Ordinary To Badass

What can Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Oprah Winfrey, Hedy Lamarr, and Rosalind Franklin teach us about leadership?
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A lot more than “be brave” and “keep going.”
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In Part 1 of this two-part episode, I’m breaking down four leadership lessons from women who changed the room—and the strategy behind how they did it.
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We’re talking about influence, leverage, perception, visibility, and why doing great work is not always enough.
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You’ll learn why being right doesn’t automatically make you influential, why building options matters, how other people’s perception can affect your opportunities, and why your work does not always speak for itself.
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These aren’t just history lessons.
They’re leadership lessons you can use right now.
And this is only the first four.
Part 2 is coming next with four more women and four more lessons that might completely change the way you think about leadership.

Most people start preparing for a promotion when the position opens.
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That’s already too late.
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In this episode, I’m breaking down how to start preparing before the opportunity shows up—so you’re not scrambling to prove you’re ready at the last minute.
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We’ll talk about:
What your job announcement is actually telling you

How to identify the skills and experience leadership is looking for

My Have It, Prove It, Build It method

How to create a 6–12 month promotion plan

Why you shouldn’t automatically disqualify yourself when you don’t check every box

How to start building the experience, relationships, and proof that make you a stronger candidate

Because the goal isn’t to suddenly look ready when the promotion opens.
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It’s to spend the months before it opens becoming the obvious choice.
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Want more help with promotions and leadership? Join me on Sundays at 6 PM PST @OrdinarytoBadass community for LIVE weekly Q&As and coaching.
To your Badassery,
Marie

What if the biggest thing holding you back at work isn't your ability… it's the way you talk about your ability?
In this episode, I sit down with engineer, consultant, and creator Kim Porter to talk about imposter syndrome, leading in male-populated industries, and the subtle ways women unintentionally give away their power at work.
We dive into:
Why saying "I think" can quietly undermine your credibility
How to communicate with more confidence without pretending to know everything
Why great leaders admit mistakes instead of hiding them
The power of leading with data instead of emotion
How to build trust with your team before making changes
What it really means to keep your power in difficult conversations
Whether you're stepping into leadership, navigating imposter syndrome, or simply trying to speak with more confidence, this episode is packed with practical advice you can put to work immediately.
If this episode resonates with you, share it with another woman who's building her career in a predominantly male industry.

Getting promoted is exciting… until you realize nobody prepared you for what comes next.
Most women spend years working toward their first leadership role. But once you get there, the challenges change.
In this episode, I share the 8 things nobody told me before my first promotion, including:
Why leadership can feel lonelier than you expected
How your relationships with coworkers change overnight
Why hard work alone won't make you successful anymore
Why being trusted matters more than being liked
How to navigate the pressure, self-doubt, and shifting expectations that come with leading others
If you're preparing for your first promotion—or you've recently stepped into leadership—this is the conversation I wish someone had with me years ago.
Resources:
📩 Join the free community for women in predominantly male industries: DM "community" to @OrdinaryToBadass on Instagram.

She spent two and a half years watching the guys around her get away with the exact same mistakes that were landing her in someone's file — and the whole time, one thought kept running the show: I don't want to be that girl.
Attorney and former undercover narcotics deputy and SWAT operator Bridget Truxillo joins Marie to talk about what staying quiet actually costs women in predominantly male industries — the discipline nobody talks about, the exact legal line between "a jerk being a jerk" and illegal discrimination, and the thirteen years it took her to stop protecting everyone else's comfort but her own.
This one covers how to tell if what's happening to you is actually illegal (and what to document if it is), why "everybody already knows" is never the same as it being on record, and the leadership habit — six praises for every one reprimand — that changes whether people actually hear you.
Listen if you've ever decided not to make a big deal out of something that's already been quietly costing you for years.