Wake Women

About Wake Women

"Wake Women" is a podcast by and about the women of Wake Forest University. In each episode, fifth-generation alumna Mary Tribble (’82, MA ’19) sits down with a female Wake Forester who inspires her. This show brings you intelligent, thought-provoking reflections from successful women whose experiences will inspire you to be your best self.

Publisher

Mary Tribble

Category

society & culture

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

25 Apr 2024

Latest episode

28 Aug 2026

Latest episodes

64 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   28 Aug 2026

   Going Off Script with Mary Tribble '82 MA '19 and Ann Phelps: Final Episode

   This is it — the final episode of Wake Women. After two years, five seasons, and more than seventy conversations with extraordinary women connected to Wake Forest University, host Mary Tribble hands over the microphone for the last time. Her guest, Ann Phelps — director of programming for Wake Forest's Program for Leadership and Character — flips the script this time and she asks the questions. Ann and Mary have an intimate, wide-ranging conversation about the things that matter most at the end of one chapter and the beginning of another. What do we owe the past? How do we find meaning when we stop measuring our worth by what we produce? What does it look like to tend to the women who come after us? What does it really mean to go off script — not just professionally, but in the deepest sense of who we are becoming? Mary reflects on two years of unexpected lessons: the healing power of writing, the courage it takes to let a landscape change you, the genius of giving, the importance of ritual and ceremony, and the difference between empathy and compassion that turns out to matter more than she knew. She also reads from a personal essay on endings — one that takes on new weight in light of a loss she didn't see coming.

2. 

   21 Aug 2026

   What Makes a Wake Woman? Wonder (Bonus Episode)

   This is the fourth and final special guest tribute episode closing out the Wake Women podcast, which will air its series finale on August 28th, 2026. Each tribute explores a single question: What makes a Wake Woman? This episode's answer is Wonder — the discipline of staying curious, of refusing to assume you already have all the answers, of looking at the world with fresh eyes even when you have every excuse to stop. As Plato's dialogues suggest, bewilderment is not a sign of failure. It is the making of a philosopher. The episode opens with a reflection on wisdom and wonder drawn from Socrates — and the idea that a Wake Forest education doesn't fill you up so much as it opens you up. If you think you already know everything, your mind goes still. Wonder is what keeps it moving. Six Wake Forest women bring that answer to life. Serena Dugan '94, founder of Serena & Lily and Serena Dugan Design, asks a question worth sitting with: what would life be without beauty? She makes the case that beauty is not superfluous — it is vital to engaging our senses and to being fully alive. Meaghan Steele '11, Head Auctioneer and Client Liaison at Concierge Auctions , has spent her career shepherding extraordinary objects from one chapter of their story into the next — a hundred-carat diamond, Michael Jordan's sneakers, an original copy of the Constitution — and will tell you that the wonder of it never gets old. Allison Orr '93, choreographer and founder of Forklift Danceworks in Austin, Texas, finds wonder in the places most of us walk right past — in the expert movement and daily grace of trash collectors, grounds crews, and the workers whose labor keeps our communities running. Kasha Patel '12, science journalist and comedian, has made it her mission to bring wonder to science communication through humor, performing her brand of science comedy everywhere from Washington D.C. to Antarctica. Alison Smith '83 has sought out transformational experiences across the globe, including the Camino de Santiago, and reflects on what it means to step so far outside your comfort zone that you come back a different person. And poet Jacinta White closes the episode with an idea that gives the whole series its final note: that writing is a portal to something larger than ourselves, a way of accessing wisdom and spirit that exists beyond the three-dimensional world we can see and touch.

3. 

   14 Aug 2026

   Leadership & Character in our World Today with Agatha Graham '29, Carter Nesmith '29, and Ann Phelps,

   Leadership and character are two words that get batted around a lot nowadays — and increasingly, questioned. What does it actually mean to lead well, or to have character, in a world that feels more uncertain than ever? You've heard from academics, thought leaders, and seasoned professionals about leadership on this podcast. Today, we get to hear from two young women who are poised for the future — women who want to grab this world and make it theirs. This is our chance to hear from the leaders of tomorrow, on their own terms. Agatha and Carter are rising sophomores in the Program for Leadership and Character, and they bring a candor and self-awareness to this conversation that belies their age. We talk about what it means to lead with character instead of just ambition, what women in particular bring to the table as leaders, and how to hold onto hope in a moment defined by polarization and misinformation. Joining us is Ann Phelps with the Leadership and Character program, and has spent the past year watching Agatha and Carter grapple with exactly these questions in real time. It's a conversation that left me more hopeful about the next generation of leaders than I've felt in a long time — I think it will do the same for you.

Who has been a guest on Wake Women

Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.

• Carol Willis
• Wendy Rea
• Emily Goodson
• Dr Lauren Fowler
• Dr Ruth Benca

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

9 ratings

Spotify

5.0 / 5

9 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 19 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

25

Social presence

0

YouTube

0

Engagement

32

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