Shawndra Russell

Background

About Shawndra Russell

Shawndra is a serial entrepreneur with a passion for supporting other women entrepreneurs. In 2021, she co-purchased a legacy A/V business, HarmonyAVL+media, and through this tradeswork has seen a glaringly low number of women in the trades on projects and wants to help change that through partnering with Women in Trades Hub. This realization pushed her to launch Mad Genius Studios, dedicated to world abundance through strong women entrepreneur ecosystems. In 2024, MGS curated 50+ events for women, impacting 500+ women and inspiring the launch of Women Entrepreneurs & Leaders Weeks. During COVID, Shawndra was co-host of The Great Reset podcast with more than 100 episodes, and this year, she hosted Asheville Design District podcast. She also co-founded InvestHER Asheville in 2023, the 51st chapter of the nationwide organization The Real Estate InvestHER, which focuses on educating, connecting, and supporting women involved in real estate. Wealthier women lead to healthier families, communities, and economies. Shawndra’s background as a journalist and writer has led to more than interviews with small business owners and community leaders. This work helped open a lot of doors and make a lot of connections, including travel and beer writing for Visit North Carolina, Forbes, and Travel+Leisure, and covering regional businesses for Capital at Play. Once upon a time, she was also a high school English teacher and volleyball and basketball coach, and she utilizes these experiences to now teach entrepreneurs. She has her Master’s degree from Marshall University, where she served as a graduate assistant volleyball coach to the conference champions, and a BA from Ashland University, where she played collegiate volleyball. During her downtime, Shawndra is an avid disc golfer and competes in women’s tournaments. She also has two Black mouth Currs who keep her very active and love to go on camper trips.