In this latest installment of the “Ones to Watch” series, Grit Daily partners with Heather Burgett’s Shine Collective to spotlight ten women whose ideas are actively shaping how we think about life, leadership, money, and health in times of transition and uncertainty in 2025. These are the women others turn to when the path forward is unclear and new frameworks are needed.
Representing fields as diverse as executive development, addiction prevention, financial literacy, trauma-informed care, personal growth, and AI-era brand strategy, each of these women is redefining thought leadership in her own lane. What they share is not just expertise, but also the insight and brilliance to question norms, translate complexity into clarity, and make their work accessible to the people who need it most.
Together, they set a new standard for influence: grounded in substance, driven by personal story, and measured by real-world impact. Here is to ten women whose voices are helping define the conversations that will carry us into 2026 and beyond.
The “Teen Whisperer” Giving Parents an Edge in an Addictive World
Kriya Lendzion is one of the nation’s leading teen addiction specialists and a sought-after speaker, known for her humorous, engaging, and authentic presentation style—having been booked for 47 major presentations since 2020, in addition to numerous student and staff trainings. She has authored multiple articles and is frequently featured as an expert in top educational and media outlets, and has appeared on over 40 podcasts.
Kriya emerged from her own personal journey through teen addiction with a fierce dedication to helping transform adolescence from a time of risk into a springboard for lifelong thriving. Three decades later, she has served as a school counselor, adolescent mental health therapist, addiction clinician, parenting coach, and prevention specialist, partnering with parents, schools, and community organizations across the globe.
She specializes in the art of “teen whispering,” empowering adults to build trusting and influential relationships with the youth in their lives—helping them be addiction-resistant in an increasingly risky and addictive world.
Kriya received both her Bachelor’s degree in Sociology and a Master’s degree in Mental Health Counseling from Rollins College and completed additional coursework in Human Services, Addictions, and High-Risk Youth studies. She is a Licensed Clinical Mental Health Therapist, Licensed Clinical Addictions Therapist, Certified Prevention Specialist, and certified in Digital Health for Children & Teens. Kriya lives in the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains of Asheville, North Carolina.
Demystifying Taxes So Anyone Can Build Financial Independence
Cecily Welch, CPA, PFS, CFP®, is to taxes what Suze Orman is to investing or Dave Ramsay is to budgeting. She is widely recognized as The Accountant You Can Understand®, guiding people to understand and navigate the one thing that impacts every financial aspect of life—taxes.
With over three decades of experience helping Fortune 100 companies, family businesses, start-up entrepreneurs, newlyweds, and executives achieve their financial goals, she knows that the road to financial independence starts and ends with taxes. Because taxes are the invisible thread through every aspect of life, she created The Tax Translator™ to make tax law accessible and empower people to use it to their advantage.
Her influence extends beyond education—she’s shaped policy through appointments to the IRS Advisory Council as the Chair of Small Business/Self-Employed, AICPA National IRS Advisory Committees, and the City of Atlanta Governing Board of the Inspector General and Ethics Office, along with leadership at the Georgia Society of CPAs as Board member and Chair of the Tax Task Force.
In addition to thought leadership through articles in GSCPA’s Current Accounts, Cecily’s insights have been featured in The Wall Street Journal, Detroit Free Press, and on NPR.
Because Cecily cares about people, and the world cares about money, she believes the more people understand money, the better the world will be.
Guiding Displaced Public Sector Executives Into Private Industry Careers
Dr. Louise A. Korver is an expert executive coach and former head of Executive Development at multinational organizations, known for helping senior leaders cultivate authentic executive presence and confidence. With a PhD in Human Development and a master’s degree in Human and Organization Development, Dr. Korver brings deep psychological insight to executive growth and transformation.
In 2005, Dr. Korver authored the definitive book on mid-career transitions, introducing a signature method that continues to guide transformational change. When DOGE occurred in 2025, this same method evolved into an 11-step, six-month protocol empowering government leaders to transition successfully into the private sector—enhancing their executive presence, LinkedIn impact, and helping them land new career opportunities.
As an accredited ICF (PCC) and Board Certified (BCC) coach, Dr. Korver partners with sophisticated clients seeking candid feedback, strategic insight, and a venue for critical reflection at the highest levels. Clients regularly cite Dr. Korver’s blend of psychological acuity and strategic rigor as an essential catalyst for extraordinary leadership and organizational impact.
