Dig Your Heels In on MarketScale | Business Services Expert Content

Creator Hubs›Dig Your Heels In

Business conversations for professionals who build on their own terms.

Dig Your Heels In is a business podcast for professionals who resist shortcuts and build careers and companies on their own terms. Episodes cover leadership, entrepreneurship, and the decisions that define long-term professional success. The channel speaks directly to B2B practitioners who value substance over speed.

9 episodes

Channel Brief·Dig Your Heels In · 9 episodes

Updated Jun 26, 2022

Female leaders overcome doubt through mentorship and storytelling

Nine working women across healthcare, tech, construction, and design share how they navigated male-dominated fields, imposter syndrome, and career pivots. The channel grounds their advice in lived experience, not theory.

Dig Your Heels In argues that female leaders succeed not by denying self-doubt but by building the mentorship, visibility, and narrative skills to move through it. Each episode profiles a named woman who overcame imposter syndrome or gender barriers by finding or creating a peer network, speaking publicly, or reframing her own story. The proof is biographical, not statistical: each leader traces a specific fork in the road where mentorship or a deliberate choice to get visibility shifted her trajectory.

Drawn from Dig Your Heels In: A Working Women’s Series wi… and 2 more →

“The best way to solve that is working in systems. And that's how she got the tech bug.”
YiDing Yu, CMO at Olive, on combining medicine with technology

By the numbers

1.6%

share of US companies with female CEOs, 2022

22 years

Allison Grealis' experience in trade association space

2012

year Amber Clore opened A.Clore Interiors

6 children

Rachel Neill's household size and product inspiration

What the channel argues

InsightMegan MacDonald, Chief Strategy Officer at Hello Alice, overcame imposter syndrome through solid mentorship and developed faith in herself.→

DataWomen in manufacturing face historical gender imbalance; Allison Grealis founded Women in Manufacturing Association to support them after 22 years in trade associations.→

InsightYiDing Yu, practicing physician and CMO at Olive, combined medicine, politics, and technology to solve healthcare system challenges rather than working solo.→

InsightRachel Neill, co-founder and CEO of Figgy with six children, built a tech-free engagement product in response to pandemic screen-time concerns.→

InsightAmy Czuchlewski studied Computer Engineering at University of Michigan unaware women were in the minority; now advocates for female visibility in tech.→

What you'll learn

•Imposter syndrome is widespread among female leaders but addressable through active mentorship rather than solo effort or self-doubt acceptance.

•Cross-industry career pivots can unlock innovation: Andi Huels moved from oil and gas through industrial automation to AI leadership at Lenovo.

•Storytelling and narrative are business tools, not soft skills: Jolene Delisle built The Working Assembly on the principle that brands need refined stories across their life cycles.

•Gender barriers persist in construction, manufacturing, and design, but visibility and peer networks actively shift participation rates and normalize female leadership.

•Early exposure to a field without gender framing creates advantage: Czuchlewski's aptitude test prevented her from pre-learning she would be outnumbered.

What to do about it

→Identify and invest in mentorship relationships or peer networks rather than treating career growth as a solo climb; Megan MacDonald's trajectory turned on solid mentorship.

→Make women's work visible and audible in male-dominated industries through speaking, events, and association building; Jackie Pasierbowicz and Allison Grealis shifted gender dynamics through active engagement.

→Use storytelling as a business and leadership tool, not decoration: craft and refine your brand narrative across career stages as Jolene Delisle advises founders.

Who and what shows up

Megan MacDonald

Chief Strategy Officer, Hello Alice

Overcame imposter syndrome through mentorship and now leads strategy at a female-founded company; represents the channel's core thesis on mentorship as growth engine.

YiDing Yu

CMO, Olive; practicing physician and published researcher

Combined medicine, politics, and technology to solve healthcare system challenges rather than stay in one domain; exemplifies cross-disciplinary problem-solving.

Jolene Delisle

Founder and Head Creative, The Working Assembly

Built a branding consultancy on storytelling as the foundation for business success; advocates for narrative refinement across a brand's life cycle.

Andi Huels

Head of AI, North America, Lenovo

Career path across oil and gas, industrial automation, and AI shows how cross-industry touchpoints on smart tools lead to leadership in emerging fields.

Allison Grealis

President and Founder, Women in Manufacturing Association

Leveraged 22 years in trade association experience to build a national organization supporting women in a historically male-dominated manufacturing sector.

Questions this channel answers

How do female leaders overcome imposter syndrome?

Through solid mentorship and developing faith in themselves. Megan MacDonald, Chief Strategy Officer at Hello Alice, credited mentorship for moving past self-doubt about her education, experience, and accomplishments.

Dig Your Heels In: A Working Women’s Series with Megan M… →

What barriers do women face in male-dominated fields?

Historically disproportionate representation: women dominate education and healthcare while construction and manufacturing have skewed male. Gender dynamics persist even in industries like tech and design, but can shift through association building and visibility.

Dig Your Heels In: A Working Woman’s Series with Amy Czu… →

How does storytelling drive business growth for women founders?

Brands must refine, synthesize, and market themselves through their life cycles using storytelling. Jolene Delisle founded The Working Assembly on this principle, helping female founders and clients at various life stages build and communicate their narratives.

Dig Your Heels In: A Working Woman’s Series with Jolene … →

What role does cross-industry experience play in female leadership?

Career paths across multiple industries provide touchpoints on the power of smart tools and innovation. Andi Huels moved from oil and gas through industrial automation to catch the AI bug and become Head of AI at Lenovo.

Dig Your Heels In: A Working Woman’s Series with Lenovo’… →

Best place to start

Dig Your Heels In: A Working Women’s Series with Megan MacDonaldIntroduces the channel's core thesis: imposter syndrome is addressable through mentorship, and profiles a C-suite leader at a female-founded company.

Dig Your Heels In: A Working Woman’s Series with Jolene DelisleDemonstrates how storytelling and narrative become business strategy and how a founder leverages peer relationships to scale consulting from advertising.

Topics:Imposter syndrome and self-doubtGender parity in male-dominated industriesMentorship and peer networksStorytelling and brand narrativeCareer pivots and cross-industry moves

Themes:Mentorship as antidote to imposter syndromeVisibility and peer networks reshape gender normsNarrative skill as leadership and business competency

Industry context

Mentorship and networking are increasingly recognized as critical professional development tools that address career limiting factors like imposter syndrome and low visibility, particularly affecting early-career professionals seeking advancement.

The Role of Mentoring in Career Development and Organizational Success (redcircle.com) ↗