Mompreneurs Making Moves

What if motherhood isn’t a career detour—but your greatest leadership advantage?
In this episode, we sit down with leadership experts Samantha and Annette—corporate veterans, board advisors, and champions for women rising into executive roles—to unpack what it really takes to step into the C-suite and beyond. From navigating visibility gaps to building influence without burning out, they’re on a mission to demystify the path to the boardroom for women—especially moms balancing ambition with real life.
We dive into how leadership is evolving, why moms are uniquely equipped to lead, and the strategic moves women need to make today to access opportunities traditionally kept behind closed doors. If you’ve ever wondered “Could I actually go bigger?”—this conversation will show you how.

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In this episode, Alexa Starks shares her journey of rebranding her platform to focus on systemic change for working mothers, emphasizing data-driven advocacy and community support. She discusses the realities of motherhood, redefining success, and practical strategies for managing ambition and burnout.
 

When life handed her chaos, Rachel built a company. As a newly single mom of toddlers with zero safety net, she transformed necessity into a thriving, sustainable business — and learned the secrets to scaling without burning out. In this episode, we dive deep into what it really takes to step out of “hobby mode” and into your power as a CEO. Rachel shares hard-earned lessons on leading with strategy (not emotion), investing in yourself like a real asset, embracing risk, and rejecting busywork disguised as productivity. Whether you’re trying to grow profit, reclaim time, or finally see yourself as the CEO your business needs, Rachel’s story is the empowering blueprint mompreneurs everywhere need right now.
 
Connect with Rachel
https://www.linkedin.com/in/coachrachelleigh/

When Jiemi Gao became a mother in March 2020 — the exact week the world shut down — the high-performing Fortune 500 consultant she'd spent a decade building herself into collided head-on with the overwhelmed, identity-shaken new mom she suddenly was. That collision had a name she didn't know yet: matrescence. After burnout, a second baby, and the slow realization that millions of women were quietly drowning in the same "having it all" myth, Jiemi walked away from corporate strategy work to solve the problem herself. She founded Nori — not another app to scroll, but an actual support network with 1:1 mentoring, peer groups, and real community for moms who are tired of pretending they're fine. In this episode, Jiemi unpacks the identity crash no one warns you about, why she's building "anti-social-media" community on purpose, what it's really like bootstrapping as a solo, non-technical founder, and how she's turning empathy into an actual business model.

Hey friends — Amariah here! This week on Mompreneurs Making Moves, I had the honor of sitting down with Brittneye Williams, a recording artist and the owner of the label and podcast Artists Manifesto.
For ten years, Brittneye was told she couldn't conceive. Then came the miracle birth of her twin daughters — and with it, an unexpected rebirth of her music, her art, and her voice. Her song "Let Loose" has since become an anthem for millennial moms around the world who are reclaiming their identity beyond motherhood.
In our conversation, Brittneye opened up about the emotional whiplash of infertility to miracle twins, what it really means to rediscover yourself after kids, and how she protects space for creativity while being a mom, a wife, and an artist. If you've ever felt like motherhood put your dreams on pause, this one will remind you they were never gone — just waiting.
Tune in to the full episode now on your favorite podcast platform — and don't forget to share it with another mompreneur who needs to hear her dreams aren't over, they're just getting started.
Connect with Brittneye: https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/brittneye/the-pisces-2/

Hey friends — Amariah here! This week on Mompreneurs Making Moves, I sat down with Jenny Suneson, founder of Moms Make Money Collective, where she teaches moms how to build profitable service-based businesses in 20 hours or less.
Jenny's approach skips the burnout playbook entirely — no big teams, no social media dependency, no grinding for likes. Instead, she helps moms grow their businesses quietly, strategically, and on their own timeline using podcasting as a core visibility strategy.
In our conversation, we talked about what it really looks like to build "momentum in the margins" — growing a business during nap time, school pickup windows, and every other fragmented pocket of a mom's day — and why sustainable growth often looks nothing like what social media tells us success should look like.
Tune in to the full episode now on your favorite podcast platform — and share it with a mompreneur who needs to hear that 20 hours a week is enough.
Connect with Jenny: momsmakemoneycollective.com | https://www.instagram.com/jenny.suneson/

