Lee Caraher is a CEO and acclaimed communication strategist known for her practical solutions to big problems. She started Double Forte in 2002 to work with good people, doing great work for good companies. Her clients span well-loved Bay Area brands including Clif Bar and CamelBak, hot Silicon Valley start-ups, financial service companies and wine and spirits companies. This is not her first rodeo, and she’s learned a lot along the way that she shares freely with others in the hopes that everyone can reduce the drama in the workplace. Now her friends and colleagues call her “The Millennial Whisperer.”

After struggling with how to work well with Millennial clients and now staffers (more than half of Lee’s staff is under 35) and then working to figure out how to make that work, Lee has written a positive and practical book about the topic, “Millennials & Management: The Essential Guide to Making it Work at Work.”

Lee has a reputation for building cohesive, high producing teams who get a lot done well and have fun at the same time. She is a straight talker who doesn’t hold too many punches, although she does her best to be pleasant about it. Her big laugh and sense of humor have gotten her out of a lot of trouble.

She started her career in communications in Boston and then moved to California to work with well-known PR firm The Bohle Group and then Manning, Selvage & Lee. She moved to the Bay Area in 1995 to serve as the Vice President of Corporate and Consumer Communications at the $1.6 Billion SEGA of America. She then served as Executive Vice President of The Weber Group and Founder and President of Red Whistle Communications, both Interpublic companies. Lee is active in the community and currently serves on the Board of KQED Public Media, Grace Cathedrals Board of Trustees, and on the Board of Trustees of Menlo College, Atherton. Previously Lee served on the Board of Directors of The Marine Mammal Center, was the Chair of the Board for Community Gatepath, San Mateo County’s largest organization serving the needs of people with developmental disabilities, and was the founding Chair of the Board for the St. Paul’s Choir School. She consults with other non-profits on effective board organization and Practices.

A graduate of Carleton College, with a degree in Medieval History, which she finds useful every day, Lee lives on the Peninsula with her husband, two sons, and their blind cat Al.

What you’ll learn about in this episode:

• Lee’s Medieval History degree and how she transitioned from that into a career in PR
• How Lee launched her company out of her garage
• The way the kind of business Lee has taken on has changed from the beginning of her business to now
• Why clients can’t ever hear you say no
• Working with Millennials
• Lessons Lee learned about money at different stages of her childhood
• How Lee changed her life after having a special needs son
• Why Lee plans to leave her business but never stop working
• What Lee speaks about when speaking publicly
• Why Lee has no regrets in her career

Ways to contact Lee:

• Website: www.leecaraher.com
• Twitter: @LeeCaraher

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Dr. Katherine Collier is the owner and founder of Spectrum Dental and Quest Dental. One of the benefits of her career has been that it has enabled her to give back to her community as much as she has been able to. Earlier in her career, Katherine did medical mission trips to Central America and since then she has set up scholarships at 2 colleges. She has also started programs to deal with issues, outside of dentistry like a fatherhood program and a leadership program for boys. It is very important to her to feel like she has contributed to society. She is most proud of her daughters. She raised them by herself which was the biggest challenge of her life, by far. They have turned out to be amazing, caring, accomplished, strong women.

What you’ll learn about in this episode:

• Why Katherine is most proud of her daughters
• How Katherine found what she needed to become a dentist
• The challenges Katherine found in the early days of running her business and the strategies and resources she used to overcome them
• Juggling motherhood and entrepreneurship
• Learning at a young age that money is freedom and how Katherine taught that to her daughters
• Financial lessons that Katherine learned from her father at an early age
• The defining moments of Katherine’s life
• How Katherine was prepared financially when her husband died suddenly
• What retirement will look like for Katherine
• The scholarships Katherine has set up

Ways to contact Katherine:

• Office phone: (410) 235-0062
• Website: specdental.com

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Christine Tieri has a passion for problem solving and a quest for continuous improvement. She works with business, brands, communities, and individuals to help build their path to success. As the only Certified Brand Strategist in New England, Christine is driven to discover her clients’ unique position, help them put a stake in the ground, and build programs to support their company goals. As a Certified Brand Strategist, she talks and understands C-suite issues and thinks operationally, strategically and holistically about building her clients’ businesses.

In addition to the many creative awards bestowed upon her agency, Christine has also been named Business Person of the Year by her local Chamber of Commerce and one of Central Massachusetts Outstanding Women In Business by the Worcester Business Journal. Christine is a sought-after speaker on the topics of brand, integrated marketing, and ideation. She is an expert facilitator of workshops that help companies solve business challenges with creativity. She is the author of the blog BrandStanza.com little ditties that build big brands.

