Traditional corporate structures and generic social platforms often fail to support female leaders ready to build sustainable wealth and leverage. In this conversation, host Kate Byrne sits down with guest Robin Sims-Allen, visionary founder of Phoenix Marcus and TotalHER. Robin shares how she is reshaping the Future Of Work by launching a dedicated digital economy built specifically for female entrepreneurs, freelancers, and corporate executives. They break down the mechanics of root-cause problem solving in tech consulting, the power of intentional networking through features like RequestHER, and the critical role AI plays as a strategic partner. Robin details her mission to give women complete freedom of time by replacing outdated professional hurdles with transparent, safe, and collaborative digital spaces. Listeners will gain practical insights into establishing authentic personal authority, navigating funding disparities, and building independent platforms that drive long-term impact.
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The Art Of Becoming Whole: TotalHER Founder, Robin Sims-Allen On Why The Future Of Leadership Is More Human Than Ever
Solving Organizational Friction At The Root Cause
Everyone, I’m really excited to sit down and have a conversation with you because I’m speaking to someone who actually walks her talk, which I love. Really, in a lot of ways, the subtext is she gets real. By that, she’s created a real tool for us. I’m speaking to none other than Robin Sims-Allen. She’s the founder and CEO of TotalHER, which is a new social networking platform designed specifically for women. What does it prioritize? Stuff that we love and need. Safety, authenticity, real, actually meaningful conversation and connection, and personal empowerment as a result.
It really connects you to people that are interested in what you’re doing, as opposed to just going back and forth and back and forth with maybe a baby. She is a visionary entrepreneur and advocate for women in technology. She created TotalHER, frankly, to reimagine what social media can be. Instead of just being algorithmically sound, she moves beyond that. There are engagement metrics to foster genuine relationships, professional growth, and yeah, some extra do-re-mi, and above all else, community. She’s got a lot of really interesting features, like RequestHER.
She’s helping women build their brands and expand their networks. She’s integrated AI with her platform, which is going to be everyone’s right-hand little helper and enables everyone to connect on their own terms. What are we going to talk about? We’re going to explore why she actually believes the future of digital communities is not just bigger, it’s actually smarter, safer, and built with women at the center. The greatest gift is time. Through her very direct and very real approach, that’s exactly what she’s going to give you. Listen in, let me know what you think. Remember to stay to the end for KB’s Takeaways. Always come back for more. Let’s listen.
Engineering Digital Spaces Built Specifically For Female Leaders
Everyone, welcome. We’ve got yet another terrific conversation. I am excited to be joined by Robin Sims-Allen, who’s the founder of TotalHER, which is an amazing social platform that she’s built with us in mind. I’ll let her get into that in a minute, as well as Phoenix Marcus Consulting. She’s been a busy bee. Robin, thanks so much for making time to sit down with us.
Thank you. I’m glad to be here.
Robin, tell us a little bit about how Phoenix Marcus Consulting came to be and then what led you to creating TotalHER?
No problem. Phoenix Marcus is literally a catch-all type of organization. When I created the company in 2021, my desire was not to be put in a box, not to pick a lane or whatever those phrases are that we’re conditioned to be thinking about. I wanted an organization where I can literally, the business model is to change my mind. Whatever I was into, that is what I wanted to do with Phoenix Marcus. What I had was the parent organization, Phoenix Marcus, and then what I would have is the branches of the different divisions that I was interested in. For instance, my first interest was the beauty industry.
I wanted to franchise as far as organic hair removal and different things like that. That particular situation didn’t work out so well, so I pivoted. That was when I realized that I had, at that time, about twenty years of experience working for different organizations and identifying the same issues that were occurring no matter what industry, no matter what company I worked for. It was always the same pattern, the same problem, same issues, same type of people. It was cultural and organizational friction, bottlenecks. They were not able to deliver.
Eliminating Professional Noise With Intentional Direct Messages
They are not able to proceed or scale or move their companies forward because they have internal friction that they’re either layering other issues on top and not uncovering the root causes or they’re halfheartedly making changes or change management or programs or changing strategies, hiring consultants, all of these other things, trying to make the needle move, but the needle wasn’t moving because their underlying issue was never addressed. I’m the type of person who literally looks for the root causes in the underlying action, changes that, and then everything else would change itself.
