Building Resilient Business Networks with Shaheen Lokhandwala

Engineering the Skies with host Jane Kim & guests Suzanne Peyton and Mary Fair

In this full-length episode, host Jane Kim sits down with trailblazing aviation civil engineers Suzanne Peyton and Mary Fair. They dive deep into the world of aviation infrastructure—explaining what it actually takes to run and build airports—and tackle the critical business and cultural challenges of retaining women in traditionally male-dominated STEAM professions. The guests share their personal career trajectories, discuss moving from engineering into executive leadership, and offer invaluable, candid advice on how to navigate constructive feedback, build professional trust, and negotiate a career that accommodates personal priorities without sacrificing upward momentum.

A Rising Tide: Breaking Barriers in Aviation and Engineering with Jane Kim, Suzanne Peyton and Mary Fair

In this trailer, host Jane Kim is joined by aviation infrastructure leaders Suzanne Peyton and Mary Fair. Together, they discuss the challenges and triumphs of navigating the traditionally male-dominated fields of STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics). From dissecting the statistical drop-off of women in engineering workforce roles to sharing personal, often humorous anecdotes of being the only woman in the room, this conversation offers actionable advice on building confidence, commanding credibility, and lifting up the next generation of female leaders.

Building From Scratch: The Serial Entrepreneur Playbook with April Seggebruch

In this full episode of the Woman Run Podcast, host Meredith sits down with serial entrepreneur April Seggebruch to look back on her journey from a central Illinois farm girl to a major business founder in Northwest Arkansas. April shares how growing up on a farm shaped her work ethic, jokingly noting that her upbringing is "probably where I got a lot of my persistent grit." Driven to find a path to a bigger city, she earned a basketball scholarship to the University of Arkansas, becoming the first in her family to graduate from college. April reflects warmly on her athletic days, laughing that her time on the court was "back when I actually lifted weights—now I just lift laptops." The conversation digs deep into her academic and professional evolution at the Walton College of Business, where pivotal mentorship from professors like Dr. Jensen and Dr. Carol Reeves completely changed her trajectory. April details the reality of co-founding the retail workforce management software platform Movista in 2010 with Stan Stanowski, calling their leap of faith "Mayday" because "we left our corporate jobs and started Movista the following week." She explains how they revolutionized a "pencil and paper era" into a company that grew to over 100 employees, and opens up about her transition away from the business to focus on her true passion as a builder, noting that in entrepreneurship, "there's no role you can be afraid to do... thus, there's no role you can shy away from learning." Meredith and April also discuss the critical economic and cultural importance of local independent businesses. April passionately defends the food and beverage industry as the heartbeat of the regional ecosystem, arguing that "without them, we wouldn't be cool—we wouldn't have the vibe that folks now flock to be within." Finally, April previews her latest venture as a partner at Good Gravy Group, a hospitality management company stepping in to revitalize iconic local brands. She shares an exclusive look at their mission to bring back the nostalgia of the beloved AQ Chicken brand to Springdale, alongside expansions for other favorites like Trash Ice Cream, jokingly admitting that while she loves the operational side of hospitality, she has "robot envy" for automation that can help local kitchens scale.

April Seggebruch's New Recipe for Success

Meredith and April Seggebruch discuss the future of the food and beverage industry on this episode of the Woman Run Podcast. They break down the topic into internal and external facing trends that are impacting shops and restaurants. Internal forces include the changing labor culture transitioning from a hierarchical command and control environment to a more humanely authentic and balanced relationship with employees. Technology is another major internal factor, with April noting the current lack of unified systems and the huge success of those who embrace Artificial Intelligence to build their own customized operational systems to save digital marketing subscription fees and mine data better. External forces feature the massive impact of GLP-1 usage on consumer habits, with users focusing less on the makeup of what they consume and simply consuming less overall, which changes dessert and value dynamics toward premium enjoyment and quality over quantity. They touch on contemporary branding trends in F&B, noting the retail gold of moving famous menu items from the kitchen to the retail shelf, as well as a fast-growing brand affiliation among younger generations similar to luxury goods that changes the way consumers socially identify with food.

Deanna Ray: The Shifting Tides of Corporate AI

In this episode of the Woman Run Podcast, the Meredith Lowry interviews Deanna Ray, the Chief Legal Officer for the Little Rock Water Reclamation Authority, to unpack the intersections of local government, vendor negotiations, and the implementation of organizational artificial intelligence policies. Deanna describes her organization as a municipality or government agency that reclaimed used water, treated it, and discharged it back into the Arkansas River, adding that "water wastewater treatment actually is very technology-based." The catalyst for their conversation stems from recent state regulation, specifically Act 848 passed during the 2025 Arkansas legislative session. Deanna explains that under this act, "if you are a government agency that uses any type of AI, then you must have an AI policy." She clarifies that the law defines AI broadly, encompassing everyday features like text autocorrect, spelling tools, and automated note-takers rather than just generative text programs. An essential pillar of Act 848 is ensuring that artificial intelligence does not operate unchecked. Deanna emphasizes that under the law, "you must have a human component to it. You cannot let AI make any decisions... there has to be a human check on any of those decisions." Beyond state compliance, the episode highlights a collaborative, multi-departmental approach involving leadership, human resources, legal, and IT teams to refine these guidelines. A key area of concern is customer and employee data privacy, which Deanna describes as a major responsibility since "we are responsible for shepherding our customers and their information and our employees and their information." The hosts also discuss the practical challenges of software terms of use, noting that platforms like Microsoft Copilot often contain clauses designating the tool "for entertainment purposes only," meaning tech providers carry no liability for professional errors. This lack of vendor liability emphasizes the necessity of internal policies, as Deanna points out that "the AI vendors, they don't care if their stuff is misused because they've already decried all liability." The discussion covers a real-world learning experience where an IT director innocently used an AI note-taker during a Microsoft Teams meeting. This highlighted a massive legal risk, as using automated transcription can inadvertently destroy confidentiality. Deanna warns that if a note-taker records an internal conversation, it can "destroy attorney-client privilege" and create a record that becomes "foiable" under public records requests. This risk is reinforced by a recent ruling from the Southern District of New York. In that case, the government successfully subpoenaed a defendant's search and prompt history from a generative AI platform because information shared with commercial AI platforms lacks confidentiality. The episode addresses other technical shortcomings, such as AI "hallucinations." Deanna mentions that even top legal research databases have faced scrutiny because their specialized research bots were "putting out incorrect summaries of cases." This reinforces why continuous verification remains mandatory, since a language model "is a language prediction tool, and it's trying to give you the next word in the sequence." Ultimately, the episode encourages leaders to proactively engage with these technologies rather than avoiding them. Deanna concludes by urging organizations to adapt continuously, advising managers "to not be afraid of AI" but to "respect it" and commit to ongoing policy reviews as the software evolves.