Digital nomad Eva Forde wasn’t always moving around. At a certain point in her life, she was living in Jamaica, destitute and hungry, in extreme debt. But one day, she felt empowered to conquer it all, and she’s still at it.

As a child of immigrants, Sherry Ezhuthachan has felt lost in navigating the culture of being in the melting pot that is the United States and the culture of her parents. But through her storytelling, I believe we all identify with her in some ways, and I believe that we all have the potential to overcome that barrier that we don’t quite fit in.

As dyslexic Black man with ADHD, Wesley Faulkner has maneuvered through difficult challenges in the personal and professional realm that have challenged him. But lately, he’s creating his own path, paving the way to inclusion and acceptance.

Helena Fogarty is a force to be reckoned with. Her experience as a 3x startup founder and 4x CEO provides valuable insights into the trials and tribulations of making it work. In this episode of The Common Scents Podcast, we learn about her journey, which was a bit of a rollercoaster, with upswings and super fast downswings that came out of left field.

Maija Russell is onto big things for 2020 (and beyond!) and they’re especially needed. Her upcoming app launch, AppreciateU, is all about living in a positive mindset through compliments and affirmations. But Maija wasn’t always living with positive self talk, nor did she have the right influences.

Gail Conn’s life shattered over a decade ago when her husband’s body shattered literally after falling off a cliff. In this week’s Common Scents Podcast, we learn how she coped and overcame (and what happened after that fateful day).

Sasha Raskin once was depressed and suicidal. Now she shares why her future vision is in making sure to give others the emotional support they need through her incredible initiative, A Beautiful Mess.

While Michelle Robbins had incredible support by the people who gave her the opportunity to work in tech, she also faced a fair deal of distrust from other partners who couldn’t believe that women can own and dominate tech.

He overcame being bedridden at sixteen, then started his own business where he realized that he’d rather be happy than super rich. This is Erno Hannink‘s story.

When he became a legal adult, he had a massive debt and thought his life was over. Now, he’s 24 and runs his own company. This is Manuel Hernandez’s story.

Meet Nick Ayres. Nick was the reason The Home Depot became a big social media powerhouse in the late 2000s. But can you imagine that his background began in music?

Scott Jarzombek grew up to embrace diversity. As a kid, he was placed in a special education program that changed his life and now his view on the world is one that we all should have.

Alana Kessler once suffered from an eating disorder. Her experience changed her, enabling her to now become a more mindful eater and to teach others to do the same.

Fireball Deena Baikowitz has been evolving. Always been evolving. The pandemic has forced her to leave New York. She expanded her career into comedy, and she’s always finding opportunity even though these are hard times. Because Deena is a fireball and she’s hella resilient.

In this episode of Common Scents, Madhu Challa talks about her launch of Pretty Pokets, a designer diaper bag company (the coolest), our favorite books, and how a storm that caused a 6.5 day outage wasn’t going to stop us from finishing this recording.

Justin Levy (Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, BuiltUnstoppable.com) woke up one day and everything was normal. Then, he had a seizure that changed his world. Here’s how he rebuilt himself again.

Sometimes startups don’t work out. Akta Adani (Twitter, Instagram, Medium) had to face that issue as the founder of her company. Today, she’s found her footing as a founder of a responsible sourcing organization, Nomadory, making waves in helping other people become successful entrepreneurs.

Ruth Rau saw the opportunity when the pandemic started. Her toy company, Mouse Loves Pig, has since addressed the needs of young children who are afraid to wear masks. She shares more in this heartwarming episode.

When her first husband died when she had two very young children, Daina Middleton needed to forge her own path forward. She successfully raised a beautiful family while running some incredible companies.

Giuliana Kotikela is one of the most brilliant founders I’ve ever spoken to. Her brand, Chikeey, is going to change the future of mental health. In this podcast, we talk about her founder journey and hear from a visionary who knows exactly where she needs to go. Mark my words, Chikeey is a product to watch.

Jaya Iyer was a fashion academic until her children were born. Her son was diagnosed with leukemia which presented its own challenges. Her daughter wanted to be an astronaut but there were no products that catered to her needs. And with this, Jaya created Svaha, a geeky-themed fashion brand.

Irene Koo had a great job in finance that she absolutely loved until she got sick and had a near death experience. Knowing she wanted to travel the world, she seized the day and started exploring culture and food. Her experiences with traditional foods inspired her current startup journey, Mamakoo.

Parul Wadhwa comes from humble beginnings in India and found herself on the West Coast in California due to her curiosity of technology. With just a few hundred dollars in her pocket, she had to reinvent herself. Today, she’s a creator of incredible VR stories.

Betsy Furler may have a child who truly needs full time care, but she makes sure that she takes care of herself—and it makes her a better mother and businesswoman.

Alora May’s business, SAM AND LANCE, which requires heavy travel, took a pivot away from the usual global marketplace and instead moved into self-care kits. Learn her story and how she got there and make the decision to change the trajectory of her business.

Andrea Harding overcame self doubt and struggle during her entrepreneurial journey. Yet she’s persevering because that’s what we do. Her startup, Zipgig, will likely take on the world when this pandemic is over.

