Ep. 14. Why Women Need to Stop "Helping" & The Rise of Fractional - with Melissa Moody, Co-Founder of Wednesday Women

Melissa Moody doesn’t believe in chasing logos. She believes in doing work that actually matters—and building businesses that last. In this episode of Her Path to Revenue, Janelle sits down with Melissa Moody—former Google leader, startup CEO, and now co-founder of Wednesday Women—to unpack what happens when you blend traditional SaaS growth with mission-driven business. After 14 years at Google during some of the most transformative moments in marketing—search, mobile, video, programmatic—Melissa made the leap into early-stage startups and eventually into building a company of her own. But Wednesday Women didn’t start as a business. It started as a simple idea: highlight one extraordinary woman every week. That small ripple turned into something much bigger. In this conversation, Melissa shares what it really takes to turn a mission into a sustainable company—and why so many founders struggle when emotion enters the equation. From pricing challenges to building a business model that actually works, to the growing shift toward fractional leadership and redefining success on your own terms—this episode is equal parts tactical and deeply human. If you’ve ever wrestled with aligning purpose and revenue, this one will hit. In this episode, we cover: • Why “the logo” doesn’t matter—and what actually does • The biggest mistake founders make when building mission-led businesses • Why pricing gets harder (and more emotional) when purpose is involved • How Wednesday Women grew from a side project into a full business • The rise of fractional leadership and what it signals about the market • Why curiosity—not confidence—is the ultimate power move in leadership • How to trust intuition alongside data when making career decisions Connect with Melissa on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/melissammoody/ [WEBINAR] The Rise of Non-W2 Leadership: Why More Executive Women Are Rethinking Traditional Roles: https://watch.getcontrast.io/video-access?slug=wednesday-women-the-rise-of-non-w2-leadership-why-more-executive-women-are-rethinking-traditional-roles&token=YYmtkfZTkW8VoXeqndzo3fzf