Podcast
She Built It® Podcast
Hosted by Melanie Barr · EN
Welcome to the She Built It® podcast. Join me as I talk to women who have successfully built it - a life and business that they love. We dive into the topic of “how” they built it and talk about everything from having the courage to make career leaps to the details of how to lead effectively, build teams, implement growth strategies, and infuse tech innovation. Magic happens when we focus on the part of ourselves and our business that brings us joy so let’s dive in.
40episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
She Watched Patients Struggle With Flossing for Years. Then She Built the Fix.
1w ago00:16:35Tap to summarizeOn She Built It®, Brynn MacLennan, product designer, mother of five, and co-founder of Slate, shares how co-managing a dental practice revealed something that couldn’t be unseen: even wealthy, educated patients weren’t flossing. Not because they didn’t care about their health, but because flossing was broken.Brynn shares how she turned that insight into a patented 3-in-1 electric flosser now sold in 870 Target stores, what it took to hit $1M in year one, and the marketing strategies that actually moved the needle, including why dental professional influencers outperform lifestyle influencers for Slate every time. She also talks about the leadership evolution of letting go, the books that changed how she builds her team, and why she thinks founders need to talk more openly about failure. This conversation is for any founder who started with a problem no one else thought was big enough, and turned out to be right.Connect with us:Slate Flosser WebsiteSlate Flosser LinkedInSlate Flosser InstagramBrynn MacLennan LinkedInBrynn MacLennan InstagramThe Day I Realized Oral Health Wasn’t Just About Teeth | Brynn MacLennan | TEDxSpokaneWork with She Built It® Media She Built It® Instagram She Built It® CEO, Melanie Barr InstagramMelanie Barr LinkedInShe Built It® LinkedInEpisode resources:OuterSignal — Know Every CustomerClaude AIMultipliers, Revised and Updated: How the Best Leaders Make Everyone Smarter by Liz WisemanWho Not How: The Formula to Achieve Bigger Goals Through Accelerating Teamwork by Dan Sullivan
Transcribe →The Fashion Brand Built on Comfort, Community, and a Very Clear Point of View
2w ago00:25:41Tap to summarizeOn She Built It®, Lauren Dudley Stephens, co-founder and CEO of Dudley Stephens, shares the origin story behind one of the most beloved family-owned fashion brands in the lifestyle space. What started as her mother's frustration with finding stylish, washable fleece that could go from boat to dinner became a 10-year brand built entirely on family funding, community, and the belief that women should never have to choose between looking chic and feeling comfortable. Lauren talks about how she grew Dudley Stephens through the early days of Instagram influencer culture, how AI is changing what's possible for small fashion brands, why going viral doesn't always translate to sales, and what leading a team for the first time really taught her about herself. This conversation is warm, honest, and full of the kind of real talk you only get from a founder who is still in it, every single day. Connect with us:Dudley Stephens WebsiteDudley Stephens LinkedInDudley Stephens InstagramLauren Dudley Stephens LinkedInLauren Dudley Stephens InstagramTwo Sisters in Business PodcastConfessions of a Type B Founder SubstackWork with She Built It® Media She Built It® Instagram She Built It® CEO, Melanie Barr InstagramMelanie Barr LinkedInShe Built It® LinkedIn
Transcribe →Why Women’s Healthcare Is Still Broken, and How Lori Casselman Is Building the Platform to Fix It
3w ago00:14:58Tap to summarizeOn She Built It®, Lori Casselman, a 20-year healthcare executive turned founder, shares what it took to build June Health, Canada’s first virtual clinic providing complete care across every stage of women’s health.Lori talks about the opportunity she sees for AI to close the gender health equity gap, the leadership lessons that come with scaling a startup in healthcare, and the culture principles she fiercely protects inside a fully virtual team. She’s candid about the hardest parts of building, including the moment you realize a team member who helped you get here may not be the right person to get you to the next stage, and honest about what keeps her grounded through the pressure of a very big mission. This conversation is for any founder building something that matters at the intersection of people, technology, and purpose.Connect with us:June Health WebsiteJune Health LinkedInJune Health InstagramLori Casselman LinkedInWork with She Built It® Media She Built It® Instagram She Built It® CEO, Melanie Barr InstagramMelanie Barr LinkedInShe Built It® LinkedIn
Transcribe →Aviva Founder Amy Briggs on AI, Parenting, and Solving the Mental Load
