{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"Making It with Jess Ekstrom","title":"Making It to 2.7 Million Girls with Girls on the Run Founder Molly Barker","html":"","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":2403,"description":"In this honest and heartfelt episode of Making It with Jess Ekstrom, Jess sits down with Molly Barker, founder of Girls on the Run, a program that has reached 2.7 million participants. Jess opens with a confession she’s never shared before: she cheated in Girls on the Run. Molly responds with her own childhood story, opening a conversation about competition, comparison, and the pressure girls feel to prove they’re good enough.\nMolly shares how her journey through addiction and recovery helped inspire Girls on the Run, which began with just 13 girls. She introduces the “girl box”—the expectations that teach girls to shrink themselves into who they think they should be—and explains why moving forward at your own pace matters more than finishing first. Jess and Molly also get candid about motherhood, the pressure to be present, and learning to see other women’s success as possibility rather than competition.\nFrom hiring people with different strengths to navigating tension between a founder’s big ideas and an organization’s need for structure, Molly reflects on what it takes to build something that can thrive beyond you. She opens up about leaving the organization she founded, finding her identity afterward, and how her definition of “making it” has shifted toward connection, presence, and being herself.\n\nEPISODE HIGHLIGHTS\n• The Cheating Confession: Jess reveals her unexpected Girls on the Run story, and Molly shares the childhood experience that helped shape her approach to competition.\n• Beyond the “Girl Box”: Molly explains how girls learn to measure themselves against expectations—and how running helped her reconnect with who she was.\n• From Recovery to 13 Girls: Molly shares the personal turning point and small beginnings behind Girls on the Run.\n• The Pressure to Be Present: Jess and Molly discuss motherhood, ambition, and why even relaxing can start to feel like another task to get right.\n• Building Beyond Yourself: Molly reflects on asking for help, hiring...","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/UeJn2_qX0SbHd9je8M1i3xYiHk_fwyHMoyDCBRs8oF8/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS9mNTBk/MGE4MGJlZWNlNDM5/ZjAxOTM5MzA2ODI3/MzUwMS5wbmc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}