10 Self Made Women To Watch, Building A Life On Their Own Terms

Across industries and backgrounds, these women are creating their own paths with intention and clarity. They are not waiting for permission or following a fixed formula. Instead, they are building lives that reflect who they are and what matters to them. These are the women to watch as they continue to grow on their own terms.

Daria Astanaeva | Personal Branding Coach & Founder of The Sell Well

Daria Astanaeva is a Russian-born entrepreneur and the founder of The Sell Well, a Vancouver-based coaching and content creation company that helps women build profitable personal brands on Instagram. Her business is fully self-funded and independently run, built without outside investors, assistants, or a pre-made blueprint. What began as a necessity after immigrating to Canada with English as her second language turned into a proven system rooted in clarity, positioning, and consistency.

Over the past five years, Daria has helped more than 300 women service providers and content creators grow their visibility, attract clients, and generate income online without relying on viral content or massive followings. Her approach focuses on storytelling that converts, strong personal positioning, and content that supports long-term business goals rather than short-term attention.

Her journey has been shaped as much by failure as by progress. Early ventures did not work out, including a boutique talent agency that resulted in a $45,000 loss. Instead of hiding those experiences, Daria chose to speak about them openly. That honesty became a cornerstone of her leadership style and the foundation of trust she has built with her audience. She often shares behind-the-scenes realities of running a service-based business as a solo founder, showing that setbacks are part of building something sustainable.

Today, Daria is recognized as a BC Magazine 30 Under 30 2026 winner and has been invited to speak on personal branding panels alongside industry leaders. Her work has also been featured in campaigns by brands like Thinkific. Looking ahead, she plans to expand her impact by supporting women-founded companies through mentorship and future investment initiatives.

Connect with Daria on Instagram and LinkedIn: 

Asia Ellmer-Wright Is Turning Personal Loss Into a Global Mission to Protect Families

Asia Ellmer-Wright’s story is not built on privilege. It was forged in responsibility. Raised in North Carolina, she was just 15 years old when her mother passed away from metastatic breast cancer. With her father struggling under the weight of grief, Asia stepped into survival mode early, working to support herself and learning that life is shaped not by the cards dealt, but by how they are played.

Years later, after becoming a mother herself, her entrepreneurial journey began out of necessity and faith. She progressed to vice presidency at Ion Solar, a leading residential solar company, earning uncapped commissions that she and her husband multiplied through strategic investments and a diversified portfolio. Through discipline and long-term vision, she became a self-made multimillionaire.

But her most defining chapter came through unimaginable loss. After the tragic choking accident that took the life of her one-year-old daughter, Leilani, Asia chose purpose over paralysis. She founded Leilani’s Legacy Foundation, a global initiative focused on placing life-saving anti-choking devices into homes, schools, churches, hospitals, and public facilities. The foundation is actively working to pass “Leilani’s Law” in Virginia and South Carolina to require these devices in public spaces.

Asia leads with a faith-centered philosophy grounded in servant leadership. She measures success not by titles or revenue, but by lives protected and communities strengthened. Her mission is clear: break generational cycles, steward wealth responsibly, and build a legacy that saves lives.

Kelly Springer: Building a Nutrition Movement Rooted in Real Life and Resilience

Kelly Springer MS, RD, CDN, Owner and Founder of Kelly’s Choice, has built her career on a foundation of determination, education, and a deep commitment to helping others live healthier lives. Her journey began during a time of personal uncertainty, raising two young daughters while working multiple jobs and completing her nutrition degree, all while rebuilding her life from the ground up.

What started as a necessity soon became a purpose. In 2012, Kelly took a leap and launched Kelly’s Choice LLC, turning a small collective of dietitians into a growing organization focused on collaboration, education, and real-world impact. Today, her platform continues to expand through programs, partnerships, and accessible resources designed to make nutrition practical and sustainable for everyday people. Learn more at Kelly’s Choice.

Kelly’s approach stands out for its simplicity and relatability. With a background in both dietetics and education, she focuses on breaking down complex concepts into clear, actionable steps. Her philosophy, often summed up as “real people promoting real food,” reflects her belief that lasting change begins with small, informed decisions that fit into real lives.

Her work has earned national recognition, including appearances on major platforms and features in leading publications. She is also the author of The Weight Loss Era, a guide designed to support individuals navigating nutrition in a changing healthcare landscape.

Through her growing presence on platforms like Instagram. Kelly Springer continues to share her message with a wider audience, helping individuals and families take control of their health with clarity, confidence, and consistency.

Michele Oneil: Helping Parents Build Communities That Create Freedom

Michele Oneil, Founder and CEO of the Digital Growth Community and Legacy Builders Program, is reshaping how parents think about online business. As a community-building mentor for parents, her focus is simple yet powerful: ownership over hustle.

Michele helps parents build six-figure, freedom-based online businesses by creating and scaling communities they own. Rather than relying on trends, algorithms, or constant launches, she teaches digital marketing systems that generate recurring income while protecting time and family life.

