Welcome back to Driven 4word: Influential Leaders Powered By God’s Will. Join us each month as we share the life story of an influential leader who humbled themselves to God’s plan for their life and embarked on a journey that only He could orchestrate.
The influential leader we will learn from this month is Donna Letier. You will catch on fairly quickly to the fact that from an early age, Donna has not been afraid to go after something. Her father worked in the oil industry which meant Donna and her family moved all over the world, a situation which gave her a love for everyone and a desire to always go after what she felt would bring joy and accomplishment to her life.
Let’s listen now as Donna begins to share her story.
Guest Bio:
Donna Letier is an entrepreneur, mom, wife, and co-founder of Gardenuity. Originally from Texas, she has lived in Singapore, London, California, Alaska, and Denver. After graduating from Southern Methodist University, she worked and learned the fine points of retail and creating customer experiences from Neiman Marcus and credits a lot of her success to learning lessons from the NM executive team and the legendary Stanley Marcus. Prior to founding Gardenuity Donna spent 20 years in leadership positions in areas of operations, brand marketing, and product development where she focused on consumer trends and merchandise development.
The Gardenuity science and data-backed approach to gardening and gardening experiences is impacting lives across the country and has been adopted by employees at more than 150 companies. Well-being is embedded into every garden and designed to meet people where they are. Gardenuity works in three key verticals, Mental Health, Food is Medicine, and the health of the planet.
Donna lives in Dallas with her husband Scott, is the mother of two girls, one of whom is a Gold Medalist from Special Olympics. She believes that sometimes you must get a little dirty to reap the benefits of living a good life. Donna does not believe in convenience over compassion, she practices patience in a hurry, does not believe well-being is just for some, or that cussing and praying are mutually exclusive.
Originally Broadcast: July 2022
Find our latest podcast on www.4wordwomen.org/podcast/
July 12, 2024
Welcome back to Driven 4word: Influential Leaders Powered By God’s Will. Join us each month as we share the life story of an influential leader who humbled themselves to God’s plan for their life and embarked on a journey that only He could orchestrate.
In the last episode, we met Danelle Radney, director of corporate strategy and health equity at Davita. Growing up with parents in full-time ministry meant Danelle’s relationship with God started at a very young age, but throughout her personal and professional journey, Danelle often found herself needing to hit pause on her tireless drive to help others grow and achieve, and ensure that she was still following the roadmap God had placed before her to become the greatest influence for His kingdom.
Let’s listen now as Danelle shares the rest of her story with us.
Guest Bio:
Danelle Radney has 20 years of experience in national multisite operations, DEI strategy and leadership development. Danelle leads Health Equity strategy and operations nationally for DaVita Inc. DaVita is a Fortune 500 Company with over 200,000 patients and nearly 3,000 dialysis centers nationwide. Her team is responsible for developing and leading interventions improving clinical outcomes in communities with the greatest needs.
Danelle holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a BA from the University of Minnesota, Carlson School of Management. Danelle is an INROADS alumna, MLT MBA Prep Alumna and former HBS Leadership Fellow.
She sits on the Board for Fund for Education Abroad and the HBS Christian Fellowship Alumni Association.
Originally Broadcast: June 2022
Find our latest podcast on www.4wordwomen.org/podcast/
July 10, 2024
Welcome back to Driven 4word: Influential Leaders Powered By God’s Will. Join us each month as we share the life story of an influential leader who humbled themselves to God’s plan for their life and embarked on a journey that only He could orchestrate.
The influential leader we will learn from this month is Danelle Radney. The oldest of three girls and the daughter of two parents in full-time ministry, Danelle’s early years in Detroit and Minneapolis were full of hands-on ministry opportunities and exposure to multiple cultural communities. From a young age, Danelle leaned into an innate drive to succeed and make a difference in the world, and while this helped open doors for her, it also caused her to realize that God’s way truly is the best way.
Listen below as Danelle begins her story.
Guest Bio:
Danelle Radney has 20 years of experience in national multisite operations, DEI strategy and leadership development. Danelle leads Health Equity strategy and operations nationally for DaVita Inc. DaVita is a Fortune 500 Company with over 200,000 patients and nearly 3,000 dialysis centers nationwide. Her team is responsible for developing and leading interventions improving clinical outcomes in communities with the greatest needs.
Danelle holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a BA from the University of Minnesota, Carlson School of Management. Danelle is an INROADS alumna, MLT MBA Prep Alumna and former HBS Leadership Fellow.
