Positively Gotham Gal

Alison Roman is a chef, cookbook author, and youtube personality. Her career has spanned across various areas of the food industry at large, from the kitchens of high-end restaurants to food magazines. Known for her accessible writing style and her warm approach to cooking, Alison has empowered many of her readers to become home chefs. We talked about her journey finding her voice through the food world, and lessons learned along the way.

Arianna Simpson is a partner at Andreessen Horowitz where she helms the largest crypto fund in the world at just 30yo. Her career has spanned across the various areas of tech, from early-stage startups to Facebook, before discovering her passion for investing. She developed a strong interest in crypto early on and founded Autonomous Partner, an investment fund focused on crypto and digital, assets in 2017. We talked about changes and opportunities in the crypto landscapes, and her experience as a woman in the crypto world.

Varsha Rao is the CEO of NURX, the leading female-focused telehealth platform disrupting the healthcare industry in the US. We talked about the unique entrepreneurial experience that led her to healthcare, lessons learned amongst the way, and taking over a telehealth company amidst a pandemic.

Charmine Davis is the director of behavioral health services at the Jenesse Center, an institution that supports victims of domestic violence, and the founder of the social impact app Just Us App. Charmine's career as a therapist with over 25 years of experience servicing families of Southern California motivated her to start Just Us, a smartphone app that aims to prevent police brutality, by equipping young drivers with a voice-activated system to assist them when interacting with the police. We talked about her journey with Just Us, and her experience doing social work amidst a pandemic.

Myra Laldin is the founder of VR Perspectives, and a pioneer in harnessing the potential of VR storytelling in diversity and inclusion training. We got together to discuss how she combines her background in business and behavioral science to improve strategic business performance through XR. To learn more about VR Perspectives, you can visit the website at http://vrperspectives.com/ Our next guest on PGG will be Charmine Davis, the director of behavioral health services at the Jenesse Center for victims of domestic abuse, and the founder of Just US app, a social impact app that aims to prevent police brutality.

Francesca Donner is the New York Times gender director, and the editor of In Her Words, a 3x weekly column that examines women’s issues globally. We got together to discuss women’s position in the workforce and the labor market amidst covid. To hear more from Francesca, read the NYT column In Her Words at https://www.nytimes.com/series/in-her-words Our next guest on PGG will be Mira Laldin, the founder of VR Perspectives, and a pioneer in the use of VR storytelling in diversity and inclusion training.

Carli Lalli Music is a chef, cookbook author, and youtube personality. We got together to discuss her constantly evolving career in the food industry, from foodservice to teaching, food writing, youtube influencing, and finally cookbook author.

Andrea Schneider is an academic, driven negotiator, and the head of the Institute For Women's Leadership at Marquette University. She has dedicated her life to making the ADR fields more attractive, approachable, and inclusive. We got together to discuss Andrea's work with IWL in advancing women’s leadership on a local and global level.

Cindy Spiegel and Julie Grau are the founders and CEOs behind the new independent publishing house Spiegel & Grau. We got together over zoom to discuss their entrepreneurial journey, the challenges of creating an independent publishing house in the pandemic age, and the release of their first title, Fox and I: An Uncommon Friendship.

Malene Barnett is an artist, activist, and the founder of Black Artists + Designers Guild, a global platform and curated collective of independent black artists, makes and designers. We got together over zoom to talk about her entrepreneurial journey, inclusion in the design field.

Joan Fallon is a doctor, an academic, and the entrepreneur behind Curemark, a biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of novel therapies to treat serious neurological diseases for which there are no or limited treatment options. We got together over zoom to discuss her unusual take on medicine and her path to entrepreneurship.

Alexandra Fenneli & Mia Abbruzzese are the founders and co-CEOs of the new direct-to-consumer company Attn: Grace, which focuses on intimate products for aging women. We got together over zoom to discuss their entrepreneurial journey, and the challenges of creating a personal care brand and disrupting the incontinence segment.

Jing Gao is the founder of Fly By Jing, a line of Chinese spice and condiments inspired by her hometown of Chengdu. We got together over zoom to discuss her entrepreneurial journey, and the challenges of creating a high-quality, modern, female-led Chinese food brand.

Lisa Switkin is a multidisciplinary architect working in urban planning and landscape architecture, and the Senior Principal at Field Operations. We got together over zoom to discuss her journey towards a practice focused on creating forward-thinking public spaces, and the renewed importance of landscape architecture during covid.

Whitney Donhauser is the president of the Museum of the City of New York. We got together over zoom to discuss how she is changing and rethinking the role of cultural institutions to be more inclusive and accessible, and the challenges that cultural institutions have faced during the pandemic.

Robin Hauser is an award-winning documentary filmmaker. We got together over zoom to discuss her career, and upcoming $avvy, a documentary that explores financial literacy within women.

Sara Irvani is the CEO of the family-owned and operated shoe company Okabashi. We got together over zoom to highlight the changes that Sara is bringing to the family business and the challenges of expanding a sustainable made-in-America company during a pandemic.

Francis Bronet is an architect, interdisciplinary artist, and, most importantly, driven educator who currently serves as the president of Pratt Institute. We got together over zoom to discuss the future of liberal arts education and innovation in learning models.

Shanna Tellerman is the founder and CEO of Modsy, a design service that provides high-quality solutions to the pain points of home design. We got together over zoom, to discuss Shanna's entrepreneurial journey and the future of work in a post covid world.

Hadiya Masieh is the founder and director of the Groundswell Project, a non-profit that fights against extremism and promotes community building. We got together over zoom to discuss her experience of 22 years in the field, and the unique methodologies she is pioneering with Groundswell.