Her results speak clearly. Michele built a six-figure online business within her first six months and grew her first seven-figure business in just 17 months. Today, she earns six figures monthly working part time and has built a global community of more than 59,200 people organically. Through her Digital Growth Community, Legacy Builders Program, and Digital Growth Community Builders for scaling families, she mentors parents worldwide who want income and presence, not one at the expense of the other.

The turning point in her journey came when she shifted her focus from chasing income to building a community. Once she owned the audience and the system, growth became predictable and sustainable. That insight now anchors everything she teaches.

Michele’s work is grounded, practical, and values driven. She does not promote hustle culture or quick wins. Instead, she champions long term thinking, digital ownership, and legacy building. Her vision is clear: help parents design businesses that support their lives, strengthen their families, and create lasting impact beyond revenue.

For Michele, success is not just about income. It is about freedom, stability, and building something that grows with your family for years to come.

Sarah Frias & Amanda Marino: The Powerhouse Women Changing Behavioral Health From the Inside Out

Sarah Frias and Amanda Marino are not simply executives in behavioral healthcare. They are women who rebuilt their own lives and then built an institution strong enough to rebuild others.

As the force behind Next Level Wellness & Behavioral Health, they have created a concierge-level model serving high-responsibility individuals, families of generational wealth, executives, and public figures who struggle quietly behind success. Their work lives in the gray areas where addiction, mental health, trauma, eating disorders, and self-medicating often hide beneath achievement and status.

Amanda Marino, Founder and CEO, transformed lived recovery into global leadership. With a background in alternative medicine, national media presence, and a widely viewed TEDx talk, she carries a rare combination of credibility and conviction. She does not speak about healing from theory. She speaks from survival, discipline, and belief earned the hard way. Her mission is clear: restore dignity and help people rebuild from the inside out.

Sarah Frias, COO, rose from frontline nursing into executive leadership. As a licensed nurse who also overcame substance use disorder, she brings clinical precision and personal understanding to every case. Her leadership style is steady, composed, and deeply protective of the families they serve. She represents structure without coldness and compassion without compromise.

Together, they built a company known for discretion, high standards, and real outcomes. Since launching in 2019, their influence has expanded nationally and internationally, combining private concierge services with public education that removes stigma and offers hope.

These women are proof that strength forged through adversity becomes leadership that changes lives.

Out With the Old, In With The New

How Alex & Jess Are Redefining the Real Estate Process and The Typical Agent Across Queensland.

Alex and Jess are part of a new generation of self-made leaders, but what truly sets them apart is not just who they are, it’s how they operate. Recognised among the Top 10 Self-Made Women to Watch, they are redefining real estate by replacing outdated, transactional models with a structured, client-led process that delivers clarity, confidence, and control from start to finish.

Where traditional agents focus on simply listing and selling, Alex and Jess take full ownership of the entire client journey. Every step is mapped, every decision is guided and organised and every outcome is intentional and individualised ensuring their clients are never left guessing, overwhelmed, or unsupported.

Their foundation in business management, project management, and healthcare as Endorsed Enrolled Nurses has shaped a fundamentally different approach. In high-pressure environments where precision, trust, and accountability were non-negotiable, they developed a system built on clear communication, structured execution, and genuine care. This now translates directly into real estate where clients are not just serviced, but strategically guided.

Through RYDE Realty, Alex and Jess work with clients across Queensland, interstate and overseas from first home buyers and growing families to investors and premium property owners. What distinguishes them is their ability to lead the process, not react to it. From preparation and positioning through to negotiation and settlement, they create a seamless experience where no detail is missed, and no opportunity is left on the table.

Their growing presence, in social media platforms reflects more than visibility, it represents a shift toward education, transparency, and connection. Clients are not just informed; they are empowered, understanding exactly where they stand and what comes next at every stage.

This is where the difference becomes clear.

Alex and Jess are not here to follow the traditional model, they are here to replace it. By combining sharp market insight with a people-first, process-driven approach, they are setting a new benchmark across Queensland, delivering not just results, but a complete, guided experience that clients can rely on from beginning to end.

Sanya Bari: Helping High Achievers Build Love Without Losing Themselves

Sanya Bari, MEd, LPC, NCC, is a licensed psychotherapist and Relationship and Emotional Clarity Expert with more than a decade of experience working with high achieving professionals, entrepreneurs, and leaders. On the outside, many of her clients appear successful and steady. On the inside, they often feel confused, overextended, or quietly breaking in their relationships.

Sanya understands that pattern deeply, because she has lived it.

Her turning point came during a quiet moment in an airport when she realized that insight alone was not enough to interrupt the same relational pain she kept encountering. That realization became the foundation for The Love Clarity Method™, a simple, repeatable framework designed for real life. It helps people shift out of survival based reactions and back into clarity before old emotional patterns take over.

