It wasn't until Helen discovered the FI/RE (Financial Independence/Retire Early) movement and learned that retirement is not an age, it's whenever you can afford, that it finally clicked for her. She wanted to create a life for herself that would allow her to retire early and have several mini retirements along the way as opposed to feeling burnt out all the time.

So Helen started blogging and created @themoneyminimalist with the goal of creating personal finance content for the people around her, especially first generation immigrants and college graduates. She has since been featured on CNBC, Bloomberg, in Fortune Magazine, and Business Insider.

In the summer of 2021, Helen left the corporate world for a gap year to travel and work on a few passion projects of hers. 

On this episode, Helen and Thamina talk about steps you should take before taking a gap year, being a content creator, and what it means to separate your identity from your work early in life once you've been stripped away prestigious job titles. 

On this episode, our host Thamina is joined by Women's Health Expert Megan Haralampou, better known as The Biomedical Naturopath. Megan's purpose in life is to help women understand their menstrual cycles, hormones, and alternatives to hormonal contraception. 

Megan criticizes the severe lack of understanding about female hormones and the risks associated with hormonal birth control such as increased risk of osteoporosis. Many of her clients in their 30s and 40s that were on the pill for an extensive period of time now have the bones of a 60-year old. And that's just one example.

Megan wants women to understand why our period is actually important as fertility is not just about making babies, it's so much more than that and it is frightening how little we know. We need better education, especially for teenage women, so they feel more empowered about their menstrual cycles to be able to make educated decisions about their own bodies - instead of experiencing shame, guilt, gaslighting, and serious health consequences because we live in a society that is built for men.

If you've ever been on hormonal birth control, are currently on it, or are considering getting on it, this episode is an absolute must-listen. Your body will thank you later!

Links to previous episodes related to women's health:

• Destigmatizing Endometriosis and Women's Reproductive Health
• Managing ADHD and Dyslexia in the Workplace
• What's Going on with Abortion Rights in the US
• My Lipedema Diagnosis and Why You Should Get Checked

Regardless of when people with ADHD or a learning disability get diagnosed, it can feel either validating or upsetting. Alex Gilbert was diagnosed early in life and while she felt privileged to be born into a family that could afford access to valuable resources, once she graduated from college, Alex had to learn the hard way that the same resources that had supported her throughout her academic career, simply didn't exist in the workforce. Alex had to learn how to advocate for herself and today, she is helping ADHD and dyslexia patients to do the same through her company Cape-Able Consulting.

Alex wants to change the perception around having learning disabilities and/or ADHD, and to empower those who have them. On this episode, Alex opens up about her own journey and shares valuable tips on how people who suffer from ADHD or dyslexia can better advocate for themselves at work.

On this episode, Thamina reflects on how she managed to pull off her internal transfer from Dublin, Ireland to New York and got visa sponsorship from her company. As we find out, her learnings are applicable to almost any professional goals one can set for themselves. 

On this episode, our host Thamina and Emily talk about navigating conversations around debt with your partner and how someone who has loans can still be smart about money while enjoying life at the same time. Emily - who supported herself through college and grad school - also explains under which circumstances it makes sense to invest while paying off debt and when it is financially smarter to solemnly focus on paying off loans first.

Check out Emily's Instagram post on “Should I invest while I’m paying my student loans”.

You can find Nerdwallet's Compound Interest Calculator that Emily was mentioning here. 

Check out Emily's book recommendation "I will teach you to be rich".

On this episode, our host Thamina - a vocal pro-choice supporter - sheds some light on this ongoing debate and shares some sound bites from the recent protests in Washington DC.

May Thamina's story serve as motivation and as an inspiration for you and all the other hardworking badass women out there. If you can dream it, you can do it! 

Listen to the episode and then, let's make sh*t happen!

If the answer is yes, then you are suffering from productivity guilt. Our host Thamina has had her fair share of feeling guilty when not being productive 24/7 and she shares a few perspective shifts that have helped her find a healthier balance.

That triggered the two friends to further explore the "Gender Grooming Gap" and challenge gender norms in our society that speaks differently to men and women about skin care and overall self-care. Shortly after, Frontman was born, the first Gen Z self-care brand for men.

On this week's episode, our host Thamina talks to Frontman Co-Founder and CEO Annelise about the importance of breaking down stigma and toxic masculinity surrounding cosmetics and how the brand is hoping to promote different concepts of masculinity. The two also address what it's like being a female Gen Z founder, trying to raise Venture Capital money and what's so special about Annelise's generation.

She's attributing her process of mentally visualizing her dreams, which then triggers her to ruthlessly execute on those goals, a lot of her success to date, including getting accepted to Harvard and most recently, being able to transfer to New York with her current employer. 

Funnily enough, Thamina didn't even realize until this year that what she was doing was goal visualization as she thought everyone around her was doing the same. Spoiler alert: That's actually not the case. 

If the answer to any of these questions is yes, then this week's episode is for you. Our host Thamina is joined by Liv Bowser, Founder and CEO of Liberate, the world's first mental fitness studio. When Liv was in college, she realized that her mind did not feel as strong as her physical body, so she started investigating how she could better train her mental muscles. 

After learning from a variety of mindfulness experts and psychologists, Liv launched the first Liberate classes in May 2020. What was originally supposed to be a brick and mortar studio, turned into a successful online business that helps its clients be more confident, resilient, courageous, grateful, and present in the moment. 

On this solo episode, she shares a few personal examples of how initial disappointments eventually turned out to be a blessing in disguise. So if you need a pep talk right now, this is the right episode for you.

Then you are in the same boat our host Thamina and her guest Julia Menheere were in just a few years ago. During her first job at the Dutch Ministry of Finance, Julia found herself living from paycheck to paycheck and eventually decided things would have to change in order to lead a life that would allow her to live more freely.

Once Julia had figured out how to make her money work for her, she started coaching personal finance in addition to her full-time job in Uber's Money Data Science Department. In April of 2021, Julia took her coaching business full-time and is teaching her clients how to be less intimidated by investing.

She particularly believes in the power of investing in Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs), which is an efficient and affordable way of holding a diversified portfolio. 