Renowned for working with elite executives who seek honest feedback, Dr. Korver creates a reflective environment that sharpens intuition and decision-making under pressure. She blends developmental science, strategy and empathy to help leaders navigate complexity with confidence and authenticity.
Fortune 100 Leader-Turned-Strategist Teaching Teams to Show Up with Courage
Beverly Flores is an award-winning and nationally recognized Leadership Strategist, keynote speaker, and the founder and CEO of Thyme Out Consulting LLC. Drawing from her 24-year tenure as a Fortune 100 executive, where she earned 10 NAMA awards, Beverly empowers high-achieving professionals to lead with courage and curiosity in the boardroom and beyond.
Her signature EEI Framework, rooted in Energy, Enthusiasm, and Intensity, serves as the foundation for her coaching and workshops, guiding leaders to reconnect with their core values and align their careers with what matters most. Her holistic approach has helped clients enhance team engagement, clarify strategic objectives, and achieve sustainable, purpose-driven success.
A sought-after speaker and advisor, she has been featured in Fast Company, CEO Weekly, Market Daily, and Village Voice. She recently delivered her keynote “The Adaptable Leader” at the AMIN 2025 Pathways to Leadership Conference, where she also led a packed workshop on personal brand strategy.
As a solo parent of three boys and a values-driven leader, Beverly brings both personal resilience and strategic insight to her work. She’s passionate about helping others redefine success on their own terms and is known for rallying her clients with her trademark phrase: “Onwards and upwards.”
Neonatal Nurse Bridges Modern Medicine With Mind-Body Healing for Parents and Providers
Allyson “Ally” Kayton, DNP, APRN, NNP-BC, RMHI, is a Neonatal Nurse Practitioner, integrative mental health counselor, and yoga therapist dedicated to helping families navigate life’s most delicate moments. With over 25 years of experience in neonatal and perinatal care, Ally has guided countless parents through the emotional and physical challenges of premature birth, loss, and postpartum recovery.
As the founder of Sage & Stone Holistic Counseling, she blends evidence-based medicine, mindfulness, and yoga therapy to support healing from the inside out. Her trauma-informed approach focuses on nervous system regulation, emotional resilience, and compassionate connection—both for parents and the healthcare professionals who care for them.
Driven by her belief that healing begins with wholeness, Ally is passionate about bridging modern medicine with mind-body practices that honor the human experience. Her mission is to help others find strength, balance, and peace even amid uncertainty.
Ally’s expertise is grounded in rigorous training and decades of practice. She holds a Doctor of Nursing Practice degree, advanced neonatal nurse practitioner credentials and multiple trauma-informed certifications spanning breathwork, yoga and integrative nutrition. This unique blend of clinical depth and holistic training allows her to translate complex science into practical, soul-supportive care for families and professionals on the front lines.
Former Public Defender Coaches High Performers to Reshape Success Without Torching What They’ve Built
Anne Roche is the CEO and founder of Anne Roche Coaching, a leadership and life coaching practice for high-performing professionals who are ready to stop operating on autopilot and take ownership of the way they lead, work, and live.
A former public defender turned global coach, Anne brings nearly a decade of experience helping individuals and teams move from burnout to clarity through her signature Touchstone Coaching Process—a practical framework that connects daily choices to what fuels lasting success.
Known for her straight talk and genuine empathy, Anne challenges clients to step back, get clear on what matters, and make confident decisions that align with both their goals and values—without blowing up what they’ve built. Her approach delivers results that last: stronger leadership presence, a renewed sense of purpose, and a more deliberate way of showing up in every part of life.
A JD and Professional Certified Coach, Anne has partnered with hundreds of professionals and leaders around the world to help them navigate complexity, strengthen relationships, and lead with integrity. She’s also an author, speaker, and advocate for social justice, splitting her time between California and Massachusetts.
Anne believes transformation isn’t about starting over—it’s about turning awareness into action and building the life you actually want.
NLP Expert Turning Life’s Disruptions Into Catalysts for Reinvention
Kat Mitchell discovered the neurolinguistics of reinvention while helping her brother relearn language after multiple strokes. A former technology leader who led multi-million dollar software integrations, Kat’s life pivoted when she became the simultaneous caregiver for her mother with Alzheimer’s and her brother during COVID—an experience that revealed how our brains can rewire at any age, under any circumstances.
This revelation transformed her from a corporate leader to a board-certified Master NLP Practitioner and hypnotherapist, specializing in the unconscious patterns that keep people stuck during major life transitions. Kat now guides both women over 40 who are reclaiming themselves after years of self-abandonment and corporate teams navigating mergers and layoffs, addressing what traditional change management ignores: the identity crisis beneath the organizational chart.
