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One Mom Turned Her Struggle Into a Movement
CNN 5 Good Things
Mar 8, 2025
We’re celebrating International Women’s Day with five stories about women making a difference around the globe. Pumpspotting helps breastfeeding moms connect virtually and physically. Artists in this market have been doing better than men at auctions. A woman-led tribe is on a mission to protect salmon and the rivers they live in. This network’s helping to close the gender gap in venture capital. Plus, these female athletes are paving the way for the next generation.
Episode Transcript
Krista Bo
00:00:00
Hey there, it's International Women's Day and we wanted to celebrate the game changers and record breakers.
Lindsay Dewar
00:00:07
It's great that the women are getting their chance to kind of even everything up and be more recognized in the market.
Krista Bo
00:00:13
'We'll highlight one industry where women are doing better than men for a change. Plus, from a ten-year-old girl making sports history to a tribal chief fighting for cleaner water, these stories you'll hear prove that when women rise, we all win. From CNN, I'm Krista Bo, and this is a special edition of Five Good Things.
Krista Bo
00:00:38
'All right, I want you to take a second and think of a woman who shaped who you are today. I'm willing to bet a lot of you pictured your mom or your grandma or someone who felt like that to you. Those women poured everything into us. And I'm sure they'll tell you motherhood is a wild and beautiful ride - full of love, sacrifice and making it up as you go. Especially in those blurry postpartum days.
Amy VanHaren
00:01:06
When my son was just a baby, just a few weeks old, I found myself in a reality of either nursing or pumping or thinking about nursing and pumping. It was my new reality as I tried to keep this tiny human alive and fed, and I found it incredibly overwhelming and so isolating.
Krista Bo
00:01:28
As a mother of two young children, Amy VanHaren was balancing work and motherhood. In 2015, she was about to board a redeye back to Maine from San Francisco.
Amy VanHaren
00:01:38
And I was sitting on a very dirty, sticky bathroom floor in the San Francisco airport, hooked up to a breast pump that was sounding like Darth Vader, and I was just beside myself, wanting to quit both breast feeding and my job and everything. And in that moment, the one thing that saved me was a text from my sister checking in. A light bulb went off for me.
Krista Bo
00:02:01
That moment turned into a movement to uplift and support new and expecting mothers across the country. In 2016, she cofounded an app called Pumpspotting, where mothers can virtually connect and tell stories, ask questions, and raise concerns with each other and experts.
Amy VanHaren
00:02:19
We're making it easy for mothers to get the information, the education, the experts they need so that they feel seen and supported at every step of the way.
Krista Bo
00:02:29
They then wanted to meet mothers where they were physically. So Amy bought a 40 foot long RV, painted it bright teal, and hit the road in 2018. Meeting thousands of women and dozens of cities at places like hospitals, parks and eventually even outside NASA's Space Center in Houston.
Amy VanHaren
00:02:47
And that was the first of what will now be four tours in 2025. So she is lovingly called "Barb the Boob Bus." We call her: the Breast Express. And, you know, she really feels like a tiny home.
Breast Express Experience
00:03:02
Welcome aboard. Hi! How's it going!? Oh my gosh.
Amy VanHaren
00:03:06
You step on board and there is a space to sit and connect with other moms, complete with lots of boob pillows and graphics and comforts of home. It's a space to get what you need and be who you are, to be seen, and to just have a moment of real joy.
Breast Express Experience
00:03:23
Thanks Barb. Awww, we love you. We love it, thanks!
Krista Bo
00:03:27
They've partnered with advocacy group Chamber of Mothers for this year's tour, kicking off in July, hitting more stops than ever.
Amy VanHaren
00:03:34
Since we started Pumpspotting. We have supported moms through more than 3.5 million feeds, and so I feel incredibly proud.
Krista Bo
00:03:46
So when I was researching stories to highlight for this episode, I thought to myself, how cool would it be if there was an industry or a field to spotlight where women are doing just as well, if not outperforming men. And good news there is.
Lindsay Dewar
00:04:03
Women have achieved sales value parity with men in the African art market. It started in 2023 and it's continued into 2024, which to me shows a really positive trend.
Krista Bo
00:04:14
That's Lindsay Dewar. She's the CEO of ArtTactic, a London based art market research and data analytics firm.
Lindsay Dewar
00:04:21
What's great is that we are seeing diversification, and we're seeing that there's a desire to kind of look in different locations, to investigate different areas of the market that people may not know, and to kind of own a broader range of artists.