Our host Thamina knows exactly how overwhelming the pressure to perform and wanting to get from A to C as quickly as possible can be. Through lots of self-reflection over the past few months, she has come to the conclusion that it is ok to not be on top of your game all the time.

In order for our successes in life to be sustainable, it is important to give yourself some grace, especially during times of increased stress. Thamina shares a few handy tips that have really helped her to be more kind to herself while juggling a million mentally draining things at the same time.

You are not alone. As women, it sometimes feels like as if we can only lose. If we're too nice, we're not being taken seriously and if we're too assertive, we are not likable because society expects us women to be warm and empathetic but not strong.

On this week's episode, our host Thamina is joined by Hope Timberlake, Speaker, Trainer, and Coach on persuasive communication, relationship building, and overcoming obstacles to speaking up. She is particularly passionate about elevating and amplifying the voices of women and underrepresented minorities.

Thamina and Hope talk about how women can find the right balance between strength and warmth, so we stop discrediting ourselves and become more confident and courageous in our communication. 

If you're hooked, we also recommend you check out Hope's new book "Speak Up, Dammit! How to Quiet Your Fears, Polish Your Presence, and Share Your Voice".

Our host Thamina recently landed an exciting new job opportunity at her current employer and since she's also been able to generate offers for every single job she interviewed over the past 3 years, she has some strategic tips on how you can increase your chances of landing your dream role.

If this topic is relevant for you, you should also listen to our previous episode on "How to excel in your job application process".

Unfortunately, you are not alone. Fortunately, there are incredible female trailblazer who are paving the way for future generations of badass women. This week's guest is one of them. Kate Gelman is an engineer and was one of the first employees at Elon Musk's Neuralink, his company dedicated to building the world’s highest bandwidth brain-machine interface. 

On this episode, Kate shares with us what it's like to be the only woman on a team of 14 and how the the sexism she has experienced in her field has taught her how to stand up for herself. Kate believes in the importances of creating open and honest spaces where we can discuss our experiences. 

We also talk about what male allies can do to be more supportive and why having visible female role models is so crucial.

If you liked this episode, you might also enjoy listening to our previous episode "How to navigate being a woman in STEM" with guest Sammi Siegel who is a Senior Software Engineer at Duolingo.

On this episode, Thamina talks about her diagnosis and encourages every woman to get checked, preferably by a phelobologist.

1 in 10 women are believed to suffer from lipedema, a disease that is widely unknown and very frequently under- and misdiagnosed. While there is no cure for lipedema, the medical treatment that is recommended by doctors, liposuction, is rarely covered by health insurance and can cost anywhere between $10,000 and $100,000.

Thamina is sharing her story to spread awareness so more women can diagnosed early in life.

Our host Thamina is joined by Katie Belfi, Readiness & Resilience Consultant. In 2012, Katie gave up her private-sector gig as a commercial litigator and joined the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) as a Regional Counsel. She later worked in Emergency Management at NYU Langone Health and in 2018, Katie eventually founded Belfi Consulting where she is offering a fresh take on emergency preparedness & resilience for everyone from families to Fortune 500 companies.

After more than a decade of introspection and exploring different interests, Katie eventually combined her background in emergency management and wellness after initially judging herself for operating on two seemingly divergent paths. She highlights that what she now believes she was meant to do, she never could have intellectually discerned in her 20s. Her message to young female professionals: Allow yourself to experience different things and work on the relationship with yourself in the present moment!

Join Katie's "Ready for Real Challenge" in September!

On this week's episode, Thamina shares what she has learned about the importance of showing up consistently and why sometimes "done is better than perfect". If you have been considering to take that leap and either launch a podcast, start that blog, or train for a marathon, this might be the last bit of inspiration you need.

On this week's episode, we are joined by one of our beloved previous guests, Katya Gorbacheva, Personal Trainer & Founder of Total Body Lab. We talk about unsolicited comments and women's internalized misogyny, which is oftentimes the source of women feeling bad about themselves and their bodies - in addition to pop culture and social media.

Katya also emphasizes that a lot of your physical appearance depends on your genetics and the fact that beauty standards constantly change. As someone who suffers from body dysmorphia herself, she also shares some valuable exercises that can help you be more accepting of your body. 

Listen to our previous episode with Katya on how to create a workout routine that sticks.

Our host Thamina is juggling many responsibilities at the same time and suffers from severe productivity guilt. And yet she is actively prioritizing rest and sleep because she knows her body and mind can only take so much. When you know what time of the day you are most productive and what time is better invested in rest and leisure, you'll be able to work with a lot more focus and as a result, get more done.

Check out the Oura Ring Thamina was mentioning.

Check out the episode on "How to manage your time more effectively"

This week, our host Thamina is joined by Sarah Aviram, Remote Work Thought Leader and Author of "Remotivation - The Remote Worker's Ultimate Guide to Life-Changing Fulfillment". Sarah has held Human Resources and Talent Development leadership roles within Fortune 500 consumer product organizations as well as in smaller, high-growth technology companies. She has also worked remotely from 12 different countries herself, and her experiences have provided her with insights into the challenges and opportunities for professional fulfillment faced by remote workers. 

On this episode, Thamina and Sarah talk about misconceptions around remote work on both the employer and employee side and the six core "remotivators" Sarah has identified that drive your professional fulfillment.

If you are interested in learning more about the "Remote Year" Program Sarah mentioned, click here.

You can download Sarah's free Remotivation Workbook here.

That being said, it's not for everyone. 

On this week's episode, our host Thamina introduces us to her world of Tech Sales and shares with us why she believes a role in Sales at a global technology company is a great first career step for young professionals. Not only is the earning potential in this field high but Sales people also gain many invaluable insights into how business is being done. Thamina sheds some light on the most common Sales roles - such as Sales Development Representative, Account Executive, and Account Manager - and what each role is all about. If you are trying to get a foot into the door of tech or you simply haven't found your passion yet but are interested in the business side of things, Sales could be a great option for you.

When it comes to female health, women experience guilt, shame, and gaslighting every single day because we live in a society that is built for men. On this week's episode, we are joined by Lena Klein, Customer Success Manager at LinkedIn and endometriosis patient who bravely and vulnerably shares her horrific experiences with her disorder, from years of being undiagnosed to frightening challenges in her day-to-day life. Lena shares some invaluable tips for women who are facing similar health issues.

