SARAH MOSHMAN is the director and producer of her first feature documentary film, The Empowerment Project: Ordinary Women Doing Extraordinary Things. Sarah and her partner Dana raised money on Kickstarter and took a cross-country month long journey with an all female film crew to interview inspirational women in a variety of fields and to empower women of all ages through their journey. The film will be complete in April 2014. Access the trailer as well as information about how to book a screening of the film: indieflix.com/empowermentproject

I’ll be talking to Sarah about the process of producing her own documentary, as well as her vision for this film to help provide an opportunity to facilitate conversations about how women can advance in the workplace and in their personal lives.

ASHA DAHYA is a TV host and blogger. Indian by ethnicity, born in the UK, raised in Australia and residing in Hollywood, Asha is a true millennial woman. She has hosted shows for Fox, MTV, MSN, Disney, Nickelodeon, TV Guide, Myspace, has worked behind the scenes on 5 season of America’s Next Top Model, and is the creator & editor-in-chief of women’s empowerment news media site GirlTalkHQ.com.

I’ll be speaking to Asha about her new venture, GirlTalkHQ, what’s she’s learned about the role of Hollywood and media on women, and how she transitioned to work in the women’s empowerment arena.

Twitter & Instagram: @girltalkhq

Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/user/GirlTalkHQ

COURTNEY MACAVINTA is Co-Founder and CEO of The Respect Institute. She is an award-winning author, speaker, coach and web publisher who has reached millions of youth, families and communities through programs, such as the Respect Rally, her blog RespectRx.com and best-selling book, RESPECT (Free Spirit Publishing, 2005), which has won both IPPY and iParenting awards. Courtney is the visionary leader behind The Respect Institute’s programs and the spokesperson.

Today, her message to people everywhere: Respect is always within reach because true respect starts on the inside. This will be the topic of our conversation and we’ll learn from Courtney how she made this discovery within herself and her path to founding the Respect Institute and her vision for the future.

TERESA COURTEMANCHE is the President of The Matt Garcia Foundation, a non-profit organization that she helped found in honor of her son, Matt Garcia, who was one of the youngest city councilmen in the history of California. When Matt was senselessly murdered in 2008 after only 10 months in office, it ignited a passion in Teresa to help stop the senseless violence that is a scourge in so many of our cities and towns.  The Matt Garcia Foundation is entirely run by volunteers who have a mission to empower youth, reduce crime, and strengthen the community.

I’ll be speaking with Teresa about how she transformed her grief over her son’s death into a positive force for change, and what the Matt Garcia Foundation is doing to stop violence and crime in her community. Join us  to hear Teresa’s moving and inspiring story about grief, resilience, and overcoming great obstacles to make a difference in the world.

DANA MICHELLE COOK founded Heartfelt Productions in 2009 with Sarah Moshman with the vision of telling stories with heart, and creating positive, uplifting content to inspire women everywhere. “The Empowerment Project” marks the pursuit of their ongoing commitment to showcase strong females on film. On the 34 day journey across more than 7,000 miles, the Empowerment Project shined a light on 17 women in different career fields who are stepping into their power and living their dreams.

I’ll be talking to Dana about what what she learned from the women who took part of the documentary, mainly that we all have the ability to create powerful, fulfilling lives. Her challenge to girls and women: “What would you do if you weren’t afraid to fail?” We’ll find out more about how she answered that question for herself, and how she’s learned to live her dreams out loud!

HEATHER MASON is the president and owner of A Caspian Production. She founded the company in 2005, with a vision of specializing in producing conferences for the innovative business space. Caspian’s social enterprise clients include the Skoll Foundation, the Omidyar Network, New Media Ventures, Futures without Violence and Endeavor Global.

In 2012 she founded FIREBRAND Concepts to create conferences for teen girls (and eventually boys).  The first one launched in October 2013 in Santa Monica, CA and included 200 girls from 45 schools and involved 26 organizations teaching life skills all day in an atmosphere of fun.  SUREFIRE is the high school program, SPITFIRE is for tweens, and WILDFIRE for college age.  BONFIRE is 25+.  The events will travel around the nation in 2015 and the boys program will begin in 2016.