That’s what I naturally ended up doing for a variety of companies over twenty years. That leads me to my next thing. I’m a problem solver. I see problems everywhere. Problems are my gift and a curse at the same time, because I do it both professionally as well as personally. I just like solving things. I like to figure out a solution or an alternate path for everything, which leads us to TotalHER and the reason why we’re here today, because I saw the need for women to have a platform that was designed and dedicated and engineered just for them in order for them to succeed or to scale or to be able to just to build a community where they’re supported and looked upon and being able to grow and learn.
Deploying AI As An Active Strategic Business Partner
It morphed in the last few months, just taking a look at what’s happening in the industry, what’s happening in corporate America. We’re seeing layoffs, and we’re seeing these layoffs mostly impact women and mostly impact US-based women. They’re either being affected by these layoffs, or they’re voluntarily leaving the workforce, maybe because they have family obligations or maybe because they want to have a family and are not able to do that and sustain full-time employment. My vision now for TotalHER versus what it was initially set up for, which was a community-based platform for women to engage with one another, we’re moving now into making TotalHER the future of work.
This is the opportunity that you hear about or that we’ve all heard about in our careers. That golden parachute. This is the golden parachute. This is your opportunity to either supplement your income, help out with your income, or completely replace your income in the work market. You’re able to get what I call the most important commodity, freedom of time. That’s the mission that I’m on right now, is getting women their freedom of time back.
A couple of questions I’ve got around that. One of the ways to get to root causes, I’m just going to throw it out there, is I do an exercise called the five whys. You just keep asking why like a two-year-old. It’s amazing what you eventually end up uncovering. You think it could be a process issue, and really what it is is, to your point, there are departments where there’s a disconnect. When you’re designing something with women at the center, what changes when you do that?
Literally, it started with me being upset. It was anger with what’s happening with traditional social media platforms. It was watching women literally drowning behind the scenes. Either they’re drowning because they’re out here trying to create content that is forcing them to be morally compromised or ethically compromised or just inauthentic. They’re having these issues where they may be trying to.
Building Authentic Brands Without Performative Personas
At this particular moment, there are almost 58 million women in the US. I’m just talking about the US, which has some type of side hustle or business. The main thing that is happening is, number one, women are not funded. We get less than three percent of funding. That upset me in itself. The second thing that upset me is the fact that women have to work twice as hard to get to half of the level that they need to be at. If they have a business or so forth, they’re either having to self-fund and pump all of this money into their business, paying for advertisements, consultants, employees, whatever it is, legal teams, all kinds of things.
They’re still not making what they need to make. To me, I’m like, there has to be a better way. Why is this not working? If social media was about being able to reach people in the masses, then initially with social media, it was about making friends and connections and different things like that. It morphed into a digital platform where you can make money because everyone is spread all over the world. Social media allows you to touch people in every single country in the world, but why is it so hard for women? Why is it so difficult for a woman to scale? That was the problem that I kept, like you said, asking why. Why is this happening?
Why are we not getting funding? Why are we not able to see one another? A lot of times, if you know that there’s a tribe of women behind you who are also building, who are also trying to invest in other women or touch other women differently because they’re doing something different. They’re bringing something totally new and different to the table, but you never know about them because if you do not happen to have the algorithm that brings her content or whatever it is to you, you’ll never know it. That’s why I created TotalHER, to answer every single one of those problems that I saw.
Walk us through TotalHER.
Establishing Built-In Trust As An Organizational Culture
TotalHER, right now, this would be the version that’s available in this app store as well as Google Play right now would be what I call the MVP. This is the initial thought process. What you see is a bright pink logo, and you will see that it’s a community that looks similar to your traditional social media giants that are out there, where you create your profile, you go through your facial recognition and different things of that nature because we want to make sure that it’s women that are joining the platform. There’s that component. There is the opportunity for you to even create a group, or you can have what we call intentional direct messages.
Those intentional direct messages are called RequestHER. Pretty much, if you receive a direct message before you even open the message, you already know what it’s about. You know that someone is trying to collaborate with you. Someone may be wanting to book time with you to talk about a business opportunity. Someone may want to speak with you because they were on your Shopify or your TikTok Live or something of that nature, and they saw a product, now it’s sold out, and now they want it.