1 in 10 women suffer from endometriosis and it is one of the most common causes of infertility. We also talk about the stigma around menstruation and why we need to unlearn that and start having open conversations about the most natural parts of human life.

Our host Thamina knows exactly what it means to be a generalist who used to think that her "soft" skills weren't valuable compared to her STEM friends' math and engineering talent. It took a few years of successfully working in business at a global tech company to realize that she indeed has many valuable, transferrable skills that will serve her well throughout life.

On this episode, Thamina walks us through the benefits of being a generalist and what types of skills will be in high demand in the years to come.

This week, our host Thamina is joined by Rebekah Bastian, Founder of OwnTrail, a peer-to-peer support system platform for women, to talk about how to embrace your authentic, non-linear life path. Rebekah herself fell into her first job out of college by accident and also refers to founding OwnTrail as "accidental entrepreneurship".

Rebekah's advice to young female professionals: Take inventory on which belief systems serve you and which aren't. Embrace uncertainty while also not shying away from having difficult and vulnerable conversations with yourself and those around you.

She believes that there is no one right path but the more we own our story and choices, the more progress we make. Set-backs and facing obstacles doesn't mean we're doing life wrong, it means we are human.

Don't forget to create your own individual trail and be inspired by other badass women's vulnerability and authenticity.

On this week's solo episode Thamina shares her strategy to building a strong personal brand at work to attract new exciting opportunities and advance quickly. Spoiler alert: It all starts with nailing your core role.

Listen to our recent episode on "How to increase your visibility at work".

Join our Early Career Accelerator Beta Program. We only have 2 spots left!

On this week's episode, our host Thamina is joined by Stephanie McCullough, Founder and CEO of Sofia Financial, whose mission is to empower women to make wise financial decisions and reduce their money stress.

According to Stephanie, society's traditional understanding of retirement is outdated as more and more people want work to become optional earlier in life or take sabbaticals. Saving for modern-day retirement is therefore all about freedom creating options for oneself. However, unfortunately, many women still lack confidence when it comes to managing their money and are faced with a particular set of problems around the goal of retirement. The traditional financial services industry is ill-equipped to handle this problem.

Stephanie and Thamina highlight the fact that investing and saving is not about being perfect or knowing the answer to all financial questions. It is about getting started and aligning your money habits with your priorities in life.

Subscribe to Stephanie's Podcast "Take Back Retirement".

Our host Thamina vulnerably shares her experience with post-graduation depression and how she was struggling to adjust to post-college life. It was bumpy ride but eventually led her to founding Femme Hive to help young female professionals be more confident while navigating this challenging transition in life. 

Figuring out how to get through those situations without feeling like a nervous wreck, and how to do it successfully? On top of it all is the question of how to create a career that aligns with your purpose in life (if you know what that is). Whew. It can be daunting. But that's what Femme Hive is here for.

Links:

• Join Thamina's Early Career Accelerator Beta Program (enrollment closes on July 13th)
• Free Personal Finances 101 for Young Professionals Webinar
• Personal Finances 101 for Young Professionals Webinar

On this week's episode, we welcome Dr. Nicole Tschierske to talk about how we can increase our visibility at work to land those amazing internal opportunities.

Nicole is passionate about helping overlooked women in STEM become influential, so they can confidently unlock new opportunities for themselves, get their employers saying “we need you on this job!” and have a bigger impact. As a Scientist and Positive Psychology Coach, Nicole helps her clients strategically turn their career frustrations into a renewed love for their work.

Nicole and Thamina talk about strategic tactics to build your personal brand, self-promotion, finding sponsors and how to become more comfortable with networking.

Join our Early Career Accelerator Beta Program.

Our host Thamina has had her fair share of tough luck the first half of 2020. She was so so close to finally fulfilling her biggest dream of being able to move back to the United States through a company transfer and moving in with her cross-continental long-distance partner. Then a hiring freeze and visa ban hit and Thamina's dream burst like a soap bubble. Her mental health was really suffering.

Luckily, things got better in the second half of the year. Thamina shares how the pandemic turned out to be somewhat of a blessing in disguise due to all the important lessons she was able to take away from this past year, which resulted in an invaluable shift in priorities and mindset.

Enroll in the Early Career Accelerator Beta Program to get a 500 EUR discount. Spots are very limited. Feel free to message Thamina on Instagram with any questions you have on ECA.

Listen to the previous episode on "How to set boundaries at work" that Thamina was referencing.

Watch Thamina's FREE "Personal Finances 101 for Young Professionals" webinar and for even more value, get your copy of Thamina's "Personal Finances 101 for Young Professionals" E-book.

On this week's episode, our host Thamina is joined by Miracle Olatunji. Miracle is a student, entrepreneur, public speaker, and author of “Purpose: How To Live and Lead With Impact”. She is the founder OpportuniMe, an organization which empowers the next generation of leaders to realize their full potential and make an impact in their careers and in their community. Recently, Miracle was part of Barbie's #YouCanBeAnything #MoreRoleModels global campaign aimed at closing the dream gap and inspiring women and girls around the world.

Miracle and Thamina talk about nudging yourself out of your comfort zone to gain new skills and confidence, and how fear can lead you closer to finding your authentic voice. Miracle highlights the importance of showcasing your passions to the world and not being afraid of putting your goals out into the world while also giving yourself permission to be human.

Follow Miracle on Instagram and Twitter.

On this week's episode, our host Thamina shares some tangible tips on how to set boundaries at work and why it is so important to do so. After all, having a work life balances benefits so many aspects of your life, including your mental & physical health, your productivity & performance, your relationships as well as your overall mood & happiness. 

Despite refusing to work on weekends, taking every single of her 30 vacation days, and not working past 6:30pm, Thamina has gotten two promotions and a 60% salary increase in under two years. Because people who set boundaries gain respect because they show respect for themselves.

Check out the Femme Hive Blog and listen to our recent episode on "How to manage your time more effectively" that Thamina was referencing on this week's episode. 

When you've been in the workforce for a few years and a lot of your friends are going back to school to pursue an additional degree, you might be wondering whether you should do the same. The external pressure is real.

