Making It with Jess Ekstrom

In this candid episode of Making It with Jess Ekstrom, Jess sits down with Carson Harkrader, CEO of Carolina Solar Energy, to talk about leading in a male-dominated industry and building a career with purpose. Carson shares her unexpected path from office manager to eight years at GE before joining the business her father founded. She opens up about why being the only woman in the room feels like an opportunity, how she moved beyond the pressure to know everything, and what it takes to earn trust when talking with communities about solar energy. Together, Jess and Carson explore family business dynamics, the power of listening, and why investing in yourself deserves the same attention you give your career.Episode Highlights:The Only Woman in the Room: Carson shares how her upbringing shaped her confidence and why she sees her different perspective as an asset.Taking Over the Family Business: How a business school class helped Carson reconsider joining her dad’s company, and the experience she brought home from GE.Listening Before Persuading: From kitchen-table conversations to community meetings, Carson explains how understanding people’s actual concerns builds trust.Clean Energy Is Already Here: Carson breaks down her work in solar, which is already up and running in North Carolina, and what these projects can mean for local communities.Letting Go of Knowing Everything: Why getting older has helped Carson release the pressure to have every answer.Redefining Making It at 50: After years of investing in her business, Carson shares why her next chapter is about bringing that same care to her inner life.If you want to learn more about clean energy go visit https://energylimitless.com/

What if you didn’t need more experience, a perfect plan, or permission to start?In this candid and empowering episode of Making It with Jess Ekstrom, Jess revisits a previously unreleased conversation with restaurateur and former sex crimes prosecutor Martha Hoover. Martha shares how she opened her first restaurant without ever having worked in one, discovered she was pregnant with her third child, and built a business around the life she wanted for her family. Together, they explore the identity shifts that come with motherhood, why ambition can move at different speeds in different seasons, and how choosing outcomes over ego makes taking risks less intimidating. Martha also introduces her Wisdom Exchange Project and shares why she refuses to let the label of imposter syndrome define her confidence.Episode Highlights• Starting Before You Feel Qualified: How Martha entered the restaurant industry with no experience and trusted that other people wanted what she wanted.• Building a Business Around Motherhood: Why breakfast-and-lunch hours helped Martha grow her company while making it to school pickup.• Giving Yourself Permission to Evolve: Jess and Martha get honest about ambition, motherhood, and the tension of outgrowing an old identity.• Outcome Over Ego: Martha explains why being willing to change your mind can matter more than getting every decision right.• Wisdom Goes Both Ways: How intergenerational conversations help women share lessons, challenge assumptions, and learn from each other.• Rethinking Imposter Syndrome: Martha challenges the idea that self-doubt means you don’t deserve your seat at the table.Connect with Martha Hoover on LinkedIn and learn more about her Wisdom Exchange Project.Jess’s book, Making It Without Losing It, is available wherever books are sold.Subscribe to Making It with Jess Ekstrom for more honest conversations about ambition, reinvention, and building success on your own terms.

In this honest and heartfelt episode of Making It with Jess Ekstrom, Jess sits down with Molly Barker, founder of Girls on the Run, a program that has reached 2.7 million participants. Jess opens with a confession she’s never shared before: she cheated in Girls on the Run. Molly responds with her own childhood story, opening a conversation about competition, comparison, and the pressure girls feel to prove they’re good enough.Molly shares how her journey through addiction and recovery helped inspire Girls on the Run, which began with just 13 girls. She introduces the “girl box”—the expectations that teach girls to shrink themselves into who they think they should be—and explains why moving forward at your own pace matters more than finishing first. Jess and Molly also get candid about motherhood, the pressure to be present, and learning to see other women’s success as possibility rather than competition.From hiring people with different strengths to navigating tension between a founder’s big ideas and an organization’s need for structure, Molly reflects on what it takes to build something that can thrive beyond you. She opens up about leaving the organization she founded, finding her identity afterward, and how her definition of “making it” has shifted toward connection, presence, and being herself.EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS• The Cheating Confession: Jess reveals her unexpected Girls on the Run story, and Molly shares the childhood experience that helped shape her approach to competition.• Beyond the “Girl Box”: Molly explains how girls learn to measure themselves against expectations—and how running helped her reconnect with who she was.• From Recovery to 13 Girls: Molly shares the personal turning point and small beginnings behind Girls on the Run.• The Pressure to Be Present: Jess and Molly discuss motherhood, ambition, and why even relaxing can start to feel like another task to get right.• Building Beyond Yourself: Molly reflects on asking for help, hiring people with different strengths, and balancing innovation with sustainable growth.• “I’m the Boss of My Own Brain”: A memorable finish-line story reveals what confidence and self-trust can look like through a child’s eyes.• Life After Being the Founder: Molly gets honest about leaving Girls on the Run, redefining her identity, and finding meaning in her next chapter.ABOUT OUR GUESTMolly Barker is the founder of Girls on the Run, a program that combines movement with lessons in confidence, connection, and personal growth. With a master’s degree in social work and experience in drug prevention, Molly created the original curriculum and launched the program with 13 girls. A speaker and storyteller, she continues to explore the experiences that shape girls and women through her book, Running Free: Beyond the Girl Box, and her podcast project, Unboxing Girlhood.CHAPTERS00:00 Jess’s Girls on the Run Confession02:22 Competition, Comparison, and Feeling Enough05:10 Motherhood and the Pressure to Be Present07:24 The Girl Box and Molly’s Origin Story11:06 Starting Girls on the Run with 13 Girls13:58 Building a Team and Letting Go of Doing Everything16:40 Balancing Big Ideas with Sustainable Growth19:48 Being the Boss of Your Own Brain21:16 What Girls Need from the Adults Around Them26:36 Leaving the Organization You Founded30:33 Running Free and Unboxing Girlhood32:14 What Making It Means to Molly Now

