, she made her way to the other side of the table. She joined JPMorgan Chase as vice president and program officer for global philanthropy, a role in which she oversees grant deployment for Ohio and Kentucky. During a recent conversation for our Women of Influence podcast, Falato talked about the pros and cons of making that shift, as well as the ways JPMorgan Chase’s funding interests align with her passions. She also shared insight into how nonprofits can land some of the financial giant’s funds.Mentioned in this episode:Let Crate Media help uncover your company's story and amplify your messaging with a branded podcast. Get a free one-hour casting session at crate.media/cbf

Today's guest is Jasmine de Gaia, Head of Customer Data Strategy for Wells Fargo. We talked about what her role entails, how she views working in male-dominated fields and how she cultivates vital mentorship relationships.Mentioned in this episode:Let Crate Media help uncover your company's story and amplify your messaging with a branded podcast. Get a free one-hour casting session at crate.media/cbf

Jane Higgins Marx didn't spend her childhood dreaming of being a lawyer, but as she wrapped up college with an English degree in hand, she found herself searching for a way to apply it. An LSAT, law school and two decades with the same firm later, she now leads Carlile Patchen & Murphy LLP as its managing partner, a job she started in early 2021.Mentioned in this episode:Let Crate Media help uncover your company's story and amplify your messaging with a branded podcast. Get a free one-hour casting session at crate.media/cbf

In some ways Kristina Johnson feels like she's just getting started at Ohio State University.She became president of the school–one of the largest in the country and the economic engine that drives central Ohio–in 2020. But the pandemic was still in full force back then, and its later waves and impacts have forced pivot after pivot in her brief tenure.But now a few months into the 2022-2023 school year, things are settling into something that looks a bit more like normalcy.Johnson joined Women Of Influence to talk all about her career path, her plans for OSU, and her early observations of football culture.Mentioned in this episode:Let Crate Media help uncover your company's story and amplify your messaging with a branded podcast. Get a free one-hour casting session at crate.media/cbf

Megan Wood knows her Ohio history. She's been with Ohio History Connection for years, working in a variety of positions across the organization. This summer, she ascended to the top job at the nonprofit becoming the first female CEO in its history.She's overseeing the organization as it kicks off construction of a long awaited $17 million Collection Care Cear near the Ohio History Centers’s fairgrounds-area home, and as it watches economic conditions ahead of a potential recession. Megan joined women of influence just a few weeks into her tenure but already with plenty of ideas in mind for how she wants to shepherd the history-focused organization into its future.Mentioned in this episode:Let Crate Media help uncover your company's story and amplify your messaging with a branded podcast. Get a free one-hour casting session at crate.media/cbf

You probably remember Amy Acton from her daily press conferences back in the spring of 2020, when she used colorful language metaphors and a general sense of compassion to guide Ohioans through one of the most uncertain times in our history. But it was a challenging job for Acton, who left the role in June, 2020, and returned to her previous employer, The Columbus Foundation.Then, like many in the workforce over the past few years, she took a big career leap. Joining the newly launched Rapid 5 non-profit earlier this year as its first CEO. Acton is my guest this week, but she's not alone; she brought with her Jennifer Peterson, who likewise left her job as a Chief Executive at Easton, to join the organization as COO.The pair are just a few days apart in age, so the effort to better connect central Ohioans to the region's waterways fits their passions at this stage of life.Mentioned in this episode:Let Crate Media help uncover your company's story and amplify your messaging with a branded podcast. Get a free one-hour casting session at crate.media/cbf

Ola Snow is plenty comfortable in front of a microphone.As chief human resources officer of Cardinal Health, Ohio's largest public company, she regularly has to communicate with an audience of tens of thousands of employees.It's a big job, one that got more demanding when the pandemic shook up all of our work lives. Snow joined me in our Columbus Business First studio recently to discuss how the company adapted to that shakeup and more.Mentioned in this episode:Let Crate Media help uncover your company's story and amplify your messaging with a branded podcast. Get a free one-hour casting session at crate.media/cbf

Alison Marker didn’t grow up dreaming up working in construction.While that’s her family business, Marker herself was more interested in people than buildings. So she pursued degrees in women’s studies and psychology, starting her career as a social worker and later a psychotherapist.But eventually, the family business called. Alison visited our Women of Influence podcast to tell that story.Mentioned in this episode:Let Crate Media help uncover your company's story and amplify your messaging with a branded podcast. Get a free one-hour casting session at crate.media/cbf