Woman Owned: The Growth Podcast for Women Entrepreneurs

There's a moment most growing businesses hit where everything that once worked starts to feel like it's working against you. The systems that helped you scale. The team structures that once felt efficient. Even the way you organize your week.   What many leaders interpret as a people problem or sometimes a personal leadership failure is often something else entirely: a structural mismatch between your business and the environment it now operates in. In this episode, Eleanor sits down with corporate reinvention expert Dr. Nadya Zhexembayeva, founder of the Reinvention Academy and author of multiple books on organizational reinvention.   Listen in this week as Eleanor and Nadya explore how leaders can recognize when systems have outlived their usefulness, why reinvention needs to become a regular cadence rather than a crisis response, and what it actually takes to build a business that can evolve without breaking. If you're leading a growing company and things suddenly feel harder than they should, this conversation will give you a powerful new lens for understanding what's really happening.   Get full show notes and more information here: https://safimedia.co/WO91   Connect with Eleanor on LinkedIn or Instagram: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eleanorbeaton/ https://www.instagram.com/eleanorbeaton/?hl=en

If you want to grow a powerful company, you need powerful thinking, and books are one of the fastest ways to access it.   In this episode, Eleanor shares the seven business books that have most shaped her leadership, decision-making, and ability to scale into the top 1% of women entrepreneurs globally. These are not trendy titles or surface-level reads. They are foundational works that influenced how she thinks about power, profit architecture, capacity, abundance, product design, onboarding, and sales.   Listen in today as Eleanor breaks down why each book matters, what it unlocked in her own company, and how these ideas can help ambitious women CEOs scale sustainably. If you are serious about building a high-growth company with strength, profitability, and strategic depth, this reading list will expand how you think and operate.   Get full show notes and more information here: https://safimedia.co/WO90   Connect with Eleanor on LinkedIn or Instagram: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eleanorbeaton/ https://www.instagram.com/eleanorbeaton/?hl=en

If the CEO job description was boiled down to one question, it would be this: what do we work on next?   Most women entrepreneurs don't struggle because they aren't working hard enough. They struggle because they're working on the wrong thing. Here's the truth: businesses don't rise to the level of their potential. They shrink to the level of their constraints. Growth isn't about adding more marketing, more offers, or more complexity. It's about identifying the single bottleneck restricting flow and releasing it.   Listen in this week as Eleanor walks you through the exact quarterly planning process she uses inside her own business and with her private clients to drive serious growth. If you want a simple, focused way to decide what to work on next and unlock revenue without working harder, this episode will show you exactly how.   Get full show notes and more information here: https://safimedia.co/WO89   Connect with Eleanor on LinkedIn or Instagram: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eleanorbeaton/ https://www.instagram.com/eleanorbeaton/?hl=en

Are you growing your revenue but still feel broke at the end of the month?   Many women entrepreneurs face this problem without realizing that the issue lies not in the revenue, but in the lack of a solid financial structure. In this episode, Eleanor breaks down the Margin Stack: a framework she uses to analyze the health of her business.   If you've ever found yourself asking, "Why does leadership feel so exhausting if everything is working?", then this episode will help you make sense of the financial dynamics at play in your business. You'll learn the four cost allocations that impact your profit margins, how to diagnose and address inefficiencies, and learn the numbers that truly matter for your business health.   Get full show notes and more information here: https://safimedia.co/WO88   Connect with Eleanor on LinkedIn or Instagram: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eleanorbeaton/ https://www.instagram.com/eleanorbeaton/?hl=en

If your company is objectively successful but leadership feels heavier, more personal, and more draining than you expected, you're not imagining it. For many women founders running businesses in the one to ten million dollar range, leadership strain shows up right as things start working.   This week, Eleanor is joined by Lia Garvin, a workplace expert who has led and advised teams inside some of the most operationally demanding organizations in the world, including Apple and Google. Drawing from her experience and her book The Unstoppable Team, Lia breaks down what actually happens when responsibility accumulates faster than structure.   Listen in to learn how unclear expectations, fuzzy accountability, and incomplete systems quietly force founders to absorb pressure that should live in the business. Together, Eleanor and Lia unpack why founders become the default escalation point, how responsiveness and availability quietly trap leaders in reactivity, and the critical difference between having people doing the work versus owning outcomes.   Get full show notes and more information here: https://safimedia.co/WO87   Connect with Eleanor on LinkedIn or Instagram: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eleanorbeaton/ https://www.instagram.com/eleanorbeaton/?hl=en

