F5 Collective Presents Women in Business

F5 Collective Presents Women in Business features stories of and insights from female founders, their allies, and other underserved/overlooked founder communities to inspire and encourage up-and-coming likeminded entrepreneurs. The content we create is meant to empower by sharing information gained through hands-on (and hard won) personal experience, to support by seeing "You are not alone," and to serve as a trusted "go-to" resource for all those overlooked business risk-takers just starting out, in the midst of, and seeking rejuvenation on their entrepreneurial journey.

F5 Collective Presents Women in Business is a business podcast hosted by Linda Morris, with 30 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80. PitchCentric scores this show on Booking Probability, Listen Score, and live audience signals refreshed every 24 hours.

Linda Morris hosts F5 Collective Presents Women in Business, a business show with 30 episodes published.

Our AI reads these to draft pitches. Use them as grounding for a pitch that cites a real guest and a specific topic.

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  Episode #32

  From Doctor to $1B Founder: How Iman Abuzeid Flipped Healthcare Hiring | F5 Collective

  Sep 18, 202621 minS1

  Iman Abuzeid raised $100 million for a company now valued at over a billion dollars — and she is refreshingly blunt about how. She did not pitch everyone. She named the bias out loud, then treated it as a filter instead of a wall: she would only take meetings with investors who had already written checks to women or minority founders. A medical doctor who finished med school in a family of surgeons and then walked away from practicing, Iman co-founded Incredible Health after noticing both sides of healthcare hiring were complaining at the same time. Hospitals could not staff. Qualified nurses applied to ten places and never heard back. So she flipped the model: employers apply to the workers. In this episode, Iman shares: ✨ Why she only pitched investors who had already backed women and minorities ✨ Flipping the hiring model so employers apply to the workers, not the other way around ✨ Finishing medical school and realizing she did not want to practice ✨ Why a small team plus software is the epitome of what you can do with a career ✨ Staying in California for the first two years before expanding nationally ✨ Building AI voice agents Lyn and Gale, and a future where every worker has an agent ✨ Hiring for values, because you cannot teach values after someone joins ✨ Why resilience needs systems: founder friend groups, an executive coach, no-work Saturdays ✨ Saying no to every industry outside healthcare ✨ What she wishes she knew younger: the world is malleable If you are raising, hiring, or trying to build something durable without burning out, this one is full of specifics you can actually use. About Iman Abuzeid: Iman Abuzeid, M.D., is the co-founder and CEO of Incredible Health, an AI-native healthcare career marketplace connecting 1.5 million U.S. healthcare professionals with more than 1,500 healthcare employers. Born in Saudi Arabia to a Sudanese family and partly raised in the UK, she immigrated to the U.S. at 24. She holds an M.D. and an MBA from The Wharton School, and was named to the TIME100 Next list in 2024. Learn more at https://www.incrediblehealth.com/ The growth engine for women who mean business. http://www.f5collective.com 0:00 Cold Open: "That's Taken Years" 0:44 Welcome to F5 Collective Presents Women in Business 1:38 From Sudan to San Francisco 2:08 Why Entrepreneurship Is the Epitome of a Career 2:44 Both Sides Were Complaining: The Origin Story 3:29 Healthcare's Labor Shortage, by the Numbers 3:55 "Post a Job and Hope It All Works Out" 4:15 Flipping the Model: Employers Apply to Workers 5:19 Customer Discovery in the Bay Area 6:14 Two Years in California Before Going National 7:22 Meet Lyn: The AI Voice Interview Agent 8:12 Meet Gale: An AI Career Partner 8:47 A World Where Every Worker Has an Agent 9:48 Free Tools and How to Get on the Platform 10:45 1.5 Million Workers, 1,500 Employers 11:16 Why the Answer to Other Industries Is No 11:52 Challenge One: Delivering ROI, Not Just Vision 12:56 Challenge Two: Fundraising and Bias in the System 13:36 "I Was Selective About Who I Pitched" 14:04 What's Next for Incredible Health 14:43 Taking Care of the People Who Take Care of Us 15:24 Business Minute: Hire for Values 16:37 Staying Even-Keeled Through the Roller Coaster 17:37 How Iman Decompresses 18:51 Rapid Five 19:39 "The World Is Malleable" 20:38 Wrap-Up