Jul 700:26:22Tap to summarizeOn She Built It®, Amy Briggs, a pediatric speech and language pathologist turned tech founder, shares how a clinical career spent supporting families revealed an invisible problem: the mental load of modern parenthood. That insight became Aviva, an AI-powered app that takes over family scheduling logistics so parents can put the phone down and actually be present.Amy walks through why she chose scheduling as her starting vertical, how she built a tool people trusted enough to hand over their inboxes and calendars, the bootstrapped and disciplined way she's grown Aviva through word of mouth, and how she protects her own presence and joy while building a company from scratch.This conversation is for any founder building from lived experience, and for any parent who has ever felt like the only person holding the family calendar together.Connect with us:Aviva WebsiteAviva LinkedInAviva InstagramAmy Briggs LinkedInAviva: The Family Calendar AI - Google Play StoreAviva: The Family Calendar AI - App Store for iPhoneWork with She Built It® Media She Built It® Instagram She Built It® CEO, Melanie Barr InstagramMelanie Barr LinkedInShe Built It® LinkedIn
Transcribe →What a Mohs Surgeon Learned in the OR That Led Her to Build a Skincare Brand for Teens
Jun 3000:20:22Tap to summarizeOn She Built It®, Dr. Angela Casey, double board-certified dermatologist, micrographic surgeon, residency program director, and founder of Bright Girl Skincare, shares why the patients she operates on every day inspired her to build a consumer brand for teens.After years of treating skin cancers that could have been prevented with early habits, Dr. Casey created Bright Girl: a clinically tested, clean skincare line designed to build consistent daily routines in teens and tweens. She walks through the three-year R&D process, how she bootstrapped without outside capital, the challenges of marketing a brand she believed in, and how she balances being a surgeon, professor, mom of three daughters, and founder. This conversation is a masterclass in building with purpose, starting with proof, and leading a mission-driven business without a business degree.Connect with us:Bright Girl WebsiteBright Girl LinkedInBright Girl InstagramBright Girl YouTubeDr. Angela Casey LinkedInCenter for Surgical DermatologyWork with She Built It® Media She Built It® Instagram She Built It® CEO, Melanie Barr InstagramMelanie Barr LinkedInShe Built It® LinkedIn
Transcribe →How to Lead a $30 Million Dollar Nonprofit and Turn Big Ideas Into Scalable Systems
Jun 2300:30:56Tap to summarizeChildcare is not a personal problem. It is an economic one, and the system built to support it is underfunded, understaffed, and breaking down.On She Built It®, Jennifer Cowan, CEO of Connections for Children, a $30 million nonprofit serving the West Side and South Bay of Los Angeles, shares what it actually takes to lead a mission-driven organization through a pandemic, wildfires, a headquarters move, and a national childcare workforce crisis, all while continuing to grow. Jennifer talks about how she turns big ideas into scalable systems, what it takes to align public, private, and community stakeholders around a common goal, and why resiliency and flexibility are the most critical leadership skills in the nonprofit sector today. She also speaks to the founding of New York City’s first Expanded Learning Time model (now replicated nationally) and what leaders need to understand about building something designed to scale.This is a conversation about systems, leadership, and what it looks like to keep showing up for families when everything around you is changing.Connect with us:Connections for Children WebsiteConnections for Children LinkedInConnections for Children InstagramConnections for Children FacebookJennifer Cowan LinkedInWork with She Built It® Media She Built It® Instagram She Built It® CEO, Melanie Barr InstagramMelanie Barr LinkedInShe Built It® LinkedIn
Transcribe →How to Build Healthcare Tech That Earns Trust
Jun 1600:27:08Tap to summarizeWhen Dr. Maheen Mausoof Adamson’s father had a stroke that left him unable to speak, it took him fifteen minutes to ask for a glass of water. She had just finished her PhD in neuroscience. She understood the brain but still couldn’t help him.On She Built It®, Dr. Adamson shares how that experience eventually led her to found Soof Solutions, an FDA-cleared, AI-guided communication app that uses eye and head tracking on an iPad to help people with ALS, stroke, and other neurological conditions communicate when speech is no longer possible. She also opens up about building a company while holding dual roles at Stanford and VA Palo Alto, navigating the leap from researcher to founder, and why she chose to crowdfund on StartEngine so that the community, not just investors, could be part of what she is building.This conversation is about what happens when science, personal mission, and entrepreneurship meet, and what it takes to build something that puts real impact directly in the hands of patients.Connect with us:Soof Solutions WebsiteSoof Solutions InstagramSoof Solutions LinkedInMaheen Mausoof Adamson LinkedInStanford ProfileStartEngine: Invest in Startups OnlineSoof Solutions App — FDA-Cleared Eye-Tracking AACSoof Caregiver App — Real-Time Patient Monitoring & SupportSoof Provider App — Clinical Tools for Neuro & Stroke CareWork with She Built It® Media She Built It® Instagram She Built It® CEO, Melanie Barr InstagramMelanie Barr LinkedInShe Built It® LinkedIn
