Leisa: Hello, I’m Leisa Holland-Nelson and welcome to another edition of Women Mean Business, where we’re going to take you up close and personal with extraordinary women doing extraordinary things.  My guest today is Denise Hamilton, the founder of WatchHerWork, a digital platform for working women.  Denise, I don’t think you just woke up and started this one day and I doubt that you even dreamed of it in the back yard when you were a little girl. So, tell me how you got here.

Denise: Well, I’ve been working for 25 years. I know people always think I’m 30 years old, but I’m not. I have, what I like to say, a very full, dynamic work history.  I’ve been fortunate to work for Fortune 100 firms and small businesses, both, and kind of extract the best practices from each. One of the most dynamic experiences I ever had professionally was working for AOL. I ran marketing and promotions for South Florida for several years and learned so much about people. I learned about how people interact with each other, what sells, what moves, what doesn’t, and in a corporate environment where I was the only African American and the only women, more often than not, I just learned how to deal with people. I also worked for CBRE, which is the largest commercial real estate firm in the world. There’s been kind of one thread that’s run through my entire career and that’s been the fact that I’ve never applied for a job. I know you talk quite a bit about the importance of a powerful professional network. I, too, share that belief and have been successful in getting amazing opportunities just by having the right relationships and impressing people when we interact.  So, when I define my career, the word is active, dynamic, and varied, and all of that has rolled up into this special sauce that makes WatchHerWork work.

Leisa: I know. WatchHerWork was created because you felt there was a need; just describe it to us if you would.

Denise: It’s a digital platform for professional women. We’ve got thousands of videos, we’ve interviewed hundreds of women sharing their best practices of how they navigate the professional world. Who better to learn from than another woman who has gone a little bit ahead of you. So, sharing those best practices make WatchHerWork and WatchHerWork.tv a dynamic place for any woman.

Leisa: Thank you for being here.

Denise:  Thank you.

Leisa: There you have it, another extraordinary woman doing extraordinary things.  I’m Leisa Holland-Nelson, author and voice of Women Mean Business. You can find us on Facebook at Women Mean Business, follow me on Twitter @lhnelson, or come back again next week for another edition.