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  Episode #31

  "We Are Now Officially Woman Owned" | Sightglass Coffee CEO Sharon Healy

  Sep 16, 202624 minS1

  Sharon Healy didn't start Sightglass Coffee. She's the one rebuilding it — and she'll tell you that's the harder job. "Rebuilding is harder than building from scratch. Because you have so many things you have to break and then rebuild again. And there's long standing habits. But in order to thrive, you have to have a solid foundation." Sharon spent 30 years in food and beverage, cut her teeth at Starbucks during its explosive growth — and stayed through the downsizing, which is where she says she learned the most. Now she's CEO of Sightglass Coffee, steering a beloved San Francisco brand through its next chapter without losing the thing people fell in love with. Sharon shares: ✨ Why rebuilding is harder than building from scratch ✨ What she learned at Starbucks when the growth stopped ✨ Coming to California "following a man" — and staying for a career ✨ Hospitality in her DNA: her grandmother's farm-to-table Sundays ✨ Telling her father she'd use her English degree in food and beverage ✨ Championing women coffee farmers through the Women of Coffee series ✨ Giving back to La Cocina and the local food community ✨ "People will say I'm tough — I lead with empathy" ✨ Why the right culture matters more than mental toughness alone ✨ How to grow something special without losing what made it special ✨ Building company values with the whole team, not three people in a room ✨ Her Business Minute: hiring, soft skills, and building a roadmap ✨ Still learning how to decompress — and why quiet is a leadership skill This is a special edition episode celebrating Sharon's recognition on the floor of the California State Senate and Assembly as an extraordinary California founder. About Sharon Healy: Sharon Healy is the CEO of Sightglass Coffee, the San Francisco specialty roaster and café group with locations across San Francisco, Berkeley, and Los Angeles. She has spent three decades in retail food and beverage, including nearly a decade at Starbucks, and now leads Sightglass through its next phase of growth. ☕ Learn more at https://sightglasscoffee.com/ The growth engine for women who mean business. http://www.f5collective.com 0:00 "Rebuilding Is Harder Than Building From Scratch" 0:27 Welcome: A Special Edition for California Founders 1:41 From the South to California — "I Followed a Man" 2:51 Why Sightglass Was the Right Fit 3:13 Cutting Her Teeth at Starbucks 3:56 What She Learned When the Growth Stopped 4:32 The Call From Sightglass: Her Dream Job 4:45 Third Wave Coffee: Treating Coffee Like Wine 5:29 Hospitality Is in My DNA 5:40 Her Grandmother's Sunday Table 6:12 "He Was Disappointed I Wasn't Using My Degree" 7:32 The Women Growing the Coffee 8:26 A First-Time Reveal 9:25 Supporting Women Coffee Farmers at the Source 9:57 The Women of Coffee Series: Peru and Mexico 10:32 Giving Back to La Cocina 11:30 Challenges as a Woman Leader in Food 12:53 "People Say I'm Tough. I Lead With Empathy." 13:32 How Do You Decompress? "Still Working on That." 14:46 Food Is Love 15:15 What's Next for Sightglass 15:49 Growing Without Losing What Made It Special 16:13 Building Values With the Whole Team 17:04 Business Minute: Four Rules for Building a Team 19:19 Why Rebuilding Is the Harder Job 20:19 Rapid Five 23:18 Wrap-Up 25:55 After the Interview: The Art of the Cup

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  Episode #30

  I Couldn't Afford $2 for Milk — While My Face Was on the Magazine Cover | Beatriz Acevedo

