Gretchen DeVault, podcast host & producer of Lean the F*ck OutGretchen DeVault is a natural born podcaster. She spent her college years in student-run radio (she was one of the co-founders of Grand Valley State University's WCKS) as well as working for the local NPR radio station.

She started a podcast in 2011 while she owned DVQ Studio but then took a break from the medium. In 2016, she launched the Lean the F*ck Out podcast, with co-host Tera Wozniak Qualls. They have produced over 100 episodes of the podcast as it heads into its fourth season. Lean the F*ck Out has had over 40,000 listens.

 


 

Lean the F*ck Out podcast

Lean the F*ck Out Podcast

How life is supposed to go is presented to us early on. You go to school, get a job, land a partner, raise some kids, move up the ladder between 9 to 5, earn the money, buy the things. You keep to the path. And do it with a clean house, stylish wardrobe, satisfied and supported partner, overachieving model children and a smile on your face. And don’t forget to lean in. If it feels off, don’t worry, dear, there’s a pill for that.

(Insert record scratch)

Whoa, hold the f*ck up.
There has to be another way.

Gretchen DeVault, a designer, musician and maker of cool sh*t living in LA, and Tera Wozniak Qualls, a social activist and purveyor of community impact living in West Michigan are forging their own paths. They’re sharing their journey—the excitement, struggles and lessons learned—with the world via the Lean the F*ck Out podcast.

Long-time friends, Gretchen and Tera talked a lot about their challenges as female entrepreneurs—the hustling for resources and difficulties finding mentors and support specific to women in business. Before long a weekly check-in call was scheduled (because they’re organized and intentional like that) and they thought ‘why not record it?’ Document the journey and share it—maybe it could help others and build community.

They now interview other kick ass fempreneurs. Each entrepreneur gets vulnerable, shares her lessons, and offers inspiration for other women and female identifying individuals to lean out and do their own thing.

Listen:

Website | Stitcher