Badass Women in Business
Welcome to The Badass Women in Business Podcast, the definitive space for unfiltered, tactical insights into female entrepreneurship, enterprise scaling, and business monetization.
Hosted by seasoned business owners, growth partners, and exit strategists Cristy O’Connor and Aggie Chydzinski, this podcast moves past passive advisory to bring you directly inside the high-stakes execution of building and successfully exiting companies on your own terms.
As hands-on growth partners who actively engineer scale and value alongside founders, we deliberately strip away the superficiality of traditional corporate highlight reels. Instead, we dissect the raw, hard-earned operational strategies and profound psychological shifts required to unlock true enterprise value.
Each week, our conversations turn systemic business obstacles into high-velocity execution plans, offering sophisticated, real-world frameworks for ambitious women who are leading teams, optimizing cash flow, and engineering highly scalable, exit-ready companies.
Whether you are in the trenches of bootstrapping an innovative startup, navigating complex partnership dynamics, or designing the ultimate monetization strategy for your life's work, this podcast provides the active strategy needed to drive valuation and claim full autonomy over your future.
Subscribe now to join a premier movement of women rewriting the rules of modern commerce, one definitive story at a time. New episodes deliver partner-level value every Tuesday.
Badass Women in Business
Embracing Change, Resilience, and Legacy with Melva LaJoy LeGrand
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In this episode, Melva LaJoy LeGrand, founder of LaJoy Plans, shares her deeply personal story of resilience, legacy, and self-discovery. Melva opens up about her journey from academia to event planning, her challenges with self-identity, and the profound impact of her parents on her life’s path. She dives into her commitment to advocating for women of color in business, the empowering role of mentorship, and her inspiring message to live authentically. Melva’s reflections encourage us to value the power of our personal stories and to push beyond the traditional boundaries set by society.
Show Notes
- Introduction: Melva LaJoy LeGrand, founder of LaJoy Plans, discusses her journey of resilience, guided by love, joy, and the legacy of her parents.
- Path to LaJoy Plans: Starting from an academic career, Melva found her calling in storytelling and event planning, using her skills to connect people and create meaningful experiences.
- Personal Growth: She shares insights on navigating self-esteem issues, overcoming trauma, and embracing her unique identity as a Black woman.
- Business Resilience during COVID: Melva opens up about the loss of her business contracts during the pandemic, the period of grief that followed, and the eventual pivot that helped her rebuild.
- Advocacy for BIPOC Women: Melva’s work emphasizes equal access and the importance of mentoring women of color, aiming to bridge the wage gap and broaden the definition of excellence.
- Mondays with Melva: A video series Melva created as a love letter to herself and other women, focusing on topics like fear management, purpose, and self-growth.
- Future Vision: Melva envisions furthering her creative storytelling projects, advocating for social issues, and fostering community connections.
Connect with Melva:
- Website: LaJoy Plans
- LinkedIn: Melva LaJoy LeGrand
- Instagram: @belajoyful
- YouTube: LaJoy Plans on YouTube
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- Instagram: @badass_women_in_business
- LinkedIn: ProveHer - Badass Women in Business
- Website: Badasswomeninbusinesspodcast.com
- Athena: athenaac.com
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