Illana Raya's journey to entrepreneurship stemmed from her love of law and her personal experiences with mentorship. Despite loving her career as a mergers and acquisitions lawyer, she took a break to raise her children and later rejoined her firm. Realizing the impact of showing her daughter accomplished women at work, Illana envisioned scaling this experience to benefit other girls. She left her law practice, driven by the idea of creating a platform where girls could meet female leaders, leading to the founding of Etra.  Illana is the founder and CEO of Etra, a membership platform for girls believing that mentors matter as early as middle school. Illana brings girls directly into companies they choose to meet female leaders face to face. Raia's National Research on the current state of girls confidence in 2022 and 2024 has been featured by Forbes, CBS News, Yahoo Finance, and Nasdaq, and the most recent 2025 research was conducted in partnership with Hello Sunshine and launched at Cannes. Illana is Chair of the International Space Station, US National Lab Education and Workforce Subcommittee. She serves on the National Girls Collaborative Project Champions Board, and was recently appointed to the Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine Board of Governors. Illana contributes to Forbes Business Council and has authored over 60 articles for Huffington Post, Ms. Matt. Magazine and Thrive Global. Illana was named one of the first 250 entrepreneurs on the Forbes Next 1000 list. An Inc 500 female founder and recognized twice by Fast company's world changing ideas, her award-winning book, Etre Girls Who Do You Want to Be? was released on the day of the Girl, 2019. Her second bestselling book, the Epic Mentor Guide, arrived during Women's History Month 2022. Prior to launching Etre in 2016, Illana was a corporate attorney at Skadden Arps in New York City, and a guest lecturer at Columbia University. She graduated from Smith College and the University of Chicago Law School.

What You Will Hear in This Episode

02:13 Illana''s Journey: From Law to Entrepreneurship

03:59 Curiosity and Connection: Illana's Driving Forces and Career Shift

06:15 The Birth of Etra: Empowering Girls Through Mentorship

09:20 Scaling Etre: From Local to Global Impact

14:24 Navigating Challenges: Social Media and Confidence

17:37 Etre's Mentorship Program: How It Works

18:58 TED-Ed Club: Empowering Young Girls to Speak

20:02 Connecting Through Social Media and Our Website

24:06 Building a Network of Incredible Mentors

33:04 The Role of Age and Diversity in Our Programs

Quotes

" The things you most enjoy, the things that bring you the greatest amount of, of reward and joy are things you cannot do with a phone in your hand, whether that is swimming or surfing or skating or painting. Playing your sport, writing your next short story, the thing you love to do is probably better done without a phone in your hand. "

" I believe in the power of the cold email or the cold DM with all my heart, I'm stunned every day by the women who say yes to a conversation or answering a question by email because it's for the next generation.

" Never underestimate the, impact that 10 minutes of your time is gonna have on that next future engineer, future leader, future founder."

Mentioned

etregrils.com

eConnect with Bonnie

Substack Newsletter: Own Your Ambition

Gendered Ageism Survey Results

Forbes article

5 Tips to own the superpower of your age

IAMMusicGroup

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Helen Jonsen aspired to be a writer from a young age and chose journalism for its daily writing opportunities. After studying at Fordham University and gaining experience at Channel 11 and WINS radio, she moved to Rhode Island as a senior producer, where she met and married her Australian husband. This led to a stint in Australia, where she worked in television before returning to New York. They worked for Australian networks before she joined Channel 5. After her first maternity leave, she opted to form a production company with her husband, eventually returning to Channel 11 and writing several books, including 'Kangaroo's Comments and Wallaby's Words: The Aussie Word Book.'

Helen is a communication strategist and media executive with a career that includes journalism, digital innovation, public service, and nonprofit advocacy. Through her firm, Helen Jonsen Media, she assists leaders and organizations in amplifying their voices with strategic storytelling, speaker training, and modern communication tools. She hosts the Kaleidoscope Career podcast and newsletter series, celebrating women with non-linear career paths. Helen's career has spanned roles from TV journalism to executive positions, notably earning the nickname 'video guru' from Steve Forbes at Forbes. She has also managed strategic communications for Westchester County District Attorney and NYC's Economic Development Corporation during the pandemic.