On this week's episode, Ada Aka, Doctoral Student in Marketing & Psychology at The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, talks about how to figure out whether pursuing a PhD is the right professional move. Ada sheds some light on the differences between the undergraduate and the graduate school experience and shares some valuable tips on how to best approach the application process. 

On this week's solo episode, our host Thamina is getting real about how she manages her time, juggling a demanding 9-5 job in tech sales and Femme Hive while also trying to have a social life, maintaining a long-distance relationship and practicing self-care.

Thamina highlights the importance of aligning your time management with your energy management and how setting boundaries has made her more successful. Most importantly, Thamina introduces us to the Eisenhower Matrix, which has become a great tool to help her prioritize based on importance and urgency. 

Make sure to check out our newly launched blog. 

And if you've been benefiting from this podcast and our free resources, please consider donating a slice of pizza to Thamina so she can keep producing more episodes.

In February 2020, Rolanda left Google to wholeheartedly pursue that fashion dream. Little did she know that a global pandemic was awaiting that would have a significant impact on the retail industry. After months of uncertainty, Rolanda finally landed her dream role: Product Marketing & Customer Strategy Manager at Rent the Runway - a true full-circle moment after she had served as an on-campus ambassador for the company while she was still in college and had always admired Co-Founder and CEO Jennifer Hyman.

On this episode, we talk about how Rolanda's passion, tenacity, and convictions allowed her to manifest her dream of working in fashion. She shares some great advice on how you can increase your own odds of lading your dream job. We also chatted about how Rent the Runway pivoted amidst the global pandemic and about Rolanda's side venture "Other Cards", which produces greeting cards that are more inclusive towards minorities and help erase stigma around topics like menstruation, abortion, and sex. 

Check out Rolanda's blog "leave a little sparkle".

Follow Rolanda on Instagram.

For the Rent the Runway discount code, use the code RTRFAM55E4DF7 at checkout.

In this week's solo episode, our host Thamina explains how a good credit score or the lack thereof can impact many aspects of our day-to-day lives, most notably interest rates on loans. Working on establishing good credit can save you tens if not hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Thamina talks about the do's and don'ts and highlights why not only Americans but also Europeans should care about their credit history. In addition to the US model, we also take a look at how credit works in the UK and Germany. 

And yet everyone around us keeps stressing the importance of having mentors. But how to find them?

This week, we are joined by Sanyin Siang, Executive Director of the Coach K Leadership & Ethics Center at Duke University's Fuqua School of Business and adjunct associate professor with Duke’s Pratt School of Engineering. Sanyin is currently ranked as the world's #1 Executive Coach by Thinkers50 and she is the author of the Launch Book. 

Sanyin is not only an incredible mentor herself but also loves debunking some common mentorship myths. On this episode, she shares advice on how to best approach potential mentors and how to be a good mentee. Sanyin strongly believes in the power of paying it forward and shares some beautiful anecdotes on how her mentees have added a lot of value to her life.

This episode also features some endearing moments as our host Thamina admits her "girl crush" on Sanyin and how she had been admiring her from afar for years. Don't miss out on  a touching exchange between the two women as Sanyin offers Thamina some incredibly kind words of encouragement.

Check out Sanyin's website here.

Text "Leadership" or "Join" to 828 237 6119 to text with Sanyin (only available in the US & Canada at the moment)

Unfortunately, accomplishments do not speak for themselves and if we women don't speak up, we risk falling behind our self-promoting male peers and missing out on job opportunities. 

On this week's solo episode, Thamina is emphasizing the importance of self-promotion at work and is running you trough an interactive exercise to help you become more comfortable talking about your achievements.

Check out the "I am Remarkable" initiative by Google.

Access our FREE Personal Finances 101 for Young Professionals Webinar on femmehive.com

This week, Thamina is talking to Lucy Milligan Wahl, Founder of LMW Edits, a professional organization company based in San Francisco. Lucy's mission is to bring common sense organizing solutions to modern urban living and has a lot of clients in their 20's who are fed up with the way they're living.

On this episode, we find out how an organized home can be the foundation of a beautiful life that prioritizes the relationships, activities, and commitments that matter to us the most. Lucy also talks about the most common mistakes people make when trying to get organized and how we can set up a great "Working from Home" workspace. 

Our host Thamina has had her fair share of bad experiences with love interests, including emotional and physical abuse. Fortunately, she has been in a very happy and successful (cross-continental long-distance) relationship over the past 2.5 years and has become her female friends' go-to person for relationship advice.

On this week's episode, Thamina tells us how to identify whether someone you are seeing is actually interested and what qualities to look for in a good partner. 

Not knowing your purpose in life can cause a lot of frustration and overwhelm to people in their 20s, for some it might even lead to an existential crisis. 

To help us get closer to finding our purpose, we are joined by Dr. Leanne Armitage this week. Leanne’s mission in life is to inspire people to be the best version of themselves. She is doing so by sharing her story of the obstacles she has overcome in order to walk in her purpose. With The Armitage Foundation, Leanne is helping to increase diversity across UK medical schools and for her incredible work she was awarded the 2018 Queen’s Young Leaders award by Her Majesty the Queen at Buckingham Palace.

On this episode, Leanne and Thamina talk about social mobility and how one traumatic childhood experience changed the trajectory of Leanne's life, allowing her to set course on becoming a doctor. 

This week our host Thamina is opening up about her motivation slump over the past couple of weeks where she even considered changing jobs - but a perspective shift helped her regain her motivation. Thamina vulnerably talks about a tough start to 2021 and shares some tips that have allowed her to get back on track. If you want to indulge in some shared misery or need a bit of a pep talk this week, hit play.

Please consider supporting us and our free content by donating a slice of pizza.

Priyanka Venkannagari joined prestigious Bain & Company as a Consultant after graduating from Duke University in 2017 but temporarily left the company after two years to pursue an externship with the Africa Healthcare Network (AHN) in Tanzania. Instead of returning to her coveted job in the United States upon completion of her externship, Priyanka decided to stay in East Africa and is now working as AHN's Senior Director of Growth and Expansion. 

In this episode we talk about Priyanka's experience as a Consultant and what motivated her to leave Bain. She walks us through her thought process when she was confronted with making a tough decision and shares some great advice for anyone who is considering taking a leap of faith.

