3 Women Entrepreneurs You Should Be Following

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Happy Women’s History Month! Women’s history month exists because factory workers in New York City staged a protest over poor working conditions, and women everywhere are fighting for equal treatment at work, helping each other advance (did you know Incontrera Consulting is entirely staffed by women and nonbinary creatives?), and carving their own path as entrepreneurs. I am proud to call many entrepreneurial women my clients, friends, and colleagues, and I wanted to highlight just a few of them today. Keep reading to learn more about these incredible women!

-Marie

3 Women Entrepreneurs You Should Be Following

Deepa Purushothaman

If you’re like me and you watch TED Talks religiously, you may already know Deepa Purushothaman . Deepa’s joint talk with Rha Goddess at TEDWomen 2021, 4 Ways To Redfine Power At Work To Include Women of Color, has already reached over 766,000 views since it was published in January. Deepa is one of the cofounders? of nFormation which provides brave, safe, new space for professional women of color and is a Women and Public Policy Program Leader in Practice at the Harvard Kennedy School. She speaks extensively on women and leadership and provides disruptive solutions for businesses and individuals who need to evolve.?

Prior to her work at nFormation, Deepa was the first Indian American woman to make partner at Deloitte, a firm of over 100,00 people. Leaving her twenty year career was an incredibly hard decision; it took a debilitating illness, and learning from the experiences of other WOC, for Deepa to leave what she now sees as one of the most toxic environments in the world for women of color.B ased on interviews with over 500 WOC, Deepa’s new book, THE FIRST, THE FEW, THE ONLY: How Women of Color Can Redefine Power in Corporate America , lays the groundwork for how women of color can unearth their power and channel it to redefine success for their most authentic selves. The Great Resignation and the current focus on improving how we work makes Deepa’s message all the more relevant.

Dorie Clark

If I tried to list all of Dorie Clark ’s accolades and accomplishments, this newsletter would be absurdly long, so I’ll try to keep this short. Dorie is a consultant and keynote speaker, a professor of executive education at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business and Columbia Business School, and she is the Wall Street Journal bestselling author of The Long Game , Entrepreneurial You , Reinventing You , and Stand Out , which was named the #1 Leadership Book of the Year by Inc. magazine. She’s also twice been named one of the Top 50 Business Thinkers in the World by Thinkers50, and the #1 Communication Coach in the World by the Marshall Goldsmith Leading Global Coaches Awards, as well as one of the Top 10 Communication Professionals in the World by Global Gurus. She writes regularly for Harvard Business Review, FastCompany, and Business Insider… In short, Dorie is a big deal.?

She’s also an amazing human being. Dorie has helped thousands of people (including me!) to take control of their professional lives and make an impact on the world. Dorie has successfully reinvented herself several times (she’s worked as a journalist, a presidential campaign spokesperson, and an executive director for a nonprofit in her previous lives), and she’s learned a lot. She gets it. If you want to build a career that is meaningful, get to know Dorie.

Zee Clarke

I am so excited to introduce you to Zhalisa "Zee" Clarke . Zee is a Harvard MBA that went from leading teams at Fortune 500 companies and startups in Silicon Valley to teaching mindfulness and breathwork to people of color. Racism causes mental health conditions such as depression and anxiety, and it’s been linked to higher rates of heart disease and high blood pressure in African-Americans. Mindfulness and breathwork can help. The simple act of breathing to calm our nervous system when we feel like we are being attacked can save jobs and lives. Pulling from her own experiences as a Black woman in corporate America, Zee leverages her toolkit of yoga, meditation, breathwork, sound healing, and Reiki to ensure that all people of color have the tools to thrive despite any challenges that race, gender, or sexuality might present.

Companies dedicated to supporting their Black, Indigenous and Latinx colleagues are leveraging Zee’s Reclaiming Flow workshops around microaggressions and imposter syndrome to drive employee retention and increase diversity representation in leadership roles. Her interactive workshops have been used by Google, Facebook, and Visa to drive employee retention and increase well-being for their teams. Zee is coming up on the release of her new book, Black People Breathe, an important resource for BIPOC and allies. Until then, you can catch up with her for guided breathwork on her Instagram and TikTok .?

Are you a entrepreneur who is ready to take the next step in your career? Let’s chat! You can book a time to talk with me here. ?

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