What you’ll learn about in this episode:

• Christine’s passion for renovation
• What it means to be a Certified Brand Strategist
• What you need for a strong brand
• The lessons Christine learned about managing money by growing up in a family of entrepreneurs
• The challenges that Christine has faced throughout the life of her business
• How Christine was drawn out of interior design and into advertising
• Why and how Christine started her own agency
• Resources Christine uses to stay competitive
• The financial ramifications of eternal optimism
• How Christine saves her money
• The impact Christine’s mom had on her life

Ways to contact Christine:

• Website: www.ideaagency.biz
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/christieri
• LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/christieri
• Twitter: @christieri
• Blog: brandstanza.com

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Dr. Vicki Rackner M.D. is a physician who has made many financial mistakes who now works full time to help physicians build wealth. She had a career as a surgeon in private practice and had a clinical, faculty appointment at the University of Washington School of Medicine. She is currently writing and working on a book called “Myth of the Rich Doctor”

What you’ll learn about in this episode:

• Vicki’s life journey in and out of her career as a surgeon and into her consulting business
• The myth of the rich doctor and why it’s so hard for a lot of doctors (especially women) to make money
• In general, why do women get paid less than men?
• Why we need to rethink our relationship with money
• The effect of the Affordable Care Act on physicians
• Who do you turn to for financial planning? Who can you trust?
• Dumb doctor deals: why doctors tend to make bad investments
• How your financial security impacts every part of your personal and professional life
• Spenders vs. Savers
• The ethics of being a physician and how it relates to money
• What physicians need to learn about running a business
• Why women falsely believe they can either serve or make a profit when they can really do both
• Breaking through the silence of the taboo of money

Ways to contact Vicki:

• Website: thrivingdoctors.com

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Linda Kaplan Thaler is responsible for some of America’s most famous, relevant, and touching advertising campaigns, including the Aflac duck and the daring “Yes, Yes, Yes” for Clairol Herbal Essences. She has authored and composed jingles that are among the industry’s gold standard, including “I Don’t Wanna Grow Up, I’m a Toys ‘R’ Us Kid,” and “Kodak Moments.” Linda served as Chairman of Publicis Kaplan Thaler, a fully integrated advertising agency that was the U.S. flagship within the Publicis Worldwide Network with a blue-chip client roster. Linda was also CEO and Chief Creative Officer of the Kaplan Thaler Group, founded in 1997 and grew from a fledgling startup to a company with over a billion dollars in billings. Linda has worked on several political campaigns, including the presidential runs for Clinton/Gore in 1992 and Hillary Clinton in 2008. Today, Linda is a world-renowned motivational speaker, author, and president of Kaplan Thaler Productions. She is also the author of four bestselling books, most recently “Grit to Great.”

What you’ll learn about in this episode:

• What Linda’s life was like growing up and how to led into her career
• The Grit Factor: what is it and how do you get it?
• Turning any weakness into a strength
• Linda’s book “Grit to Great”
• Why she started her agency in her 40s, right after having her children
• Some of the lessons Linda learned after starting her agency
• Why it’s so important to create deadlines for yourself and rewarding yourself for hitting those deadlines
• How Linda created the AFLAC Duck and the financial risk that campaign had
• Intuition and gut: how Linda’s has helped her achieve success
• What Linda learned from her mother when diagnosed with breast cancer
• What Linda would tell her 30-year-old self
• Why we need to retire the word retirement

Ways to contact Christine:

• Email: linda@thalerproductions.com
• Website: kaplanthalerproductions.com
• Book: www.grittogreat.com
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/LindaK.Thaler
• Twitter: @lindathaler2

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Dr. Linda Barrasse, MD, is a cardiologist and a partner in Great Valley Cardiology, Scranton, PA. She is one of the senior partners in the practice. She is a fellow of the American College of Physicians and of Cardiology. She is a member of the Medical Alumni Council of the University of Scranton where she was a summa cum laude graduate in 1977. She is also a graduate of Jefferson Medical College, in Philadelphia, PA and did her internship, residency and fellowship in Thomas Jefferson Hospital through 1985. She has volunteered at many community organizations as a board member and helped to raise funds for a variety of associations, with special emphasis on organ donation. To that end, she is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Gift of Life and on the Governor’s Committee for Organ Donation. She has been known to be on a basketball court in full court dress for the purpose of raising funds for the organ donation cause.

What you’ll learn about in this episode:

• Why Linda went into cardiology when many women go into different medical fields
• Linda’s physical care routine
• Dealing with running a family while being an on-call physician
• Sacrifices vs. choices
• How to maintain and nurture reliable babysitters (or other helpers)
• What Linda learned about money growing up
• Why Linda doesn’t think she will ever be completely retired and what her “next phase” would look like
• The influence Linda’s grandma had on her life
• Why Linda wouldn’t change a thing about her life and career

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