Stop applying temporary fixes to structural problems. Real scaling happens when you solve organizational bottlenecks at the root cause. Share on XThey’re sending you a message, “Where’s that green scarf? Need the green scarf.” You know exactly what they’re talking about before you even open the message. Therefore, it’s not one of those. Let’s just ping you and hope you see it as spam, all of those things that you see in traditional social media. It’s intentional on TotalHER. That’s the version that’s available now, with the just so happenstance of you being able to set up your profile to earn income if that’s what you choose to do. The version that is coming out for TotalHER. Brand new logo, a whole new vision.
The premise of it right now is to scale. It’s to build or to scale. You’re either there because you’re looking for ideas to create a business opportunity with, or you’re looking to offer a business opportunity to another woman, and you’re wanting to hire her, so to speak, for her expertise, or you’re looking for a mentor, or you’re there simply because you are a freelancer or you’re unemployed or you’re a business owner and you’re needing to open up a new stream of revenue.
Reclaiming Time Freedom By Building Your Own Table
That is what TotalHER is becoming even more intentional about, because the first thing that you’re going to see when you upload the new version of TotalHER is, number one, before you even create an account, you can actually see what’s happening behind the scenes. Before I collect your username, your password, your credit card, all of that stuff, you can see exactly what is happening on this platform. After that, when you choose to join TotalHER, you now pick your path.
Whether you’re already scaling and you need to have access to another avenue of revenue or you’re building and you need help building, we will help you build because the next thing that we’re going to do is ask you what your goal is. Are you here to earn money? Are you here for opportunities? If you are here to earn money, how much money? A few hundred dollars? $10,000? What is it that you’re trying to do? We’re going to customize your journey where you can literally get to your end goal as quickly as possible.
Safety is taken into mind, in terms of just security. That is the whole premise. Many people assume that safety and great growth are trade-offs online.
That’s the problem that I saw.
You believe they’re clearly complementary. I’m going to ask the famous “Why? How come?” Why do you think they’re complementary?
It’s because before there was even a stitch of code created for TotalHER, before it morphed into building the community, before it became an earning opportunity, before it did any of those things, safety was the component. The whole mission of the company is I wanted a safe space, and I meant that literally, for women to be able to join and to be able to be who they are authentically. That was the primary premise.
There’s a definite certainty, and it’s as close as a guarantee one can absolutely provide. My question is, I’ve got to ask these two little letters, AI. As it becomes more integrated into our daily lives, what role in your mind should it play, and does it have a role in helping people build actually meaningful relationships with safety in mind? Where should it stay the heck out of the way?
That’s the transformation that I’m talking about with TotalHER. Initially, the version that is available in the app stores right now probably uses about 30% of AI, and the purpose of that AI is to look for threats. It’s trained to look for harassment. It’s trained to look for specific things to make sure that the safety remains safe on the platform. The new version of TotalHER is going to be 90% AI, and my actual AI is actually going to be called Her AI. Her job is literally to be your business partner. If you do not have a business partner, she is your business partner. The reason why is that, number one, she’s going to welcome you to the platform.
She is the one that’s going to show you exactly what is happening on the platform before you even create an account. She is also going to customize your journey by asking you targeted questions. She’s going to ask you about your goals and different things of that nature, just like you would with a business coach or career coach or things of that nature. It would be AI that would be doing that. At the same time, let’s say that you are a content creator or a course creator on other platforms and different things of that nature. She is going to literally look for that information.
You’re going to be able to import that information into TotalHER. One, it will save you time from having to have net new content and different things of that nature. Number two, she’s going to analyze it. She’s going to tell you where you went wrong. Why is it not working? Why are you not earning what you want to earn? Why is this particular content not viral? Why is it not hitting the market that you need to hit or the markets that you should be hitting and you’re not hitting? That is what Her AI is going to do. She is literally going to be your business partner.
That’s terrific. Because it’s her, it may be easier potentially to actually hear the feedback.
Yes, because if you take a look at what’s happening with AI now, and just generally speaking, it’s biased. You cannot even consider women. Her AI, she’s a woman, which is a great thing. That’s a really interesting piece because I know that a lot of the larger AI companies, everyone’s now starting to do some, or they want to do some Her AI, but a work AI. Where it will do all this for you. I love the piece that is going to be specifically built with a woman in mind.