Her unique approach combines neurolinguistic programming with hard-won wisdom from both boardrooms and hospital rooms. Having managed global teams through technical disruptions while navigating family medical crises, she developed the RECLAIM framework, a systematic approach to rewiring limiting beliefs during life’s upheavals.
Kat’s work demonstrates that our biggest disruptions, whether personal or professional, share the same neural patterns of resistance and transformation. Her message: uncertainty isn’t the enemy, it’s neuroplasticity in action.
Award-Winning Memoirist Turns Lived Experience Into Bridges of Humor, Truth and Connection
Meg Stafford is an award-winning author of two memoirs and a respected speaker and storyteller, featured on WGBH’s “Stories from the Stage. As a 16x literary award winner and columnist, she is an observer of humans’ and animals’ delightful quirks. Her column, “A Moment’s Notice,” was featured in a number of local Boston-area newspapers for many years, and she currently writes reviews of musical performances and art exhibits for The Acton Exchange.
A psychotherapist and social worker in private practice for 40 years, she hears powerful stories on a regular basis and always appreciates the connective tissue that telling our truths creates. Meg embraces the notion that the shortest distance between two people is a laugh.
She has given one of her signature talks, “Whose Truth Is It Anyway,” on a variety of stages. She highlights the advantages of respectfully sharing difficult information in both personal and professional situations and why this is crucial for fostering authentic relationships in any sphere. She has appeared regularly in the media, and coming soon, she will be featured in People magazine.
Her published memoirs are Topic of Cancer: Riding the Waves of the Big C and Who Will Accompany You? My Mother-Daughter Journeys: Far from Home and Close to the Heart.
Integrative Healing Strategist Guides Clients to Clear Root Causes of Guilt, Shame and Anxiety
Jennifer Norton is a highly regarded intuitive practitioner, mindset coach, and practical healing strategist whose integrative work and leadership are sought after by clients worldwide who value depth, discernment, and lasting results. With more than two decades of experience, she supports self-aware, heart-centered individuals who are spiritually open, health-conscious, and committed to their personal growth in identifying and resolving long-standing patterns that affect their health, clarity and overall well-being.
Drawing on her background in science, nutrition, homeopathy, energy healing, and holistic wellness, Jennifer blends sharp analytical insight with finely tuned intuition to pinpoint the core beliefs, emotional patterns, and stress dynamics that contribute to guilt, shame, anxiety, confusion, low self-worth, and a range of health issues. Her work helps clients release what’s stuck, shift their mindset, integrate change, and self-heal across all levels of their being.
In addition to her private practice, Jennifer serves as the intuitive business mindset coach within Heather Burgett’s Shine Online Mastermind, where she supports entrepreneurs to dissolve mindset blocks that limit their visibility and leadership, enabling them to lead from the truth of who they are.
Jennifer’s work has been featured on Bravo’s Real Housewives of Orange County and in Star Magazine, and her clients consistently praise her precision, integrity, and the steady, sacred space she holds.
Former Telehealth Leader Crafts Human-Centered Messaging for Conscious Companies
Lane Therrell is a nurse practitioner-turned-marketing strategist, copywriter, and consultant who helps businesses and health innovators build trusted brands in an AI-driven landscape. Drawing on more than two decades of experience in clinical practice and education, she turns complex ideas into clear, concise narratives.
Her background spans journalism, PR, and integrative health, giving her the ability to bridge science, spirit, and strategy. As a former clinical leader at telehealth startup mynurse.ai, Lane guided teams in AI-enabled care programs, an experience she now channels into helping conscious brands harness technology without losing the human essence.
As a seasoned ghostwriter and conversion copywriter, Lane combines rigorous research and intuitive storytelling to create messaging that is both credible and empathetic. Known for her human-in-the-loop approach to AI, she teaches clients to use these tools as creative partners while preserving the nuance and emotional intelligence that build trust.
Lane is a former adjunct faculty member at Samuel Merritt University and holds a Master of Science in Nursing. She has completed integral coach training through the Wisdom of the Whole Coaching Academy, an ICF-approved program. Through her consultancy, she partners with founders and mission-driven clients who want their marketing and content strategy to be as ethical, effective, and transformative as the work they deliver.
Coming up next in this “Ones to Watch” series: Women Elevating Leadership in 2025—a companion spotlight that deepens this conversation from the boardroom to the broader cultural stage.