Her mom died the day before she recorded this podcast. And yet, she showed up. She showed up to the United States from the Philippines and has been chasing the dream. This is Cristina Cruz Soltesz‘s story, and it’s awesome.

Ashley Baxter may have unlikely roots to work in tech, but here she is, and now she’s created a career out of helping others become successful.

Shivani Ganguly lost her husband and her business at around the same time, which devastated her. But now she is finding peace and happiness with her son who is truly the center of her universe and killing it as a Chief Financial Officer. TAMAR: Hi, everybody. We’re nearing May now, which is crazy. For me it’s insane how the last couple weeks have been. I can’t even describe what they’ve been like. But we are still in good spirits. I’m keeping the podcast going. Today I have Shivani Ganguly who is coming from the other coast. She is here to

Yerlin Ramirez is an inspiration, someone who hit the absolute lowest of the lows but whose glow you can hear in a podcast. She’s found brightness after complete darkness, when she found out 10 days before she was going to move to another country with the man she loved and was going to marry that she wasn’t wanted anymore, being told she wasn’t going to walk again after falling off a cliff, but then finding peace with her past and moving forward (in the best possible way). This is her story.

Uma Kelkar is an engineer who became a tech founder, works as an artist, and is and an author whose new book just was released. In this episode, she shares her experience coming to America with only $200–growing up being satisfied that she only had a staircase with a lamp dedicated for only herself–how these simple pleasures made her happy. Now she is a female in an industry that is dominated by males. We learn her story and mission, how she became enamored by tech, and of course, discuss the impacts of COVID-19 on how things have changed.

As the pandemic and our quarantines continue, our lives are forever changed. Teresa Kwon talks about this as well as the toxic job environment that caused her to reevaluate what is most important in life.

In today’s podcast, we talk to Jen Brown, who has overcome tough times to become an engaging educator and actor who has found silver linings in the pandemic by giving people happiness (for now, remotely). Learn more about Jen and watch her recent Zoom play.

Lidia Bonilla launched a product that still has a stigma in today’s society, but we’re warming up to it. Learn about what brought her there, how she’s dealt with pushback, and of course, how we’re both faring in isolation and quarantine.

Like many, her stint in Afghanistan was emotionally taxing and made Lisa Johnson miserable. But then she found the things that made her feel good. And as she kept at them, she became a triathlete. In this podcast, we discuss the initial quarantines in Italy and New York—little would we know what would happen in the two weeks since this was recorded.

Rania Badreldin‘s career path is not the typical one you normally go to school for. Even though she had her future planned out, or so she thought, life happened and her planned career path didn’t materialize. Instead, she became an entrepreneur. And then her experience as an entrepreneur turned her into a happiness coach. What’s a happiness coach, you ask? Listen to the podcast for her story and takeaways on how to self-love.

Adi Wallach faced debilitating panic attacks that she admits made her think she was losing her mind. That was the impetus to her creating CalmiGo, a product that helps all humans manage stress and all kinds of moments of distress. In this podcast, Adi shares her story, and Tamar and Adi talk about how people are starting to slowly feel comfortable sharing their mental health battles, which still has negative stigma surrounding making these stories public. TAMAR: Hey, everybody, it is Tamar. And today I am with somebody who hails from the other side of the world. For me, at

Wendy Piersall was on the top of the world, perhaps the world’s most recognized entrepreneur mom blogger until one day when things changed and affected her livelihood. Here, she talks about how she was able to pick up the pieces and how she makes the world–from kids to adults and everyone in between–a much happier place.

When her ex-boyfriend died doing something he loved, Amanda Kay Oaks realized that she needed to continue doing what he was doing to keep his memory alive. By doing so, she became stronger and better than ever before. TAMAR: Hi, everybody, it’s Tamara Weinberg. And today I am with Amanda K. Oaks. She is a great podcast guest. I want to give you a little bit of background about the Common Scents podcast. The common Scents podcast embodies three main themes. Number one is self-care. Number two is rising above the ashes. And number three is these unexpected, crazy career

Jen May was a police officer. Little did she know when she started her career in law enforcement would end and she’d find herself working in a completely different customer service capacity. Today, she’s stronger than ever and holding on.

She grew up with domestic violence and then ended up working with children in similar situations. She has risen, exercised her way out of depression, and continues to help empower young adults. Meet Beverly Faye.

After going through a miserable divorce, Jessica Evans decided to do what her former self (and partner) wouldn’t have imagined by building a bucket list of adventures. She’s run with the bulls in Spain, gone white water rafting in the Grand Canyon, received her scuba diving certification, hang glide in Brazil, and that’s not the half of it. This introvert who considers herself afraid of quite a lot has overcome the impossible to do what most of us dream to.

Abigail Louise endured childhood trauma in a school setting but then faced her fears and ended up working at a school. This non-runner also found herself killing it in marathons. Here, she tells her story. TAMAR: Hi, everybody, it’s Tamar. And it is a brand-new year and I have a brand new, awesome person to speak to. I have Abigail with me. And she’s going to share a little bit about her story and what inspired her, what’s been her impetus to kind of go in her career trajectory and things that have affected her in her life and what

From an emotional rollercoaster after being on Shark Tank, Tereson Dupuy didn’t let that affect her for the long term and is now poised to tackle the world in her next venture.