Krista Bo
00:04:36
Last year, Lindsay said African women artists made up 53% of total African art auction sales worth $22 million, with Ethiopian American artist Julie Mehretu leading the way. It's not just about the big bucks. It's about representation, too. More women than ever having their work at auctions next to heavy hitters in the contemporary art world, like Andy Warhol and Pablo Picasso.
Lindsay Dewar
00:05:01
So over the last decade, we've seen a growth of nearly 130% of the number of women artists that are being sold at auction. And this is a trend that's been mimicked in the African art market as well. So in 2024, there were over 450 individual women artists of African descent sold at auctions.
Krista Bo
00:05:22
So will this trend continue? 2025 is already off to a good start.
Sotheby's Auctioneer
00:05:27
Ladies and gentlemen, showing here in the room works by the South African born in London based artist, of course, a very rare to market. And I'm going to start here at 800,000 pounds at 800,000.
Krista Bo
00:05:37
Earlier this week at Sotheby's auction house in London, a South African artist named Lisa Brice set a personal record with the sale of her painting called, "After Embah."
Lindsay Dewar
00:05:47
And it's this amazing, huge canvas in these red tones. Nicki Minaj is referenced in the painting, so it's a really kind of contemporary celebration of women and challenging the male gaze.
Sotheby's Auctioneer
00:06:02
Gentlemen's bid. 1,500,000. Give me six, sir.
Krista Bo
00:06:04
It was only supposed to go for no more than $1.9 million, which is nothing to sneeze at.
Sotheby's Auctioneer
00:06:09
At four million four, and I'm going to sell it with a new world record price for Lisa Brice at Sotheby's in London here. Four million four, Lisa (gavel pounding podium) it's yours. Thank you very much a day. Thank you.
Krista Bo
00:06:19
That's an incredible $5.6 million.
Lindsay Dewar
00:06:23
It's great that the women are getting their chance to kind of even everything up and be more recognized in the market. I think that we're going to see a lot more of that going forward.
Krista Bo
00:06:34
When it comes to tackling climate change, the U.N. says women and girls have been at the forefront, with indigenous women often leading the charge on environmental conservation. Take Chief Caleen Sisk, for example. People call her "the chief" for short. And for over two decades, she's been leading the Winnemem Wintu Tribe and its efforts to preserve sacred indigenous sites, rivers and salmon in northern California.
Chief Caleen Sisk
00:06:59
We're on the edge of not having salmon, and that all of our generations after us will not have salmon if we don't do everything that we can to make sure that salmon survive. Because they are the keepers of our water, nobody else can do in the river what they do. Salmon in the river system keeps the river clean.
Krista Bo
00:07:22
The Winnemum Wintu Tribe has lived along the icy cold McCloud River for generations, which is considered one of the most endangered rivers in the country, according to the nonprofit, American Rivers. Chief Caleen says the McCloud used to be home to hundreds of thousands of Chinook salmon.
Chief Caleen Sisk
00:07:40
When the Shasta Dam went in, and the salmon were not able to go back to the McCloud River. The same thing happened to the tribe.
Krista Bo
00:07:48
The chief says the population of the tribe has dropped as well, from about 20,000 before the 1850s, to 126 today. And to her, this is no coincidence.
Chief Caleen Sisk
00:08:00
We know that whatever happens to the salmon happens to us.
Krista Bo
00:08:05
'So blocked by the Shasta Dam and battered by climate change, these endangered fish need help, and their return could heal ecosystems and old wounds. In 2023, the tribe signed a historic agreement with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. They're moving thousands of fertilized eggs from places like New Zealand to hatch in the McCloud River to grow the population - slowly but surely.
Krista Bo
00:08:33
The goal? The chief says she wants 25,000 salmon, new tribal run fisheries and cleaner water for all. Healthy salmon means a healthier planet and better brain food for all of us.
Amanda Pullinger
00:08:50
So what's really fascinating is we're now in a place in the world where I believe globally, there are more women going through universities proportionally than men. Why aren't they being promoted in large numbers.
Krista Bo
00:09:04
That's especially true in venture capital. The industry that funds the world's biggest ideas. Reports have shown that women are more likely to invest in other women. But here's the problem. In the U.S. alone, less than 20% of the investors writing those checks are women. That means with fewer women making those big investment swings, fewer female entrepreneurs are getting the chance to take their ideas to the next level.