Our Founder & Host Thamina is here to demystify the process of how to get started with investing in the stock market - explained in under 15 minutes. Spoiler alert: It's less complicated than you think it is, you just have to take the first step. Investing in stocks was absolutely crucial in order for Thamina to generate a ~70k net worth. She also explains why investing in general is the foundation for building wealth and what types of investment platforms, called brokers, are available in the US and Europe. 

Check out our free "Personal Finances 101 for Young Professionals" webinar and get your copy of the "Personal Finances 101 for Young Professionals" e-book, which goes into more depth and will help you adopt a money mindset.

DISCLAIMER: I AM NOT A REGISTERED FINANCIAL ADVISOR. I’M NOT MAKING ANY RECOMMENDATIONS ON WHAT STOCKS OR OTHER FORMS OF INVESTMENTS TO INVEST IN. ALL MY OPINIONS ARE INTENDED AS EDUCATIONAL AND REFLECT MY OWN PERSONAL RESEARCH AND EXPERIENCE. I HOLD NO RESPONSIBILITY OR LIABILITY FOR ANY ERRORS, LOSSES OR DAMAGES INCURRED AS A RESULT OF ANY INDIVIDUAL ACTIONS TAKEN BASED ON THE PROVIDED INFORMATION.

As young professionals who are at the beginning of our careers, it can be tough trying to figure out what we should do next on our quest towards a fulfilling, purpose-driven life (that also pays the bills!).

This week we are joined by Melanie Okuneye who is currently pursuing her MBA at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. Prior to joining Stanford, Melanie worked in investment banking at Goldman Sachs in London and New York City. While she never planned for a career in finance, Melanie firmly believes that not limiting your career options early on is key to sustainable long-term success. 

Ever since Melanie joined the world of finance, she has been very strategic about her next steps, including returning to school. After Stanford, Melanie would like to further build out the infrastructure around African music to empower African artists and show diverse images of Africa to the world, empowering those in the diaspora.

If you haven't already, make sure to grab your copy of the Personal Finances 101 for Young Professionals E-book. Our host Thamina also recently launched a weekly "Monday Money Talks for Womxn" room on Clubhouse, so make sure to follow her @thamina.

It certainly used to feel like that for our host Thamina. In this episode, she walks you through why it is so important to come prepared for your performance review conversations in the first place and how you can put a strategic process in place that allows you to increase your chances of receiving a higher performance review rating without feeling too overwhelmed. 

Thamina recommends a few easy steps to take 6 months, 1 month, and 1 week before your performance review self-evaluation is due, which has allowed her to move from an "achieved expectations" to an "exceeded expectations" performance rating only one review cycle later. 

You can download our FREE Performance Review Checklist here.

Don't forget to follow us on Instagram and Thamina on LinkedIn.

Jessica Zweig  is an award-winning entrepreneur, personal branding expert, the founder and CEO of SimplyBe. Agency and a soon-to-be-published author! She works with "entrepreneurs, creatives, CEOs and the companies they lead to help them grow on and offline by leveraging the most powerful marketing tool on the planet: authenticity".

As most young women in their 20s are still trying to figure out who they are and what role they want to play in this world, being brave enough to show up as unapologetically authentic can sometimes be more daunting than giving in to society's expectations. Jessica has an important message to all young women who are still struggling: "Just ride the wave. It's all good."

You can pre-order Jessica's book "Be. A No Bullsh*it Guide to Increasing Your Self Worth and Net Worth by SimplyBeing Yourself" here. It officially drops on February 16th, 2021.

If you haven't already, don't forget to grab your copy of the "Personal Finances 101 for Young Professionals" E-Book.

Growing up in Germany where leveraging your connections to advance your career is oftentimes frowned upon, Thamina experienced a true culture shock after moving to the US. If she didn't want to miss out on professional opportunities and lack behind many of her American classmates, learning how to network and become comfortable with reaching out to alumni from her school was absolutely crucial - especially as an international student who didn't have any connections to leverage in the US.

Today, Thamina credits many of her professional opportunities to building relationships with people and she believes that networking is a skill you can learn and a muscle you need to train over time.

Don't forget to grab your copy of the Personal Finances 101 for Young Professionals E-Book. Take advantage of the Early Bird Special before the price increases by 50% on February 8th, 2021.

This week, we are thrilled to welcome globally-recognized money expert and Founder of Her First $100K Tori Dunlap who has amassed an online following of close to 1,000,000 through her educational money tips and tricks. Tori and Thamina talk about the importance of financial feminism and what is keeping women from taking control of their financial future.

We also learn how Tori was able to get to that magical $100k milestone that allowed her to quit her corporate job at the end of 2019 to pursue Her First $100k full-time. In 2020, she generated more than $600,000 in revenue and went from 0 to more than 800,000 followers on TikTok.

Check out Tori's website where she has some incredible resources and join her online community of financial feminists.

Follow Femme Hive on Instagram and connect with our host Thamina on LinkedIn.

#FemmeHiveLife

In her solo episode debut, Thamina shares why she founded Femme Hive as a side hustle in addition to her demanding 9-5 job in sales at LinkedIn and how this podcast has added purpose and more meaning to her life - especially during a rather challenging year. 

She shares how her passions and past experiences have enabled her to take on the additional workload and shares tips on how you can identify a potential side hustle idea. 

If you enjoyed this solo episode, please let Thamina know that she should continue recording these. 

Check out Lena's jewelry label Cause Honey.

You can book a 1:1 LinkedIn™ Profile Consultation with Thamina here.

The Femme Hive "Personal Finance 101 for Young Professionals" webinar recording and e-book are launching on February 1st, so make sure to sign up for our newsletter on femmehive.com and follow Femme Hive on Instagram for updates on the launch (including an early bird special you don't want to miss out on!).

Cathy and Thamina - who is a former office co-lead for Women@LinkedIn - also address the topics of allyship and leadership support. 

Do you think you and other women could benefit from a women’s organization at work? If nothing already exists, creating a women’s group can be a great way to get closer to female colleagues and connect with other companies in the industry as well. Creating an organization from scratch can sound daunting, but Cathy gives tons of tips on how to get women together, organize events, and not burn out in the process.

