As fearless women go, Tara Hunt is hard to beat. Years ago, at the end of a relationship and after losing her job, Tara chose not to see anguish and defeat, but instead saw an opportunity to create her own future.

We are coming back strong heading into the holidays here at More Seats with one of the industry’s most involved and tenacious web hosts, Shira Lazar.

If ever there was a more important battle cry to hear in life and in work, it would be Cory’s own personal mantra: “[approach life as] passionate and always in beta.” Inherent in her words, and in her own background, is the idea that taking risks should be the rule and not the exception.

Question: If Nisha Chittal gives us a sense of the ambition-forward woman of the future and Mad Men gives us a sense of the ambition-corseted woman of the past, who built the bridge between the two? Answer: Women like Karen Vander Linde.

As Cindy Gallop reminded us, quoting Kathy Matsui, one of the most important things we need to do in order to gain more leadership seats at the table is to break through not the “glass ceiling,” but “through the thick layer of men.”

First up, one of the most accomplished and authentic women I know: Cindy Gallop.