Krista Bo
00:09:30
But here's the thing. According to the European Investment Bank, companies founded by women deliver twice as much revenue per dollar invested, despite receiving less than half the investment capital of their male peers. And research also consistently shows women investors are more interested in social impact businesses, which can benefit society more widely.
Krista Bo
00:09:52
So after spending 25 years as a finance leader and seeing all of this take place, Amanda Pullinger wants to make more women visible in the industry as a whole, especially in leadership and management roles.
Amanda Pullinger
00:10:04
There are lots of women's networks out there, but I felt these women needed their own network. For most women, they want to be able to see a pathway into leadership roles.
Krista Bo
00:10:16
'So last year, she co-founded a group to connect women in this particular world of finance. It's called Global Female Investors Network. It's a community of 2000 women she calls "risk takers." And they're laser focused on managing money, whether it's hedge funds, traditional funds or VC funds. She says groups like this are key to addressing the gender gap in finance.
Amanda Pullinger
00:10:38
And so the first step is to be able to see other people like you in those roles, who've gone through it, who've been there, done that. The second step is to get men to be much more active in encouraging women to be visible within their organization. Men are such a critical part of of getting to the solution.
Krista Bo
00:10:59
Amanda says, which she's noticed in her career, is that women spend more time hunkering down doing the work, which is important. But they spend less time doing what the guys do.
Amanda Pullinger
00:11:10
Build the relationships. Get yourself on conference panels. Be vocal, right. It is a curiosity to me. Because when women actually focus on it, they're much better, they're much better at building long term relationships that are mutually beneficial.
Krista Bo
00:11:28
So she hopes this group will inspire more young women to become risk takers. Up next, we visit the court, the met and the racetrack to see what history is being made.
Krista Bo
00:11:46
'Serena Williams told CNN last year that she was interested in expanding her sports ownership portfolio into the WNBA, if the right opportunity came along. Well, that time has come. The league announced this week that the 23-time Grand Slam singles champion is now the part owner of Canada's first WNBA team, the Toronto Tempo.
Serena Williams
00:12:07
I think women's sport is having a moment that it should have always had. People are realizing that is exciting to watch, and so it's an overly safe bet to me when it comes to investing.
Krista Bo
00:12:19
As the WNBA enjoys new heights of popularity, the league's expanding to 13 teams this year, with the Golden State Valkyries joining the season. The Toronto Tempo and a new franchise in Portland will be right behind them in 2026.
Krista Bo
00:12:33
From the court to the wrestling mat. Ten year old Honor Smoke is smoking her opponents.
Honor Smoke
00:12:38
Well, I'd wrestle around with my sisters a lot. So I just thought, why don't I try wrestling? And since it's male dominated, it feels better to win against the boys in matches.
Krista Bo
00:12:51
'She started taking the sport seriously at seven-years-old, wrestling both girls and boys. And now she's made history as the youngest athlete to be on the cover of a special edition of Sports Illustrated that celebrates her and nine other young female athletes who are breaking barriers.
Honor Smoke
00:13:08
It was crazy. My mom showed me and I'm like, what!? Because I didn't think I would be on.
Krista Bo
00:13:15
For my NASCAR fans out there, on Sunday at Phoenix Raceway, sports car driver Katherine Legge will be the first woman in seven years to compete in a Cup Series race. After 20 years behind the wheel in a male dominated sport, Katherine says that even though some fans underestimate her, the car doesn't know the difference.
Katherine Legge
00:13:35
They don't just let anybody jump at this kind of level and say, have at it. It's not for the faint hearted, right? You're doing 200 miles an hour or something crazy. So I personally want to have fun and enjoy the racing that I'm doing. And I want to leave as big a mark as I can on the sport.
Krista Bo
00:13:57
All right, that's all for now. Join us tomorrow for the next edition of One Thing. Host David Rind speaks to a Democratic congressman about what his party's plan is to push back against President Donald Trump and Republicans.
Krista Bo
00:14:09
Five Good Things is a production of CNN Audio. This episode was produced by Eryn Mathewson and me, Krista Bo. Our senior producers are Felicia Patinkin and Faiz Jamil. Matt Dempsey is our production manager. Dan Dzula is our technical director. And Steve, Lichteig is the executive producer of CNN Audio. We get support from Joey Salvia, Haley Thomas, Alex Manasseri, Robert Mathers, Jon Dianora, Leni Steinhardt, Jamus Andrest, Nichole Pesaru, and Lisa Namerow. Special thanks to Bijan Hosseini and Wendy Brundige. And thank you for listening. Take care. Till next time.