In this episode of Making It with Jess Ekstrom, Jess sits down with former sports agent, author, and leadership expert Molly Fletcher. Molly shares how she went from sleeping on a friend’s couch in Atlanta to recruiting athletes in an industry that often did not expect a woman to be the agent in the room. She and Jess talk about being underestimated, asking for what you want before you feel ready, and building confidence from small wins along the way. Molly also explains why success means more to her now than the next big contract, and how boundaries, support, and a clear sense of purpose help women keep growing without running themselves into the ground.• What’s at Risk If You Don’t Ask? Molly shares the question that helped her pursue opportunities before she felt ready.• Being Underestimated: From a golf clubhouse that would not let her eat with her client to players who assumed she was someone’s assistant, Molly explains how she earned trust through preparation and knowledge.• Confidence Comes from Evidence: Jess and Molly compare the ways they save reminders of past wins for moments when they doubt themselves.• Protecting Your Energy: Molly talks about delegation, boundaries, and her “alignment audit” for spotting the gap between what matters most and where your energy actually goes.• Redefining Making It: Twenty years ago, success meant signing the next player or negotiating a major contract. Today, Molly measures it by the impact she can have on others.Learn more about Molly and The Edge at https://mollyfletcher.com

In this insightful episode of Making It with Jess Ekstrom, Jess sits down with Sabina Osorio, Senior Director of Growth Marketing for TED Conferences, to explore what transforms an idea into something people can understand, remember, and share.Sabina reveals the preparation behind a powerful TED Talk, including why speakers must edit ruthlessly, rehearse extensively, and resist the urge to sell from the stage. She also explains why TED receives thousands of submissions each week and what an idea needs to stand apart.Jess and Sabina also discuss the dark side of going viral, building genuine professional relationships without feeling transactional, and why being helpful is more valuable than chasing the largest possible audience. Sabina opens up about overcoming perfectionism, navigating imposter syndrome at TED, and redefining success as protecting her joy, family time, and life outside of work.EPISODE HIGHLIGHTSWhat Makes an Idea TED-Worthy: Sabina explains why a strong idea must be original, carefully researched, easy to understand, and relevant to people around the world.The Work Behind a TED Talk: Discover why speakers can spend more than 100 hours editing, fact-checking, rehearsing, and refining a single talk. Why Going Viral Shouldn’t Be the Goal: Sabina shares how viral content can attract the wrong audience and pull creators away from the community they actually want to serve. Stop Letting Perfectionism Hold You Back: Sabina reveals how she replaced the pursuit of perfection with an 80/20 mindset that allows her to act, learn, and grow.Build Relationships Before You Need Them: Learn how genuine curiosity, consistent connection, and offering value helped Sabina build the relationship that eventually opened the door to TED.Let Your Team Find Their Own Way: Sabina explains why leaders should resist stepping in too quickly and give capable people the space to solve problems differently.Redefining What It Means to Make It: Ten years ago, success meant climbing the corporate ladder. Today, Sabina measures it by joy, family time, hobbies, and a career that supports her life.