What does it actually look like to design a business that supports your capacity — instead of constantly stretching it?

In this episode of Feminist Founders, Becky Mollenkamp sits down with Tracie Root, founder of the Gather Community, to explore the tension so many entrepreneurs feel between showing up for clients and creating space for themselves.

They talk about what happens when a business grows out of community and starts to feel more transactional, how hustle culture conditioning shows up even when we intellectually reject it, and why rebuilding capacity is an ongoing process — not a quick fix.

Together they explore:

• The difference between doing and being in leadership
• Designing systems that reduce burnout
• Why asking for help can feel exhausting
• The emotional weight of keeping promises to clients
• Boundaries, spaciousness, and redefining responsibility
• How community businesses evolve over time
• Practical ways to create breathing room without breaking commitments

Tracie shares how her goal for the year is to feel more expansive — and what that means in real terms, from looking at her calendar differently to rethinking how support shows up in her business.

This conversation is a powerful reminder that sustainable leadership isn’t about doing less — it’s about designing differently.

If you’re a founder who wants to build a business rooted in care, integrity, and capacity, this episode will meet you exactly where you are.

🎤 JOIN US IN THE FEMINIST PODCASTERS COLLECTIVE

🔥 Meet Tracie Root – Your Guide to Living Boldly! 🔥
https://www.tracieroot.com/

Some people wait for life to happen. Tracie Root makes life happen.

After a devastating loss turned her world upside down, Tracie didn’t just rebuild—she reinvented herself. She faced financial crisis, single parenthood, and uncertainty head-on, choosing bold action over fear. What emerged was a woman on a mission—to help others step into their power, take charge of their future, and create success on their terms.

For over thirteen years, Tracie has inspired and coached women entrepreneurs nationwide, guiding them to break through barriers and build structured, sustainable, and thriving businesses. As the visionary force behind The Gather Community, she transformed in-person events into a powerful nationwide movement, connecting ambitious women who are ready to go all in.

Whether she’s lighting up the stage as a speaker, leading game-changing masterminds, or championing women to take BOLD, decisive action, Tracie’s energy is contagious.

When she’s not coaching or speaking, you’ll find her soaking up the Santa Cruz sunshine with her husband and their four-legged sidekick.

💡 Are you ready to think bigger, dream bolder, and take action? Then Tracie Root is the woman you need to meet!

In this episode of Feminist Founders, Becky Mollenkamp and Faith Clarke sit down with Angela Johnson, a trauma-informed marketing strategist and educator, for an honest conversation about capacity, mental health, and what it really looks like to divest from hustle culture without blowing up your livelihood.

Angela reflects on nearly two decades in business, the weight of self-blame when income fluctuates, and the slow, deliberate work of deconditioning from capitalist and patriarchal “shoulds.” Together, they explore parts work, neurodivergence, dopamine-seeking brains, and how founders can redesign their businesses around compassion, curiosity, creativity, and connection — not constant optimization.

This is a conversation about letting go, staying human, and choosing systems that support your nervous system instead of punishing it.

What we talk about
• Why burnout isn’t a productivity problem — it’s a systems problem
• How self-blame quietly becomes the default business model
• Divesting from hustle culture without abandoning financial reality
• Parts work, internalized “manager” voices, and listening to your true self
• Neurodivergence, dopamine, and why consistency can feel impossible
• Why fewer metrics — and different ones — can lead to more peace
• Building capacity without treating rest like a reward
• Redesigning your business around mental health, not endurance
• Letting go of social media and returning to relationship-based marketing
• Why “doing less” can actually make your business more sustainable

ABOUT ANGELA JOHNSON
Angela Johnson is known for helping rebel entrepreneurs turn their genius into a signature body of work and amplify their thought leadership using her simple one-page marketing plan. She has taught over 3,000 business owners how to stop chasing the algorithm and fitting into one-size-fits-all formulas by crafting a compelling message without using pain points or big promises.

With a Master of Professional Communication, her IRB-approved research on how trauma impacts small-business owners is an anchor of her work. Her trauma-informed approach is the antidote for equity-centered businesses that are dedicated to leading with their values in a world where honoring humanity is a radical act of resistance.

Angela has shared stages with thought leaders including Elizabeth Gilbert, Lynn Twist, and Lisa Nichols. Beyond her work as an adjunct professor and entrepreneur, she is happiest when she is creating anything with her hands, from painting, embroidery, and pottery to gardening. Angela lives on the stolen land of the Goshute Nation in Utah, with her partner of over 20 years, where together they spoil their rescue dog, who is the queen of the house.

