GSD Factor Podcast

2025 has truly been a year for the books! Over the last four years, the GSD Factor Podcast has brought you 129 incredible conversations with GSDers from around the world, visionaries, entrepreneurs, and innovators across every industry who are doing the work and getting shit done.
We’ve shared laughter and tears. We’ve unpacked resilience, creativity, and leadership. And through every story, our guests have shown up with transparency and authenticity, reminding us that getting shit done isn’t just about achievement; it’s about growth, grace, and grit.
This year, we took Stepping Into Your Extraordinary to new heights and launched our mini-series, Get Shit Done in a Flash. Both series captured the essence of what the GSD Factor Life is all about, confidence, inquisitiveness, imagination, presence, resilience, and influence.
When I look back at 2025, I’m inspired by every guest who shared their journey. From founders and authors to educators and change-makers, each conversation reminded us that our extraordinary isn’t found in the easy moments, it’s found in how we powerfully choose to keep showing up.
So as we wrap up this season and this incredible year, I just want to say thank you. Thank you for being part of this journey, whether you’ve listened from day one or just found us this season.
Keep dreaming big.
Keep stepping into your extraordinary.
And as always, keep getting shit done.
 
Connect with Misha on LinkedIn
 

Azin van Alebeek is a co-founder and general partner at Emmeline Ventures, an early-stage fund investing in businesses that empower women to manage their health, build their wealth, and live in a cleaner, safer world. With over 30 years of experience as an executive and board-level advisor, she leverages her strategic planning and coaching skills to help entrepreneurs scale their businesses, achieve their goals, and create returns for investors.
Azin is passionate about empowering women to be financially sovereign and to make a positive impact in the world. She volunteers regularly to mentor other women on financial literacy, angel investing, and playing big. She draws on her out-of-the-box thinking, compassion, bravery, and candor to inspire and challenge others to reach their full potential.
 
Connect with Azin on LinkedIn
 
Are you an influential leader that has a dream to write a book and put your words out into the world? Reach out to us today at info@gsdfactor.com so we can help make your book dream a reality.

Azin van Alebeek is a co-founder and general partner at Emmeline Ventures, an early-stage fund investing in businesses that empower women to manage their health, build their wealth, and live in a cleaner, safer world. With over 30 years of experience as an executive and board-level advisor, she leverages her strategic planning and coaching skills to help entrepreneurs scale their businesses, achieve their goals, and create returns for investors.
 
Azin is passionate about empowering women to be financially sovereign and to make a positive impact in the world. She volunteers regularly to mentor other women on financial literacy, angel investing, and playing big. She draws on her out-of-the-box thinking, compassion, bravery, and candor to inspire and challenge others to reach their full potential.
 
Connect with Azin on LinkedIn
 
Are you an influential leader that has a dream to write a book and put your words out into the world? Reach out to us today at info@gsdfactor.com so we can help make your book dream a reality.

Joy Kolin, founder of Giving Joy, a nonprofit supporting women entrepreneurs worldwide through micro-grants and mentorship.
She is a multilingual international development leader with over two decades of experience managing projects across Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. She’s worked with global organizations to strengthen institutions, develop leaders, and build cross-sector partnerships and is driven by a deep belief in women’s power to change communities and reshape futures. 
 
website: https://givingjoygrants.org/
Instagram: @givingjoygrants
LinkedIn: Giving Joy
 
Are you an influential leader that has a dream to write a book and put your words out into the world? Reach out to us today at info@gsdfactor.com so we can help make your book dream a reality.

Joy Kolin, founder of Giving Joy, a nonprofit supporting women entrepreneurs worldwide through micro-grants and mentorship. She is a multilingual international development leader with over two decades of experience managing projects across Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. She’s worked with global organizations to strengthen institutions, develop leaders, and build cross-sector partnerships and is driven by a deep belief in women’s power to change communities and reshape futures. 
 
website: https://givingjoygrants.org/
Instagram: @givingjoygrants
LinkedIn: Giving Joy
 
Are you an influential leader that has a dream to write a book and put your words out into the world? Reach out to us today at info@gsdfactor.com so we can help make your book dream a reality.