  Sep 11, 202628 minS1

  Beatriz Acevedo was on the cover of a magazine in Mexico City when her credit card was declined at the supermarket. "There I was on the cover of a magazine at the register, and I was just sobbing that I couldn't afford $2 to buy milk." Three Emmys, a hit TV career, and no emergency savings. Decades later, she started over — in her 50s, knowing nothing about finance — and built SUMA Wealth, a platform teaching Latinos how to build it and keep it. In this episode, Beatriz shares: ✨ The $2 carton of milk that ended her invincible era ✨ Why she enrolled in every online fintech program she could find at 50 ✨ "It's possible to reinvent yourself at any age" ✨ Calling SUMA her "last, last, last startup" ✨ Latinos drive GDP growth — and don't have $1,000 saved for an emergency ✨ Explaining credit scores with an avocado ✨ Why "my daughter is my 401(k)" isn't a joke ✨ Her mother's safe deposit box from Costco, and the devaluation behind it ✨ Building for youth who become their family's translator, accountant and advocate ✨ Why she added Spanish after users kept asking for their moms ✨ Growing up at a dinner table where building wealth felt like bad taste ✨ Her father's scholarship foundation — and what it could have been ✨ Unlearning the habit of putting herself last on her own to-do list ✨ Taking SUMA B2B to financial institutions ✨ Business Minute: passion and perseverance over talent If you've ever looked successful on the outside while quietly having no plan, this one is for you. About Beatriz Acevedo: Beatriz Acevedo is CEO and Co-Founder of SUMA Wealth, a financial literacy and wealth-building platform built for Latinos through fintech, digital content, and community. Born in Tijuana and raised on the border, she began her media career as a radio announcer at age eight and went on to win three Emmy Awards. She co-founded and served as president of mitú, the leading digital media brand for young Latinos in the U.S., and is president of the Acevedo Foundation. She was recently honored on the floor of the California State Senate as one of eleven women founders recognized for their work in California. Learn more at https://sumawealth.com/ The growth engine for women who mean business. http://www.f5collective.com 0:00 The Youth Are the Bet 1:50 Born on the Border, Immigrant by Default 3:28 What Led to SUMA Wealth 4:07 Driving GDP, No $1,000 in Savings 4:27 Is Anyone Explaining a Loan in a Meme? 5:05 You Can Reinvent Yourself at Any Age 5:36 Enrolling in Every Fintech Program She Could Find 5:59 My Last, Last, Last Startup 6:22 The First Startup: Three Emmys in Her Early 20s 7:38 $2 for Milk, and the Magazine Cover at the Register 8:20 Radio Announcer at Eight, Because of Ricky Martin 8:56 Teaching Finance Through Culture 9:27 How Ripe Is Your Credit? The Avocado Video 9:42 We Are Not a Bank 10:19 When VCs Handed Out Checks Like Halloween Candy 10:39 The Demo Nobody Was Serving 11:42 The Kids Who Become the Family's Attorney 12:10 It's Not Fun. It's Not SUMA. 12:33 Changing the Strategy: Going Multigenerational 14:43 Why My Daughter Is My 401(k) Isn't a Joke 15:55 Teaching Your Own Kids to Start Now 17:30 Her Father's Foundation and What It Could Have Been 18:22 It's Your Right to Understand How to Do It 20:16 Not Putting Herself Last on Her Own To-Do List 21:25 What's Next: Taking SUMA B2B 22:23 Selling Financial Health to Banks 23:56 Passion and Perseverance Over Talent

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  Episode #29

  Her Climate Fix Was Hiding Inside Cement Kilns | Jade Marcus, CEO of Mafix

  Sep 9, 202619 minS1

  Ag funding has fallen more than 50% since its 2020 peak, and a lot of the startups that burned through it failed for the same reason: the economics never worked. Jade Marcus designed her way around that problem before she started. Roughly 30% of the world's cement kiln capacity is already sitting idle — infrastructure that's built, paid for, and sitting in nearly every region on earth because cement is too expensive to truck very far. Mafix uses that spare capacity to run chemistry inside the kilns, starting with a climate-smart fertilizer made from cheap, abundant silicate rock. Jade shares: ✨ Why she went looking for spare capacity instead of building new infrastructure ✨ The 30% idle capacity on cement kilns worldwide — and why it may double ✨ Developing the technology behind Mafix during her PhD at Stanford ✨ What McKinsey's sustainability practice taught her about scaling climate tech ✨ Why "better for the planet" can't mean "more expensive" for the customer ✨ Why ag tech funding collapsed — and what those companies got wrong ✨ Why you can't go direct to farmer, and who to partner with instead ✨ Working with extension agronomists to prove yield in real fields ✨ The food security math: staple crops down 3-7%, production needs to rise 60% ✨ Her first 1,000-ton deployment inside a commercial cement kiln ✨ Doing 100-200 customer interviews before you trust your own numbers ✨ The 3:1 rule — for every dollar a farmer spends, they need three back ✨ "If you don't need to build it, don't build it" ✨ Why someone else's margin is your opportunity ✨ Ten days a year in the backcountry, and why real fear beats invented stress Whether you're raising in a down market, selling into an industry that moves slowly, or trying to build something better that doesn't cost more, Jade's approach is a masterclass in using what already exists. About Jade Marcus: Jade Marcus is the CEO and co-founder of Mafix, a mineral conversion platform that runs on the world's spare cement kiln capacity, turning cheap, abundant silicate rock into carbon-negative fertilizer. A chemical engineer by training, she studied at Georgia Tech, worked as an engagement manager in McKinsey's sustainability practice, and developed the technology behind Mafix at Stanford. Learn more at https://www.mafix.ag/ The growth engine for women who mean business. http://www.f5collective.com 0:00 "Real Fear, Real Stress": Ten Days Off the Grid 0:51 Welcome: Honoring California's Women Founders 1:36 Meet Jade Marcus, CEO & Co-Founder of Mafix 1:54 Georgia Tech, Oil & Gas, and McKinsey 2:26 Why "Better for the Planet" Costs Too Much 3:12 Hardware Is Slow. Software Is Instant. 3:36 30% Spare Capacity on the World's Cement Kilns 5:02 The Real Challenges: Geology and Deployment 6:26 Beyond Fertilizer: Anywhere You Need Alkalinity 6:46 Astronomer, Marine Biologist, Journalist, Archeologist 7:50 Ag Funding Is Down Over 50% Since 2020 8:21 Why She Didn't Build New Infrastructure 8:45 You Can't Go Direct to Farmer 10:25 "Naively, I Thought I Could Do This" 11:08 Running a Company While Finishing a PhD 11:47 Crops Down 7%, Demand Up 60% 12:31 How She Actually Handles Stress 12:53 Ten Days in the Arctic With No One Around 14:04 What's Next for Mafix (They're Hiring) 14:56 Business Minute: Know Your Economics 15:47 "If You Don't Need to Build It, Don't Build It" 16:25 Rapid Five 16:50 What She Wishes She Knew: Community