Connect with Angela at www.angelamjohnson.com.

🎤 WE ARE PROUD MEMBERS OF THE FEMINIST PODCASTERS COLLECTIVE. JOIN US! http://feministpodcastcollective.com/

Check out the Season 10 trailer for Here’s What I Learned with Jacki Hayes, a fellow member of the Feminist Podcasters Collective.

This season is built around real experiments. Jacki isn’t just talking about ideas. She’s inviting coaches and service providers to assign her an actual experiment from their area of expertise. She runs it in her business, then they come back together to break down what worked, what didn’t, and what the results actually show.

If you like practical insight, honest reflection, and learning from real-world tests instead of polished theories, this season is worth a listen.

Find the show wherever you listen to podcasts or visit https://www.jackihayes.co/podcast

Our friend Nicole just dropped the trailer for her new podcast Just Rest — and we're SOOO excited!

We’re both part of the Feminist Podcast Collective, and watching this show come to life has been such a joy. Just Rest is for people who care deeply, work hard, and are tired of being told burnout is just the price of caring.

This podcast is all about rest as resistance, sustainable change, and staying human in a grind-obsessed world. It’s thoughtful, grounded, and deeply compassionate — the kind of show that feels like a long exhale.

Give the trailer a listen, then rate & review if it resonates. It makes a huge difference for indie, values-driven podcasts.

🎧 https://justrest.buzzsprout.com

What happens when feminist founders stop trying to outrun burnout—and start redesigning work around care, capacity, and real life?

In this episode of Feminist Founders, Becky Mollenkamp and Faith Clarke are joined by Meg Buzzi and Sarah Durlacher, co-founders of Fixchr, a boutique consulting firm that helps organizations navigate change through behavior, engagement, and collective practice.

Together, they unpack what abundance actually means when you’re juggling caregiving, leadership, partnership, and survival inside systems that were never built for human needs. This is a conversation about decolonizing time, rebuilding capacity after burnout, refusing urgency culture, and reimagining work that flows—rather than drains.

If you’re a founder who feels stretched thin, caught between care work and paid work, or craving a more spacious way to lead, this episode will feel like an exhale.

In This Episode, We Talk About:
• Why abundance isn’t just about money—it’s also about time, restoration, and choice
• How caregiving (especially for elders) reshapes leadership capacity
• What it means to decolonize time and stop moralizing productivity
• Moving from crisis-driven work to preventative, sustainable change
• The tension between billable work and long-term investments in community and ideas
• Why founders often become the last people to receive the care they offer others
• Designing businesses that can bend without breaking when life happens

Meg Buzzi and Sarah Durlacher are the co-founders of Fixchr, a boutique consulting organization that supports organizations, teams, and leaders through periods of transition and change. Their work focuses on behavior change, engagement, and helping groups move together—without defaulting to urgency, extraction, or burnout. https://www.fixchr.com/

About Feminist Founders
Feminist Founders is a podcast and community for business owners who want to challenge capitalist norms and build human-first, equity-aligned businesses. Hosted by Becky Mollenkamp and Faith Clarke, the show blends real conversations, feminist analysis, and practical reflection for founders who refuse to hustle themselves into the ground.

👉 Learn more and join the community at feministfounders.co

🎤 JOIN US IN THE FEMINIST PODCASTERS COLLECTIVE: http://feministpodcastcollective.com/

🎟️ Join Us December 18th for the Planning Sprint

If Amanda’s story hit home — if you also feel buried under tiny tasks, unclear on the big picture, and craving time to breathe, think, and reset — come join Faith and me for a 90-minute Planning Sprint on Dec. 18th.

This is not productivity theater.
This is support.
This is resourcing.
This is creating space for actual clarity so you can end the year grounded instead of gasping.

$199 • No sales page • Register here:
👉 https://beckymollenkamp.as.me/planning

______________

This week we sat down with Feminist Founders member Amanda Laird, a growth marketing strategist and creator of Slow & Steady, a feminist business practice rooted in integrity, intentionality, and the belief that women and creative entrepreneurs deserve to thrive without burning themselves to the ground.

Amanda helps solo creative entrepreneurs rethink their relationship with marketing and growth, and she does it through a holistic, feminist lens—one she developed through 20+ years in communications, deep study with Jennifer Armbrust (Sister), and a background in holistic nutrition that taught her to look at root causes, not symptoms.

