Socratyc Stories: The Women Who Build

www.buildthingsthatmatter.comWhat if the finish line you've been grinding toward is actually a starting line? That's how Dr. Anne Welsh describes the release of her first book.Dr. Anne Welsh, PhD, PMH-C, PCC, is a licensed clinical psychologist and executive coach who began her career at Harvard University Health Services and has spent nearly two decades helping working parents and women leaders thrive. She's a mother of four, founder of a successful coaching and therapy practice, and creator of the Working Mothers Lifeline and the Ambitious Mothers Mastermind. Now she's poured everything she knows into Ambitious Mother: From Surviving to Thriving in Your Career and at Home, out August 6 from Bloomsbury with a foreword by Robin Arzón.In this conversation, Anne takes apart the false choice between being good at your job and being a good mom. She explains why working motherhood hit a fever pitch, what she calls the motherhood advantage, and her model of healthy striving, which starts with one disarming question: what are you actually ambitious for? And because she refuses to treat any of this as an individual failure ("if most of the class fails the test, a good teacher looks at the test"), the book includes a chapter for workplaces and a chapter for male partners and allies. As Anne puts it, the system stuff needs to happen, but if we only wait for it, we're leaving women in the lurch.Along the way: the borrowed confidence from her own coach that turned a “little idea" into a Bloomsbury book, the Peloton pep talks that fuel her mornings, and the moment her husband answered her book-tour guilt with "Have you read your own book?"How you can support Anne (her asks)?Buy the book! Buy it for your friends, for the working moms in your life, and for your HR head (earmark the chapter on how workplaces can help)B&N- https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/ambitious-mother-anne-welsh/1148672749Or on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/-/es/Anne-Welsh/dp/B0FZCZ9QY6In Boston? Join her launch party on August 6Catch her on tour over the next month in New York, Raleigh, and Philadelphia https://www.drannewelsh.comConnect with her on LinkedIn- https://www.linkedin.com/in/drannewelsh/Find more about our host, Nicole Alos, ICF-PCC, CEC at www.NicoleAlos.comMusic licensed through Soundstripe.Code: F4ZFDHBTZUGMGLKEAll Rights Reserved Socratyc, LLC 2026.Brought to you by Socratyc and Socratyc Sidekick3271 / 4000

What happens when the technology disrupting your career becomes the thing that opens up what comes next?A few months ago, J. Michelle Maraj was laid off shortly after finding out she was pregnant with her second child. Michelle had built a career in data visualization and business intelligence, helping companies turn complex data into something people could actually understand and use.So, with a new baby arriving at the end of September and an unexpected career transition in front of her, Michelle started building.In this episode of Socratyc Stories: The Women Who Build, Michelle shares how getting laid off gave her the space to dive into AI, participate in Lovable's She Builds Season 3, and learn an entirely new set of technical skills by solving real problems as she encountered them.That experimentation eventually brought her back to an idea she had started before She Builds: Vizibly.Live, a virtual event activation platform that helps event organizers create personalized, shareable "data badges" for their attendees. Vizibly.Live is designed to create some of that same connection for virtual events, online communities, meetups, trainings, and conferences without requiring the cost or logistics of a traditional event activation.Michelle and I talk about learning by building instead of waiting until you feel fully qualified, moving from Lovable into tools like GitHub and Supabase as the product became more sophisticated, and the strange experience of being laid off because of AI and then realizing how much fun it can be to build with it.We also talk about something founders don't always like to admit: you don't necessarily have to build everything alone.Michelle shares why bringing on her co-founder, Sophie, changed the trajectory of Vizibly.Live. Their skills are different enough that Michelle can continue owning the technical build while Sophie brings event activation experience, industry relationships, accountability, and a completely different perspective to the business.As Michelle puts it, sometimes when you've taken something as far as you can on your own, finding the right person to build alongside you may be the thing that gets you to the next level.How you can support J. MichelleBeta test Vizibly.Live. If you organize virtual or in-person events, Michelle would love feedback on the platform, setup experience, and whether it's something you would use.Try creating a data badge: https://vizibly.liveKnow an event organizer, community leader, meetup organizer, or someone who uses event activations? An introduction would be incredibly helpful as Michelle and her co-founder continue validating the product and the market.Connect with J. Michelle on LinkedIn: J. Michelle Maraj on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/marajjm)Find more about our host, Nicole Alos, ICF-PCC, CEC, at http://www.NicoleAlos.com🎵 Music licensed through SoundstripeCode: F4ZFDHBTZUGMGLKE 🎵#WomenWhoBuild #WomenInTech #AI #VibeCoding #DataVisualization #FemaleFounders #Entrepreneurship #viziblylive #SocratycStoriesAI disclosure: Riverside's AI-powered tools were used as part of the production and editing workflow for this episode.All Rights Reserved Socratyc, LLC 2026.Brought to you by Socratyc and Socratyc Sidekick.