I’ll be speaking to Heather about her motto: Let’s teach women how to say “I can’t” and start asking for help, instead of doing it all ourselves and burning out! 

JULIE THORNE ENGELS is a lifelong visionary, strategist and entrepreneur with a passion for employing creativity to drive business and social change. As the CEO of TRIBEMINT, Julie is merging her talents to build a new agency experience that truly believes in the power of creating “tribes” around lifestyle brands in order for them to thrive.

Before starting TRIBEMINT, Julie founded Bettyvision, an online vision board platform empowering women to visualize their dreams and make them a reality with community support. It was through the insights gained from this tech start-up’s Millennial user-base that her team, to include Lindsey Heisser, saw a greater opportunity to help brands build communities through shared vision, culture and engagement.

I’ll be speaking to Julie about her experience as a first-time tech entrepreneur, what she learned from her “failures” as well as her successes, and what she believes women need in order to truly thrive in the tech space.

LEAH CEVOLI is an actress, writer, voice-over artist, and host. Most notably known for recording over 30 characters on “Robot Chicken”, and her work on HBO’s Deadwood. Leah has appeared in many indie projects; film, tv, and web shows, including a few creations of her own. Upcoming projects include the feature film Blood Kiss starring Neil Gaiman, the horror short “The White Room” co-starring with Helenna Santos, the animated series, “Bringing Up Tommy”, the horror feature Sorority of The Damned, and the dark indie-drama Nowhere Land.

As someone who has struggled with emotional binge eating and body image issues, Leah founded the all-female travelling panel, All Shapes and Sizes Welcome, and hopes to make a difference in your life and her own by bringing together some amazing women to share their own stories and to get real, about this very real topic.

I’ll be chatting with Leah about how she has dealt with the challenges of body image, the impact of media on women, and how she decided to share her struggles and turn it into a force for good to help other women and girls who struggle with this issue.

KC BAKER, previously an investment banking analyst and legislative assistant to two US Senators, is an international women’s thought leadership & public speaking trainer, speechwriter, and two-time TEDx speaker.

She believes that the key to positive transformation in our world lies in supporting women in unleashing the brilliance of their voices.

Her innovative work in the realm of new paradigm women’s leadership has attracted clients such as Microsoft, Forbes, BMW, and McKinsey & Co. Women thought leaders who have worked with her have gone on to speak on prestigious stages such as TED/TEDx, the American Heart Association and more. Featured in the Wall Street Journal, The Daily Love, and Women 2.0, KC has been hailed as “One of the Top Planetary Changemakers” by Origin Magazine. She lives in Sedona, Arizona with her partner, David, and their son.

I’ll be talking to KC about her journey as a woman entrepreneur, how she has built her following and tribe of women, and her vision of how women will change the world through claiming their voice and spreading their message.

Katie Cappiello & Meg McInerney,  Founders and Directors of The Arts Effect NYC, an award-winning theater school and arts & activism program for kids and teens in NYC.  The program’s girl empowerment component, The Arts Effect All-Girl Theater Company, is a safe space for ensembles of girls ages 8-18 to come together and artistically explore their world. Through a unique combination of intensive acting training, creative writing, debate and discussion, mentorship, and public service, members of The Arts Effect All-Girl Theater Company become change agents – utilizing the power of the theater arts to share their voices, challenge their communities, and inspire their peers.

The Arts Effect is also dedicated to the development of girl-driven original plays, community events, in-school/on-campus workshops throughout the United Sates and across the globe, all designed to raise awareness and spark open an honest communication about the challenges girls face worldwide including the over-sexualization of girls, body image, sex-trafficking, and reproductive health/rights.  They have reached thousands of girls, most notably through the international touring of its critically-acclaimed, award-winning plays and supporting workshops, including the most recent SLUT (“Truthful, raw, immediate!” – Gloria Steinem). Their book, SLUT: A Play and Guidebook for Combatting Sexism and Sexual Violence is being published by the Feminist Press and released in March 2015.  It’s currently available for pre-sale.

I’ll be talking to Katie and Meg about what they’ve learned as women entrepreneurs in the arts world, how they’ve created a thriving theater company focused on empowering women and girls, as well as the current issue of slut shaming facing teenage girls of today.