March 8 is the day that marks the celebration of women’s rights and equality around the world. This year, we’ve researched which females are making strides towards breaking the glass ceiling, advocating for equal pay, and working on ventures that are unique and innovative. Here are this year’s females that deserve recognition.
Jennifer Lansden, CEO and CTO
Jennifer is the Founder and CEO of Rainbow Chameleon Corp., a technology and operations advisory firm, based in New York. Rainbow Chameleon helps early-stage startups and small businesses make the right decisions to grow and scale their businesses. She also sits on the advisory board for several startups and is currently the fractional CTO for a new Fintech.
Before launching Rainbow Chameleon, Jennifer served as a Senior Technology Executive with over 19 years’ experience leading the technology vision, strategy, talent, and complex initiatives for large global financial institutions. She has a successful track record of implementing critical plans by driving multifunctional teams across application development, IT risk management, infrastructure, and enterprise-architecture teams. Her expertise spans risk and compliance technologies, data transformation, cloud, and other emerging technologies.
Jennifer also participates in profit, non-profit, and volunteering initiatives that create exciting and engaging Science Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math (STEAM) programs for elementary and middle-school aged children.
Kim Estep, Entrepreneur
Kim Estep has worked in the commercial finance industry for over 22 years and attributes her success to understanding and adapting to the male professional psyche.
Her husband, Scott, has been a stay-at-home dad to their two daughters, who are now both in college. Kim worked for her father for 10 years before buying the business from him in 2008. By 2012, she had grown profits nearly 5x.
When she graduated from Sweet Briar College, a women’s college in central Virginia, she had no idea she would someday be involved in high finance and macroeconomics. But that’s her passion and it’s served her well. She’s met numerous financial experts and dignitaries over the course of her career, from President George HW Bush to Howard Marks, Liz Ann Sonders to David Zervos, and many more. She has a giant passion for big ideas and big solutions. It’s this passion that has led her to create Women Nation™.
Although she was an equestrian from her childhood to her college years, in 2004 Kim discovered a new passion: racing cars. Her husband had gifted her a “day at the track” in their street car at Lime Rock Park in Connecticut, and after only an hour she was completely hooked. Driving on the track began as a hobby but she progressed quickly, and by 2011 she was buying a race car and competing on the Porsche Club of America amateur circuit.
So, when she’s not involved in interest rate discussions and economic events, Kim is working to find the secret recipe to empowering women as much as she was empowered. In building the Women Nation network as the network of women’s networks, she hopes to use her personal stories, her business acumen, and her relationships to lift up other women and give them the confidence to step outside their comfort zone and achieve financial success.
Tayelor Kennedy, Makeup Artist and Entrepreneur
Tayelor Kennedy is a wellness and beauty expert as well as a registered yoga guide. Kennedy is also a certified cannabis chef, hosts CBD and cannabis yoga wellness classes, workshops and retreats. She earned her aesthetician certification through Christine Valmy International the first aesthetic school in the United States and, The Dermal Institute. In addition, Tayelor studied at the Wise Earth School of Ayurveda, the first school of Ayurveda teachings in the USA founded by the renowned spiritual leader, and Ayurveda Pioneer Maya Tiwari.
Early in her career, Tayelor utilized her beauty expertise as a representative for Dr. Perricone working with the Connecticut Teen Pageant Association as a promotional makeup artist on QVC Home Shopping network. Additionally, she served as the key makeup artist for the legendary Pointer Sisters and as well as the iconic rock band Aerosmith. As a trusted and recognized beauty expert, Tayelor has contributed articles to ThriveGlobal.com, PrettyCity.com, MindBodyGreen.com, Les Nouvelles Esthétiques & Spa, LNEONLINE.com, mySkin.com, and stylemom.com.
With an MBA from Southern Connecticut State University, she is also the founder and creative director of Kennedy OmniMedia, a lifestyle media agency specializing in lifestyle photography. Tayelor is also in the process of penning her first beauty/wellness book Fierce Body, Calm Mind. Click here to be notified of the release date: Fierce Body. Or, contact Tayelor for private online wellness, yoga, or mat Pilates classes.
Launch Expert and Entrepreneur, Jess O’Connell
Jess O’Connell started her business after her husband lost his job in 2018 and they went on government assistance. Her first launch generated $1500 in revenue, and it was the proof she needed to give it her full attention. After six months of testing and iterating her signature formula, Jess found herself generating $10K per month but she didn’t enjoy running her business. After launching no less than 10 programs in that six months, she was spinning many plates at once, trying to keep it all going, terrified to let one stop and drop. Then she started questioning whether being an entrepreneur is what she really wanted.
Jess took some time to close down her offers and dedicated herself to making that one offer as profitable as possible before starting anything else new. By the end of her first year in business, she reached that highly coveted six figures. In 2020, Jess shifted her business serving a more aligned audience. One launch at a time, she narrowed her focus and re-built her business in a new niche. Now Jess helps clients create more revenue with their launches so they can get out of the cycle of feast and famine and start creating stacked launch revenue in their business. She has been featured in top-tier media including Yahoo! Finance, Today.com, and more.