Hey friends — Amariah here! This week on Mompreneurs Making Moves, I sat down with Rhea Lana Riner, CEO and Founder of Rhea Lana's Children's Consignment Events, a national franchise with 120 locations across 26 states.
What started as a simple clothing swap in Rhea Lana's living room in 1997 has grown into a multi-million-dollar company — all while keeping motherhood, family, and community at its core. Rhea Lana has spent decades mentoring thousands of women into entrepreneurship, helping them grow personally, professionally, and spiritually along the way.
In our conversation, Rhea Lana shared the moment that turned a living room gathering into a scalable business, what she's learned about navigating different seasons of motherhood without losing herself, and what "success" really means to her after 35 years of marriage, three grown kids, and five grandchildren. This episode is a heartfelt roadmap for any woman ready to grow boldly into her next chapter.
Tune in to the full episode now on your favorite podcast platform — and share it with a mompreneur who's ready to step into her next season with courage.
Connect with Rhea Lana: rhealana.com/podcast | IG @rhealanas | https://www.facebook.com/rhealana.riner | https://www.linkedin.com/in/rhea-lana-riner-84874035/

Hey friends — Amariah here! This week on Mompreneurs Making Moves, I sat down with Ashley Gross, a Wiley published author, AI strategist, and the founder of AI Workforce Alliance and AI Workforce Academy.
Ashley built a $115 million pipeline before AI was even a buzzword, and now she helps executives lead, build, and think with AI — all while raising a little human of her own. When maternity leave wasn't an option for her, she didn't push through the burnout. She automated her way out of it.
In our conversation, we got into how AI is already embedded in tools you're using every single day — Gmail, Outlook, Google — and how to start using it strategically without becoming a "tech person" overnight. Ashley shared her top three practical ways to reclaim your time, how to know which tasks are safe to hand off to AI (and which ones absolutely aren't), and why your expertise is still the most irreplaceable thing in your business.
If you've ever felt buried under busy work or overwhelmed by the AI hype, this episode is your permission to stop overthinking it and start using what's already at your fingertips.
Tune in to the full episode now on your favorite podcast platform — and share it with a mompreneur who needs to reclaim her time today.
Connect with Ashley: theashleygross.com | https://www.linkedin.com/in/theashleygross/

Sometimes, the best marketing doesn’t come from perfection — it comes from chaos, humor, and truth. In this episode, we talk with Amanda, self-proclaimed “awkward mom of three” and founder of Chaos Coordination, about how she built a heart-led business through the power of copywriting that connects. She opens up about finding her voice amid motherhood mayhem, balancing creativity and strategy, and why “awkward” can actually be your best brand asset. We’ll unpack her process for writing content that feels deeply human, converts authentically, and helps mompreneurs turn their stories into impactful brands. 
 
Connect with Amanda: www.chaoscoordinationllc.com, http://instagram.com/chaoscoordinationllc, https://www.linkedin.com/in/amanda-courtney-russell/, https://www.threads.com/@chaoscoordinationllc

What if productivity wasn’t about doing more, but about doing what matters? In this episode, we sit down with Melissa Cruz—mom, real estate broker, business coach, and founder of Iris Bloom Coaching—to unpack the revolutionary idea of designing your dream business around your life, not the other way around. Melissa dives into how she helps women entrepreneurs create 4-hour workdays filled with intention, structure, and purpose. You’ll hear real-life strategies for using your calendar as a tool for freedom, not a prison, plus the mindset shifts that allow ambition and motherhood to thrive side by side. If you’ve been craving more space, less overwhelm, and a way to scale sustainably, this conversation will be your permission slip.
 
Connect with Melissa:
https://www.facebook.com/cruzm19/#10240910582484830, https://www.instagram.com/irisbloomcoaching/, https://irisbloomcoaching.com/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/irisbloomcoaching/, https://www.youtube.com/@irisbloomcoaching