It is not uncommon for us young, ambitious women to experience a quarter-life crisis in our 20s and question the role we are playing in this world. This week's guest has been there. Carolene Méli deferred college twice, she then left school mid-way through her studies, eventually finished her degree and is a full-time traveller who spent 10 years on tour with Cirque du Soleil.

At age 35 she is now working as an Experience Strategist helping businesses create exceptional experiences for their employees and their guests. Carolene argues that is in fact ok to not have everything in life figured out because our past experiences and skills we develop over time will create future opportunity and self-confidence. However, most of the time we aren't even aware of the plethora of skills we have garnered over the years. Carolene knows from personal experience that having a non-linear path is not only fine but probably more beneficial than a linear path.

This episode is a must-listen for everyone who feels stuck, especially the generalists among you!

Today we hear from Kat Zhou, who relocated to Stockholm, Sweden, in early 2020 to work for Spotify as a product designer. She tells her whole abroad story, from the moment she realized she actually applied to a job in Sweden, to finally feeling at home in a new country. Her transition from the US to Sweden is exciting to hear, but also very helpful to give those who are interested in moving abroad a better idea of what the process is like. Spoiler alert: Kat loves the work-life balance that Europe offers but there’s also a lot of racial inequality in Sweden. 

Additionally, we spend some time talking about Kat’s passion project , which can teach us all about the power of adding purpose to your day-to-day job.

Follow us on Instagram for more Adulting 101 hacks and stay updated on upcoming webinars and career, personal finances, and overall well-being resources that are relevant to all young badass female professionals. You can also join our new Facebook group and follow our Founder & Host Thamina on LinkedIn. You can download some free career resources on femmehive.com. 

Most people have experienced what it's like to feel like an imposter at least once in their life - in school, in college, or at work. Researchers have estimated that 70% of all people have encountered imposter syndrome at some point. And while everyone can experience it, this phenomenon is especially prevalent among women.

On this week's episode we turn to Bianca Wulwick, Digital Marketer, Military Spouse, and Host of the Please Don't Kick Me Out podcast where she is exploring "the idea that no one really feels like they belong". Bianca and Thamina talk about their own experiences with imposter syndrome and how women can better advocate for themselves by leveraging feeling like an imposter as a secret weapon for success. 

Follow us on Instagram for more Adulting 101 hacks and stay updated on upcoming webinars and career, personal finances, and overall well-being resources that are relevant to all female young professionals. You can also join our new Facebook group and follow our Founder & Host Thamina on LinkedIn.

On this week's episode, Thamina is talking to her good friend Susie Xu, Program Manager at Yext, who has always been very outspoken on matters of equality, which stems from her experience as an East Asian-American woman. Susie vulnerably shares her experiences with subversive, hurtful racism that makes her feel like a perpetual foreigner in her own country. We also explore the concept of "silence is violence", the complexity of cultures and why Susie sometimes chooses to bark at men.

Being a minority and always carrying the torch in the fight again discrimination can be exhausting, especially when intersectionality comes into play. Susie shows us how to be a true role model and call people out.

#BlackLivesMatter

On this week's episode we’re going to talk about how our roots, (traumatic) experiences, trust, and identity shape who we are and how we can build a sense of home away from home. For this rather philosophical conversation, Thamina is joined by Mary Yuan who is a recent graduate of Emory University and the Duke University Sanford School of Public Policy. 

In early 2020, Mary decided to focus her energy on writing a book by exploring the meaning of “home”. After her parents’ divorce, Mary started to realize that we all have our own definitions of home and try to understand how it shapes our identity. When her family was no longer a safe haven, Mary chose to break away and travel solo to release her grief and rediscover herself.

In her upcoming memoir "Where is Home?", which will be published later this month, Mary takes us on a journey of rebuilding a sense of belonging. 

We just launched the Femme Hive - Adulting 101 for Female Young Professionals Facebook group and you all are welcome to join. The purpose of this group is to provide a safe space for young female professionals where we can support one another through collective compassion, strength, and inspiration across the core pillars of career, personal finances, relationships, well-being, and personal development, so we can all get a step closer towards leading a fulfilling, purpose-driven life - all while smashing the patriarchy of course.

To help us uncover some happiness myths, we are joined by Stephanie Harrison, Founder & CEO of The New Happy, a company with the mission to redefine happiness. A former Deloitte consultant and Product Marketing Manager at LinkedIn, Stephanie used to listen to society’s narrative about the things that we should do in order to be happier and she was really surprised and disappointed when that didn’t work. She then went on to earn her Master’s in Positive Psychology from the University of Pennsylvania to further research the concept of happiness.

Today, Stephanie shares with us why most of us are blocking ourselves from finding true happiness by following the “Old Happy” cultural narratives and why these narratives are particularly cruel to women. Stephanie believes that if we as a society shifted our mindsets towards the scientifically proven “New Happy" approach, we would be able to create a world of equality, justice, safety, and joy where everyone would be much happier.

You can subscribe to The New Happy Podcast here and sign up for Stephanie’s weekly newsletter on The New Happy website.

Follow Femme Hive on Instagram and LinkedIn for more female empowerment and young professional content. You can follow our Founder & Host Thamina on LinkedIn as well to follow her journey as a young professional working at LinkedIn. 

As Founder of the "Asians in Sales" Community at LinkedIn and former Women@LinkedIn Co-Lead, Davidson and Thamina are both very passionate about Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging. On this episode, they talk about the Black Lives Matter movement, their role as allies to the Black community, and what it means to have a growth mindset. Thamina also spends some time talking about her upbringing in Germany and some cultural differences between Americans and Europeans.

#BlackLivesMatter

On today’s episode we turn to Mackenzie Drazan, Founder of the mental health non-profit TEAM and CEO & Founder of the startup MiResource. After losing her sister to suicide freshman year of university, Mackenzie has dedicated her life to defeating the stigma surrounding mental illness and increasing access to mental health care. 

We talk about how mental health awareness is gaining some momentum during this global pandemic and how someone with mental health problems can involve their loved ones in their healing process. Mackenzie and Thamina also vulnerably share their own experiences with PTSD and anxiety attacks.

If you are on the fence about whether you should seek professional help, Mackenzie provides some helpful pointers and tips on how to take better care of yourself.

Trigger warning: This episode contains information about depression, anxiety and suicide which may be triggering to survivors and loved ones.

