We switched things up in our latest episode and our Regional Director, Feceleia Benton, & Director of Development, Lindsay Benedetto put Kat Armstrong in the hot seat to talk all things about her first book, No More Holding Back, before it’s released next week! Not only does Kat share about her book, but Lindsay and Feleceia, both of whom are already knee deep in the book, share a little about what Kat’s message spoke to them. Plus, we have included a FIRST listen to chapter 6 of No More Holding Back exclusive to our listeners in this episode as well. We aren’t kidding. You will not want to miss this episode!
Local to DFW? RSVP today to join us for our Polished Give Back event celebrating the launch of Kat Armstrong's first book, No More Holding Back.
In the latest episode, Kat’s conversation with the one and only Dr. Cynthia Mickens Ross is one you won’t want to miss. Let us tell you. Dr. Cynthia Mickens Ross is the real deal. Sometimes we just need to hear from someone who is a little further along in life then we are and she is absolutely that person. No matter where you are in life, you will benefit from the wisdom shared in this episode.
Dr. Cynthia Mickens Ross is a Speaker, Author, Coach, and Teacher. Dr. Mickens Ross is the Senior Pastor of Path~Way to Life Center of Hope Church in Hutchins, Texas. She is also the creator and instructor of the Path~Way to Purpose® course. The copyrighted Path~Way to Purpose® course is specifically designed to coach women and men to discover and activate the greatness within. Dr. Mickens Ross recently authored her first book Path~Way to Purpose® Stories of Victory.
For over 25 years, through her obedience to God, Dr. Cynthia Mickens Ross has endeavored to be a community servant advocating for children, the elderly, and women. She has volunteered countless hours helping others by serving as Founder and CEO of Cynthia Mickens Ministries, Inc. and Senior Pastor at Path~Way to Life Center of Hope Church.
Dr. Mickens Ross is also the founding chair of the City of DeSoto Arts Commission. In 2016, Dr. Mickens Ross received the Leadership Dallas Alumni Outstanding Service of a Class Representative award. In 2015, Dr. Mickens Ross received the Outstanding Texan Award presented by State Representative Helen Giddings, Dallas Living Legend Award, Celebrating Life Foundation Vision Award and SheliaB Ministries Community Servant Award.
Cynthia is married to the love of her life, David E. Ross III. She is also mother to (Mrs.) Sherrell Warren and grandmother to Kennedy, Regan, and Jason Warren.
Today’s episode covers some of the topics that you, our Polished Podcast listeners, have told us you care about most! Mentorship, growing as a professional, and contributing to a healthy workplace environment all come up in our conversation with Monica Johnson—author, advocate, speaker, entrepreneur and coach.
On today’s episode, Monica shares about growing up in multiple homes, experiencing numerous abuses, and reclaiming her identity as an adult. “What you can do,” she says, “is take the things that have happened and cultivate them to become a something greater for the greater good.”
Monica has been cultivating herself and those around her to become something for the greater good for decades now. A business professional at the Fortune 100 company UPS for the past 27 years, Monica has expertise in cost, taxation, and operational management. She is the founder of the non-profit organization That Girl is S.M.A.R.T. (Successful. Magnificent. Authentic. Resourceful. Talented)—”a purpose-driven organization focused on transforming the lives of young girls from the inside out.”
Monica has given a TED talk entitled Can We End A Culture of Abandonment? and published her book Shift from Broken to Breathtaking: Don't Let What Happens to You Break You, Let It Break Open What Is in You!. She also started One Word Movement “to change lives by empowering individuals to be ignited, informed, and inspired with integrity for a lasting impact.”
You won’t want to miss Monica’s thoughts on the difference between a sponsor and mentor, her vibrant, hopeful outlook on life despite tremendous hardship, or her in-depth explanation of her SMILE method, which stands for:
Connect with Monica on Instagram and Twitter at @imonicajohnson.