I actually think there could be a huge opportunity for founders here because I would think Her AI would be able to perhaps find gaps and missed opportunities when you’re producing your pitches and helping them land with whoever happens to be on the receiving end, usually still, to this day, more likely than not a male. I do think that’s a really key piece because it’s got the learned, it’s got the lived. It’s not really alive, but it’s got more of a lived experience as opposed to some male audiences.
It might be able to help you figure out what’s the language I could use or what’s the angle I could use that would be relatable. That’s another component. When I was speaking of the opportunities that women would be able to offer other women, you can create those opportunities. As a business owner, I may put an opportunity out there for a woman to apply for, and I’m going to put in there, here’s my budget. These are the deliverables that I need. This is what I’m looking for. I need you to support this brand. I might be selling socks or whatever it is that I’m selling. This is what I’m doing. This is my mission. This is what I’m trying to do. This is what I need you to help me with.
Women will be able to see it and apply. The first thing that they would be able to do is to send a media kit or send over a sample or something of that nature where they can literally apply for this opportunity. Now it’s a conversation. Now you’ve seen upfront what the budget was. If I select you, then we’re going to go ahead and close that transaction. I’m going to get my deliverables, and then we’re going to rate one another on our experience. Now the AI is going to start putting your information.
You, as the person who provided the service, and you who is offering the service, are floating to the top of the list so that you can receive more and more opportunities, and the AI is going to continue to learn. “This is what’s happening on the platform. Women are looking for makeup artists. Women are looking for this.” They’re looking for that because it’s learning because of what it’s being exposed to. That’s exactly what the intention was. Everything on TotalHER is fully intentional.
Which is great. I want to build on a bit or ask a few questions on this notion of the authenticity piece. When we’re working with AI, so many people have questions. How do we protect our authenticity while we’re still using and embracing technology like this?
It’s because there’s no expectation for you to be anything other than who you are. In traditional social media platforms, you see a lot of people, male, female, doesn’t matter. For the most part, they’re faking it to make it. If you’re looking at videos of somebody cooking in a kitchen, they do not live there. That’s not their kitchen. They do not live that life. They’re not in those cars. They’re renting them. They’re leasing them, or however it is. On TotalHER, you do not have to do anything, but whatever it is that you do for what you do. If you are a makeup artist, a consultant, a business owner, you have a shop of some nature, all you have to do is sell your services.
Random pitch DMs waste valuable time. Intentional direct messaging gets straight to business opportunities without the fluff. Share on XThat is it. You do not need to do anything else that requires you to be outside of yourself in order to make it on TotalHER. It is a digital female economy. Women are going to support you because you’re there. They’re going to either support you by booking services or purchasing something from you, or they are going to engage with you. They are going to converse with you. They are going to encourage you. You’re having a bad day. You’re not doing so well in business, whatever it is. That’s what that built-in community is for.
Which is fantastic. What does an authentic personal brand actually look like in 2026?
To me? Anything that is naturally done. If you have to take on characteristics or different things of that nature because you feel like you need to fit in, like this is high school again, you’re not being authentic. That would be the issue. Typically that’s probably going to be your downfall. If you are the type of person that joins TotalHER and let’s say you’ve identified yourself as a business owner of some nature, you’re a shopkeeper, a baker, or something of that nature, but you know behind the scenes, you’re really an accountant.
Nine out of ten times, it’s going to quickly be exposed on the platform because, being that we’re an intentional platform, that means you are going to be receiving reviews from other women, and they are going to be telling one another, “This person is probably not really good at baking. This person is probably better at this.” It’s going to force you to be who you are. That’s what I want it to be. It may sound like it’s harsh, but it’s not. What I want women to do is I want them to thrive in what they are naturally gifted at doing.
If you are naturally the type of person who can educate people, then that’s what you should be doing. If you’re a natural person who can sell something to someone, because I cannot. I’m not a good salesperson. I would be looking for that type of expertise. I want to be in the room with those women who have the skills that I want to learn or that I need or whatever that case may be. I want to be able to thrive and then offer what I offer as well. It’s going to force me to be exactly who I am.
