Female Fridays
On Female Fridays, we go beyond the résumé to reveal the real stories of women leading with courage, complexity, and heart.
Hosted by Rachel Keller — a journalist at heart and a Vice President by trade — this podcast features unfiltered conversations with extraordinary women in healthcare, senior living, entrepreneurship, and beyond.
These are the stories behind the titles: breaking glass ceilings, navigating imposter syndrome, redefining power, and building legacy on their own terms.
If you're craving deeper, more human stories of leadership — the doubt, the pivots, the quiet wins — you’re in the right place.
Because true leadership was never just a title.
Tune in each Friday for real talk, emotional insight, and the truth behind what it really takes to lead.
Female Fridays
She Was a Dishwasher. Now She Runs the Room. Melissa Evraets on Power, Humility, and the Moment She Stopped Shrinking.
Melissa Evraet’s story reads like a leadership masterclass in grit, humility, and reinvention. From a tiny town in Oklahoma to a high-rise office in Chicago, she rose through the ranks—starting as a dishwasher, becoming a nurse, and now serving as Chairwoman of Argentum’s Women in Leadership initiative and Chief Nursing Officer at Vi.
In this episode of Female Fridays, we explore:
- How care and profitability can coexist in healthcare leadership
- What happens when you stop asking “Why me?” and start owning your value
- Why nurses (and women) need to master the financial side of leadership
- Her unexpected career pivot—and the recruiter who wouldn't give up
- The mindset shift from imposter syndrome to impact
- Her advice to the young woman washing dishes—and to all the future leaders listening now
Melissa’s leadership is deeply human: equal parts data and heart, boldness and grace. This is a must-listen for anyone navigating self-doubt, climbing toward leadership, or redefining what’s possible in healthcare and senior living.
Join Women In Leadership: https://www.argentum.org/research-and-initiatives/women-in-leadership/
Connect with Melissa on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/melissa-evraets-rn-msn-ne-bc-b375341b8/