The Power of Mentorship with Illana Raia. Badass Women At Any Age Podcast

Illana Raia's journey to entrepreneurship stemmed from her love of law and her personal experiences with mentorship. Despite loving her career as a mergers and acquisitions lawyer, she took a break to raise her children and later rejoined her firm. Realizing the impact of showing her daughter accomplished women at work, Illana envisioned scaling this experience to benefit other girls. She left her law practice, driven by the idea of creating a platform where girls could meet female leaders, leading to the founding of Etre. Illana is the founder and CEO of Etre, a membership platform for girls believing that mentors matter as early as middle school. Illana brings girls directly into companies they choose to meet female leaders face to face.

Illana Raia: Mentorship for the Next Generation

This week on The Women’s Current, Sylvia and Molly sit down with Illana Raia, Founder & CEO of Être Girls, an organization that is redefining what mentorship looks like for today’s girls. Illana explains how confidence grows through visibility, and how early access can open doors that girls often never see. She also shares why bringing girls into real rooms — with real women leaders — changes everything.

Together, they explore what ambition looks like across generations. They talk about why girls need women showing up as much as speaking up, and how supporting the next generation strengthens all of us.

Because when women invest in girls, the tide doesn’t just turn — it accelerates.

How You Can Raise A Confident Daughter. Takin’ Care of Lady Business Podcast

I loved the idea of asking girls who they wanted to be. Not necessarily what they wanted to be yet, because that comes later, but who they wanted to be and putting girls face to face with female role models - Illana Raia, Être

Tune in and listen to this episode of the Ellevate Network Podcast, Conversations with Women Changing the Face of Business as Tammy Williams speaks with Illana Raia, Founder and CEO of Être Girls, a mentorship platform designed to empower girls by connecting them with female leaders. Illana shares her journey from being a corporate attorney to launching Être, driven by her desire to close the confidence gap for girls. The conversation explores the importance of mentorship, the framework of Être’s programs, and the impact of their initiatives on girls' confidence and leadership skills. Illana also discusses “The Epic Mentor Guide”, a resource for girls seeking guidance from successful women across various industries, and the future aspirations for Être’s global expansion. Illana has authored 60+ articles for HuffPost, Ms. Magazine and Thrive Global, and her award-winning book Être: Girls, Who Do You Want To Be?, and was named one the first 250 entrepreneurs on the Forbes Next 1000 List. Illana is a member of the International Space Station U.S. National Lab Education Subcommittee and serves on the National Girls’ Collaborative Champions Board.

This week on Mother Up, we’re unlocking the secret to boosting confidence through mentorship with the incredible Illana Raia, CEO of Être. Illana shares how the right mentors can bridge the “confidence gap,” especially for girls navigating life’s challenges.

We also get real about Illana’s journey, from her high-powered career as a lawyer to the unexpected twists of motherhood. Transitioning between these two worlds wasn't easy, and finding the right support system made all the difference.

This week on Mother Up, we’re unlocking the secret to boosting confidence through mentorship with the incredible Illana Raia, CEO of Être. Illana shares how the right mentors can bridge the “confidence gap,” especially for girls navigating life’s challenges.

We also get real about Illana’s journey, from her high-powered career as a lawyer to the unexpected twists of motherhood. Transitioning between these two worlds wasn't easy, and finding the right support system made all the difference.

In this episode of the Women in Leadership Talk podcast, host Vicki Bradley sits down with Illana Raia, a former corporate lawyer turned entrepreneur and founder of Être Girls. Illana shares her journey from the legal world to launching a groundbreaking organization that helps young women gain confidence and envision their futures by connecting them with female role models from leading companies like Spotify, the United Nations, and NASDAQ.

Illana explains how Être, meaning "to be" in French, encourages girls as young as 10 to ask, "Who do I want to be?" rather than "What do I want to be?" Through mentoring, hands-on experiences, and inspirational conversations with industry leaders, Être provides girls with opportunities to engage with women from all fields, giving them the confidence to see themselves in those roles.

Illana chats to Stephanie about why mentors matter for girls and how she began Être, a mentorship platform for girls. Believing that mentors matter as early as middle school, Illana brings girls directly into companies they select to meet female leaders face to face.

They've done the research and the stats are in fact staggering! Mentors matter as early as middle school because that’s precisely when girls’ confidence can falter. Were you aware that between the ages of 13 and 18 girls' confidence drops by 20%? Or that by the age of 14 girls drop their sport at 2X the rate of boys? Or that the sharpest fall-off of girls in computer science remains between 13 and 17? These are just a few data-driven facts Être shares and it's no wonder we need mentors early on in life. Watch until the end as Illana shares her story, top tips, challenges, and more. We would love to hear from you, did you have a mentor when you were starting out and how did they impact your confidence in the workplace?

Adrienne’s guest is Illana Raia, the CEO and founder of the organization Être Girls - a mentorship program and platform that connects professional women with school age girls. Her work helping and mentoring middle school and high school girls is both incredible and inspiring, as is Illana Raia! Her work connecting female mentors in large and small corporations all around the country with girls gives them an amazing opportunity to ask questions, to learn about certain professions, and to seek out role models so that they can become exactly who they want to be.

Illana Raia is the founder of Être Girls. ‘Who exactly do you want to be?’ – Être Girls, a knowledge strategy and a resource and mentorship platform for girls approaching high school. Do your children know much about your career? Do they think of you as the cook, driver, cleaner, supplier of your clothes and other various items? When Illana realized that her daughter had no clear idea of what she actually did or that the women who she was around were accomplished women in their own right, Illana decided she wanted to change that. Illana was determined to make sure that young girls knew that there are many options to choose from. And so, the beginnings of Être Girls.

Raise your hand. Don't lower your standards. That's the message from this week's guest Illana Raia, an attorney who left the profession to start her own company that aims to inspire middle school girls to stick with their creative passions and transform them into careers in the future.