What does it look like to reinvent yourself after 25 years at the top of your field? Nicole Alos, Founder of Socratyc and creator of Socratyc Sidekick sits down with Francia Haces. Francia has built a career as a marketing and digital transformation executive in travel and hospitality, including leading the New York and Northeastern U.S. region for the Ministry of Tourism of the Dominican Republic and serving as Senior Vice President of Marketing and Digital Transformation at Premier Worldwide Marketing, a Miami-based agency serving hotels and resorts around the world.Now she’s building something new. As founder of Hacestek International, Francia is channeling decades of brand, multicultural marketing, tourism, and hospitality expertise into AI-powered strategy for the next era of travel and creator of Ai Reveal Map.In this conversation, Francia shares how AI is changing the way people discover, compare, plan, and choose travel experiences, and why visibility is no longer enough. Her work focuses on helping travel and hospitality businesses move from being visible to being recommendable to becoming bookable in an AI-connected customer journey.She also names a risk many smaller businesses are already facing: becoming part of the “invisible majority” as larger platforms and better-prepared brands win the AI recommendation layer. Francia and host Nicole Alos met through SheBuilds, Lovable’s community for women building with AI, where women at every level, from first-time builders to seasoned product creators, go from idea to real product through hackathons and hands-on learning. It’s a Substack place to have found Francia, because that’s exactly who she is: deeply expert, endlessly generous with what she knows, and the first to cheer on someone who is still learning.Together, Nicole and Francia talk about reinvention, AI adoption, the future of hospitality, and why the hardest part of building with AI is not always the technology. As Francia says in the episode, the real challenge is often change itself: helping leaders build the strategy, confidence, and readiness to use AI in ways that create real value.This is a conversation about becoming a builder again after years of leading, bringing everything you know with you, and using AI not to replace the human side of travel, but to help the best human experiences be found.Francia’s asks/connect with her:•⁠  ⁠AI Reveal Map free scan: https://airevealmap.com•⁠  ⁠LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/franciahacesmarketing•⁠  ⁠Substack: https://franciahaces.substack.comFind more about our host, Nicole Alos, ICF-PCC, CEC at www.NicoleAlos.comMusic licensed through Soundstripe.Code: F4ZFDHBTZUGMGLKEAll Rights Reserved Socratyc, LLC 2026.Brought to you by Socratyc and Socratyc Sidekick

Welcome to the FIRST episode of Socratyc Stories: The Women Who Build with Nicole Alos, ICF-PCC, CEC- Executive Coach, Founder of Socratyc and Founder and Creator of Socratyc Sidekick, an AI practice partner for leaders and founders.This week I sat down with Su Belagodu, founder and managing partner of Intellectus Advisors, creator of the HITL Maturity Model and a member of the Forbes Technology Council.Today, we talk about what else Su is building, Humyn Pulse!We hear constantly about AI hesitency and the high rate of AI adoption fails, and the blame usually lands on the model or on leadership. Su sees it differently. The piece most companies overlook is the human in the loop, and whether that human is empowered, supported, and actually paying attention or just rubber stamping whatever the system produces.That insight became Humyn Pulse, a tool that measures the human side of AI adoption: oversight, fatigue, and whether people are teaching the system or blindly trusting it. She built the first version in 48 hours at the SheBuilds Build-A-Thon, has run more than 40 experiments on real AI workflows, and made a decision I deeply respect: instead of monetizing right away, she is releasing it as a free assessment this fall so companies can benchmark together.Her core belief: the organizations that earn the most trust won't be the ones with the smartest technology. They'll be the ones that design the best partnership between humans and that technology.Every episode ends the same way- What are your asks? How can the community support your build? This one is no different.Asks from Su:1. VISIT HUMYNPULSE.COM: Take the free assessment — see where you are and build better AI systems. Nothing to share, no trade secrets.2. BRING SU TO YOUR TEAM: Hands-on AI governance workshops for companies, women builders, and builder networks.If you know a woman who's building something, share this episode with her! Want to share what you're building?Visit buildingthingsthatmatter.com.Listen wherever you get your podcasts, every Monday!#SocratycStories #TheWomenWhoBuild #WomenFounders #HumanInTheLoop #AIGovernance #SocratycMusic licensed through Soundstripe.Code: B8ALK5KNHV09QJNSAll Rights Reserved. Socratyc, LLC. 2026

Trailer: The Women Who BuildMusic licensed through Soundstripe.Code: B8ALK5KNHV09QJNS© 2026 Socratyc, LLC. All Rights Reserved.