The Femme Futurists Society Podcast

The Economic Wake-Up Call | Libby Rodney

Money isn’t just about numbers, it’s about power, perception, and the stories we’ve been told about who gets to build wealth… and how. As Libby Rodney, Chief Strategy Officer at The Harris Poll, makes clear: the narrative that women lack financial confidence isn’t just outdated—it’s fundamentally flawed. “Confidence,” she suggests, depends entirely on how we define it… and for too long, the definition itself has been biased. Drawing on years of global research, including work with PIMCO, Libby reframes how women think about money, investing, and ambition. What emerges is a far more nuanced (and powerful) picture: women as holistic, strategic decision-makers who balance short-term realities with long-term impact—not just for themselves, but for their families, communities, and the systems they’re part of. At a moment when more women are building significant wealth, whether through business, investing, or cultural influence, this conversation feels like an important economic wake-up call. Tune in to hear Libby explore:  … why the “confidence gap” narrative misses the point  … how women’s holistic thinking makes them exceptional investors  … the truth about ESG, returns, and why it’s not a trade-off  … how women are redefining ambition around autonomy, flexibility, and financial power  … why the future of business may depend on “orchestrators” and why women are uniquely positioned to lead We hope it shifts your perspective as much as it did ours 🌟

The new women's health and maternal care game changer that's saving lives. with Lailah Kara-Newton + Fifi Kara

It is 100% unacceptable that globally, black women face a nine times higher risk of maternal death than their white counterparts, regardless of wealth. And that the United States is the most dangerous and expensive high-income country for childbirth, especially for Black and Indigenous women.   💫 Lailah Kara Newton, an MD with a successful UK practice specializing in women’s health who experienced her own childbirth trauma, and Fifi Kara, a fulbright scholar and B2B investment entrepreneur who supported Meta's Health & Fitness team, decided to take their experiences and change that, once and for all.   🙌🏻 This dynamic duo put all their heart and energies into four years developing an app that provides continuous at-home monitoring for mothers pre and post-natal, 24/7 support, and accessible clinical guidance = radically better, women’s health game changer.   🔥 Fifi and Lailah represent a new vanguard of women who will not sit on the sidelines and wait for change. Instead, they’re doing something about it.   Such an honor to speak with these two trailblazers!! We invite you to listen to this amazing origin story and journey toward globally changing women’s health - and if your provider/doula/midwife/friends haven’t yet heard of them - please share. You could literally save a life.    👩‍⚕️Learn more about Astercare: https://astercare.com/ [https://astercare.com/] 👩🏻‍💻 Our Website: www.FemmeFuturists.com [http://www.femmefuturists.com/]   Music from Uppbeat: uppbeat.io/t/soundroll/transcend License code: D5M95QR3OT6UNHQY

Assembling Tomorrow: A Guide to Designing a Thriving Future. with Carissa Carter

Design is not just about products and things; it applies to systems, to life, it is human. As Carissa Carter, Stanford d-school Academic Director says, “if you care about what you put out there into the world you are a designer. Everyone has the capacity to create positive change”.  A former geo-scientist, Carissa teaches courses on the intersection of data and design for multiple sectors including climate change, emerging tech, and her work on designing with machine learning and blockchain has earned multiple design awards.  Her just launched second book — co-authored with creative director Scott Doorley and titled: Assembling Tomorrow: a guide to designing a thriving future — is a thoughtful read (whether you consider yourself a designer or not), that offers us all a path to both “mend the mistakes of our past and shape our future for the better”. Bonus: it weaves in many speculative short stories and the most beautifully crafted illustrations. Tune in to hear Carissa delve into:  … the forces changing the design world … how everything breaks but it’s what we learn from the cracks that matters … the importance of intuition … how there are no absolutes and embracing the in-between is key to building better We hope it inspires you as much as it inspired us 🙌🏻 Love what you hear? Please consider sharing, liking, commenting and subscribing to our podcast.   👩‍⚕️Learn more about Carissa Carter here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carissalcarter/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/carissalcarter/] 📖 Learn more about Carissa’s book here: https://dschool.stanford.edu/book-collections/assembling-tomorrow [https://dschool.stanford.edu/book-collections/assembling-tomorrow] 👩🏻‍💻 Our Website: www.FemmeFuturists.com   Music from Uppbeat: uppbeat.io/t/soundroll/transcend License code: D5M95QR3OT6UNHQY

By 2050 there will be more plastics in the ocean than fish. How two women are changing that headline. with Kritika Tyagi

“By 2050 there will be more plastics in the ocean than fish”. That headline and more were what spurred Nuha Siddiqui & Kritika Tyagi to tackle what they saw as a massive opportunity: to reimagine the building blocks of plastic by pioneering new regenerative biomaterials that are now revolutionizing the plastics industry.  This is not a new story - other companies have attempted sustainable materials to rival their conventional counterparts - however, erthos stands out for having made mind-blowing strides forward as a beacon of innovation and progress in an extremely short amount of time. Using proprietary ML/AI technology along with their team & expertise, they’ve managed to: * exponentially change the trajectory of sustainable materials * develop industry-wide, rapidly scalable design solutions that cut time to market by 5x compared to conventional plastics * commit to the relentless pursuit of cutting-edge materials and renewable and regenerative resources that put the planet first  At some point we’ll stop talking about the fact that they’ve accomplished all of this at the age of 28 yrs-old but it really is such an extraordinary achievement that it has to be said!! So we hope you’ll share, like, comment and celebrate this incredible leap forward along with us. 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 www.femmefuturists.com www.planeterthos.com

In this call to courage, what happens when you commit to being even 20 percent braver? with Robyn O'Brien

We’re honored to introduce you to the beautiful, smart and deeply heart-centered Robyn O’Brien. Whether you know it or not, you’ve probably been impacted by her work transforming the food industry, after her life changed irrevocably when her daughter had a life-threatening reaction to food, that then turned into a movement, that then changed the entire food industry. Amazing.   In our conversation Robyn’s wisdom after wisdom became like a handbook from a wise friend and advisor, as we talk about everything from:   💃🏻 How courage is her personal mantra and the extraordinary changes that happen when you commit to being even 20% braver.  ✨ How if you are out there driving change, fear will be riding shotgun, but fear can be an extraordinary North Star.  🔥 How vulnerability is a strength.  🙌🏻 The need to flip the script on imposter syndrome; especially because as women we are pushing against a system that was not, and is not, built for us.  🧡 And the massive economic advantages of the history-making transfer of $30 trillion (more than the national U.S. GDP) in wealth to women, by 2030.    There is so much more we cover from being a producer on the just released documentary, Common Ground, to how she now has her sights set on the finance industry (look out!!!), so tune in and listen to get the full story…    Love what you hear? Please consider sharing, liking, commenting and subscribing to our podcast.   ▶️ Watch Us on YouTube 👩🏻‍💻 Visit Our Website at www.FemmeFuturists.com   Music from Uppbeat: uppbeat.io/t/soundroll/transcend License code: D5M95QR3OT6UNHQY