She sits on the Board for Fund for Education Abroad and the HBS Christian Fellowship Alumni Association.
Originally Broadcast: June 2022
Find our latest podcast on www.4wordwomen.org/podcast/
July 8, 2024
Welcome back to Driven 4word: Influential Leaders Powered By God’s Will. Join us each month as we share the life story of an influential leader who humbled themselves to God’s plan for their life and embarked on a journey that only He could orchestrate.
In the last episode, we met Maria Tapias, co-founder of The Voice Society, an advertising firm located in Dallas, TX. We learned about how Maria came to the US from Colombia, and how her parents’ divorce and being raised in a new country by a single mom molded the trajectory for Maria’s life and career. When she left Florida—the state she had called home for years—and dove feet first into the new and vibrant life New York City had to offer, Maria began to truly see her professional dreams come true, but always had her questions about true religion and faith lingering in the back of her mind. And it wasn’t long after she moved to Texas to help manage a new client that God would finally become real to Maria.
Let’s listen now as Maria shares the rest of her story with us.
Guest Bio:
Maria has 25+ years of experience in advertising working for clients such as Walmart, Verizon, Procter & Gamble, DIAGEO, Home Depot, Samsung and City of Dallas; among many others. Born in Colombia and raised in Miami, FL, she’s dedicated her entire career to advertising and marketing. Over the years, Maria has built a reputation for being a creative problem solver who thrives on turning business relationships into high value partnerships. She has simultaneously led multiple Top-10 global brands; each with teams of 15+ direct reports.
Always seeking new challenges, she likes endurance sports and has completed the MS150 as well as several triathlons.
Originally Broadcast: May 2022
Find our latest podcast on www.4wordwomen.org/podcast/
July 3, 2024
Welcome back to Driven 4word: Influential Leaders Powered By God’s Will. Join us each month as we share the life story of an influential leader who humbled themselves to God’s plan for their life and embarked on a journey that only He could orchestrate.
The influential leader we will learn from this month is Maria Tapias. A highly-successful marketing professional living in the Dallas area, the Maria Tapias of today is a night and day difference from the little girl who was born in Colombia and ultimately raised in Miami. Even though she grew up in a religious family, Maria wrestled from an early age with questions about what a genuine relationship with God should look and feel like.
When her parents divorced and her father went back to Colombia, Maria had to navigate becoming a US citizen and helping her mother and sister do the same. As the three of them adjusted to a new life in a new country, Maria began to learn more about who she was and what she wanted to do with her life.
Listen below as Maria begins her story.
Guest Bio:
Maria has 25+ years of experience in advertising working for clients such as Walmart, Verizon, Procter & Gamble, DIAGEO, Home Depot, Samsung and City of Dallas; among many others. Born in Colombia and raised in Miami, FL, she’s dedicated her entire career to advertising and marketing. Over the years, Maria has built a reputation for being a creative problem solver who thrives on turning business relationships into high value partnerships. She has simultaneously led multiple Top-10 global brands; each with teams of 15+ direct reports.
Always seeking new challenges, she likes endurance sports and has completed the MS150 as well as several triathlons.
Originally Broadcast: May 2022
Find our latest podcast on www.4wordwomen.org/podcast/
July 1, 2024
Welcome back to Driven 4word: Influential Leaders Powered By God’s Will. Join us each month as we share the life story of an influential leader who humbled themselves to God’s plan for their life and embarked on a journey that only He could orchestrate.
In the last episode, we met Favor Lee, Director of Business Development at EisnerAmper and “Mom to two and wife to one.” After getting the opportunity to leave Korea and attend college in the U.S. for a year, Favor took a leap of faith and followed a dream that she had spoken into existence with her mother years prior.
As Favor graduated, started her career and her family, she began to notice that her personal spiritual community and the community she was building with her professional colleagues lacked a bridge between them. She soon began to see the direct relationship influence and community share and leaned into God’s path for her life which led her to finding a beautiful answer to finding a way to join all areas of her life together under the umbrella of faith.
Guest Bio:
Favor Lee is a Director of Business Development with over 10 years of public accounting experience, servicing both public and private companies. She is responsible for leading and driving business development initiatives for the Southwest region, primarily focusing on the real estate and construction companies as well as manufacturing and distribution, health care, and oil and gas.
By utilizing her accounting background, Favor creates a unique accounting solution for clients, and prospect by working closely with the client service team. She attributes much of her success to her diligence and willingness to learn from every opportunity. Favor strives to serve clients and prospective clients not only with the utmost professionalism but also with a serving heart.