Abigail “Abbie” Goddard is a 16-year-old entrepreneur, storyteller, and changemaker on a mission to make the world safer — one drink at a time. She’s the founder of Spikey, a discreet keychain that can detect common date-rape drugs in seconds. The idea was born from a deeply personal experience when her family member was drugged in college. 
Since launching Spikey less than a year ago, Abbie has grown it from a 3D-printed prototype to a product now in the hands of students, bartenders, and safety advocates nationwide. She’s won over $40,000 in funding through national and international pitch competitions, generated more than $30,000 in sales, and partnered with universities, nonprofits, and soon—law enforcement. Her story has been featured by multiple news outlets, and her TikToks have reached hundreds of thousands of viewers.
Abbie is also the founder of Film For a Cause, a nonprofit producing promotional videos for other nonprofits, and she’s an accomplished public speaker, competitive pianist, and aspiring business major. She’s fascinated by the intersection of marketing, consumer psychology, and film, and dreams of using her ideas to build brands that create real social change.
Abbie believes you don’t have to wait until you’re “old enough” or “experienced enough” to make a difference. If you see something that needs fixing, you roll up your sleeves and GSD. 
Spikey website: https://spikeyfirst.com/
Abigail LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/abigailgoddard/
 
Are you an influential leader that has a dream to write a book and put your words out into the world? Reach out to us today at info@gsdfactor.com so we can help make your book dream a reality.

Kavya Sharman, PhD is a data scientist and founder of Phase Capital, with a unique edge at the intersection of biotech, data, and early-stage investing. She is passionate about equipping scientific founders with the strategic skills and capital to scale transformative technologies.
With over a decade in Nashville’s growing life sciences ecosystem, she has played a catalytic role in connecting founders, investors, and strategic partners through curated biotech summits and investor-based events. 
Her background includes a PhD in data science with research in neuroscience, fractional analyst work, and strategic consulting for VC and PE firms. She has supported dozens of startups in refining their go-to-market strategies, raising capital, and preparing for investor diligence — often helping them secure an additional runway through her network alone. 
 
Dr. Kavya Sharman LinkedIn
Frontiers 2026 by Phase Capital
 
Are you an influential leader that has a dream to write a book and put your words out into the world? Reach out to us today at info@gsdfactor.com so we can help make your book dream a reality.

Kavya Sharman, PhD is a data scientist and founder of Phase Capital, with a unique edge at the intersection of biotech, data, and early-stage investing. She is passionate about equipping scientific founders with the strategic skills and capital to scale transformative technologies.
Her background includes a PhD in data science with research in neuroscience, fractional analyst work, and strategic consulting for VC and PE firms. She has supported dozens of startups in refining their go-to-market strategies, raising capital, and preparing for investor diligence.
Dr. Kavya Sharman LinkedIn
Frontiers 2026 by Phase Capital
 
 
Are you an influential leader that has a dream to write a book and put your words out into the world? Reach out to us today at info@gsdfactor.com so we can help make your book dream a reality.
 

Lynn Reckamp is the Executive Director of Holiday Heroes, where she channels her passion into bringing joy and comfort to pediatric patients—work that truly lights her up. For Lynn, life is about spreading happiness, staying connected, and making the most of every moment.
The mission of Holiday Heroes is to provide joy and improved quality of life to pediatric patients through a combination of in-person and virtual programs in Chicagoland and Nashville. Holiday Heroes uses its experience, creativity, resources, and passion to inspire long-lasting joy and happy memories for pediatric patients and their families, thereby making a positive impact in their recoveries and their lives.
Reach out to lynn@holiday-heroes.org to learn how your team, organization, neighborhood can help with the packing parties or how you can get involved to support this mission of serving these tiny humans and their families. 
 
Holiday Heroes
Lynn LinkedIn
 
Are you an influential leader that has a dream to write a book and put your words out into the world? Reach out to us today at info@gsdfactor.com so we can help make your book dream a reality.

Lynn Reckamp is the Executive Director of Holiday Heroes, where she channels her passion into bringing joy and comfort to pediatric patients.
The mission of Holiday Heroes is to provide joy and improved quality of life to pediatric patients through a combination of in-person and virtual programs in Chicagoland and Nashville. 
Reach out to lynn@holiday-heroes.org to learn how you can get involved to support this mission of serving these tiny humans and their families. 
Holiday Heroes
Lynn LinkedIn
 
Are you an influential leader that has a dream to write a book and put your words out into the world? Reach out to us today at info@gsdfactor.com so we can help make your book dream a reality.