Wonder Podcast: Empowering Women Entrepreneurs to Change the World

Hosted by Kalika Yap, Entrepreneurs' Organization (EO)

BusinessInterviews guests

Website RSS feed LinkedIn Instagram YouTube

Episodes

100

Latest episode

Nov 2026

Language

About the show

Wonder, a podcast by Entrepreneurs' Organization (https://www.eonetwork.org/), places women entrepreneurs in conversation with those thought leaders who amaze, astonish and inspire. Each guest shares their own journey with entrepreneur and host, Kalika Yap, giving insight into the ordinary challenges of extraordinary people. Featured guests include: Lisa Sugar of pop culture hub, PopSugar; Toni Ko, founder of NYX Cosmetics; and Devin Alexander, celebrity chef and nutrition expert on The Biggest Loser. Tune into this podcast to marvel at the meaningful insights of entrepreneurs. Learn more about Entrepreneurs' Organization (https://www.eonetwork.org/), the leading peer-to-peer network exclusively for entrepreneurs.

Listen to episodes

60 recent

November 13, 202636 min

Focus on the Gain, Not the Gap | Evan Horowitz

Evan Horowitz is the co-founder and CEO of Movers+Shakers, a creative agency that grew from zero to 100 employees in two-and-a-half years and works with Fortune 500 brands. Three years running, it ranked among the 100 fastest-growing companies on the Inc. 5000. In this episode, Evan and Kalika discuss what he has learned about becoming a CEO, including what changes as a company scales, how a leader's greatest strengths can wear on a team, and why a clear vision only counts once the team can see it too. They also get into the systems that keep a team aligned, the shift from focusing on the gap to focusing on the gain, and what he tells founders who are thinking about selling. Timestamps: 00:37 — Ten years of Movers and Shakers 02:28 — Building capacity instead of doing the work 08:05 — When your greatest strength becomes a shadow side 13:19 — Hiring slow, firing fast 14:49 — Why clarity in your head is worth nothing 16:01 — Running the company on EOS 18:53 — Finding your zone of genius 24:16 — Focusing on the gain, not the gap 30:05 — Advice on selling your business 33:10 — Closing advice: reconnect to your why Links: Movers+Shakers: https://moversshakers.co Movers+Shakers on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/movers-shakers/

November 6, 202637 min

Self-Awareness and the Power of Questions | Margalit Grunberger

Margalit Grunberger is the founder of Margalit Method, an entrepreneur coach, and the co-founder of Gotcha Covered, the bedding company she built over 20 years and sold. Her parents were Holocaust survivors who saw owning a business as the truest form of freedom, and she now brings that same drive to coaching entrepreneurs and leading peer groups. In this episode, Margalit and Kalika discuss self-awareness as a leadership skill, how the right question can change the way a team shows up, and what she learned from preparing her company for sale. They also dive into the difference between "having to" and "getting to," what breast cancer taught her about running a business through hard times, and why peer groups work. Timestamps: 03:12 - Energy Scarcity vs Curiosity 05:53 - Origin Story 07:45 - Cancer Lessons 11:24 - Five Types of Wealth 14:54 - Power of Better Questions 20:49 - Fitness Goals 23:20 - Aging Well Mindset 27:01 - Selling Gotcha Coverage 28:18 - Exit Prep And Due Diligence 32:41 - Train Your Brain 35:23 - Kindness And Candor 35:57 - Advice And Next Steps Links: Margalit Method: https://margalitmethod.co Margalit on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/margalitgrunberger/

October 27, 202648 min

Difficult People, Difficult Conversations | Doug Ridley

Doug Ridley is a criminal defense attorney at Ridley Defense, an adjunct professor at Pepperdine Law, a legal commentator on ABC News, and the host of the YouTube show Doug Defends. He spent years as a deputy district attorney before realizing he had stopped smiling at work, and crossed the aisle to defend the people most of us have already written off. In this episode, Doug and Kalika discuss the mistake most entrepreneurs make the moment a conversation turns hard, why acknowledging the emotion matters more than answering the message, and what it takes to stay calm when you're the one delivering bad news. They also get into the trauma that comes from absorbing other people's worst days, why difficult conversations with family are harder than difficult conversations at work, and the cost of rehearsing a fight that never happens. Timestamps: 00:37 – Meet Doug Ridley 02:44 – From Prosecutor to Defender 05:03 – SVU Lessons on Gray Areas 07:12 – EO Impact and Mindfulness 09:32 – Difficult Is Mindset 13:58 – Defuse with Empathy 16:18 – Calm in Crisis 22:49 – Stop Jumping to Fix 26:30 – Trust When Judged 36:05 – Personal vs Professional 40:17 – Preparing Without War Links: Doug's Website: https://dougridley.com Ridley Defense: https://ridleydefense.com/