If you're generating strong revenue but still feel one bad month away from panic, the issue isn't how much money you're making - it's the absence of a revenue system.   Revenue is an outcome, not an asset, and when a business lacks infrastructure, the founder becomes the system, absorbing all the volatility, pressure, and risk. This week, Eleanor explains why chasing sales without building structure leads to fragility, no matter how impressive the topline numbers look.   Tune in as Eleanor breaks down the four-part revenue system every business needs before it can reliably scale past $500K, $1M, and into the $2M+ range without burnout. She walks you through the non-negotiable cash cow that funds growth, the bulletproof go-to-market motion that survives platform and algorithm changes, pricing designed to support expansion rather than constrain it, and the balanced business model that creates durability, optionality, and long-term value.   Get full show notes and more information here: https://safimedia.co/WO86   Connect with Eleanor on LinkedIn or Instagram: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eleanorbeaton/ https://www.instagram.com/eleanorbeaton/?hl=en

You can be running a successful business and still feel exposed. Revenue is coming in, clients are smart, demand is real, and yet, cash flow feels tighter than it should, decisions feel heavier than expected, and the business itself feels fragile.   In this conversation, Eleanor is joined by Julia Taylor, CEO and founder of GeekPack, a company that operates at the intersection of entrepreneurship and institutions. This episode names a reality many women business owners experience but rarely have language for: sometimes the problem isn't how well you're working, it's where your business is getting its stability from.   Tune in this week as Eleanor and Julia take a strategic look at what business stability really requires and why it so often gets misunderstood in women-led companies. Julia shares how she built a revenue architecture that separates value creation from stability by partnering with large organizations, securing grants, and designing systems that can actually carry growth. Together, they explore why so many women are taught to absorb risk personally, and what changes when stability is designed structurally instead.   Get full show notes and more information here: https://safimedia.co/WO85   Connect with Eleanor on LinkedIn or Instagram: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eleanorbeaton/ https://www.instagram.com/eleanorbeaton/?hl=en   Check out GeekPack: https://geekpack.com/

Many women in leadership positions find themselves exhausted, overwhelmed, and wondering why they can't seem to get ahead despite working harder than everyone around them.   In this episode, Eleanor sits down with Emily Feairs, co-founder of Our Time to Lead and high-impact leadership coach, to break down what power actually is and why so many high-achieving women struggle to claim it. Emily spent her career advising some of the most powerful leaders in the country, from cabinet ministers and CEOs to executive teams navigating complexity, conflict, and change, and she's noticed a pattern that keeps women stuck.   Tune in this week as Eleanor and Emily dive into how women become the organizational safety net and thereby lose authority. You'll learn why clear is kind and how withholding direct feedback is actually the unkind choice. Emily breaks down what leadership looks like when you have a team, and how to use resentment as an indicator that boundaries have been crossed.   Get full show notes and more information here: https://safimedia.co/WO84   Connect with Eleanor on LinkedIn or Instagram: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eleanorbeaton/ https://www.instagram.com/eleanorbeaton/?hl=en   Connect with Emily Feairs on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emilyfeairs/

"I hate selling." If you've ever thought this, you're not alone. But here's what's surprising: Eleanor hears this most often from women who are already successful - women with strong reputations, loyal clients, and thriving referral networks.   If hating sales were simply about fear or lack of confidence, wouldn't it get easier as you became more established? The reality is that for many women, that dislike actually intensifies as they become more successful. That's because the issue isn't you. It's the system.   Join Eleanor this week as she reveals why established women entrepreneurs experience this resistance to selling, and why traditional sales systems are fundamentally misaligned with how successful women build trust and authority.   Get full show notes and more information here: https://safimedia.co/WO83   Connect with Eleanor on LinkedIn or Instagram: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eleanorbeaton/ https://www.instagram.com/eleanorbeaton/?hl=en

Can you pull up a spreadsheet right now showing the documented ROI on every business program you invested in last year?   The measurable revenue increase? The proven time savings? The concrete systems installed? If you're like most women entrepreneurs, you can't. Not because you're not brilliant. Not because the programs weren't valuable. But because the business education industry has trained us to measure success by how inspired we feel, not by what we can prove. And that ends now.   Join Eleanor for this first episode of 2026 as she explores why the most sophisticated women entrepreneurs are demanding something the industry has never been willing to provide: measurable ROI. You'll also learn about the Jewel OS - the first operating system built specifically for women entrepreneurs scaling to $2M+. By the end, you'll understand exactly why you're stuck, what the gap in the market is, and what to do about it in 2026.   Jewel OS is the first business operating system built specifically for women entrepreneurs scaling to $2 million +. If you're ready to install infrastructure instead of collecting more frameworks, message Eleanor the word 'Jewel' and we'll send you an application link.   Get full show notes and more information here: https://safimedia.co/WO82   Connect with Eleanor on LinkedIn or Instagram: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eleanorbeaton/ https://www.instagram.com/eleanorbeaton/?hl=en