Transcribe →Adoption Grants, Advocacy, and Building a National Nonprofit From Scratch
Jun 900:40:34Tap to summarizeOn She Built It®, Becky Fawcett, founder and CEO of Helpusadopt.org, shares the deeply personal and fiercely honest story behind building a national multi-million dollar adoption grant program from her New York City apartment. After three miscarriages and a failed IVF journey, Becky found her way to adoption, and then turned her experience into a mission that has helped over 1,100 families and distributed more than $11 million in grants over 19 years.Becky talks about what adoption actually costs, why she built Helpusadopt.org like a business from day one, the fundraising philosophy that has nothing to do with asking for money, and the conversations around infertility, adoption, and family building that she refuses to stop having, no matter who squirms. If you want to donate, volunteer, or learn more, visit helpusadopt.org. Every dollar counts, and Becky means that.Connect with us:HelpUsAdopt.org WebsiteHelpUsAdopt.org InstagramHelpUsAdopt.org LinkedInThe Fawcett Report PodcastThe Fawcett Report InstagramBecky Fawcett InstagramBecky Fawcett LinkedInWork with She Built It® Media She Built It® Instagram She Built It® CEO, Melanie Barr InstagramMelanie Barr LinkedInShe Built It® LinkedIn
Transcribe →Andrea Williams on Growing Tubby Todd the Right Way
Jun 200:26:07Tap to summarizeOn She Built It®, Andrea Faulkner Williams, co-founder and president of Tubby Todd Bath Co., shares what it really took to build a brand that drives 95% of growth in the baby lotion category on Amazon, without paid ads, without VC funding, and without celebrity investors. What started as a solution to her own son's eczema became a 12-year journey of community-first growth, profitable scaling, and a business that has earned over 50,000 five-star reviews.Andrea talks about the smartest early decisions she made, how she thinks about marketing as friendship, what happened when she sold a majority stake to private equity, and why slow, steady, profitable growth has always been more important to her than chasing speed. This conversation is for every founder who wants to build something real, and keep building it long after everyone else has cashed out.Special offer: Tubby Todd is offering She Built It® listeners 15% off the entire order at tubbytodd.com with code SHEBUILTIT — valid until 7/31/26.Connect with us:Tubby Todd Bath Co. WebsiteTubby Todd Bath Co. LinkedInTubby Todd Bath Co. InstagramAndrea Williams LinkedInAndrea Williams InstagramWork with She Built It® Media She Built It® Instagram She Built It® CEO, Melanie Barr InstagramMelanie Barr LinkedInShe Built It® LinkedIn
Transcribe →Trust Is the New Marketing: What Brands Get Wrong About Proof and Claims
May 2600:26:21Tap to summarizeOn She Built It®, Susanne Mitschke, co-founder and CEO of Citruslabs and Harvard-trained epidemiologist, pulls back the curtain on what's really happening in the wellness, beauty, and consumer health industries. From claims washing and heavy metals in protein powders to why transparency is now a growth strategy, Susanne explains what separates the brands consumers actually trust from the ones making promises they can't back up.She also shares what most founders get wrong about clinical studies, how brands have turned failed study results into powerful marketing stories, and why the gold standard in research is more accessible than most brands think.Stick until the end, where Susanne is busting some of the most common health myths, including why cold plunging may actually be increasing inflammation in women, and what your menstrual cycle has to do with your training performance (follow her on LinkedIn for more details).Episode Resources - ClinicalTrials.gov - learn about clinical studies from around the worldNational Institutes of Health (NIH)Federal Trade Commission - Protecting America's ConsumersNational Advertising Division (NAD)Better Business Bureau (BBB)Investigational New Drug (IND) ApplicationConnect with us:Citruslabs WebsiteCitruslabs LinkedInCitruslabs InstagramSusanne Mitschke LinkedInWork with She Built It® Media She Built It® Instagram She Built It® CEO, Melanie Barr InstagramMelanie Barr LinkedInShe Built It® LinkedIn
Transcribe →