Watchen Nyanue is the Founder and CEO of I Choose the Ladder, an employee development and retention agency that helps Fortune 500 execs develop and retain their high-performing Black women talent.

She and her team have worked with top companies like Nike, McDonald’s, Best Buy, and Walgreens, empowering countless women to conquer imposter syndrome, master work-life balance, and unlock their career potential. 

As a result, the companies have created positive high performance work cultures, achieved reduced employee turnover, lower executive recruitment costs, and benefited from happy and motivated staff.

Watchen was born in Liberia and immigrated to the U.S. in 1991 to escape the war in her country. She has spent the last 15+ years overcoming everyday workplace biases against Black women and immigrants to reach the pinnacle of corporate America. 

Before founding I Choose the Ladder, Watchen was a senior marketing and business development executive at renowned companies like Comedy Central, Hearst Digital, Yahoo!, Johnson Publishing Company, and the 2021 WNBA champions, Chicago Sky.

More Info: I CHOOSE THE LADDER

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Lily’s Story: My Trust Manifesto

Dr. Jill Kushner Bishop is the Founder & CEO of Multilingual Connections, a Chicago-based company that provides translation, transcription, transcreation, multimedia localization and research services in over 75 languages.

Jill’s early fascination with language and culture led her to pursue a BA in the Teaching of Spanish and an MA/PhD in Linguistic Anthropology. Her dissertation, More than a language, a travel agency: ideology and performance in the Israeli Judeo-Spanish revitalization movement, focuses on Judeo-Spanish, an obsolescing language spoken by descendants of Jews exiled from Spain in 1492.

An unexpected opportunity brought Jill to the corporate world, where she worked as a user experience researcher for a business and technology consulting firm. She was later able to leverage her skills and background—plus her love of burritos—when she was hired to oversee language, culture, and diversity programs for Chipotle Mexican Grill.

In 2005, Jill took the next step in her career by launching Multilingual Connections. She is passionate about creating a great work environment for her team and she is proud of the impact of their work in the community and across the world.

When she’s not working, Jill loves spending time with her husband and teen son, renovating houses, traveling around the world, and going for long walks around Evanston.

More Info: Multilingual Connections

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Master Your Podcast Course: MasterYourSwag

Free Coaching Session: Master Leadership 360 Coaching

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Lily’s Story: My Trust Manifesto