The thing that I love about it is, yes, it’s authentic and all that, but it also, it gives you permission to really be, as you just said, who you are. You do not have to fake it. It’s so much more efficient because we’re the greatest gifts we can give each other. That goes back to your freedom piece. I know your platform includes RequestHER. That intentionally slows down the whole process and curates connection. That’s almost the opposite of how a lot of other social media works. I love that, but tell me why you made that choice, because I think it’s a smart one.
RequestHER, it’s for an intentional reason. I wanted to know, or I felt that women wanted to know, what this is about. What’s the bottom line? Why are you communicating with me? I notice on platforms, LinkedIn, for instance. Everybody is selling you something. You cannot open a message, and someone’s not sending you a Calendly link, trying to get you to book a 15-minute call, 30-minute call, or whatever it is, because they’re trying to sell you something. That was the reason that I created RequestHER, because yes, you’re requesting her, but why are you requesting her? What is it that you want?
You want to book time with her to propose a business opportunity for collaboration? Do you need HER to come on your podcast? Do you need HER to restock a product? Do you need HER to create a product? What is the reason that you’re reaching out to HER? Let’s arrive at that conversation quickly versus us going back and forth or trying to establish a relationship or whatever it says in those twelve-step processes for sales. We do not need to do any of that on TotalHER. We just get down to the basics. What is this about? Am I interested? Yes, no, maybe. That’s exactly what it’s about.
It’s so funny you just said that, because it just wrote two words here. Get real. Which just gets real, real fast. This is also going to give us a really good opportunity as women, I think, so often. We can tend to take things personally. You’ll get really good at not doing that because it’s really, to me, an effort or an exercise in respect for each other.
You’re going to demand that respect because that’s what TotalHER is about. That’s why it’s called TotalHER. Literally, it’s about the full woman. Whether you’re having a good day, a bad day, you’re feeling confident, not so confident, you’re experiencing something family-wise, experiencing something career-wise, whatever it is, it is literally about the total you, which is TotalHER.
Which is fantastic. We have this community. What’s the difference between having followers, because we were just talking about a number of these different platforms, and having a true community?
We have that component as well, followers, but our followers are not. I wouldn’t say that it’s pressure-driven. On traditional platforms, you’ll see where you have to have a certain amount of followers because you feel obligated. You’re trying to do the most to get the most likes or engagement on this content. That’s not what TotalHER is about. Literally, a follower is someone who may be interested in you as yourself, representing a brand or something of that nature. It is literally loosely someone that you associate with, whether it’s a friend or someone you want to be a friend with, whatever that situation looks like for you.
Literally, that’s what the word follower means in our case. Now, in another version of TotalHER, you’ll be able to see and differentiate who the actual requesters are and who has that feature available. You’ll be able to see their profile and know exactly, “This is a business profile.” You’ll be able to see if they’re an investor. Maybe you’re a female, like I just said. We only get three percent of investment. There’s going to be female investors on that platform. Wouldn’t it be nice if you knew exactly who they were?
You don't need performative personas to succeed online. True market authority comes from doubling down on your authentic expertise. Share on XYes, absolutely. This leads me to trust, which we all know is one of the scarcest resources. How do we build that trust online and with these folks?
I wouldn’t say that that’s a business strategy that we can put into place. Idealistically, everything that I’m building on TotalHER is with trust being in mind. Trust is going to be the culture. That’s the reason why we’re putting what I would say guardrails into place where women are able to rate one another on their experiences and different things of that nature. I want women to honestly give one another feedback.
I want women to honestly be able to feel safe about putting it out there, whatever experience it was. Maybe they partnered with another female. She pretended she was a public relations person, and probably does not have a clue what she’s doing. Once you rate her and just say, “I do not think she’s experienced here.” Another woman would take that feedback and say, “Maybe I do not need to invest my money in that opportunity.”
Maybe if that is the case and there might be some form of harassment or something of that nature, then that is what we would use to flag the account. My system administration team is going to look at this person’s profile. We’re going to vet them out. If they’re not who they say they are, they’re gone. It’s as simple as that. When we respond immediately like that, that is how we build trust. We’re going to earn it as we go. We’re going to build it into our culture, but it’s not a business strategy. It is literally a culture. There’s a big difference.
There’s an enormous one. One of the things I love about all this, and I think it’s really smart. A lot of it addresses, to me at least, how professional networking is itself actually changing. In your mind, future look, horizon, five years from now, what do you think women will need from digital communities that broader-based multigender platforms like LinkedIn and traditional social do not fully provide?
