As told to Emily Kestel and Jami Milne. Portrait by Jami Milne. What strengths do women bring to the table? Their resiliency. We endure so much as women and we have to show up and get the job done with a smile on our face. What characteristics do you admire Read more…
As told to Emily Kestel and Jami Milne. Portrait by Jami Milne. What characteristics do you admire in other women? I admire women who curse, who are willing to drop the F word. And women who show up authentically. I think the words “too much” are labeled to women when Read more…
As told to Emily Kestel and Jami Milne. Portrait by Jami Milne. What characteristics do you admire in other women? I think women are really good about being honest with each other, and especially good friends, where they can tell you anything, and sometimes it’s hard to hear, but they’re Read more…
As told to Emily Kestel and Jami Milne. Portrait by Jami Milne. Who is the woman that you most admire? Harriet Tubman. She is a woman who lived love. It was love that drove her to go back to risk her life to keep moving forward. It was love that Read more…
As told to Emily Kestel Mayada Alwan is a senior at Valley High School in West Des Moines, where she is a founding member of RISE, a student club that mentors refugees and immigrants. She and her family are Sudanese, and immigrated to the United States from Lebanon. She is Read more…
By Emily Kestel, Fearless editor The Business Record’s Fearless initiative is celebrating its second birthday this year. We remain steadfast in living up to our goal of empowering Iowa women to succeed in work and life through our articles, stories and community events. At its core, Fearless aims to amplify Read more…
As told to Emily Kestel Courageous Fire is a social entrepreneur and owner of Courageous Fire LLC, a company that educates the community about domestic violence, and the founding executive director of Courageous Access, a nonprofit that provides direct services to survivors of domestic violence. The following story has been Read more…
As told to Emily Kestel Upon summiting the Vinson Massif in Antarctica on Dec. 28, 2021, Jen Loeb became the first woman from Iowa to climb the “Seven Summits,” which are the highest peaks on the seven continents. She lives near Marengo. The following story has been formatted to be Read more…
As told to Emily Kestel Denise O’Brien is an activist, organic farmer and co-founder of the Women, Food and Agriculture Network. She lives on a 17-acre farm in Cass County with her husband, Larry Harris. The following story has been formatted to be entirely in her own words, and has Read more…
As told to Emily Kestel Self-proclaimed ‘popcorneur’ Sydney Rieckhoff is the CEO of Almost Famous Popcorn, a small-batch gourmet popcorn company she started with her brother in 2012 at age 14. Now with 50 employees, the company has a factory and retail store in Cedar Rapids and a retail store Read more…