Tell us about a time you were fearless. After much soul-searching in 2020, I took action toward pivoting from a stable career as an engineer to working for an entrepreneur to grow her professional coaching business. It was a huge Read more…
As told to Emily Kestel Teresa Zilk is a mental health advocate and the founder of Stories To Tell My Daughter, which is a storytelling experience dedicated to centering the voices and experiences of Black women and other women of Read more…
As told to Emily Kestel Mary Kramer made history as the first woman to be independently elected as the president of the Iowa Senate in 1997. In 2003, she was sworn in as ambassador to Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean, Read more…
As told to Emily Kestel Dalia Kyi is the founder and owner of Unuhe, an interpreting business that specializes in Karen, Karenni, Burmese and Chin languages. She was born in Myanmar (Burma) and moved with her family to the Mae Read more…
As told to Emily Kestel Jo Allen is a nonbinary entrepreneur who started their photography business, Jovisuals, primarily as a way to help LGBTQ people feel valued, empowered and visible. In 2016, they were diagnosed with stage 4 non-Hodgkin’s Burkitt Read more…
As told to Emily Kestel Maria Gonzalez-Alvarez is a disaster case manager for the tornado and derecho programs at Mid-Iowa Community Action in Marshalltown. She is the co-founder and co-organizer of Immigrant Allies, which is a resource organization that helps Read more…
One year ago we launched Fearless. Ahead of the launch, we spent months planning what was years’ worth of ideas about how we could work toward our goal of empowering Iowa women to succeed in work and life. This platform Read more…
By Emily Kestel Last year, to launch the Fearless initiative, we introduced you to 12 fearless Iowa women. Together, they were courageous, honest, confident, persistent, brave, purposeful, daring, resilient, authentic, unselfish, passionate and persistent. The six people we talked to Read more…
As told to Emily Kestel Suzan Erem is an organizer and writer. In 2015, she co-founded the Sustainable Iowa Land Trust, which is a nonprofit dedicated to protecting land to grow healthy food. She continues to serve as its executive Read more…
By Brittany Heard, lead adviser, Foster Group In my role as a financial adviser, I get to meet with a variety of people from different stages of life who have different experiences with money. Some women I meet are very Read more…