Prior to joining the firm, Favor was the Controller for a national restaurant franchise, and led the corporate accounting team and oversaw the full-cycle accounting. She began her accounting career at a Big 4 accounting firm as an auditor, where she was responsible for the overall planning and execution of external audit of a multi-billion-dollar construction company.
In the community, Favor is passionate about serving and giving back. She is on the board of the Dallas chapter for 4word, a non-profit organization supporting Christian women in the workplace reach their potential with confidence, and United Nations Association of the U.S., a nonprofit grassroots organization dedicated to promoting political and public support for the United Nations among Americans.
As an active member of the Texas Society of Certified Public Accountants (TXCPA), Favor, was recently recognized as a 2021 Rising Star and Committee Member of the Year for TXCPA Dallas.
Orginal broadcast dated: Apr 2022
Click here for the latest Podcast from 4word - Work Love Pray Podcast - 4word (4wordwomen.org)
June 28, 2024
Welcome back to Driven 4word: Influential Leaders Powered By God’s Will. Join us each month as we share the life story of an influential leader who humbled themselves to God’s plan for their life and embarked on a journey that only He could orchestrate.
The influential leader we will learn from this month is Favor Lee. From a difficult childhood in Saipan and Korea to her current role as Director of Business Development at EisnerAmper in Dallas, TX, Favor’s story is absolutely one you will come away from feeling inspired to keep pushing and never let go of your grip on God’s hand.
One thing that you will hear immediately is the joy and positivity in Favor’s voice, and that truly comes from her heart. As you hear about the beginning years of her life, it will become so apparent that God has always had big plans for her.
Favor Lee is a Director of Business Development with over 10 years of public accounting experience, servicing both public and private companies. She is responsible for leading and driving business development initiatives for the Southwest region, primarily focusing on the real estate and construction companies as well as manufacturing and distribution, health care, and oil and gas.
By utilizing her accounting background, Favor creates a unique accounting solution for clients, and prospect by working closely with the client service team. She attributes much of her success to her diligence and willingness to learn from every opportunity. Favor strives to serve clients and prospective clients not only with the utmost professionalism but also with a serving heart.
Prior to joining the firm, Favor was the Controller for a national restaurant franchise, and led the corporate accounting team and oversaw the full-cycle accounting. She began her accounting career at a Big 4 accounting firm as an auditor, where she was responsible for the overall planning and execution of external audit of a multi-billion-dollar construction company.
In the community, Favor is passionate about serving and giving back. She is on the board of the Dallas chapter for 4word, a non-profit organization supporting Christian women in the workplace reach their potential with confidence, and United Nations Association of the U.S., a nonprofit grassroots organization dedicated to promoting political and public support for the United Nations among Americans.
As an active member of the Texas Society of Certified Public Accountants (TXCPA), Favor, was recently recognized as a 2021 Rising Star and Committee Member of the Year for TXCPA Dallas.
Orginal broadcast dated: Apr 2022
Click here for the latest Podcast from 4word - Work Love Pray Podcast - 4word (4wordwomen.org)
June 26, 2024
Welcome back to Driven 4word: Influential Leaders Powered By God’s Will. Join us each month as we share the life story of an influential leader who humbled themselves to God’s plan for their life and embarked on a journey that only He could orchestrate.
In the previous episode, we met Jennifer Jackson, an entrepreneur and distinguished leader in the legal technology industry. Though her professional life has been highly successful and rewarding, her spiritual walk didn’t come into its own until she was in her thirties.
As she grew in her faith and began to identify all the points in time that God had been right there beside her, Jennifer started to really see and value the impact that being an influence on others can have.
Guest Bio:
Jennifer Jackson has been a business and ministry leader for almost 30 years. She currently serves in an executive business leadership role, in multiple board roles, and as an ordained minister.
She started her first company at the age of 23 and was named entrepreneur and lifestyle leader of the year by the Chamber of Commerce in the 90s for ecommerce business growth and helping other entrepreneurs learn to conduct ecommerce in these early days. She sold this business by age 30 and joined a Fortune 200 corporation in legal technology services to climb the ranks in leadership and lead award winning sales teams for the following 20+ years. During this time Jennifer spent her vacation days from work ministering in the US and in Africa with the focus of discipling nations by raising up kingdom leaders in Zambia, DRC Congo, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Uganda and Tanzania.