Her work bridges clinical psychology, advanced spiritual psychology training, and lived experience. But what truly sets her apart is how grounded and human her approach feels. She does not position herself as someone speaking from theory. She speaks from scars, not open wounds. She walks with clients through confusion, over giving, and self abandonment without judgment or urgency.

Quoted in Forbes, a contributor to Psychology Today, host of a Top 90 podcast in the boundaries category, and author of an upcoming book currently in submission, Sanya’s mission is clear. She helps high functioning people stop erasing themselves in love, leadership, and life.

Her message resonates because it is steady and simple: you do not need more insight to change your life. You need a way to shift where you are living, leading, and loving from in real time.

Karrie Mitten: Guiding Women Back to Themselves

Karrie Mitten, CEO and Founder of Up Level Your Life Consulting LLC, and creator of The Becoming Method (™),knows what it feels like to succeed on paper while quietly feeling misaligned inside. After 25 years in corporate America, she walked away from a six figure ownership role, not because she was failing, but because she was no longer living a life that felt true to her.

That decision became the turning point. And the start to her journey of becoming.

Today, as a Soul Aligned Success Coach, Karrie supports high performing, midlife professional women who sense there is something more for them. Many of the women she works with are accomplished and respected, yet internally questioning their next chapter. Karrie helps them slow down, reconnect with their inner voice, and redefine success in a way that feels fulfilling, not forced.

Her approach blends strategic coaching, NLP, subconscious recalibration, and embodied practices. But what truly sets her apart is how deeply she listens. She creates space for women to say what is really true, often for the first time in years. Her coaching style, what she calls “love, love, shove”, combines compassion with courageous accountability, helping women move from overthinking into aligned action.

Named a Top 50 Coach in 2022 by Brave Thinking Institute and an International Best Selling Author of The Sacred Dance, Karrie continues to expand her impact through retreats, speaking, and writing.

Her message is simple yet powerful: success means nothing if it costs you yourself. When women trust their inner knowing and choose alignment, confidence rises naturally and life begins to feel like their own again.

Felicia Cyd Bechtel: Creating Calm in Life’s Most Critical Transitions

Felicia Cyd Bechtel believes organization is not about perfection. It is about support.

As the Founder of Spotless Organization, a boutique lifestyle transition company, Felicia has built a business rooted in structure, empathy, and precision. Her career began in the high pressure world of professional sports, working with organizations including the WWE and the NFL. In those fast paced environments, she developed a sharp instinct for logistics, execution, and managing complex moving parts without missing a detail.

Years later, after stepping away from her career to raise three young children, she experienced how quickly life can feel overwhelming. During that season, she saw firsthand how physical clutter often mirrors emotional weight. What began as helping friends create order in their homes became a deeper calling. People were not asking for aesthetic spaces. They were asking for relief.

Since launching in 2019, Spotless Organization has grown into a thriving team of seven, serving clients through home organization, relocations, and grief informed transitions. Felicia’s work is known for its white glove care and deeply personal approach. She meets clients in moments of change and helps them rebuild calm with systems designed for real life.

A two time finalist for Best of Bergen and recognized by Marquis Who’s Who and Influential Women 2025, Felicia is also a sought after speaker on resilience and intentional growth.

Her philosophy remains simple and powerful: when your space supports you, everything else becomes possible.

Stefanie Ruth: Creating Space for Reflection and Intentional Living

Stefanie Ruth, founder of Live and Breathe Reiki LLC, has built a platform centered on reflection, mindfulness, and thoughtful living. Her work supports individuals navigating change by helping them pause, examine their patterns, and approach decisions with greater awareness. Through one-on-one sessions, educational programs, and written content, she works with a global audience seeking clarity in both personal and professional life.

Her path into this work began over a decade ago during a period of personal reassessment. Through consistent study and practice in mindfulness and reflective inquiry, she developed a deeper understanding of how attention and perspective shape everyday choices. Rather than focusing on changing who a person is, her approach encourages slowing down and listening with intention.

In 2021, she launched Live and Breathe Reiki LLC as a platform designed to guide individuals through structured self-reflection and personal alignment practices. Her approach often includes conversation, journaling, and guided inquiry to help people gain clarity on their values, strengthen their intuition, and make more aligned decisions in their lives. Her first book on intentional living reached number one on Amazon, leading to further recognition, including features in Spirituality + Health Magazine and MSN’s Top 10 Health Voices to Follow.

Stefanie also hosts the When Spirit Talks podcast, where she engages in conversations with creatives, educators, and wellness professionals. The focus remains on open dialogue and thoughtful exploration, giving listeners space to reflect rather than follow rigid frameworks.

Her work is grounded in clear boundaries. She positions her platform as educational, encouraging individuals to seek licensed professionals for clinical support. Looking ahead, she continues to expand her work through new programs and an upcoming book focused on self-trust and decision-making.

Follow Stefanie Ruth on Instagram,YouTube, and visit her website, liveandbreathereiki.com