October 12, 202641 min

Why Hitting a Brick Wall is the Only Way to Truly Level Up

Brett Winn is the founder of Rave Collective, an LA-based entertainment marketing agency creating trailers and campaigns for major movie studios. After starting his career as a PA at FX, Brett spent 16 years building his business before taking an "epic shift" into his current venture. He shares his "Yes Lives in a World of No" mantra, a strategy he used to protect his team and spark new growth during a crisis. He and Kalika talk about choosing abundance over scarcity and why the biggest risks usually lead to the best results. Timestamps: 01:27 – Yes In A No World 02:42 – Strike Scare Turnaround 07:40 – Defining Success Over Time 10:26 – Epic Shifts And Cash Flow 15:28 – Walking Through Hard Times 17:29 – Mindbody Pain Breakthrough 19:51 – Leap From Disney To Startup 21:30 – Rebrand Toward Rave 22:12 – CFO Bombshell Loss 23:11 – EO Support Saves Day 23:39 – Parting With Partners 25:28 – My Date With Drew 27:39 – Risk Taking Mantra 28:32 – Creativity In Leadership 29:33 – Kindness Driven Culture 32:18 – Abundance Mindset Reframe 34:14 – Integrity Standards Exercise 36:07 – Green Lens Leadership 37:31 – Hobbies Fuel Leadership Links: Rave Collective: http://www.ravecollective.com Epic Shifts: https://www.epic-shifts.com/

September 23, 202646 min

The Art of Building Brands | Benjamin Diedering

Benjamin Diedering is the founder and CEO of BDX Media, a content and video agency with offices in Leipzig, Los Angeles, and New York, and the creator of The New Trend Society, a global community for founders, creators, and marketers. He studied math and was headed for a teaching career in Germany before photography turned into something else entirely. In this episode, Benjamin and Kalika discuss what gives a brand feeling, why he walked away from an established agency to start over in Los Angeles, and what the city taught him in his first year there. They also get into building community through real-world experiences, running a creative team across a nine-hour time difference, and what he tells entrepreneurs who are thinking about taking that first step. Timestamps: 01:14 - From Math to Photography 03:04 - Moving to Los Angeles 08:02 - Obsession and Proving Craft 09:17 - Network and Support 12:07 - Defining Love Brands 19:00 - Social Content Builds Community 22:01 - IRL Experiences Come Back 24:35 - Remote Team 29:18 - Systems To Avoid Mistakes 30:26 - New Trend Society Origins 33:21 - International Expansion Mindset 37:23 - Missing Germany And LA Scale 39:26 - EO Leadership Growth 43:10 - Leading EO As President Links: Benjamin's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benjamindiedering BDX Media: https://bdxmedia.com/en/

August 28, 202647 min

Becoming an Eight-Figure Founder by Failing Fast and Moving Forward | Sheila Marmon

Sheila Marmon is the founder and CEO of Mirror Digital, an eight-figure digital media agency representing over 1,000 creators and publishers. She grew up in South Central Los Angeles, left home at 12 for boarding school through the A Better Chance program, and graduated from Princeton and Harvard Business School before working on Wall Street and launching Mirror Digital from her kitchen table in 2012. In this episode, Sheila talks about why financial preparation matters more than credentials when launching a business, how she bootstrapped from a modest Inglewood condo while her peers raised millions, and why female entrepreneurs of color remain ridiculously undercapitalized. Learn how to prepare financially before you leap, fail fast and be fearless, and build a business that reflects everyone. Timestamps: 04:14 - Theater to Thought Leadership 05:28 - Mirror Digital 13:10 - First Clients Hustle 23:52 - Fail Fast Fearless 31:41 - Asking For Help 32:30 - Routine And Self Care 36:18 - Work Life Integration 37:51 - Partnerships 45:29 - Leading With Values Links: Sheila's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sheila-marmon-0398074/ Mirror Digital: https://mirrordigital.com/

August 21, 202657 min

Building Businesses with Intention and Finding Financial Freedom | Tanya Newbould

Tanya Newbould is a jewelry designer, spiritual coach, candle creator, and documentary filmmaker based in California. As an actor, Tanya appeared in over 20 films and TV shows before suffering severe postpartum depression at 43, which led her to create "When the Bough Breaks: A Documentary About Postpartum Depression." In this episode, Tanya explains the nine levels of perinatal mood disorders that affect one in five women, why entrepreneurs struggle to ask for help even when they need it most, and how giving up acting opened the door to building five businesses she actually loves. Timestamps: 03:46 Nine PMAD Levels 13:22 Acting to Business 16:57 Jewelry Creativity 18:44 Mentorship and Intentions 26:43 Connection 30:55 Sozo 35:11 Author Journey 42:58 Entrepreneur Support and EO 46:46 Family First and Humanity Links: Tanya's Website: https://www.tanyanewbould.com/ Del Pozzo Jewelry: https://delpozzojewelry.luxury/

