JJ Kirkpatrick

Selling your business starts long before you find a buyer. In episode 86 of the She Lift Project, Cynthia Kirkpatrick talks with Christy Maxfield, founder of Purpose First Advisors, about the decisions that help owners build a more valuable business and prepare for what comes next. Christy explains why your company’s ability to run without

Cynthia Kirkpatrick welcomes her boss and mentor, Diane Compardo, a partner at Moneta, for a conversation about building a successful team and helping others grow. Having experienced Diane’s leadership firsthand, Cynthia brings a personal perspective to what it takes to create a culture of excellence where people feel valued, supported, and challenged to do their

How do you build a new career chapter after years of success? Betsy Cohen joins Cynthia Kirkpatrick to discuss the skills, relationships, and uncomfortable transitions that helped her evolve from corporate leadership to nonprofit leadership and philanthropic futurism. Betsy shares the childhood experience that shaped her independence, her mother’s gift of shattered glass, the setbacks

Dr. Erica Yalavarthi is double board certified in family medicine and obesity medicine, menopause certified, and focused on longevity. After more than two decades inside a medical system that gave her ten minutes per patient, she walked away and built something different: Awaken Face and Body Wellness, a physician-led concierge practice and med spa in St.

This week Cynthia sits down with Farica Chang, managing partner of Anderson Technologies and founder of Anderson Archival, two St. Louis businesses built around helping people protect what matters most. Farica opens up about the unplanned turns that shaped her path, from a temporary contract job to running a growing company, and the deeply personal

Joining Cynthia this episode is Jennifer Belmont Jennings, an estate planning attorney at MGD Law in St. Louis and a former wealth advisor who has spent her career bridging the legal and financial sides of people’s lives. Their conversation moves through the winding, sometimes discouraging path that shaped Jennifer’s career, the mindset shifts that carried

This week Cynthia is joined by Aoifinn Devitt, a senior member of Moneta’s Global Wealth team and a longtime voice in international finance. Aoifinn shares her journey across continents, industries, and life stages, from bold early adventures to major career pivots. It’s a conversation full of honesty, humor, and hard won wisdom. This episode is

Holly Breuer is the founder of Prosper CPAs, a St. Louis accounting firm she launched in 2022. It started with a simple question: could you build a firm that provided elite-level service to business owners while also being a genuinely great place to work? Holly spent twenty years in public accounting, including time at large

Taryn Pulliam, Vice President of Strategic Partnerships at Gadellnet Consulting Services, leads a team that helps organizations align technology with their business goals, from cybersecurity and cloud to AI consulting. But this conversation reaches far beyond IT. Taryn shares the unlikely path that took her from cosmetology school to becoming a powerhouse sales leader in

Sara Marler is the founder and managing partner of Marler Law Partners, a family law firm in St. Louis built around a concept that is still rare in the legal profession: trauma-informed practice. By combining rigorous legal representation with healing-centered care from a licensed therapist, Sara and her team have created a firm where clients