What an extraordinary, full, rich year 2025 has been!   As we close out this remarkable year, Eleanor is here to share her best moments from the Woman Owned podcast. This isn't just another year-end recap. It's a masterclass in professionalizing women's entrepreneurship while building a business that nourishes you as much as it nourishes your bottom line.   This week's best-of episode pulls together the most powerful moments from Woman Owned in 2025. Real talk about money, scaling, and building businesses that honor both your ambition and humanity.   Get full show notes and more information here: https://safimedia.co/WO81   Connect with Eleanor on LinkedIn or Instagram: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eleanorbeaton/ https://www.instagram.com/eleanorbeaton/?hl=en

Have you ever noticed that the more successful your business becomes, the less time you seem to have? It's one of entrepreneurship's cruelest ironies.   You started your business for freedom and flexibility, but now you're drowning in complexity, endless meetings, and a never-ending to-do list. The truth is, when you scale your company, you scale everything - including the chaos. But what if you could actually manufacture more time?   Join Eleanor this week as she reveals three powerful steps that have helped her clients reclaim their calendars while scaling their businesses. These aren't just productivity hacks. They're fundamental leadership strategies that allow you to stay two steps ahead of your business instead of drowning in its complexity.   Get full show notes and more information here: https://safimedia.co/WO80   Connect with Eleanor on LinkedIn or Instagram: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eleanorbeaton/ https://www.instagram.com/eleanorbeaton/?hl=en

Most entrepreneurs create content hoping it will somehow translate to sales… but hope isn't a strategy. Here's the thing: your audience wants to support you. They're literally asking for ways to go deeper with your content. The problem is, you're not making it easy enough for them to take the next step.   Terri Cole is a licensed psychotherapist, relationship & empowerment expert, podcast host, and author of bestselling books Boundary Boss and Too Much. But what makes her particularly fascinating is how she transformed her podcast into a $3M revenue engine without being salesy or sacrificing her values.   Listen in this week as Terri breaks down exactly how she turned her show into a lead-generating machine. You'll also learn why she refuses to grind on people's pain points for sales, how she structures her work week to batch content while maintaining balance, and the surprisingly simple tech setup that allows her to produce high-quality episodes from her home studio.   Get full show notes and more information here: https://safimedia.co/WO79   Connect with Eleanor on LinkedIn or Instagram: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eleanorbeaton/ https://www.instagram.com/eleanorbeaton/?hl=en

Eleanor is training for the Grand Canyon rim-to-rim this May: a legendary hike that's 25 miles, 11,000 feet of elevation change, all in one day. But here's the thing: she's not doing this simply because she loves to hike. She's doing it because her business cannot afford anything less than a well-rested, deeply recovered CEO.   This week, Eleanor is sharing why she's creating her body like a business operating system in 2026. This isn't a health journey episode - it's about what happens when a CEO becomes the weakest link in her own company.   Tune in today to understand why your under-recovery might be the real reason your scale pathway isn't working. Eleanor shares her 2026 health plan, which mirrors exactly what she's building inside Jewel OS for her clients. Most importantly, you'll learn about deload weeks and get Eleanor's exact protocol that allows her to protect elite recovery while running a multi-seven-figure company.   Get full show notes and more information here: https://safimedia.co/WO78   Connect with Eleanor on LinkedIn or Instagram: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eleanorbeaton/ https://www.instagram.com/eleanorbeaton/?hl=en

Are you secretly wondering if you're the bottleneck in your business? If you're hovering around the $250K-$500K mark and feeling overwhelmed, here's some good news: it's not you. You just don't have the infrastructure yet.   One of the most misunderstood - yet most catalytic - hires that creates that infrastructure is an executive assistant. This week, Eleanor is joined by time management expert and host of the It's About Time podcast, Anna Dearmon Kornick. Anna runs a successful business with just one full-time employee (herself!) while managing programs, clients, and her family, just to name a few. How? Through the strategic use of her executive assistant.   Listen in this week as Anna breaks down why your EA is not an administrative nice-to-have but part of the core infrastructure of scale. You'll learn Anna's system for working with her assistant, and the key tools and documentation that allows her business to run smoothly whether she's speaking, coaching, or spending time with family.    Download The Founder's Playbook now to learn exactly how the Executive Assistant role transforms from a time protector at $300k in revenue to a strategic Chief of Staff at $30 million. Get your free guide by clicking here: https://safimedia.co/assistant   Get full show notes and more information here: https://safimedia.co/WO77   Connect with Eleanor on LinkedIn or Instagram: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eleanorbeaton/ https://www.instagram.com/eleanorbeaton/?hl=en