That is when you’re going to see another transformation of TotalHER. What I find is, I can be as visionary as possible. I can see as far as I can into the future, but I do not actually know what’s going to happen until I talk to you, the women. I’m going to constantly be looking for feedback. I’m going to constantly be sending out random surveys, communicating on other social platforms, engaging with women, and finding out what it is that you need. What do you need to be successful?
That is literally my entire mission. I want to get you what you need in order to get to the end goal, which is giving you your freedom of time back. Whatever it takes, whatever we have to do on the platform. Make it accessible on the platform. We will do it because that is what we are about. We are built for women by women.
Which is fantastic. I do not doubt that you’ll be incredibly successful because one of the things, yes, you’ll be reaching out and getting feedback. More importantly, I trust that you will definitely be a person who actually considers it and executes with it in mind. There are so many people. You send surveys, you get feedback, and people go, “Great.” They check that off the list. They do not necessarily listen to it. It sounds to me that TotalHER is continuously using and iterating with this feedback in mind.
Yes, like the version of TotalHER that is coming out soon. That is because I got it directly from women. I was told point blank, “Change your logo. We want to see this.” They told me, “We need AI. We need a friendly AI. We need more money-making opportunities. It’s good to make a few hundred dollars a month, but how can I make a few thousand dollars a month?”
Have a zero on that.
Everything that is coming out is because it came directly from the mouths of women.
Which is, thank you for that.
Essentially, women built their own platform. I’m just the person who implemented it.
Is getting it done for us. Talk about service leadership. Really getting there and trying to do the best for everyone and all is fantastic. If you were looking and designing the ideal digital ecosystem for your daughters or the next generation of women leaders, what would it include and what would you intentionally leave out?
The noise. I would literally, on traditional platforms, it’s distraction after distraction after distraction. I think those platforms need to return to what they were initially built for. They need to return to whether it was a community for college students or a community for music artists, whether it’s a community for educating one another. Whether it’s a community for engaging with business partners and different things of that nature, return to what you initially were before you started trying to piecemeal different things out there. That piecemeal still wasn’t a full meal.
Absolutely true. Now, in closing, knowing what you know now, what advice would you give your younger self before jumping into all of this?
I should have done it sooner.
So many people say that. Now, why do you say that? I love hearing that.
It’s because the issues that I’m building upon for TotalHER, I initially started in 2025 and am revamping in 2026 now. I saw these same issues spiraling out of control in 2020. I should have built it then.
Now at least you’ve got the technology, and you have the insight. I’m going to say even just the courage and the initiative to even just do it and get it done. You can now have your own HER AI give you feedback to make sure that you’re keeping yourself, giving you guardrails, or making sure that you’re making the smartest decisions and doing the rollout in the most appropriate way.
Stop waiting for permission to sit at someone else's decision-making table. Focus your energy on building your own. Share on XIn essence, I think the timing right now is great. My issue that I had with the younger version of myself is I kept waiting. I kept waiting for someone else to solve the problem that I saw. I kept waiting for the opportunity to open. I kept waiting that I would meet the right people. I kept waiting. Literally, I think it was both a gift and a curse. I waited too long, but at the same time, everything happens for a reason at the right time that it needs to happen.
The moment that we’re in right now is important, but I wish that I had been able to do this years ago when I saw women struggling, because I feel like now they’re struggling even more. Now what back then would have been a nice opportunity. Now it is imperative. It’s changed from, it’s nice to have an alternative platform for women, etc. Now it has to happen.
It has to be there because it is needed. I’m sure eighteen months from now, we’re going to need something else. We’re definitely going to need more platforms for women as well. This one is about professional networking and scaling and different things. We’re still going to need other things. We need a mental health one. We need other things. There’s a number of other ideas that need to happen that are driven by women.
That’s a really great point too that there’s room for plenty. There’s room for more. That’s almost weird because we just were talking about noise and stuff, but there really is. There’s so much. Not just one solution has been to do.
I’m famous for it. I’m not trying to sit at the table of someone else. I’m trying to build my own table. I want every woman in the world, literally, to build their own table. You can go and have a seat at someone else’s. I do not want you to do the most to try to sit at a table that you do not belong at, where you should have built one yourself.
