Meet the woman that hold our rooms
our Luminary leaders
Nova Founder & CEO
Melissa Bauknight
I’m Melissa — founder of The Nova, business mentor, and the person who has spent the last decade quietly insisting that success gets to feel like you.
Before this, I spent over 20 years in corporate and direct sales — top 10%, President’s Club, building results in rooms that rewarded performance over personhood. I was good at it. And I knew something was missing.
What I kept finding, in my own life and in the lives of the women I worked with, was that the old model was working against us. The one that asks you to separate your ambition from your humanity, your leadership from your wholeness, your drive from everything else that makes you who you are.
So I built something different. A community where accomplished women don’t have to choose.
Today, The Nova is a global ecosystem with chapters in nine cities, thousands of members, and a growing movement of women who are redefining what leadership actually looks like — from the inside out.
I’m here because I believe the most powerful thing we can do is build — together, and without self-betrayal.
“Our love language is bringing other women & non-binary leaders with us when we rise. There’s room for all of us at the top.”
Virtual Core Leader:
Lisa Kalfus
Lisa Kalfus has spent her career doing one thing exceptionally well: helping people have conversations that actually matter.
As a Human Connection Facilitator, Conversation Coach, and founder of Firestart Connections, Lisa has built a practice entirely around the quality of human exchange — what it takes to move past surface-level interaction and into the kind of dialogue that shifts how people see themselves and each other. She brings over 20 years of experience as a marketing executive, more than 5,000 hours of personal growth and leadership training, and a rare combination of strategic thinking and genuine relational warmth to every room she enters.
Lisa is a Certified Facilitator of the Xchange Approach and the creator of Connection Hour® — experiences designed to make real connection feel both accessible and inevitable.
As Nova’s Core Virtual Luminary, Lisa leads the virtual programming and connection experiences that bring the global membership to life. She creates the kind of intentional space where accomplished women feel genuinely seen, known, and expanded by the people around them — which is exactly what Nova is built for.
“My entire life is built around the belief that real conversation changes people. Nova is one of the few communities I’ve encountered where that’s not just welcomed, it’s the whole point.”
Boulder Constellation Leader:
Sue Van Raes
Sue Van Raes, M.S. is a functional nutritionist, food psychology specialist, and wellness expert who is dedicated to helping people who are stressed out about food finally make peace with their plates. After her own lifelong struggle with food and two decades in private practice, she discovered a surprising pathway to food freedom and body compassion. Sue draws on both her personal journey and professional expertise to offer a deeply holistic approach—one that blends body, heart, mind, and soul—to help you stop stressing and start living.
In addition to her work in nutrition and food psychology, Sue is also a certified yoga instructor and seasoned women’s retreat leader. Her embodied, experiential teaching style invites women to reconnect with their intuition, their bodies, and their personal rhythms through movement, community, and immersive healing practices.
Her insights have been featured in People Magazine, The Chopra Center, The Sacred Science, Lululemon, Natural Solutions Magazine, Origin Magazine, Elephant Journal, The Hanuman Festival, and Travel Mag.
Learn more about Sue’s work at Boulder Nutrition.
“What excites me most about leading within The Nova is how deeply this community honors the whole woman -body, mind, and soul. When we regulate our nervous systems, reclaim our relationship with our bodies, and feel truly supported – we don’t just lead better, we live freer.”
Denver Constellation Leader:
Rose Evelyn
“The Luminary role for the Denver Constellation represents a chance to help nurture and grow the kind of community that’s lived in my heart for years. One that my younger self would have desperately sought. One that boldly embraces vulnerability and authenticity in pursuit of empowering connection. I’m thrilled to embody the Nova values that resonate so deeply with my greater calling and vision.”
Phoenix Constellation Leader:
Lizzie Langston
Lizzie Langston is a Certified, trauma-informed life coach, spiritual medium, and trauma recovery expert with over seven years of experience guiding women through personal transformation, spiritual awakenings, and times of life change— including postpartum. Specializing in helping women navigate times of great life transition or inner darkness, Lizzie combines her intuitive abilities with trauma-informed coaching to empower women to nurture their body back to a sense of safety and stability, and to reclaim their executive functioning and creative ambition.
