Within living memory, a woman in this country could be turned away for a credit card or a bank loan unless a man signed for her. That is not ancient history. It is your mother’s generation, and for some of you it is your own.

This episode is my tribute to what happened once that door finally opened. Women walked through and changed the American economy. Today they earn the majority of college degrees, they start businesses at a remarkable pace, and they make most of the spending decisions in the household, which means they steer the consumer engine that drives this nation. Take women out of the picture and America would not be the country leading the world. It would be the country that used to.

I also tell a harder story about how that progress came about. The same era that opened the door for women saw the courts narrow the path that had been built for Black Americans. Our stories are more connected than most people realize, and I believe all progress is good progress. Rainbows only follow storms.

Then I get practical for every young woman, and every woman resetting her life, who wants to know where her gifts can take her, from healthcare and education to leadership, marketing, and the nonprofit world. I close with the Marianne Williamson passage so often attributed to Nelson Mandela, because it says what I want every listener to carry out the door. Your playing small does not serve the world. Share this one with the women and girls in your life.

🎧 Listen now — wherever you get your podcasts, or simply click below.

Prefer to watch? The full episode is on YouTube.