In this week’s episode, Kat chats with Polished Houston’s Kelsey Aldinger about their mutual love for the ennegram, why Kelsey and her best friend started the Craving Connection podcast and a difficult season Kelsey recently went through.
Kelsey’s work as a speech language pathologist takes her from a private practice in Cinco Ranch working with pediatrics to home health all around Houston working with octogenarians. She serves a variety of patients treating speech, language, cognition, and swallowing disorders.
She is also the co-host of the Craving Connection podcast, a weekly conversation between herself and longtime friend that helps women feel a part of a community that sheds the weight of isolation and loneliness through their thoughtful and trivial conversations.
Kelsey is married to her husband Luke and spends her time being entertained by her two cats and one dog, watching all things Bravo, reading, and bringing friends together around charcuterie boards.
Does talking about money totally freak you out? Us too. You can take a deep breath though. In our latest episode, Kat’s conversation with Julia Lorenz-Olson helps remove some of the pressure we feel with managing money and Julia gives some super practical financial tips for young professional women. Julia also shares about working with her husband and her experience with postpartum anxiety.
Julia is a Swiss/Texan who was practically raised on the stage. Now, she adores using those talents to empower and inspire others to take charge of their own financial destiny through her company The Art of Finance. Spending several years in the mortgage industry gave her number-crunching confidence and a unique insight into investing. She’s also a self-professed foodie, budget-wizard, yogi, a vintage-clothing collector and has owned several of her own successful businesses. Her excitement for teaching people, especially other young women, about financial matters is matched only by her passion for figuring out who this Jesus-dude was, 60’s costume dramas and reading sci-fi.
Links from the show:
In this week’s episode, Kat and Nkem Okafor talk about what it means to bring your voice and full self to the table, even when you feel alone. Nkem also shares about her love of traveling and her passion for healthcare.
Nkem Okafor is a senior healthcare executive with experience in strategy, business development, program management, hospital operations, and consulting. She is the System Vice President of Strategy & Planning at Methodist Health System, a $1.5 billion, 9 hospital system in DFW. She oversees system-wide strategies and business planning, leads growth activities, and guides analysis for the company’s decision-making. She’s led numerous development projects, totaling over $160 million.
Nkem was named one of the Top 15 Business Women of Dallas by the National Diversity Council. She is a Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives, Leadership Dallas alumni, and member of National Association of Health Services Executives. She’s engaged in the community and serves on boards for City Square, Junior Players, Woman of Purpose, and Cynthia Mickens Ministries. Nkem enjoys traveling, dancing, performing arts, and having fun with family and friends.
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Are you searching for purpose in your current season of life? Do you ever feel like your life looks totally different than you expected it to? In the latest episode, Kat and Polished’s very own Director of Development, Lindsay Benedetto, dive deep into Lindsay’s story and how our callings can look different throughout our lives. Kat and Lindsay also discuss all things enneagram (any other threes out there?) and Lindsay’s work with Polished. With Lindsay’s humor, wit and authenticity, you will feel like you are right there with Lindsay and Kat as they drop truth bombs and encourage you no matter where you are in your life.
Lindsay is a coach’s wife, mom, and is passionate about serving her peers through Polished. With a bachelor’s degree in writing and a minor in theology, Lindsay loves that she gets to combine her skills with her work in a meaningful way. It is her greatest joy to share the stories of those impacted by Polished with others. Lindsay and her husband Tony live in Dallas, TX, with their 4 littles.
In the latest episode of the Polished podcast, Kat’s discussion with Michelle Attar gets vulnerable as Michelle talks about her decision not to have children, her husband’s struggle with mental health and her desire to step in and be the person that takes care of him for a season.
Has your career ever taken an unexpected turn? Michelle’s certainly did when her career took a 180 degree turn at a crucial time in her career. She knows that life presents challenges, but special relationships provide support in the journey. Michelle shares a ton of wisdom about what that turning point looked like for her career.