Have you ever felt like, despite all the coaching, the mindset work, and strategy sessions, you're still the bottleneck in your business?   After training more than 25,000 women entrepreneurs and gathering over 100,000 data points on how women lead, make decisions, and scale their businesses, Eleanor discovered something that might surprise you: most women founders don't need more advice. They need structure. The business coaching industry has served its purpose in awakening ambition, but the next decade demands something different.   Tune in this week as Eleanor shares why Safi Media has evolved beyond business coaching into creating operating systems for women entrepreneurs. You'll discover the difference between empowerment and professionalization, why most founders are overloaded rather than blocked, and how operating systems create the feminist infrastructure for calm, sustainable growth.   Get full show notes and more information here: https://safimedia.co/WO76   Connect with Eleanor on LinkedIn or Instagram: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eleanorbeaton/ https://www.instagram.com/eleanorbeaton/?hl=en

What if brands paid you to bring leads into your business? Does that sound way too good to be true?   This is exactly what CEO of Boss Project, Abagail Pumphrey, has been doing: generating tens of thousands of qualified leads through co-branded partnerships where she gets paid to create experiences that convert. And in this episode, she shares the exact strategies that helped her build Boss Project into one of the world's leading online business education companies.   Tune in this week as Eleanor and Abagail unpack three game-changing strategies: the co-branded partnership model that generates massive lead flow, the digital product pre-sale approach that validates ideas before building them, and the financial structure that will make Abagail work-optional by age 44.   Get full show notes and more information here: https://safimedia.co/WO75   Connect with Eleanor on LinkedIn or Instagram: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eleanorbeaton/ https://www.instagram.com/eleanorbeaton/?hl=en

Are your deals taking longer to close lately? Economic uncertainty has created a perfect storm for B2B sellers. Deals that closed easily last year now stall indefinitely, buyers ghost after months of relationship building, and budget conversations end with requests for huge discounts.   The good news is that you're not doing anything wrong. However, the frustrating reality is that this pattern is playing out across industries as CFOs tighten their grip on every purchase decision, creating longer approval cycles and more complex buying committees.   If you want to stop getting ghosted and start closing deals again, this episode is your roadmap. Join Eleanor this week as she breaks down six data-backed economic insights that explain exactly why buyers are exercising extreme caution right now, and the four core strategies to keep your buyers buying through winter 2025/26.   Get full show notes and more information here: https://safimedia.co/WO74   Connect with Eleanor on LinkedIn or Instagram: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eleanorbeaton/ https://www.instagram.com/eleanorbeaton/?hl=en

Do you feel the pressure to scale your business at lightning speed? Like if you're not doubling your revenue every year or building a massive team, you're somehow falling behind?   In this episode, Eleanor sits down with online Pilates and health instructor, Jessica Valant, to explore her intentional approach to building a lean business. After experiencing burnout from managing a team of 19 in her brick-and-mortar studio, Jessica made a conscious choice to scale differently. Her journey from physical therapist to online entrepreneur reveals a different path to success - one that prioritizes sustainability over speed.   Listen in this week to discover how setting clear boundaries around your time and energy can actually accelerate your business growth, why understanding every aspect of your business makes you a better leader when you do hire, and how making peace with your chosen pace creates the foundation for long-term success. Jessica's story proves that you can build a world-class business while being the room mom and finishing work by 2:30 PM.   Get full show notes and more information here: https://safimedia.co/WO73   Connect with Eleanor on LinkedIn or Instagram: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eleanorbeaton/ https://www.instagram.com/eleanorbeaton/?hl=en

Revenue looks great on paper, but you still feel broke. This disconnect between what the numbers show and what your bank account reflects is one of the most frustrating experiences for women entrepreneurs. You're working harder than ever, your sales are growing, yet somehow there's never enough left over to feel truly secure or to invest in the things that would actually move your business forward.   We so rarely have frank conversations about where money actually flows in our businesses. While the entrepreneurial world loves to talk about growing revenue and scaling teams, nobody's teaching you how to analyze whether your money is flowing through your business in a way that sets you up for profit or exhaustion.   Listen in this week as Eleanor walks you through the margin stack framework: four critical cost allocations between revenue and profit that tell the complete story of your business health. You'll discover why growing revenue without proper profit architecture leads to resentment and burnout, and exactly which numbers reveal whether you're building wealth or just feeding an expensive machine.   Get full show notes and more information here: https://safimedia.co/WO72   Connect with Eleanor on LinkedIn or Instagram: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eleanorbeaton/ https://www.instagram.com/eleanorbeaton/?hl=en