The Empowered Woman | Storytelling & Women Empowerment

Christa Cotton, CEO of New Orleans-based beverage brand El Guapo, shares the entrepreneurial journey behind building a successful product-based business from the ground up. What started in 2017 with bitters and syrups made in crawfish boil pots has grown into a brand available in all 50 states and eight countries, offering four product lines and expanding into national retail partnerships. Christa shares how her background in family businesses, distilling, marketing, and agriculture shaped her approach to entrepreneurship, with a strong focus on quality ingredients, thoughtful sourcing, sustainability, and customer service. She also discusses how El Guapo evolved from selling individual cocktail ingredients to creating complete cocktail kits, making it easier for customers to enjoy restaurant-quality drinks at home, including full-proof, low-proof, and alcohol-free options. Beyond building the brand, Christa opens up about the realities of being a CEO, the challenges of scaling a product-based business, and the less glamorous aspects of entrepreneurship, including pricing, logistics, freight costs, and protecting profit margins. She also shares the importance of mentoring other women entrepreneurs, staying grateful while continuing to pursue bigger goals, and creating opportunities for the next generation of women leaders. Through a memorable customer story that unexpectedly connected her with a distant family relative, Christa highlights the power of authentic storytelling and putting yourself out there. In this inspiring conversation, she reflects on what it means to be an empowered woman: unapologetically pursuing what you want while holding the door open for other women along the way. Connect with Christa:Website: www.elguapobitters.com LinkedIn: Christa Cotton Instagram: @elguapobitters | @hurricane_christa Let's keep the conversation going!Website: www.martaspirk.com Instagram: @martaspirk Facebook: Marta Spirk Want to be my next guest on The Empowered Woman Podcast?Apply here: www.martaspirk.com/podcastguest Watch my TEDx talk: www.martaspirk.com/Speaking

In this episode, we sit down with Samantha Warren, speaker, MC, founder of Voice and Visibility, and a passionate advocate for finding and using your voice. Samantha shares her 10-year journey from architect to personal trainer, nutrition coach, business coach, and ultimately founder of a conscious media company. Her story begins with a pivotal moment when she was offered the opportunity to take over a prestigious architecture firm, yet everything in her body told her it was not the right path. Despite having invested years and significant money into her education and facing questions from the people around her, Samantha chose to trust her intuition. That decision became the beginning of a journey toward greater confidence, self-trust, and discovering what she was truly meant to do. Samantha explains how caring for her body and developing her confidence through fitness helped her reconnect with her intuition and find the courage to keep following the breadcrumbs. After years of helping people with fitness, nutrition, life purpose, and business, she recognized a deeper thread connecting all of her clients: the power of their voice. Today, through Voice and Visibility, Samantha helps founders and impact-driven entrepreneurs bring their stories and expertise into the world through podcasts, shows, stages, and strategic media. She discusses why building a successful show requires more than simply recording and editing episodes, emphasizing the importance of intentional strategy, authentic expression, visibility, and creating a format that truly fits who you are. At the heart of her work is the belief that the very parts of ourselves we often try to hide may be the things that make us most unique, powerful, and worthy of being seen and heard. Connect with Samantha:Website: www.thesamanthawarren.com | www.voiceandvisibility.com Instagram: @thesamanthawarren | @voiceandvisibility Let's keep the conversation going!Website: www.martaspirk.com Instagram: @martaspirk Facebook: Marta Spirk Want to be my next guest on The Empowered Woman Podcast?Apply here: www.martaspirk.com/podcastguest Watch my TEDx talk: www.martaspirk.com/Speaking