Michelle is the Pastor of Adult Ministries at Bent Tree Bible Fellowship in Carrollton, Texas. Her passion is personally encouraging and creating environments for people to take the next step on their journey with Jesus. Michelle also currently serves as the Vice President of Polished’s Board of Directors and one of the chapter advisors for Polished North Dallas.
Are you an innovator? How about a creative, storyteller, or activist? Do you make your way to South by Southwest every year, or lead discussions in your community or church, or practice law in order to ensure liberty and justice for all? Have you ever experienced trauma, or does your work bring you into contact with traumatized people?
If you check any or all of those boxes, you’re going to love this week’s Polished Podcast episode with Meagan T. Harding. And if this description doesn’t quite sound like you, give the episode a listen anyway. Meagan’s joy, wisdom, and zeal for the wellbeing of others will inspire you.
As a Senior Attorney at the Texas Civil Rights Project, Meagan practices law in order to correct systemic issues on a large scale. As a Founding Chief Community Curator, Meagan develops cohorts for Rosa Rebelion, a platform for creative activism by and for women of color recently featured at South by Southwest, where Rosa Rebelion presented REBEL + REST—a resistance conversation, workshop, rejuvenation zone, and storytelling booth led by Black activists, advocates, creatives and wellness practitioners.
As a founding member of “The Gospel And” (TGA) at Mosaic Church Austin, Meagan cultivated authentic conversations around difficult topics such as race, politics and community through curriculum, programming, and relationships. And as a guest on the Polished podcast, Meagan invites each of us, no matter our profession, skin color, or experience in the pursuit of justice, to join her in finding ways to elevate women of color—not so that other voices will be silenced, but so that those too often dismissed will be heard.
We hope that Meagan’s creativity, passion for her work, and commitment to the flourishing of all people encourages you in your own professional and personal pursuits today!
In this week's episode, you'll get to listen to an exclusive interview between our Executive Director, Kat Armstrong and Hallie Graves as they discuss some of Hallie's bold career moves, Polished Austin and all things foster care.
Hallie is a single, 30-something who wears many hats including lawyer, speaker, writer and foster mama. Hallie loves encouraging people to live fully in light of the grace and freedom of Jesus and to use every ounce of all they've been given in this life. She also loves advocating for kids and families in tough situations.
Connect with Hallie and follow her journey on instagram!
As the Manager for Corporate Engagement and Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals (CMNH), Aracely P. Muñoz leads the efforts focused on CMNH corporate fundraising for Children’s Health for more than 50 corporate partner brands in Dallas, Plano, and surrounding areas, raising more than 3.3 million dollars annually. Her role is to partner with corporate partners and like-minded individuals to elevate Children's Health as a cause of choice within the community. Aracely also leads the multicultural efforts for the Foundation, which includes collaborating with Hispanic/Latino leaders and influencers, through engagement, cause-marketing, and B2B initiatives.
Aracely joined Children’s Health in August of 2017 after working 11 years in Corporate Philanthropy and in the non-profit sector. Prior to working at Alcon, Novartis, Aracely worked for Buckner International as the director for organizational effectiveness.
Aracely serves on the board for Bobby Bragan Youth Foundation in Fort Worth, Texas, which gives college scholarships to 8th grades students in more than 20 school districts in DFW. She also serves on the Brown University Alumni Interviewing Committee which interviews 12th grade prospective students for Brown University.
Aracely is currently working on completing her masters of business administration from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Previously, she earned a master’s degree in global leadership from Dallas Baptist University, and her bachelor of arts in Latin American Studies from Brown University. Aracely is married and has two teenage step-daughters in high school and a one step-daughter at UT Dallas.
Psyche Terry was born on the south side of Chicago to a teen mom. Due to a lack of resources, her parents gave custody to Psyche’s great aunt. Based on the statistics of the community, Psyche was expected to be pregnant by 16, unwed, and working multiple low paying jobs to make ends meet. Her high school counselor told her that she would likely not go to college.