Link to Mental Health America online screening. 

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Loretta Falcone is the living and breathing testament that we actually do not have to have everything figured out. Loretta is a NASA scientist and is currently planning NASA's first robotic mission to the moon (casual!). She was also part of the team that discovered the correct rotation of the planet Uranus, which baffled the scientific community at the time. From working for NASA to being a former ballerina, living in Italy, being a full-time mom, and TEDx speaker, Loretta has been reinventing herself over and over again throughout her life.

On this episode, we explore the importance of humility, vulnerability, and believing in yourself. Loretta shares how she helped doctors identify the rare disease of her son and how she was able to overcome her fear of space. One of the biggest take-aways: Let go of your ego!

Make sure to listen to Loretta's TEDx talk at Berkeley. 

Follow Femme Hive on Instagram and LinkedIn. You can connect with our founder and host Thamina on LinkedIn.

Download your FREE Femme Hive Performance Review Checklist.

This week, we are talking to Career Strategist Lizzie Jones. Lizzie is the the Founder of “Hey Lizzie Ann”, a career consultancy for early-in-career tech professionals. As a former recruiter at Amazon and Expedia, Lizzie knows exactly how you should approach your job search and how you can increase your chances of landing your dream job.

On this episode we address the network gap many first-generation college graduates and immigrants are confronted with when searching for jobs. Lizzie and Thamina also talk about common misconceptions job candidates have about the job of a recruiter. Did you know that the relationship between an applicant and a recruiter is actually a mutually beneficial partnership? Additionally, Lizzie gives some helpful insights to encourage women to become more confident about applying in the first place and negotiate their salary.  Lastly, she provides some great examples of how college students and recent grads can significantly improve their resumes. 

One of our listeners has the chance to win a FREE 30-minute career coaching session with Lizzie. In order to enter the contest, leave a review for Femme Hive on Apple Podcasts and send us a screenshot of your review on Instagram.

You can connect with our Founder and Host Thamina on LinkedIn.

For this week's episode we brought back Financial Coach and Founder of Common Wealth Coaching, Lesley Chen-Young (now Ihionkhan because Lesley got married whoop whoop), for another insightful conversation on personal finance. Once you have the basics of how to manage your money down, that's when the real fun begins and you can start dreaming big.

Lesley and Thamina are talking about aligning your financial goals with your personal values, the FIRE (Financial Independence, Retire Early) movement and whether real estate is a feasible investment option for young adults in their 20s. Additionally, we are addressing the super scary biological reality of women having to think about the financial implications of starting a family one day sooner rather than later. Thamina and Lesley also share some tips on how to live below your means and live off only 60-70% of your salary. 

Update: Common Wealth Coaching has a new website, which you can check out here. Make sure to also subscribe to Lesley's podcast Seeds where she tackles common money challenges in 20 minutes.

For more female empowerment content, follow Femme Hive on Instagram, LinkedIn, and TikTok. You can also follow our host Thamina on LinkedIn.

If the answer is yes to any of these questions, you cannot miss out on this week's episode with the Founder and CEO of Foodpunk, Marina Lommel. With the help of data and science, the award-winning German startup Foodpunk is creating the future of nutrition. The company's founder, Marina, who was recognized as one of the Top 100 Founders across Germany, Austria and Switzerland and who is also the author of four books on low-carb and keto diet, is providing some really interesting and very genuine insights on how to start your own company and what scaling a startup looks like. Marina also shares how she grew into the role of CEO and her big plans for Foodpunk's future.

You can connect with Marina and Foodpunk on Instagram. Make sure to also follow Femme Hive on Instagram for a chance to win some prizes. You can follow our Founder and Host Thamina on LinkedIn.

Sammi Siegel has been interested in gender equality efficacy for many years. In 2012, when she was still in high school, she co-created a petition to have a woman moderate the presidential debates, which garnered over 180,000 signatures! Today she speaks about her role as a software engineer working at Duolingo, and gives insight on how to handle microaggressions in the office and push past gender stereotypes and discrimination.

For more female empowerment & career content, follow Femme Hive on Instagram and LinkedIn. You can follow our host Thamina on LinkedIn as well.

Aishu Nag, a young professional working at a health services and innovation company in Washington D.C, joins us to talk about the end of her long-term relationship. She very vulnerably shares how she got through the initial blow and the tough following months, all while adjusting to a new city. Aishu describes how she turned her healing process into a journey of self-discovery and personal growth. Whether you have just broken up with someone or are happily single, Aishu’s advice can be useful for anyone grappling with grief and disappointment of any kind.

For more female empowerment & career content, follow Femme Hive on Instagram and LinkedIn. You can follow our host Thamina on LinkedIn as well.

So how do you put yourself in a position to be noticed by recruiters and hiring managers? How do you overcome your fear of networking with more senior people? How do you proactively seek out opportunities for personal development?

To answer those questions, we turn to Basant Shenouda. Basant is an incoming Global Sales Associate at LinkedIn and the Founder of #basantblast, her online identity, career, and personal branding consulting service. Basant's online content has taught millions the value of personal branding through content creation and storytelling since she was 21. By vulnerably sharing how she has overcome being rejected by dream companies such as Google, Salesforce and LinkedIn, Basant has gained 7 million views online and spoken in China, Nigeria, the United States and Germany on how to make your career dreams a reality.

Femme Hive listeners get 10% off Basant's Career Coaching Services. Request a session here.

For more female empowerment & career content, follow Femme Hive on Instagram and LinkedIn. You can follow our host Thamina on LinkedIn as well.

Finding the motivation to get up early or drag yourself to the gym after work can be tough, especially when you have a demanding job. We have all been there.

Today, Katya Gorbacheva joins our conversation on finding the perfect workout routine for you. Using her experience as Civil Engineer turned Certified Personal Trainer, Bodybuilder and Founder of TotalBodyLab, Katya addresses the stigma that is associated with women doing weight training, particularly the fear of becoming bulky and unattractive. She also shares some practical tips on how to trick your mind into working out. Throw out everything you thought you knew about what makes a good workout plan, because chances are your perceptions of health have been distorted by social media.

For some inspirational women empowerment content and adulting tips, follow Femme Hive on Instagram and LinkedIn.