What You Will Hear in This Episode

02:47 Helen's Early Career and Personal Life

03:49 The Kaleidoscope Career: Journalism and Beyond

06:01 Curiosity and Communication: Helen's Driving Forces

11:35 Challenges and Adaptations in Helen's Career

15:55 The State of Journalism Today

19:15 The Divided Information Landscape

19:30 Launching a Podcast: Reflections and Milestones

19:56 Career Pivots: Insights and Misconceptions

21:26 Challenges and Opportunities for Women

22:58 External Forces Shaping Careers

23:51 Personal Stories of Career Shifts

26:01 The Unique Career Paths of Women

30:41 The Third Phase: Finding New Purpose

Quotes

" I think a career as a working mother also shapes how you do things and why you do things."

" I think curiosity and trying to find answers is really important. It's the real basis for any good journalism, but it's also the basis for a kaleidoscope career. You have to be willing to take on the new thing."

" The promise of the internet of the was that the internet would democratize journalism and democratize communication. Instead, what we didn't see coming was the. Siloing of information that came with the maturation of social media."

" Our demands around us on caregiving at different ages and stages affects our careers so often."

Mentioned

helenjonsen.com

LinkedIn

Substack

Instagram

eConnect with Bonnie

Substack Newsletter: Own Your Ambition

Gendered Ageism Survey Results

Forbes article

5 Tips to own the superpower of your age

IAMMusicGroup

Purchase my book Not Done Yet on Amazon:

If you enjoyed this episode of Badass Women Podcast, then make sure to subscribe to the podcast and drop us a five-star review

Bianca Best's lifelong pursuit of ambition led her from a corporate career in advertising, creativity, and publishing to a successful freelance writing career. While juggling motherhood in her late 20's, she inadvertently founded the Bespoke Gift Company. What started as a creative, personalized anniversary gift has become a wildly successful company. Bianca is an award-winning global business leader, author, certified success strategist, entrepreneur, speaker, and single mother of four. Bianca describes her CV as a chronology of passions, explored and includes a decade as a tech-preneur running the bespoke gift company, which pioneered the personalized gift industry forever. A decade of corporate ascendancy running vast digital divisions of the world's largest CommEd conglomerates certifying in healing modalities. From hypnotherapy to executive coaching to her international impact, inspiring the working world through her keynotes, workshops in organizations like Google and Amazon. Her organization, Bianca Best, is dedicated to infusing the working world with graceful productivity, kind, leadership, and unlocked human potential whereby individuals and organizations flourish without burnout.

What You Will Hear in This Episode

02:30 Bianca's Journey: From Ambition to Entrepreneurship

03:53 The Birth of the Bespoke Gift Company

08:46 Balancing Motherhood and Business

10:43 Transition to Corporate Life

12:39 Overcoming Burnout and Finding Purpose

18:17 Graceful Productivity and Kind Leadership

30:24 The Ideal Work Environment for Women

35:52 Conclusion and Final Thoughts

Quotes

" I have always leaned into pursuing what has excited me and followed the potential opportunities, even if I felt a bit scared. "

" If you don't pay attention to your natural rhythms and start healing yourself, then you are gonna be unable to sustain. "

" If our attention is stolen, our time is stolen. And if our time is stolen, then inevitably our energy is stolen and it's a cascade of catastrophic negativity. "

" Changing companies and leaving dead end jobs or toxic environments doesn't show weakness. It's owning who you are and honoring that, and that's badass. "

Mentioned

BiancaBest.com

Book: Big Impact without Burnout

eConnect with Bonnie

Substack Newsletter: Own Your Ambition

Gendered Ageism Survey Results

Forbes article

5 Tips to own the superpower of your age

IAMMusicGroup

Purchase my book Not Done Yet on Amazon:

If you enjoyed this episode of Badass Women Podcast, then make sure to subscribe to the podcast and drop us a five-star review