MENTORS

MEREDITH SMYTH

Meredith Smyth is the founder of Smyth House, a Phoenix based Interior Design firm. After 15 years in Marketing, Meredith decided it was time to chase her passion for Interior Design and embarked on an entirely new journey. After spending more than a decade in Chicago, Meredith returned to her roots in Phoenix to pour back into the quickly growing community.

Today, nearly five years later, the company services clients throughout the Valley and across the country. From luxury new build and home renovations to furnishing and decor, Smyth House recognizes that every client is standing in front of something exciting and complex. They believe when confidence and trust come together with incredible design, people are inspired to push their own boundaries to discover potential beyond their imagination.

KELLY KUSSMAN

After working in leadership for large corporate retailers for over 17 years, where Kelly managed large teams within the sourcing and buying space, she decided to start her own company, Cayla Gray, after an experience that almost caused her to lose her life. She realized that life is short and not guaranteed so she decided to start her dream business and launched the company 2020. Cayla Gray is a luxury line of clean fragrances that creates lifestyle scents for home and self.

JESSICA WENGER MCPHAUL

Jessica got her start making costumes for a small youth theatre in Arizona when she was 16. A few years later, she moved to LA to attend fashion school and has been working steadily in film/tv ever since. Starting out as an assistant costume designer, she quickly progressed to costume designer for films and tv. Projects have taken her to Seattle, New Orleans, New Mexico, Texas and Washington DC.

Jessica has been in both the Costume Designers Guild and the Costumers Union for over a decade. Her work can also be seen on screens, in print, as well as digitally and she considers herself extremely lucky to be a part of the House Of Cards team that has received an Emmy Nomination and back to back Costume Designers Guild Award Nominations. Jessicas tenure in the film industry opened her eyes to just how terribly exclusive the fashion industry was. She was appalled at lack of representation of all women in products, advertisements, choices- so she new she could do better. With the help of a local fashion incubator in Arizona, Jessica was able to launch Naked Rebellion in six short months. Naked Rebellion is an inclusive lingerie line with 9 shades of nude- a nude shade for EVERY woman on earth.

WHITNEY KRONEBERGER

Whitney Kroneberger is a Life Coach for Entrepreneurs. She helps her clients manage their minds around essentialism and their own limits in order to architect a life and business rooted in joy. After a career in Talent Acquisition, helping non-profit Executives find the right fit for their team, and while finding massive success in the social selling industry, she discovered her purpose as a Speaker and Life Coach.   She’s a proud Jesus-lovin’ momma to three and wife to her soulmate, Adam. She’s also a Colorado native, closet minimalist, silver lining enthusiast and adventure seeker.

KAREN MITCHELL

Karen Mitchell is a business owner and photographer of Élan Photographie Studio. Since 2008, it’s helped to shape who she is through the nuances of business. Karen’s work has been featured in publications such as DWELL and InStyle Magazine. She works with small companies, large corporations, and celebrities, all along the way wrestling through the learning of insuring a great experience, reliable services as she’s produced thousands of photos along the way for company’s marketing needs. She’s excited to incorporate some of her experience of being an extroverted sole business owner, and efficiencies learned to encourage a smoother juggle of personal and business life.

As a marketing arm of the photography company in 2017 Karen launched her lifestyle blog, Fortitude and Finn. This has expanded her reach to companies vastly and scaled her business in refreshing ways.

Karen’s work has been featured on/in: Vail Mag + Mountain Living Magazine + Hygge Life’s book Dwell, Gather, Be. She has worked in partnership with Parachute Home, The BROADMOOR Resort, BHLDN, Formulary 55, NUNA Stroller Company, and more.

LAUREN HANSEN

Lauren is the owner and photographer behind Be Peachie, a brand photography studio specializing in helping womxn led brands confidently market their businesses with fun, strategic images. She has taken her marketing degree and years of ad agency experience and brought them to the world of entrepreneurship, helping her clients create compelling content that builds trust and connection with their customers. When she’s not behind-the-camera you can find Lauren bounding around Disneyland (yes, she’s an annual pass holder #whatup). If you want to be her new BFF, try offering her chocolate chip cookies or bring her a Diet Coke (fountain, obviously.)

MARY FORAN

Mary has her bachelor’s degree in Exercise and Wellness which led her to owning and operating her own gym; a seven year journey where she had the pleasure of meeting + working with hundreds of people ranging from the ages of 6 to 70. Within that setting, she not only coached people on their physical fitness but really got to be an overall support system for them in terms of their holistic health; eating right, stress management, sleeping habits, habit formation, goal setting etc… Her niche within the gym wound up being within the kid’s classes, from overall movement and play to sports specific training. After years of following her own personal growth and development journey, her combined skills led her to the work she does now, mentoring girls.

JILL PETERSEN

Jill has her bachelor’s degree in Interdisciplinary Studies with a focus on Communication and Mass Communication. This degree served her greatly in her career at lululemon as a Store Manager at the local level in Scottsdale for six years and a Regional Manager for the Southwest for nearly two. Both of these positions allotted her the opportunity to be on the leadership & development team where she was in charge of hiring and developing teams for stores locally as well as for the company, nationally. Her combined skills + a passion for wanting to help the younger version of herself lead her to the work she does now in mentoring girls.

SARAH DAWN

Sarah is an attorney and creator of The Legal Shoppe, which provides service based businesses with easy to use contracts and legal templates. After a decade of hustling hard in business ownership and competing in the high stress legal field, Sarah had achieved the business success she thought she dreamed of, but at the expense of completely burning out. When burnout turned into a health scare, Sarah hit the reset button, and used her experiences to forge a path of growth, personal fulfillment, and revitalize her career to build a business that not only serves her clients, but also a lifestyle she truly loves.

Sarah is passionate about supporting women to create everything they could possibly want from life and business, and actively participates in several women’s entrepreneurial organizations.

ALEX BRADBERRY

MEET THE FOUNDRESS TEAM