Psyche recognized patterns of bad habits and decisions early in life and was inspired and motivated to live her life differently. She earned a high school internship that led to a 12-year career at Whirlpool Corporation. It took Psyche only 3 years to graduate from Western Michigan University’s Hayworth College of Business and despite failing the entrance exam 3 times, she later graduated 2nd in her class from UNLV’s College of Business EMBA.
Psyche Terry is now blazing trails in the retail world as the Founder and CEO of UI Global Brands, a lifestyle brand that includes the Inspire PsycheTerry and Urban Hydration naturally inspired skincare, haircare, and lifestyle collections. She is the first African American female to successfully launch a line of lingerie that wholesales to the largest department, retail, off price, and beauty stores in the U.S. Psyche is an industry pioneer with an undeniable passion for women and entrepreneurship. A wife and mother of three children under the age of 8, Psyche leads marketing, design, and retail strategy teams for the thriving business, which she started with in 2009. Under her leadership UIGB experienced 700%+ sales growth in 2013 and in 2014 received a $40 million valuation. The company’s products are available at more than 8,000 stores nationwide and select retailers in South America and the Caribbean.
Psyche’s achievements as a businesswoman and motivational speaker have resulted in her being featured in top publications including Forbes, Wall Street Journal, Essence and Black Enterprise. She has also appeared on major television networks such as MSNBC, CNBC, ABC, CBS, and Univision. Psyche has appeared on NBC’s top rated Steve Harvey as a mystery millionaire on one of the highest ranked episodes of the year. Psyche recently had the distinguished honor of being requested as a White House speaker on young women entrepreneurship and to meet Oprah.
Psyche tells stories of how she cashed out her Whirlpool 401(k), maxed out several credit cards, and flew her entire family to Asia in hopes of landing manufacturing and sales contracts. She wins hearts of moms and millionaires alike when they hear of her stories of being 36 weeks pregnant and opening a 40-person skin care factory.
Psyche and her college sweetheart husband, Vontoba, have offices next door to each other as they continue to lead and grow their company and brands in a true business love story.
Natalie is the CEO and founder of StudioHop. She was born in Dallas and raised in Austin with her 3 siblings on Lake Austin. Natalie met her now husband Ryan in high school, and they have been married for 5 years and work quite literally side-by-side at their software company they co-founded. She graduated from Southern Methodist University with degrees in journalism and Spanish and currently lives in Dallas on the Katy Trail with her husband and their “Shichon” Annabelle. Natalie has a passion for fitness, health and wellness, cooking and has a consistently strong case of wanderlust.
Jennifer Paine currently serves as Director of Business Transformation Solutions—Operations within Southwest Airlines’ Corporate Delivery Department. In this role, Jennifer is responsible for providing Southwest’s Operational Departments with the appropriate solutions to meet their business needs, most of which utilize technology.
Jennifer joined Southwest in 2007 as Senior Manager, Enterprise Insights. Once the AirTran acquisition was announced, she moved to Senior Manager, AirTran Integration/Multi-Fleet and led the Technology integration of Southwest Airlines’ and AirTran Airways’ operational capabilities. In 2012, Jennifer was promoted to Director, Airport Ops and NOC and Multi-Fleet. In this role, she supported the Technology needs of Ground Ops and NOC and led the Team to support the 737-800, evolve the existing 737-700’s, and support Flag Operations, a project that allowed Southwest to fly outside of the continental United States to Puerto Rico.
In her current role, Jennifer is leading the organization through the Program for Reliable Operations (PRO), a program that delivers capabilities to improve the operational reliability of the airline, introduces the new 737-8 aircraft into the fleet, and replace many of Southwest’s operational systems, including the maintenance, NOC, and cargo systems.
Prior to joining Southwest Airlines, Jennifer worked at Neiman Marcus for seven years, where she managed Teams in the areas of application development and website technology.
Jennifer earned a Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Engineering from Texas A&M University. She is married to her husband, John, and they have twin sons, John and Jeffrey.