Lena Klein, Australian-German Blogger and Tech Sales Professional based in Dublin, explains just how important positivity and self-love are to staying healthy and happy. She discusses how to bounce back from tough personal situations, and how to make time for yourself without feeling guilty about it — productivity isn’t the be-all and end-all of life! Using her own experiences as examples, Lena proves that a positive mindset is more powerful in changing your life than most people think. 

Trigger Warning: This episode contains information about child abuse which may be triggering to survivors.

Follow Femme Hive on Instagram and LinkedIn. 

In early 2019, Safiya Driskell started her blog “Slice of Safiya” while working full-time in the digital marketing space. Today she is an Account Manager at Snap Inc. in Los Angeles, has gained a loyal following and has secured partnerships with companies like Neutrogena while writing about beauty, fashion and culture. On this episode, Safiya talks about her journey, why it is so important to support Black content creators and she gives some valuable tips on how to balance a full-time career with a meaningful and successful side hustle. 

To help us learn more about mindfulness, we turn to Yvette Pelgrom. Yvette has lived in different countries across Asia, Africa, and Europe, and now works for the personal growth platform Mind Valley in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. As Head of Premium Coaching and External Opportunities, Yvette always keeps an open mind to new personal growth and self-care techniques that help keep people present and grateful, especially during times like these.

Elizabeth Kim discusses her journey as a woman of color, from her childhood growing up as a minority in the evangelical Bible belt, to her current job working as behavioral scientist at Spotify. She describes her experiences with discrimination and  explains how to handle micro-aggressions in the office.

Cue Henny Vogt, a badass woman working in sales at LinkedIn. Henny has kept in touch with friends from all over the world and has a lot of tips to share. From childhood friends back home in Germany, to college friends in the US and coworkers in Ireland, Henny understands the struggle of long-distance friendships and knows how to make them work. More importantly, she knows which friendships are worth the effort.

Today Eden Ashebir, Senior Digital Strategist at Anne Lewis Strategies in DC, discusses salary negotiations in a candid and straightforward way. She speaks about her experience as a Black female professional, and how important it is to be proactive in regards to your salary. 

If you would like a chance to win a 1:1 conversation with Eden, follow these steps:

1. Leave us a positive review on Apple Podcasts
2. Follow Femme Hive on Instagram and re-share our "New Episode" graphic on your Instagram story (don't forget to tag us, so we can see it!)
3. Comment on the "New Episode" post how you would benefit from having a conversation with our guest
4. DM us a screenshot of the review you left on Apple Podcasts (if you have a private IG account, then also share a screenshot of your IG Story re-share)

We will choose a winner before the release of the next episode!

#FemmeHiveLife

Sound too good to be true? Today we talk to someone who can speak on how personal branding can transform your career. After writing an article on landing her dream job that exploded on LinkedIn, Michaela Alexis has become one of the most in-demand speakers for the networking platform. With dozens of articles receiving millions of reads, featured on the likes of CNBC, BuzzFeed, Success.com, Inc., and more, Michaela has garnered millions of views and over 130K followers on her personal brand. Today, she explains just how important personal branding is and where to start if you have absolutely no clue where to begin.

Femme Hive listeners are in for a treat! FREE access to Michaela's LinkedIn profile optimization course that's usually $79. Use the code FEMMEHIVE at checkout to gain access!

#FemmeHiveLife

A few highlights:

"We have such high expectations of ourselves, especially after this joyous situation of graduating from a great school and having this diploma that we worked so hard on, that it really feels shameful to not to have as great of a story for a sequel. […] It just feels inadequate to complain about such a privilege that we have had."

"How do you put language to it? How do you say you’re lost when it doesn’t seem like you’re lost. On paper everything looks good. When we see ourselves from the outside, everything looks great. And it’s inexplicable how it feels very different on the inside and we almost prevent ourselves from putting words to that state."

Make sure to follow us on Instagram and LinkedIn to become part of the Femme Hive community.

#FemmeHiveLife

Some highlights:

“These first months can be a little bit painful and sad at times because you feel like ‘When am I going to get to that point of having those deep, meaningful relationships?' but it just requires time and investment and sharing experiences and sharing who you are and treating people the way you want to be treated as a friend and then those relationships will turn into more.”

“I kind of went naively into my life in San Francisco expecting to build a social life that mirrored the one I had in college. In college I was so used to being able to maintain dozens of friendships, being in all sorts of groups [...] but the fact of the matter is that working a full-time job, trying to live in a new city, doing all the things that adulthood requires that leaves you with less time for friendships than in college. As a result you can’t maintain as many high-quality relationships.”

If you would like a chance to win a 1:1 conversation with Whitney, follow these steps:

1. Leave us a positive review on Apple Podcasts
2. Follow Femme Hive on Instagram and re-share our "New Episode Alert" graphic on your Instagram story (don't forget to tag us, so we can see it!)
3. Comment on the "New Episode Alert" post how you would benefit from having a conversation with our guest
4. DM us a screenshot of the review you left on Apple Podcasts (if you have a private IG account, then also share a screenshot of your IG Story re-share)

We will choose a winner before the release of the next episode!

#FemmeHiveLife

Some highlights:

"When we talk to our girlfriends, and our partners, and our families about our romantic lives and our careers and health and everything, for some reason I just think that our financial health and financial well-being has been largely excluded from those conversations."

"Women are really encouraged to spend. It’s quite astonishing actually. The idea of retail therapy, every girl or woman knows about it. The idea of spending correlated to feeling happy is something that is particularly targeted at women. For that reason we have a lot of confidence and know-how of how to spend but when it comes to how to invest or how to budget, or how to invest in ourselves in our career, that’s where women start to feel less confident."

If you would like a chance to win a 1:1 conversation with Lesley, follow these steps:

1. Leave us a positive review on Apple Podcasts
2. Follow Femme Hive on Instagram and re-share our "New Episode Alert" graphic on your Instagram story (don't forget to tag us, so we can see it!)
3. Comment on the "New Episode Alert" post how you would benefit from having a conversation with our guest
4. DM us a screenshot of the review you left on Apple Podcasts (if you have a private IG account, then also share a screenshot of your IG Story re-share)

We will choose a winner before the release of the next episode!

#FemmeHiveLife