July 31, 202656 min

Real Estate, Purpose, and the Long Way Around | Ivan Estrada

Ivan Estrada is the founder of Ivan Estrada Properties in Beverly Hills, a TEDx speaker, and the author of "Brand With Purpose." A childhood recording artist turned CPA, he left accounting to work as a caterer before finding his true calling in real estate, where more than 12 years later he has built a business serving everyone from first-time buyers to clients purchasing multimillion-dollar homes. In this episode, Ivan talks about why he was early to video content when no one else in real estate was doing it, how he now uses AI to build client reports in minutes that used to take days, and how sobriety and meditation transformed the way he sees himself and his purpose. Learn how to build a brand rooted in who you actually are, stay human in a fast-moving world, and find the work that makes everything else make sense. Timestamps: 03:10 Music Roots 07:21 Immigrant Upbringing 10:04 Brand of Determination 10:53 Calm and Focus 12:57 Teaching and Storytelling 16:06 AI as Entrepreneur Tool 28:37 AI in Real Estate 32:10 Video Marketing 36:48 Redefining Success Balance 39:45 Spiritual Shift 44:01 Purpose and Empowerment 52:51 Success, Gratitude and EO Links: Ivan's Website: https://ivanestrada.com/ Ivan's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ivanestradaproperties/ Ivan's YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@IvanEstradaProperties Ivan's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/therealbrandwith/

July 10, 202640 min

What Your Doctor is Missing: How Normal is Not Optimal

Dr. Shilpa Sayana is a board-certified internal medicine physician with advanced training in functional and integrative medicine. Born in Zambia and raised in Botswana by physician parents doing foreign aid work, she trained at Yale, the University of Vermont, and UCLA before an HIV fellowship took her to Haiti, Nigeria, and Russia. In this episode, Dr. Sayana explains why normal lab results and optimal health are not the same thing, how high-performing women are often running on depleted hormones and elevated cortisol without knowing it, and what her own health crisis taught her about treating root causes rather than symptoms. Learn how to read your own numbers, ask better questions at your next appointment, and take your health from normal to optimal. Timestamps: 00:46 Meet Dr. Shilpa Sayana 02:16 Roots in Botswana 04:00 Switching to Functional Care 06:02 Normal vs Optimal Labs 07:19 Patient Experience Pivot 11:39 Meditation and Stress Reset 14:26 Midlife Health Playbook 18:42 Genetics and Longevity Triangle 23:11 Antibiotics and Gut Health 23:58 Sleep Hacks and Hormones 27:02 Daily Routine and Breathwork 30:23 GLP Drugs and Nutrition 32:41 Motherhood 34:32 Scaling Functional Medicine 36:39 Entrepreneur Stress Mentorship Links: Dr. Shilpa's Website: https://drshilpa.com/ Sayana Medical & Wellness Center: https://www.sayanamedical.com/

June 11, 202641 min

From Engineer to Entrepreneur to Mayor | Elizabeth Yang

Elizabeth Yang is the founder of Yang Family Law Offices, the CEO of Optimizers, and the mayor of Monterey Park, California. With a background in electrical engineering and computer science, a stint at Raytheon, and a law degree that took her into intellectual property, family law, and estate planning, she understands what it takes to wear many hats at once. In this episode, Elizabeth talks about the two systems, EOS and Profit First, that pulled her out of the day-to-day of her firm and freed her to step into public service. Learn how she went from a shy, self-described invisible kid to a leader with the thick skin that politics demands, and the daily habits that have kept her grounded along the way. Timestamps: 00:39 - Engineer to Lawyer to Mayor 03:41 - EOS and Profit First Systems 07:16 - Applying Business to City Hall 12:56 - From Shy to Resilient 14:38 - Daily Habits and Confidence 19:35 - Transformation Courses and Growth 22:54 - Networking Beats Applications 25:06 - Giving Without Burnout 27:08 - AI Tools and Risks 31:52 - Looking Ahead to 2026 32:37 - Writing Harmony in Partnership 39:07 - Entrepreneur Advice Links: Elizabeth's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/LizYangMPK Yang Law Offices: https://www.instagram.com/YangLawOffices Elizabeth LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lawyerliz OptiNizers: https://www.optinizers.com/