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  Episode #28

  She Licensed NASA Tech in College. Then She Quit Finance | Andrea Brimmer, Rivida

  Sep 4, 202618 minS1

  Andrea Brimmer grew up on a farm outside Sacramento, went to college planning to become a lawyer, and left a stable job in wealth management to run a company she'd started while she was still a student. Today Rivida uses NASA-licensed filtration to pull ammonia out of agricultural wastewater and hand farmers back the two things they're running short of: clean water and nitrogen fertilizer. In this episode she talks about walking into rooms full of farmers who take one look and count her out. "I love it when people doubt me and they don't see me coming, and then I just swoop in and I do the thing. Thank you for the secret power. You just gave me a way in." Andrea shares: ✨ Why she stopped waiting for the right moment to quit her job ✨ "When you have faith, you can't have fear" ✨ The mentor who told her she wasn't a lawyer — she was a CEO ✨ What Rivida actually does with agricultural wastewater ✨ Being a young woman in rooms full of farmers ✨ How she turned being underestimated into a way in ✨ What farmers told her when she went out and asked ✨ Signing a commercialization deal with NASA ✨ Getting into the Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator ✨ Growing up on a hay and cattle farm 30 minutes from Sacramento ✨ How faith and family in Mexico keep her steady ✨ Her Business Minute: relationships, brand, and the thank-you note ✨ Rapid Five: the hospital visit that ended her plan to be a doctor If you've been waiting for the right moment to make your move, Andrea's answer is that it isn't coming. You go anyway. About Andrea Brimmer: Andrea Brimmer is the Founder and CEO of Rivida, an agricultural technology company using NASA-licensed filtration to convert agricultural wastewater into clean water and nitrogen fertilizer on site. A California Lutheran University graduate who founded the school's Women in Business Club, she negotiated Rivida's NASA license as a senior and later left a career in finance to build the company full time. Rivida is a member of the Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator's Incubation Cohort 12. In August 2026, Andrea was one of 11 California women founders honored on the floor of the California State Senate by First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom and Senate President pro Tem Monique Limón, in partnership with F5 Collective. Learn more at https://www.rivida.co/ The growth engine for women who mean business. http://www.f5collective.com 0:00 I Love It When People Doubt Me 0:50 Welcome to F5 Collective Presents Women in Business 1:24 Honored on the California Senate Floor 2:04 Growing Up on a Hay and Cattle Farm 3:18 What Rivida Actually Does 3:41 "You Weren't a Lawyer, You Were a CEO" 4:24 The Confirmation That Changed Everything 4:59 Leaving Finance: "It Was Terrifying" 5:47 Trading the 401(k) to Write Her Own Story 6:21 Faith, Culture, and "You Can't Have Fear" 7:49 Learning to Speak Farmers' Language 8:56 "Coming From an Ag Family Opens Doors" 9:51 Being a Young Woman: The Secret Power 11:00 How She Decompresses 11:50 Signing With NASA and Getting Into LACI 12:38 Business Minute: Thank You Notes Go a Long Way 14:21 Rapid Five 17:11 Wrapping Up

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