From styling celebrities like Selena Gomez for nearly a decade to helping women executives own the room in the boardroom, Basia Richard has built a career around one powerful idea: how you show up matters.

In this episode, Basia shares her incredible journey from growing up in Poland to pursuing a career as a professional violinist, reinventing herself in Hollywood as a celebrity stylist, and eventually leaving the entertainment industry to help women leaders build confidence through personal style. We talk about what it takes to pivot careers, why saying yes before you feel ready can change your life, and the lessons she learned working with some of the biggest names in entertainment.

We also dive into why executive presence extends beyond what you say. Basia shares how a thoughtfully curated wardrobe can reflect who you are, reinforce your credibility, support your goals, and help you lead with confidence.

Whether you're stepping into a leadership role, navigating a career transition, or simply looking to feel more like yourself, this conversation is packed with practical advice you can put to work immediately.

In This Episode

• Basia's journey from professional violinist to Hollywood celebrity stylist
• What she learned styling Selena Gomez and other high-profile clients
• Why she left celebrity fashion to help women leaders
• How saying "yes" before you're fully qualified can accelerate your career
• The connection between confidence, credibility, and executive presence
• Why women are often judged differently than men—and how to navigate that reality
• How to build a wardrobe that supports your career instead of creating decision fatigue
• Why timeless personal style will always outlast trends

Notable Quotes

Resources Mentioned

• Connect with Basia Richard on LinkedIn
• Follow Basia on Instagram

What happens when a creative mind, a startup operator, a cancer survivor, and a humanitarian all live inside the same person?

In this episode of Clover, I sit down with Melissa Wood, founder of Formis and Curate, to explore the winding path that led her from a small town in North Carolina to the startup ecosystem in Austin. Melissa’s story spans early tech startups, design and photography, turning down life-changing opportunities, surviving cancer, humanitarian work in Ethiopia, and building companies rooted in solving real-world problems.

What stood out most was Melissa’s ability to notice gaps others accept as normal; and then build solutions around them. Whether helping homeowners navigate renovations through Formis or simplifying conference experiences through Curate, her work is driven by a simple question: “Why doesn’t something better exist?”

This conversation is about resilience, leadership, community, and the unexpected ways life experiences shape the companies we build.

In this episode, we discuss:

• How an accidental discovery of Photoshop in the mid-1990s launched Melissa’s career in technology and design.
• Why she walked away from opportunities—including an early chance to join the team behind Me.com—and how she evaluates big decisions.
• The life-changing impact of surviving cancer and how that experience influenced her approach to work, family, and entrepreneurship.
• What she learned from living and working in Ethiopia, including lessons about community, presence, loyalty, and leadership.
• How she built Curate, an AI-powered event discovery platform, in just days using no-code and AI tools after identifying a problem she’d personally experienced for years.
• Why trust breaks down in industries like home renovation and how technology can create transparency, alignment, and accountability.

Notable Quotes

“Trust isn’t built in one big moment. It’s built through patterns.”

“The best products are born from real experiences.”

“If the system reflects that someone is being heard and understood, it creates a feeling of partnership.”

Resources & Links Mentioned

• Formis – AI-powered platform designed to improve transparency and communication in home renovation projects.
• Curate – Event discovery and scheduling platform helping people navigate conferences, tech events, and community gatherings.
• Lovable – AI-powered development platform Melissa used to build an early version of Curate.
• Claude – AI assistant Melissa uses for ongoing product development and iteration.
• FoundHers – Austin-based organization supporting women founders and entrepreneurs.
• South by Southwest (SXSW) – The event experience that inspired Curate.
• Austin Tech Week
• LA Tech Week
• Austin TV Festival

Melissa’s story is a reminder that entrepreneurship doesn’t always begin with a grand vision. Sometimes it starts with a frustration, a life experience, or a problem you simply can’t stop thinking about and the courage to do something about it.

What does it mean to build a life rooted in service rather than status?

In this deeply moving conversation, I sat down with Dr. Farah Shroff—public health leader, educator, researcher, yoga teacher, and advocate for women's health—to explore the experiences that shaped her work and worldview. From her childhood in Canada after immigrating from Kenya, to watching her mother defy a devastating lupus diagnosis, to leading global health initiatives around the world, Farah shares how compassion, justice, and holistic well-being became the foundation of her life's work.

We talked about the intersection of public health and personal healing, why women's health continues to be overlooked by institutions, and what women must unlearn in order to step fully into their power as leaders.

In this episode, we discuss:

• How witnessing her mother's health journey sparked a lifelong commitment to women's health, public health, and holistic healing.
• Why improving health outcomes requires more than medicine; and how social justice, equity, and community are fundamental to well-being.
• What decades of global public health work have taught her about listening to communities instead of imposing solutions.
• The ways women are still underserved by healthcare systems and why research focused specifically on women's bodies remains critically important.
• How yoga, meditation, and self-awareness have shaped her approach to leadership, advocacy, and personal resilience.
• Why women leaders must stop shrinking themselves, trust their own authority, and learn to lead from a place of confidence rather than self-doubt.

One of my favorite moments from this conversation was Farah's reminder that leadership begins with believing you belong in the room. As she shared, so many women still carry the belief that they're "not enough." Releasing that narrative and stepping into our own power may be one of the most important forms of leadership there is.

This episode is both a conversation about health and a conversation about humanity; about caring for ourselves, caring for each other, and building systems that honor the dignity and worth of every person.

• Connect with Dr. Farah Shroff on LinkedIn

Listen now and join us for a conversation about leadership, service, healing, and the power of women supporting women.