In this episode, Anisha Jennings, founder of Jennings Tech Corner, shares her journey of connecting technology, storytelling, and visibility to help women entrepreneurs grow their businesses. Anisha talks about her background in engineering, teaching, and technology before moving to the United States and starting her own business in 2024. She explains how her natural ability to troubleshoot and solve problems led her to focus on strategic websites, helping business owners create an online presence that builds trust, attracts leads, and clearly communicates their story. Anisha also shares how her podcasting journey began as a way to tell her own immigrant story and eventually grew into a podcast with more than 100 episodes featuring the stories and experiences of other immigrant women. Anisha also discusses how she supports entrepreneurs with the technical side of their businesses, from building WordPress and Squarespace websites to auditing tech stacks, identifying unnecessary subscriptions, and troubleshooting platforms and systems. She shares details about her five-week podcast launch program, created to help women turn their ideas into launched podcasts without feeling overwhelmed by the technology involved. Whether someone has only an idea, has started gathering the pieces, or simply feels called to share their voice, Anisha encourages them to take action and recognize the impact their story and expertise can have. She also shares her definition of an empowered woman: becoming aware of your gifts, skills, and the impact you are capable of creating, and then having the courage to share them with others. Connect with Anisha:Website: www.jenningstechcorner.com LinkedIn: Jennings Tech Corner Instagram: @jenningstechcorner Facebook: Your American Dream Pinterest: Jennings Tech Corner LLC YouTube: Anisha Jennings Let's keep the conversation going!Website: www.martaspirk.com Instagram: @martaspirk Facebook: Marta Spirk Want to be my next guest on The Empowered Woman Podcast?Apply here: www.martaspirk.com/podcastguest Watch my TEDx talk: www.martaspirk.com/Speaking

Calle Foster is a leadership coach and speaker who helps Millennial and Gen Z women build confidence, strengthen communication, and develop their professional personal brands. She also helps leaders and organizations better understand the four generations currently in the workplace: Baby Boomers, Gen X, Millennials, and Gen Z. Calle explains how each generation's unique social and cultural experiences have shaped workplace behaviors, expectations, and communication styles. From Baby Boomers' institutional knowledge and value for face-to-face connection to Gen X's independence and emphasis on work-life balance, Millennials' role as workplace translators and sandwich-generation leaders, and Gen Z's experience entering the workforce during COVID, Calle offers valuable insight into moving beyond generational stereotypes and creating more supportive, sustainable workplaces. Calle also shares why empathy and perspective are essential to better workplace relationships, including a powerful story about her husband and his Gen Z intern that demonstrates how quickly assumptions can change when we pause and consider someone else's perspective. She discusses her work with individuals, team leaders, and organizations, helping people build confidence, communicate effectively, demonstrate their expertise, and become more visible in their careers. Calle also introduces her free resource, "5 Everyday Behaviors That Build Credibility and Influence," and shares her powerful definition of an empowered woman: reconnecting with the powerful woman already within you and calling her forward when you need her. Connect with Calle:Website: www.callefoster.com LinkedIn: Calle (Lieppman) Foster Instagram: @millennialleadershipcoach Let's keep the conversation going!Website: www.martaspirk.com Instagram: @martaspirk Facebook: Marta Spirk Want to be my next guest on The Empowered Woman Podcast?Apply here: www.martaspirk.com/podcastguest Watch my TEDx talk: www.martaspirk.com/Speaking

In this episode, we're joined by Michelle Gelband, a sex therapist in New York City and the founder of Openly Health, a platform designed to help women navigate sexual health care across every stage of life. Michelle shares how her years working in OB-GYN settings revealed a major gap in conversations around sexual health, pain, pleasure, and intimacy, and how her own experience with endometriosis and a fragmented healthcare system deepened her passion for creating change. She opens up about her personal journey with painful periods, painful sex, advocating for herself as a patient, and the challenges of finding providers who looked beyond the surface to understand what was really happening. Michelle also shares her vision for Openly Health, which brings providers, resources, education, products, and an anonymous community together in one place so women don't have to search across countless websites to find trustworthy support. She discusses building the platform in beta, gathering feedback from women and providers, navigating the stigma and shame surrounding sexual health, and the realities of being an entrepreneur building something deeply personal and meaningful. Michelle explains how Openly Health aims to make care more accessible, normalize conversations around sex, and help women understand that pain is not something they simply have to accept. She also answers the million-dollar question: What is an empowered woman? Her answer is a powerful reminder that empowerment can mean continuing forward even when doubt, fear, or difficult emotions are present. Connect with Michelle:Website: www.openlyhealth.io Instagram: @openlyhealth | @michellegelband TikTok: Michelle Gelband Let's keep the conversation going!Website: www.martaspirk.com Instagram: @martaspirk Facebook: Marta Spirk Want to be my next guest on The Empowered Woman Podcast?Apply here: www.martaspirk.com/podcastguest Watch my TEDx talk: www.martaspirk.com/Speaking