Author(s)

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  Lesley Michaels

  Lesley Michaels was born to feminism. Her foundational ethos was shaped by her audacious paternal grandmother who was a 1st  wave feminist and savvy businesswoman. At age 12 she had a dream one night of creating a platform for bringing women together in alliance. Making notes about that dream the following morning started her on a path that would inform Lesley’s entire life. She came of age just as 2nd wave feminism was becoming a significant American social movement. At age 16 she struck out on her own for NYC and the heart of the cultural transformation that was the zeitgeist of the late 1960’s. She was later one of the first women to break through the glass ceiling in the “old boy” industry of oil and gas. The ruthless competitiveness of the women she encountered in the corporate world was shocking and emotionally fracturing. The foreignness of their approach to other women after spending years among committed feminists convinced Lesley to abandon the corporate world. Shortly after she was infected by a latent entrepreneurial spirit. Over the following years Lesley developed and sold several small businesses. Ownership gave her the refreshing freedom to choose how the business would be shaped. In each case her staff was a multicultural representation of women.

  Lesley currently lives in Taos, NM where she facilitates Virtual Programs on topics ranging from Discovering Personal Freedom Through Self-Trust to Building Strategic Alliances of Women. She also hosts the weekly podcast; Women We Should Know. Lesley is currently preparing a talk on the topic of female emancipation and equity for the TED stage.