While she loves so many modalities, Lizzie really shines in helping women to connect with their Inner Mother, replacing years of self-critical inner dialogue with life-changing compassion, curiosity and understanding. It’s been her experience that when women can integrate their younger, wounded parts with their Inner Mother, they can connect with a power within themselves they’ve only daydreamed about. Life starts to get BIG, beautiful, and magical.
As a mother of four kids (plus a German Shorthaired Pointer!), Lizzie’s deepest passion in her personal work has been nurturing her own nervous system. After surviving postpartum depression, anxiety, and near-debilitating ADHD, Lizzie has mastered the art of Self-Regulation, and has a big passion for teaching other people how to notice when they are dysregulated, and how to come back to Calm in their body through research-backed, Neuro Somatic tools. She is the creator of the Calm your Body, Calm your Mind, Calm your Life™️ process for postpartum women, and has hosted The Postpartum Coach Podcast (4.8 stars, over 100 reviews) for the past six years.
“I’m so pumped to be so extremely CONNECTED with this group because, over the last 7 years as a coach, I’ve worked way too hard doing it alone. The Phoenix constellation represents my deep conviction: women work best in true community. I’m so excited to see the connections made, the alchemy of hard times, the soul-healing, and the incredible magic and opportunities that sprout from the Phoenix Nova!”
Your NW Chicagoland Constellation Leader:
Emma Mulvany
“The Luminary role for the NW Chicagoland Constellation represents a chance to help nurture and grow the kind of community that’s lived in my heart for years. One that my younger self would have desperately sought. One that boldly embraces vulnerability and authenticity in pursuit of empowering connection. I’m thrilled to embody the Nova values that resonate so deeply with my greater calling and vision.”
Greater NYC Constellation Leader:
Lindsay Jacobi
Lindsay created Glow Up Collective—a space for high-achieving women to break free from burnout, embrace their feminine power, and create a life that feels as good as it looks.
She invested in her own transformation, learning from some of the best in the world— Gina DeVee, Erica Carrico, and Danelle Delgado —mastering business strategy, feminine leadership, and personal empowerment. With over a decade in sales and business development, she knows what it takes to build success in a way that aligns with your energy, not drains it.
Now, she helps ambitious women:
✔ Shift from overextension to effortless magnetism
✔ Scale businesses without sacrificing their joy or relationships
✔ Reignite passion and intimacy in their marriages
✔ Build wealth and success on their own terms
“What excites me most about leading this community is knowing firsthand the transformative power of community rising together. It’s about creating a space where we can be truly seen, even in our most vulnerable moments—where we feel both deeply supported and courageously challenged to step into new levels of authenticity and success.”
East Bay Constellation Leader:
Teresa Lodato
“Joining Nova allows me to co-create spaces where authenticity and ambition coexist, empowering women to lead from a place of embodied wisdom and holistic excellence. Together, we’re not just rewriting the rules—we’re redefining what it means to lead with purpose and presence.”
Your DMV Constellation Leader:
Megan MacCutcheon
Megan MacCutcheon is a Licensed Professional Counselor and Certified Perinatal Mental Health practitioner who supports women through the profound transitions of motherhood. As the founder of Be Well-Wellness, a private therapy practice, and co-founder of Be Hive Wellness, a collaborative wellness space in Northern Virginia, Megan creates safe, holistic spaces for healing, connection, and growth during pregnancy, postpartum, parenting, and beyond.
With a background in communication and counseling, and over 15 years of experience in the mental health field, Megan blends evidence-based practices with compassionate care to help overwhelmed moms release guilt, reduce stress, and reclaim their sense of self. She believes that motherhood is both a rite of passage and a powerful opportunity for personal evolution.
A published author and speaker, Megan is passionate about raising awareness around perinatal mental health and empowering women to prioritize their well-being. As a mom of three, she understands the delicate dance of tending to others while also staying rooted in one’s own truth.
Learn more at www.meganmaccutcheon.com
“I’m excited to be part of this community and to lead the NOVA constellation. I love creating spaces where women, visionaries, and healers feel seen, supported, and empowered. I believe our personal growth and well-being are deeply connected to the communities we cultivate. When women come together with honesty, curiosity, and care, we expand what’s possible—not just for ourselves, but for one another.”