But today’s conversation wasn’t just about her clients. It was also about Amanda’s own edges—the place where so many of us find ourselves:
the overwhelm of being a one-woman show, the longing for a slower pace, the guilt of resting before we “earn” it, and the capitalist potholes we keep falling into even when we know better.

Faith and I walked with Amanda through what it means to rebuild capacity, tap into community, hear the voice she keeps locked in the closet (her words!), and reorient her work away from exhaustion and back toward restoration, creativity, and support.

Spoiler: the answer involved a tiny sketchbook, a five-minute daily practice, and reclaiming the truth that we don’t build feminist businesses by doing it all alone.

It’s tender, it’s real, and it’s a masterclass in taking your own medicine as a feminist leader.

In This Episode We Discuss:
• Amanda’s core value of integrity and how it anchors her work
• Why “slow and steady” is both a philosophy and an aspiration
• How the feminine economy (Jennifer Armbrust) shapes her business
• The honest truth of being overwhelmed by tiny tasks and big dreams
• The eldest-daughter conditioning that tells us we must do it all
• Why capacity and organization aren’t the real issue
• How shame shows up around asking for or paying for support
• The myth that we must “earn” rest
• The voice in the closet: the wisdom of community, reciprocity & tapping into our network
• Rebuilding leadership from restoration, not exhaustion
• Help, harm, and why individualism keeps us stuck
• A practical (and compassionate) plan for moving forward:
• A “not right now” list
• A five-minute daily sketchbook practice
• Anchoring back into alignment-before-action
Turning toward community instead of isolation

🎤 WE'RE PROUD MEMBERS OF THE FEMINIST PODCASTERS COLLECTIVE

In this episode of Feminist Founders, Becky Mollenkamp and Faith Clarke reflect on The Weight We Carry — a focus group conversation about invisible labor and how it shows up in our personal and professional lives.

They share insights and takeaways from the powerful session, where participants told stories, named the unseen work they carry, and began exploring ways to release it. What emerged was both deeply personal and profoundly collective — a recognition that the exhaustion so many of us feel isn’t personal failure, it’s systemic.

Discussed in this conversation:
• How storytelling reveals the collective wisdom we already hold
• Why invisible labor is both embodied and systemic
• What it means to refuse to participate in your own sacrifice
• How trust, accountability, and community intersect in the work of release
• Why simple “one-two-three” solutions don’t work — and what does
• How shame, guilt, and perfectionism keep us in patterns of overwork
• The power of community in reprogramming the conditioning that makes us overfunction
• What medicine looks like when it’s rooted in collective care and belonging

Becky and Faith also share details about their upcoming small-group program—Releasing the Weight—a community container designed to help you identify, name, and release the invisible labor weighing you down — just in time for the holidays.

✨ Join the group experience: feministfounders.co/group

📰 Subscribe on Substack: feministfounders.substack.com

Business owners can contribute to the white paper

🎤 PROUD MEMBERS OF THE FEMINIST PODCASTERS COLLECTIVE

This week looks a little different. Becky’s out sick, so we’re sharing a powerful conversation from Assigned Reading where Becky and Faith dive into Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s essay and TED Talk We Should All Be Feminists.

It’s a wide-ranging and deeply personal discussion about feminism across cultures, the intersections of race and gender, and how we carry both the weight of oppression and the responsibility of shaping culture ourselves.

👉 Don’t miss our upcoming free event, The Weight We Carry on invisible labor, happening October 9, 2025. Sign up here: https://evt.to/eoieheisw

Discussed in this episode:
• How Adichie’s centering of Nigerian culture resonates with Afro-Caribbean experiences
• Why feminism often defaults to “white feminism” in the U.S.—and the harm in that invisibility
• Chimamanda’s 2017 comments on trans women, her clarification, and what it says about growth and accountability
• How women are held to perfectionist standards under white supremacy
• The challenge (and necessity) of contextualizing feminism through race, culture, and personal story
• Why “people shape culture” is both a call to action and a permission slip
• Owning our own stories of privilege and oppression—and how whiteness itself can be a prison
• Shame as one of the sharpest tools of oppression and how it maintains systems of power
• The many ways activism can look: rest, storytelling, parenting, teaching, healing, and beyond

🎤 PROUD MEMBERS OF THE FEMINIST PODCASTERS COLLECTIVE