Chad Takes Over International Women’s Day?!?

Happy Friday, Job Board Doctor friends!

When my husband volunteered to do a Job Board Doctor take over for International Women’s Day, how could I say no?! ….Enjoy!

International Women’s Day 2026

As a proud girl-dad and husband to an incredible businesswoman, I was well aware that International Women’s Day was coming up. That said, I’ve never been a big fan of “days.” I believe in honoring, supporting, and investing in your people year-round, not just when the calendar tells us to.

Still, the internet will soon be flooded with the usual wave of surface-level “thank you” posts, mixed in with a handful of thoughtful, meaningful reflections. I figured I’d try to land in the latter category.

But before doing that, I asked Julie if I could commandeer her Job Board Doctor article for the week. Her response was simple: “Don’t F$%K it up.”

Fair enough.

So today I’m highlighting a few leaders I’ve had the privilege of observing over the years. Women who lead in different ways, in different environments, but who consistently stand out.

Ritu Mohanka

I want to start with someone many of us are just beginning to know in her role as CEO: Ritu Mohanka.

Ritu was announced as CEO of VONQ in May 2024 after the company’s aggressive, but ultimately unsuccessful, push into the U.S. market. For years, VONQ showed flashes of potential but struggled to break through. Even after Capital D acquired a 54% stake and control of the company, major growth never quite materialized.

Sometimes a company’s stalled momentum isn’t about the product or the people. Sometimes it simply needs a different kind of leader someone with the experience, network, and that hard-to-define “je ne sais quoi.”

For a long time, that missing ingredient seemed to hover around VONQ. The founders and previous CEOs were talented and charismatic, but something still felt incomplete. I’ll admit, when Ritu was announced, I wondered if she was the right choice for a company still searching for its identity.

I was wrong.

In less than two years, Ritu has aligned the already impressive talent inside VONQ and helped shape a clear identity that could finally propel the company forward.

She’s direct, gracious, and businesslike. She won’t waste your time—but when she does spend it with you, it’s filled with intention, humility, and purpose.

Rebecca Carr

Rebecca embodies a leader who believes there is something to learn in every moment.

She’s constantly absorbing what’s happening around her whether that’s listening intently to someone asking for advice or engaging in discussions that move at a near-frenetic pace. Conversations with Rebecca can quickly shift from scaling integrations with AI, to building agentic end-to-end ecosystems, to debating the best place to hang a Mondrian and what color the wall should be. That’s not an exaggeration, it’s hard to keep up.

But her openness, transparency, and willingness to truly listen inspire everyone around her. And when I say listen, I don’t mean polite nodding while waiting to speak. Rebecca absorbs conversations, experiences, and perspectives. That depth of engagement builds stronger connections and true leadership is ultimately built on connection.

Her real superpower, though, is her openness to change.

Soon after becoming CEO of SmartRecruiters, she made a bold decision that her executive team and employees rallied behind. She pivoted the company hard. So hard it effectively blew up the existing product roadmap.

Less than a year later, SmartRecruiters became an SAP company. In my view, one major difference helped make that outcome possible: Rebecca Carr calling the shots.

Rika Coppens

There are two leaders in my professional life whose confidence and experience left me genuinely in awe. Not “women leaders.” Just leaders.

Rika Coppens is one of them.

The first time I met Rika was at dinner the night before House of HR’s famous E-Recruitment Congress in 2019 in Ostend, Belgium. As a slightly cocky American who had spent years advising mostly U.S. startups, I was eager to better understand the European business landscape.

House of HR seemed like the perfect lens. They’re aggressive in M&A, operating more than 50 companies under different brands, and generating billions in revenue.

So naturally, I looked forward to having a conversation with the CEO.

Except “conversation” might be generous. In reality, I mostly asked questions and listened like a third-grader sitting in a trigonometry class.

For context, I’ve been around this industry since before Monster was called Monster.com. I’ve helped build some of the more audacious tech in HR, worked with massive enterprises, and seen countless leadership styles.

Yet there I was, listening to pure brilliance while confidence and experience radiated from every word.

When you lead, brilliance alone isn’t enough. It’s brilliance combined with confidence that moves mountains.

In the leadership category, Rika Coppens is simply unmatched.

Elena Valentine

When I sat down to write about Elena, I immediately found myself tearing up.

Why? I’ll get to that in a moment.

First, Elena is the coolest light that can enter a room. I call her a “light” because that’s exactly what she is someone who carries an aura of positivity, control, and unapologetic badassery.

Even before we became friends, Elena, Founder of SkillScout, was consistently present, in the moment with me, and transparent, two traits many leaders suppress but which she uses as strengths.

Her empathy, insight, and willingness to speak with conviction are powerful tools and in my opinion, unmatched in our industry.

Now for the part that hit me.

On August 18, 2025, at 2:06 p.m. Eastern, I received a call from Elena. She told me she had been diagnosed with breast cancer and was beginning the fight to beat it. But what struck me most was the calm courage in her voice as she outlined exactly how she planned to face it and asked Julie and me not to worry.

“We’re going to get through this.”

We? I was on the sidelines, yet she framed it as a team effort. Support matters, of course, but Elena’s determination and quiet tenacity were the forces that carried her through.

A person’s true character reveals itself during the most difficult moments. After beating cancer and taking time to reflect and recover, Elena has returned with a level of clarity, focus, and energy that all of us should pay attention to.

Final Thoughts

I should probably apologize to these incredible women, because none of them knew I was writing this. Frankly, they probably wouldn’t have allowed it.

And finally, I’ll return to where I started with being a proud girl-dad.

Julie and I have always tried to set strong examples for our daughters, who are now young women. As people who have voices in this industry, we feel a responsibility to carry that same message forward.

This isn’t really a post about “women leaders.”

It’s about leaders I admire who are also women. And on International Women’s Day, that feels entirely appropriate.

Hopefully, I didn’t F$%K that up 🙂

(You did good, babe. <3 Thanks for being the best girl-dad and husband.)

Until Next Time,

Julie “The Doc” Sowash

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