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V O L . X X X I N O. X X I I I O C T O B E R 6 , 2 0 2 5 18 4 0 U N D E R 4 0 AWA R D On a mission to advance women at work Lindsey Coit, 39 Co-founder, Capital H. Consulting Greatest achievement: Building Capital H., Maine's first leadership consultancy dedicated entirely to advancing women at work. Co-founded with my sister Julia in 2020 during the pandemic, we've achieved 55% year-over-year growth, outpacing industry norms for profes- sional services firms and women-led businesses. What began as a general leadership development firm shifted when I noticed a pattern in my work with women executives: they were showing up with great ideas, new perspectives, thoughtful questions and capable of lead- ership, but were holding back, waiting for the right moment. The fact that only 11% of Fortune 500 CEOs are women has nothing to do with competence — it's about courage. We need more women to know that ready is a decision, not a feeling. I'm on a mission to change who gets to lead and how. Passion project: Volunteering with the Olympia Snowe Women's Leadership Institute, where I'm mentoring six young girls at Poland High School to help them uncover their values, find their voice and establish a vision for their lives. Statistics s h o w t h a t between ele- mentary and high school, girls' self-esteem drops, on average, 3.5 times more than boys. This is an opportunity to reverse that trend, and teach girls to pri- oritize being respected over being liked, and learn to take calculated risks in alignment with their dreams. Lightbulb moment: Mine was less of a lightbulb moment and more a series of tiny paper cuts throughout my career that led me to real- ize that leadership in this country needs to change. Having worked for Fortune 500 companies and start- ups and having studied at respected academic insti- tutions, I felt in my bones: we can do better. Capital H.'s philosophy is: What's good for humans is good for busi- ness. We're focused on creating a more human experience at work by elevating more women into positions of leadership. Influential book: "Big Magic," by Elizabeth Gilbert. She stands for living a life driven more by curiosity than fear. Fa v o r i t e T V s h o w : "Schitt's Creek" Personal hero: My dad, for his intelligence, wit, curiosity, creativity, com- passion, entrepreneurial spirit, and endless positivity. Favorite quote: "Whether you think you can or can't, you're right." — Henry Ford Best way to recharge: When I'm not at my desk, you can find me outside. Whether it's a walk on Willard Beach with my husband and our dog or mowing the lawn, I feel most at home in nature. Over the years, my love for nature has taken me on some incredible adventures in my beau- tiful home state of Maine: hiking Katahdin, canoeing the Allagash, sailing and kayaking Downeast, ice fishing in Moosehead Lake and seeing the sunrise on Cadillac Mountain. Maine's biggest challenge: Maine's greatest challenge is its shrinking, aging workforce … The solution lies in nurturing our future leaders. Women make up half of our talent pool and yet remain under- represented at the top across industries. If we want to grow, compete and keep the next generation here, we need to invest in women's leadership as Maine's strongest untapped advantage. Dinner party guests: Cecile Richards, former president of Planned Parenthood; explorer Ernest Shackleton and Viktor Frankl, the Austrian neurologist, psychia- trist and Holocaust survivor who wrote "Man's Search for Meaning." » C O N T I N U E D F RO M PA G E 1 6 We need more women to know that ready is a decision, not a feeling. — Lindsey Coit Capital H. Consulting