ABOUT

More than a podcast.
More than a community…

Fuel for Female Founders® is a growing platform dedicated to celebrating and connecting remarkable women in business, so they expand their possibilities beyond comprehension.

Through our podcast, editorial features, newsletter, and intimate gatherings, we shine a light on women who are building companies, leading organizations, creating movements, serving their communities, and making meaningful change.

And the ripple effect of that? Immeasurable.

Visibility creates possibility

And the stories we share today can help shape what women believe is possible tomorrow.

WHO ARE WE?

Where peer-led mentorship takes place at the highest level

We’ve watched women build trajectory-shifting relationships after connecting through our platform.

They’ve become mentors. Collaborators. Trusted sounding boards. Advocates. Friends. They’ve shared opportunities, opened doors, made introductions, exchanged hard-earned wisdom, and championed one another’s work.

Because meaningful connection fuels powerful momentum.

A MESSAGE FROM FOUNDER, ANDREA L. JOHNSTON

After 30+ years of building and scaling companies, I built what I needed most…

A space where women at the highest level can build each other up — and mentor those on their way up.

After bootstrapping a communications firm to $12M in revenues with best-in-class margins  (without giving up a single share), to scaling and selling a company with ten figures in valuation and more than 1,000 employees, I know what it’s like to be at the top.

But Fuel for Female Founders wasn’t born from my success.

It was born from my frustration.

Knowing what it feels like to feel isolated at the top…

And imagining what it could have been like to be surrounded by other female leaders in the same position, mentoring each other and helping each other expand what’s possible.

And so I built what I wished existed.

team

Meet the team

Andrea Johnston

Founder

Andrea is a seasoned entrepreneur and organizational leader with over 30 years of experience scaling businesses, merging and acquiring companies and successfully exiting founder-led businesses.

After more than a decade in corporate America and large agencies, Andrea founded Pure Communications, which she grew from a one-woman firm into a top integrated marketing partner for biotech and pharma companies with eight figures in revenue. After its acquisition by Mountaingate Capital and W2O Group in 2016, Andrea merged her firm with a division of W2O, more than doubling its size and revenue. She later led integrated communications for all of North America, ultimately overseeing more than $150M in revenues and a 600-person team, and played a key role in the company’s sale to New Mountain Capital. She received the HBA Luminary Award in 2019 for her work.

Andrea chairs the Cape Fear Collective Board of Directors and is a founding board and investment committee member of The Forward Fund supporting workforce development in NC. She is also on the National Board of Advisors for Life Science Cares and is a co-founder of Electing Women in North Carolina. She holds a bachelor’s degree in communications, law, economics and government from American University. A proud mom of two and a dog mom to an English lab, Andrea balances her professional endeavors with her commitment to family and community.

Megan Graziano

Chief of Staff

Megan Graziano is the operations engine behind ambitious founders. As Chief of Staff for Fuel for Female Founders, she manages systems and relationships across all of Fuel’s pillars. It’s a role built on two decades of operational leadership across life science venture capital and early stage companies. In every context – whether startup, special event or podcast – her mission remains the same: build systems for purpose, efficiency and scale.

HARD TRUTH:

The glass ceiling isn’t gone — it’s just cracked

Our platform is free of annual or monthly dues and membership fees thanks to our sponsors who believe women deserve more than just a seat at every table.

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