Over the last 10 years, while still operating fulltime in executive leadership in the legal technology industry and in a global ministry, Jennifer began to grow in understanding that there is no separation between the sacred and secular and her two worlds of business and ministry continue to find synergy. Becoming active in the 4word community has created exponential increase to this understanding and growth in her life. Attending the 4word C-Level Forum has impacted Jennifer’s business and ministry connections and personal growth.
Orginal broadcast dated: Feb 2022
Click here for the latest Podcast from 4word - Work Love Pray Podcast - 4word (4wordwomen.org)
June 24, 2024
Welcome back to Driven 4word: Influential Leaders Powered By God’s Will. Join us each month as we share the life story of an influential leader who humbled themselves to God’s plan for their life and embarked on a journey that only He could orchestrate.
This month, we’re sharing the story of influential leader and entrepreneur, Jennifer Jackson. Though she now calls Atlanta, GA, home, she is originally from Huntsville, AL. The only child of two scientists, Jennifer had to learn early on how to fend for herself, as she navigated her parents’ divorce and the demanding expectations of their careers. A self-called latchkey child, Jennifer quickly became outgoing, inclusive, and entrepreneurial. While none of those are bad traits, she still felt like she was missing something.
Guest Bio:
Jennifer Jackson has been a business and ministry leader for almost 30 years. She currently serves in an executive business leadership role, in multiple board roles, and as an ordained minister.
She started her first company at the age of 23 and was named entrepreneur and lifestyle leader of the year by the Chamber of Commerce in the 90s for ecommerce business growth and helping other entrepreneurs learn to conduct ecommerce in these early days. She sold this business by age 30 and joined a Fortune 200 corporation in legal technology services to climb the ranks in leadership and lead award winning sales teams for the following 20+ years. During this time Jennifer spent her vacation days from work ministering in the US and in Africa with the focus of discipling nations by raising up kingdom leaders in Zambia, DRC Congo, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Uganda and Tanzania.
Over the last 10 years, while still operating fulltime in executive leadership in the legal technology industry and in a global ministry, Jennifer began to grow in understanding that there is no separation between the sacred and secular and her two worlds of business and ministry continue to find synergy. Becoming active in the 4word community has created exponential increase to this understanding and growth in her life. Attending the 4word C-Level Forum has impacted Jennifer’s business and ministry connections and personal growth.
Orginal broadcast dated: Mar 2022
Click here for the latest Podcast from 4word - Work Love Pray Podcast - 4word (4wordwomen.org)
June 21, 2024
Welcome back to Driven 4word: Influential Leaders Powered By God’s Will. Join us each month as we share the life story of an influential leader who humbled themselves to God’s plan for their life and embarked on a journey that only He could orchestrate.
In the previous episode, we met Lori Joe Brown, a Senior Manager within the Global Field Enablement Team at American Express, and she shared about her childhood in Brooklyn, how her parents’ divorce shifted her whole life, and how she stayed true to her dream of being a professional.
Listen to the conclusion of Lori’s story below to hear why she thinks it’s so important to find connection in the workplace, and what has driven her forward as she’s traveled God’s path for her life.
Guest Bio:
Lori Joe Brown has been working in Corporate American since the tender age of 18, as the summer-intern to VP of tenders & exchanges department, of a Wall Street shareholder relations firm.
Currently Lori is a Senior Manager within the Global Field Enablement Team at American Express which serves as the Center of Excellence for a 4,000+ person sales organization, delivering high impact global strategies, content, competencies, and connections that accelerate sales productivity. She has been with American Express for over 15 years in various roles developing her fellow colleagues in Human Resources and Leadership & Development.
Lori’s passion lies within developing and encouraging others in the workplace through her faith which she has been able to do as co-lead to the American Express Christian Colleague Network called SALT. Through this Christian employee resource group, she provides leadership to a 1,200-member group of employees. It has been an intricate part of the American Express employee experience globally for the past 20+ years, while assisting other Fortune 500 companies start their own Christian networks.
Lori’s non-profit work is just as important. She sits on the board of 4word, a Professional Christian Women’s organization that helps women in the workplace reach their God-given potential with confidence through mentorship, forums, blogs, and conferences.
Lastly, Lori is a certified John Maxwell Executive Coach, Trainer and Public Speaker. She holds a BA in Organizational Behavior & Change Management and a MS in Global Human Resources Management & Development both from New York University. She currently resides in Richmond, VA with her husband Dwayne Brown.
Orginal broadcast dated: Feb 2022
Click here for the latest Podcast from 4word - Work Love Pray Podcast - 4word (4wordwomen.org)
June 19, 2024