Judy is a photographer, writer, friend, daughter, wife and mama. She loves helping people capture beautiful memories that will last a lifetime. When she doesn't have a camera in her hand, you can find her reading or spending time with family and friends. On the enneagram chart Judy is a #7 with a strong #8 wing for the things she's passionate about. Judy definitely not the loudest person in the room, but she love having tons of friends to share life with!
In this week’s episode, you'll get to listen to an exclusive interview between our Executive Director, Kat Armstrong, and our all-time favorite real estate duo, Lauri Ann and Aimee of Dwell Partners.
Dwell Partners started out as two individual agents managing the hustle and bustle of DFW real estate. As they became friends and advocates for each other, they got excited about how much more they could do for their clients together rather than apart with their complementary work ethic, core beliefs, and drive. Since teaming up, their ambition and fresh approach to real estate has opened doors for them to represent clients all over the metroplex.
In this week’s episode, you'll get to listen to an exclusive interview between our Executive Director, Kat Armstrong, and Susan Riffe.
Susan grew up as a Kansas farm girl who spent summers traveling with her family throughout the Midwest harvesting wheat for other farmers by contract, which meant she spent long hours driving really big farm machinery and helping her mom fry 4 chickens at a time to feed their very hungry 12 person crew. She drove herself down I-35 to attend Baylor University where she met her wonderful husband, Lee, and was inspired to enter academia by some awesome professors. After getting her PhD from the University of Southern California, she started as an accounting professor at SMU in 1992 and is still very passionate about teaching graduate students how to read and understand financial statements. Susan and Lee have been married more than 30 years and are empty nesters now that their twins, Garrett and Allison, are in college at Baylor and Texas A&M, respectively. For 13 years, their family has gone on a mission trip to Guatemala that is sponsored by their beloved church home, Northwest Bible. Opportunities to travel internationally have been a highlight of the current season of life.
On paper, Alana Latiolais began as a licensed Cosmetologist, adding a Merchandising degree to the mix. As life unfolded, blossoming into marriage and a family, Alana continued to cultivate color into every part of her life, never blending into a crowd, believing wholeheartedly the richness of tones can change a mood, spark joy, and evoke connection.
Sam is a tax accountant at Grant Thornton. She is married to her best friend, Ben, and is dog-mom to Beatrice. She is enthusiastic about Baylor, Chick-fil-A and budgeting!
Emily studied International Business and Economics at Mary Hardin-Baylor, and she gets to live her dream job at Fossil Group, specializing in global brand management and merchandising. Emily shares her home in Allen, TX with her sweet husband Seth and their diva cat Princess. When not working on a home project, she spends her weekends trying new recipes for a dinner party with friends or napping in a hammock with a good book club read. Emily is passionate about travel, empowering women, and sharing Jesus' love with the world.
Irina works for Texas A&M Mays Business School and Southern Methodist University as an MBA virtual career coach. She coaches MBA students on interviewing, networking, or finding the very best job or internship based on their strengths and career goals.
After 15 years of working in research and brand management for Frito Lay and Dr. Pepper Snapple, Irina was ready to move into academia. Irina is a married working mom with two beautiful girls, Olivia and Adele.
Audry is one of our Polished Dallas volunteers and loves serving her community with an amazing group of women. She has made a career in the luxury retail industry working for Neiman Marcus and Jay Strongwater. She graduated from Texas A&M University with a degree in Speech Communications and a minor in Business.
Dr. Danika Franks is a passionate mentor and empowerer of young people. As Assistant Dean of Students for TCU and UNT Health Science Center School of Medicine, she cares for her students through career advising while also doing life alongside her husband, Chauncey Franks, TCU Football Team’s Chaplain. Mother to three children – Eli, Eden, and Ellie – she also loves interior design, describing her décor style as a cross between Bohemian-Anthro- Traditional- Minimalist. Try saying that fast! A graduate from Midwestern State University and UT Southwestern, Dr. Franks is a brilliant educator, example, and friend. You won’t want to miss her story!