Thank you for making the time to sit at our table here at the show. I really appreciate it. I’m very excited by what you’re building. Honestly, I really appreciate what you’re doing, and it’s so important, and you’re right. Just going back to the funding piece, only three percent, and when you add race, it’s less than one.
That’s literally the concern that I’m having now is that exact issue. The reason the new version is not out yet is because of that pain point that I mentioned before. That women are self-funding. That is literally what I’m doing. Everything that’s in the system right now for TotalHER is self-funded.
I get it. I’m right there with you with the show. It’s one of those things where we all have to help each other out. I’m really excited to see how TotalHER takes off, because I have absolutely no doubt in my mind that it will. Robin, thank you so much for joining us, and we’ll be in touch. We’ll keep providing links and things so everyone can go check it out. I encourage everyone to create a profile. What the heck? Do it and be sure to give feedback because, as Robin has said.
I want feedback.
She wants it, and she’ll do something with it. Just be ready for that.
Ready.
Listen, thank you so much. Enjoy the rest of your day, and thanks for making the time to join the show.
Thank you.
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I knew I was going to enjoy that conversation with Robin Sims-Allen. I really appreciate her generosity in spirit and in sharing both wins, but also taking a moment to talk a little bit about pivot points. Not everybody does that. By doing that, that’s how we all move forward. My key KB takeaways are human-centered technology wins. She did it completely and built it completely with women in mind and for women, by women. Safety, nah, it’s not a feature. It’s a foundation.
In fact, it has to be the given. When it is, it’s amazing how quickly a community can grow. Speaking of community, it’s a competitive advantage, and there’s a difference between community and followers. It’s lovely to have both, but between the two, to get a real community, you’ll get plenty of followers as a result. Looking at technology. Friend info, but in this case, AI, it is definitely here to stay the minute you embrace it.
The sooner you do, the better off you’ll be because it’s not going to go away. Hence, you can actually help guide it. It should strengthen relationships, but it should not replace them. Things like HER AI will make sure that you stay on track, and it’s going to give you real feedback. Make sure to listen to it or not your choice. Personal branding is increasingly about trust rather than visibility. It’s all about the A word.
Authenticity. Most importantly, just getting real. Let’s face it, time is one of the greatest gifts we can give each other. The best way to do it, be real. If it’s a fit, if it’s a fit. If it’s not, that’s okay. Period, the end, go on to the next. No need to take anything personally. Lastly, the most valuable networks will be intentional rather than infinite. That is this episode of the show. Thanks so much for making the time. I look forward to continuing the conversation on the next episode.
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About Robin Sims-Allen
Robin Sims-Allen is a powerhouse entrepreneur, transformative leader, wife, and mother of two dynamic teens. With more than two decades in technology and business leadership, she thrives at the intersection of innovation, strategy, and impact.
A serial entrepreneur, Robin leads with precision and purpose, helping organizations optimize operations, eliminate bottlenecks, and deliver meaningful products to market with agility and efficiency. She serves as the visionary founder of Phoenix Marcus, a dynamic enterprise with multiple divisions tailored to the demands of the digital era.
Within Phoenix Marcus, she launched Phoenix Marcus Online, where she is a recognized expert in agile consulting and bottleneck analysis for Fintech and tech-driven companies. Her strategic insights ensure businesses don’t just solve problems — they thrive by protecting their greatest assets: people, culture, and innovation.
Robin is also the creator and driving force behind TotalHER, an AI-powered platform that empowers women to thrive in the future of work. With TotalHER, her mission is clear: build a sisterhood and economy that supports every woman — whether she’s scaling her career, leading with confidence, or embracing her unique journey. Built as a safe, empowering space, TotalHER fosters authentic connection, collaboration, and opportunity for women globally.
Her entrepreneurial journey includes launching her first startup, AskGeeser, a teen-focused social network dedicated to helping young leaders amplify their voices and build real skills. Though ahead of its time, the experience shaped Robin’s future approach — one rooted in resilience, timing, and strategic growth.
Driven by authenticity, courage, and vision, Robin doesn’t just lead companies — she builds ecosystems where people are empowered to flourish. She shows up honestly, shares her lessons learned, and paves the way forward with infectious ambition.